1986 Toyota Land Cruiser 70-Series for Slow Exploration

Chipping away at more small tasks after work. I made the bottom half of my improved Euro->US plate adapter. The angles are weird, so it took several tries with card stock to get something that could transfer to bar stock. I'd call it a functional work in progress. It should prevent the plate from cracking due to vibration, looks okay, and can be further improved upon. I'll be revisiting this in the future.

It is finally time for the long-suffering passenger door to get some attention. Here's the original door card: water-damaged, warped, soft n' soggy, with peeling vinyl, and strange green paint overspray on the front side.

I pulled off the door card pocket, and the gunk at the bottom was gross! 🤮 It was packed into all the recesses in the plastic! Not sure I want to guess, but maybe a spilled Coke mixed with lots of dust, plus something white and flaky? Yuck!

Here's the front side residue and the green overspray, plus peeling all along the bottom edge. Apart from the paint and the peeling, the vinyl looks pretty good, but the remaining issues are too many, so this door card is also getting replaced. I may transfer over the pocket (once cleaned up) as the new card doesn't come with it.

I planned to install the new vapor barrier and slap it together with the new door card, and revisit the interior later for sound deadening. Then I started to think about the added challenge of working inside the door with sticky butyl rubber from the vapor barrier on the inner door skin, and figured I might as well scrape a little sound deadening now to give myself a leg up on round two. Upon looking inside the door I was surprised to see that the passenger door seems to have less stock sound deadening than the driver door, so I got after it. I guess those Romanian customers in 1986 were probably saving all their lei and bani just to buy the Land Cruiser, and weren't concerned with the noise level inside.

The photo above shows where I stopped for the evening, to be continued soon!

I got the right bumper indicator sealed up and reinstalled.

Here's the old sound deadening removed, and the door cleaned up on all surfaces I could reach. The old sound deadening was so brittle, somewhat cracked, and so poorly adhered that I can't imagine it did much of anything anymore! The inside of the door still had a lot of residual filler and primer dust leftover from the restoration in 2017-2018! It felt great to get most of it cleaned up, and I'm sure it will help the new sound deadening products adhere to the door skin better.

CLD applied. I didn't bother with a roller, I just started sticking it down along one edge (generally the flattest one) and worked my way across guiding it down with my hands as I pulled the backing paper off, and felt better about the results than I did on the driver door where I followed the guidelines of starting at a corner and working diagonally across (harder to follow curves) and then sticking it down with the roller, which mostly just seemed to do nothing, or with slightly more pressure, dent and deform the tiles. 

The other thing I've learned is to start with the least accessible area, and if possible, stick down full-size pieces there, and work towards the most accessible, ending with any cut-down tiles (if needed.) A bit counterintuitive, but way easier than the inverse!

Melamine sound-absorbing layer applied next. Practice, a bit of forethought, and a slightly smaller chunk than on the driver side went much more smoothly pulling the backing paper off and sticking it down.  Still took some minor contortions. I also put a decoupling layer under the door release rod, along with a little butyl rope under the square yellow plastic anchors for the door pull.

I did a little more cleaning around the cluster. Someday I'll crack open the cluster and get the fog/schmutz off the inside, but not before this weekend. I added a few strategic bits of felt and tightened down a couple loose fasteners, and it is much quieter already.

At this rate, I'll make a believable alternate-reality 1986 Lexus LX340 out of this thing before we know it! 

Still cranking on this thing every evening before this weekend! I drilled some holes for the pocket in the new door card.

Bolted in the newly-cleaned pocket, and stuck some sound diffusing stuff to the back. The two-tone grey looks waaaaay higher contrast in this shot than it does in real life for some reason.

Cleaned the inside of the rear panels and stuck down some CLD on both sides.

Reinstalled the old soggy cards for now. Looking pretty good with new seats, new belts, clean carpet, and holes plugged in the floor! Now I've just got to get a jack/tool door for the left side, which has proved impossible to source so far.

As I was cleaning the instrument surround, I think I discovered why that one screw felt so strange when trying to remove it, and maybe also part of why it squeaks and rattles so badly!

I don't really need another plastic repair project right now, but I'm not pulling this apart again anytime soon, and it is ABS, which is fairly easy, so...

I tried reassembling it a few times, only to pull it back apart and I ended up rebuilding/reinforcing all three  of these screw attachment points, as they were all brittle and failing one by one.

All the original felt/foam strips were long since gone, or at least diminished to a dusty residue and a bit of dried adhesive, so I redid them all.

Reassembled!

Last task for the night was a half-assed polishing for my half-assed paint touch up above the door. Better than it was, but certainly not concours! In my defense, it is a truck, and I'm not really a car-show kind of guy...just figured I'd try entering one as I haven't ever done so before.

All I have left for tomorrow is to lube the passenger window track, install the passenger door vapor barrier and door card, wash and detail everything, do a pre-flight check before the trip, and pack for the show and the road trip to follow. 😅

Got the passenger door sealed up, and the new door card installed, which feels great after months of living with a half-disassembled interior!

Pro tip learned the hard way: if you're handling butyl rope/dum-dum, sometime other than a nearly 100-degree afternoon is probably best! 🤪

After the wash and detail. I feel like it is presentable enough to catch a few eyes at the show, without getting too obsessive.

Looking good 👍 

In reply to low_n_slow :

Thanks; I appreciate the recognition!

Belated report from last weekend! We left early with a small caravan of 80's Toyotas. Given the heat wave of late, I didn't mind the early start, given that none of us have A/C. An additional Toyota friend whose car isn't running also joined. The Cruiser's limited speed meant we were cruising in the right lane at 60-65.

My vendor booth spot was primo...spacious and on grass instead of asphalt, which was a boon in the heat! Our friends from Tolerance Stack (awesome seat mounting solutions for Tacomas, 4Runners, and FJ Cruisers) brought a Tacoma and their display to join the fun. I brought a portable Dometic  power supply which I connected to the Klima seat so people could test the active ventilation for cooling. 😎 

The Cruiser got a lot of comments, which felt great. There were so many cool Toyotas at the show! Imported Corolla coupes, Century-V-12-powered Supras, a row of Tacoma X-Runners, rows of Supras, overlander Sequoias, All-Trac Celicas, Supercharged MR2s, Chasers, Cressidas, Lexus sedans, factory Turbo 4Runners, and more. With my booth duties, I wasn't able to capture it all, but here's a sampler.

I had fun with friends, nearly passed out at one point from the heat, and met some cool new Toyota people.

Sadly, there were no trophies given for Land Cruisers!

The remainder of the weekend was good. I visited family, enjoyed some back roads, drove over 700km, tested the cargo capacity in the back of the Cruiser, and got an average of 20.4 mpg, which I'm happy with all things considered!

Minor update; I flushed and bled the clutch. It didn't necessarily need it, but the fluid keeps turning dark quickly. I confirmed my suspicion that it is paint or a coating on the top of the master cylinder housing where it contacts the bottom of the reservoir. I sucked all the fluid out with a syringe, poured in fresh, and watched dark swirls curling upwards like squid ink in the ocean. I agitated the fluid in the reservoir with an acid brush, removed it replaced it, repeated a few times, then flushed it through with my Motion Pro self-bleed too with a one-way valve, which worked a treat.

Just got caught up on this. I used to work in the Toyota 4wd industry and these bring me such joy. 

In reply to Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) :

Awesome; I really enjoy hearing that people enjoy following along. 😊

I've got time off next week and plans to go adventuring in the more remote parts of the state, hoping to get pretty far off the beaten path. I'm still debating if I take the Cruiser or the Husky 701 with Enduro 21"/18" wheels. Life is good when we are faced with two great options like this! 

In reply to ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) :

That is a hard choice. Mine would be temperature related on my choice. 

Well, the Land Cruiser started leaking more significantly from the front differential just before the trip, so I changed gears and took the FR-S. The trip became more remote paved twisties, and less really, really remote unmaintained dirt roads, but I still got a vacation road trip, so I can't complain. 😁

I think the front differential is now leaking at the pinion flange and at the face where the pumpkin mounts to the axle housing. Add in the slow leak on the front output of the transfer case, and it was just too many leaks/oil levels to check and top off along the way on a 1500 mile trip. I want to fix all of this properly, but didn't have time before departing. 
 

At the very least I made some progress. The eyesore mismatched aluminum diamond plate I pulled off the rear bumper is still slated to get powdercoated satin black to match the bumpers, but it was held on by bolts with washers that weren't flush and sat up at all sorts of angles from the ridges, so I wanted to fix that before coating it. I got the milling machine fired up, bolted the plate down, and started cutting.

These were the first ones I cut, and the cutting speed wasn't right. I got it dialed for the rest, but didn't get a good photo! 😑 I think it will look fine once coated, and way better than it was before.

Finally, a fun boxy 4x4 shot from the parking lot at work.

Next up, I'll develop a plan for addressing the leaks and tackle it one bite at a time.

Ok, the first issue is that I've got a slow leak dripping off the sump that I'm 98% sure is from the crappy aftermarket fitting for the turbo oil return. It is annoying, and means I'm using a drip pan under it when parked, but it is slow enough that I don't really need to worry about topping off engine oil. I just hate leaks, and also moved into a new garage not too long ago, and the (uncoated) concrete floor is pristine. At 48 years old, it's the first clean garage floor I've ever owned, so I want to keep it that way. I want to enjoy not having to put on gloves and coveralls just to think about working in the garage. My plan is to pull the pan at the next oil change and fix it...replace a gasket, or more likely, weld in a better fitting.

Ok, so potential issue number two is oil dripping off the front differential. It is dripping very slowly, and often isn't particularly dark/dirty. The viscosity feels like gear oil, but sometimes it smells like gear oil, but other times not. Then again, I don't have great sense of smell. Maybe I'm getting a mix of gear oil leak from somewhere, and also engine oil leak from the sump pan getting onto the front driveshaft and then running down? The engine oil in it now is definitely dark.

Issue number three is an oil leak that has started dripping off the splash guard under the back of the transmission and transfer case, so I pulled the splash guard...yuck! I can't tell if this engine oil running/being blown back (unlikely given the quantity) or gear oil leaking from somewhere? Maybe related to the oil that runs down the front driveshaft to the front diff?

Here's the gunk on the transfer case...I don't think that's engine oil trickling back!

Time to get it all cleaned up and hope that that makes it easier to pinpoint sources.

I got to scraping and brushing on the transmission and transfer case. Hopefully this will make it easier to ID these slow leaks so I can fix them!

Starting out with a clean surface is key to finding leaks. I cant tell you how many toyota Tcases I have cleaned to find leaks over the years. 

Now that it is much cleaner, I’ve been driving it this week trying to track leaks. I can’t see any evidence of a leak around the transfer case or either differential! 🤔

For a moment I was working on a theory that the seal between the transmission and transfer case is leaky (which can happen with old Toyotas) and the transmission oil was leaking into and overfilling the transfer case, causing the transfer case in turn to push excess oil out past the output seal, resulting in oil running down the driveshaft.

I checked the front differential, and it has plenty of gear oil. I checked the transfer case, and it has plenty of gear oil, probably slightly overfilled, which matches my above theory. I struggled with the transmission fill plug a bit, but got it cracked open. No fluid ran out, which might also support the above theory. I tried adding some gear oil, but only got 100-150mL or so in before it was running back out the fill hole, so not the smoking gun I was hoping for.

This weekend I’m going to confirm that everything has the perfect amount of gear oil, then drive it some more while monitoring closely.

Meanwhile the engine oil continues to drip slowly from the turbo return to the pan. I should fix it, I’m just working up the gumption to scrape that entire sealing surface on both sides clean of FIPG. 🤪

New theory: maybe the main source of the drips on the floor and the coating of oil on the underside is exclusively due to the engine oil leak in the pan, and the occasional little bit of gear oil is something puking out a breather, and not a leaky seal/gasket? Once it gets hot, the engine oil thins out and runs more freely and gets on the transmission, spinning driveshafts, and then ends up just about everywhere else underneath? And the caked-on gear oil/dirt residue on parts of the transmission and transfer case (which I mostly cleaned off) was leftovers from previous sloppy changes under the old owner?

Maybe I’m grasping at straws. In any case, reassuring to know nothing critical seems to be low on lubricants, and I will continue to monitor, and probably ratchet up my plans to drop the pan and assess the turbo return fitting.

That Turbo 4Runner!  I would contemplate giving up small body parts for that.

Dropping the pan and doing an oil and filter change at the same time. Hopefully that will resolve the known engine oil leak, and allow me to better assess any other leaks.

I got the pan out, and it has an aftermarket cork gasket on it, instead of the Toyota FIPG that is called for in the manual.

Oil is definitely leaking past the gasket as evidenced by the oil here on the flange and in the groove that is supposed to hold the Form In Place Gasket. The bolts that I removed were also 50/50 for any sort of FIPG/RTV on the threads, so not surprised that it leaked. Time to clean it all up and do it properly.

Interestingly, the bung for the turbo oil return is welded in, and the weld doesn’t raise any immediate red flags. I presumed it was some sort of bolt-in fitting, and figured that whatever seal they used on the sandwich of the sheet metal pan was to blame for the leak. Given that the one spot I’m completely confident is leaking oil is this fitting, I’m now second-guessing the line and/or the exterior fitting on the line. I think the right approach is to test the weld for leaks after cleaning the pan, and plan to replace the external line in any case.

Got the pan tipped up and draining. There were some tiny tissue-paper-thin metal flakes in the bottom of the pan. They don't seem to be magnetic. No glitter or anything that looks like bearing material. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say aluminum based on the color/feel, but that’s far from certain. 🤷‍♂️ I will be sending the oil to Blackstone Labs for analysis.

I was gonna say send a sample to Blackstone but you beat me to it. The casting on those motors are pretty dirty and produce metal like that for a long time. I wouldn't be to excited. 

While I am awaiting the oil analysis, I figured I would check the play on the turbo shaft. Getting access only took a minute, and I couldn’t detect any play. 😅

The oil sample is on the way to Blackstone. 🤞

After a lot of scraping, the pan and block mating surfaces are clean!

Now that it is clean (don’t mind the blue towel fluff left side…I got it off after the photo) I took a closer look at the turbo oil return fitting. This is the welding on the inside of the pan. It looks well done without an obvious potential trouble area for a leak. I’ll still test it to be sure, but I’m leaning towards the return hose as the source of the leak. Thankfully easier to fix than the fitting in the pan!

I cut apart the oil filter and found a little bit of metallic flakes in the pleats, but not a lot.

I also found that the replacement filter I have on the shelf doesn’t fit, so I’ll have to source the right size.

I cleaned the pan even further, put a new sealing washer on the drain plug, connected and tightened the return hose, set it up, and filled it with water overnight.

The next day, no sign of moisture on the outside of the hose fitting! 

I’m thinking the leak I attributed to the hose fitting must have originated between at the seam between the pan and the block right above the hose, leaked down onto the hose, and I presumed the hose was at fault, and then the leak proceeded to spread from there.

I still can’t rule out the hose, but at least that is easy to replace after reassembly if I spot new leaks. Given the cost of good stainless braided hose, I don’t think I’ll preemptively replace this. I’ll reinstall it and see how it goes with the pan sealed up.

On to checking the rod bearings! 1 and 4 were down, so I started there.

Number 4. Okay; not too bad at first glance! 😅 The crank felt perfectly smooth.

I pulled number 1, aaaaand…oof! 😣 Well, at least we’ve identified a problem! It obviously needs to be replaced, but doesn't look/feel terrible as far as damaged bearings go, so I am hopeful that I caught it pretty quickly, and the damage is minimal.

The crank feels smooth upon first assessment, but shows some visual marks. I need to get it cleaned better and assess more carefully.

Then my brother called, and by the time we were done talking, I was ready to call it a night so I’ll have to check the other two big ends plus the crank mains another day!

A bit of a bummer, but it didn’t fail in a spectacular way or leave me stranded, so that’s a win. I’ll try not to get ahead of myself diving down a rabbit hole of researching engine swaps I currently can’t afford! 🤣

I did a bit of research regarding parts availability, and the news is mixed. Toyota used to offer two standard sizes of bearing, yellow and green, with a corresponding number of the bearing cap. There were also three undersize bearings. Not all of these sizes are still available from Toyota. I will have to measure what I have and see what I need. There do seem to be aftermarket sources for bearings as well, both made in Japan and made in China, with one standard size, and three undersize. All of the sources for any of these bearings that I have found so far are overseas.

I'm fairly certain that the connecting rod bolts are reusable, but the main bearing cap bolts seem like they are torque-to-yield. The manual calls for a simple torque spec on the rod bearing caps, and for a spec plus 90-degrees on the mains. This suggests to me that the main cap bolts should be replaced once removed. The main cap bolts are NLA, which poses a problem if I disassemble any of them (which I haven't yet.)

My latest plan of action is to check all the shells on all four connecting rods, and measure what I've got. If I don't find any more damaged bearings while examining the rods, I will order replacements, clean and polish the crank journal, leave the mains untouched, reassemble with new oil and new filter, cross my fingers, and do a short oil change with analysis again.

If I find more damage, I will have to have a think...

ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) said:

I'm fairly certain that the connecting rod bolts are reusable, but the main bearing cap bolts seem like they are torque-to-yield. The manual calls for a simple torque spec on the rod bearing caps, and for a spec plus 90-degrees on the mains. This suggests to me that the main cap bolts should be replaced once removed.

I don't agree that a torque-plus-rotation dictates torque-to-yield. Here's why:

Sometime during the production run (commencing with the 1986 model year, IIRC), Toyota changed the torque procedure on 4A-GE head bolts from a straight torque value to a torque-plus-rotation method. This was well documented in the BGB. However, they never called for replacement of head bolts unless the old ones had stretchee beyond spec. Head bolts were okay to reuse. And the part number never changed.

I had to fistfight the whole AW11 community over that. They were all convinced that '87+ bolts simply had to be TTY because of the torque procedure. It simply wasn't the case.

What does the BGB say about yours?