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Q: Dean Steffens wrote: I just picked up an '86 FJ 60. I plan to use it around town some, but mostly for getting to my cabin and other remote locations in northern MN and Ontario (fishing, hunting, snowmobiling, and such). One requirement in my neck of the woods (MN) is a truck that will start when very, very cold. And, part of facilitating that (as well as decreasing engine wear and tear) is keeping the engine relatively warm in temps that occasionally dip to -50F. As I'm checking and changing items on my new LC, I've got to flush and fill the cooling system. And, now I'm thinking would be a good time to install a block heater in this 2F engine. So...what should I expect? Does an engine block heater install in the freeze plug as easily as it looks? How hard is it to get to the right freeze plug? What should I be cautious of screwing up? I guess, for that matter, any heads up wrt flushing and filling the cooling system would also be of use, too (e.g., I've seen some Honda engines with bleeder valves for the cooling system). A:A block heater is more than just a good idea for cold climate operations. I'm sure you are aware of this, but a lot of the folks in the warmer parts of the world have never even heard of thse items. For those folks... A block heater is a heating element used to warm the engine coolant during extreme temperatures while the vehicle is parked and not running. It serves several uses. The primary reason is to facilitate cold starts, at -20F for example, motor oil flows like peanut butter, condesation from the combustion gases can collect on the cylinder walls and freeze pistons in place, tolorances shrink and moving assemblies grip each other tightly, fuel doesn't want to atomize, and batteries put out mere fractions of the power that they do at higher temps. All in all not a situations which promotes the starting of the engine. A block heater also reduces the time that the engine spends running at less than normal operating temps after it is started. This reduces engine wear, and reduces to a significant amount the pollutants put out by the ineffeciently operating cold engine. A third use is as a stop gap solution to antifreeze which is not up to the task of handling a sharp drop in ambient temperatures. it's fine and well to have you engine protected to 35 below. Unless it drops to 50 below. Then you either strengthen the mixture real quick,leave the rig running all night, or plug in the block heater and hope. (a properly setup block heater will not floe a large amount of heated coolant through the radiator however, so even with it going, you can still freeze the coolant in the radiator, with results which range from irritating to catostrophic.) There are a small handful of different types of heaters commonly found. The most useful are the "tank heaters", and the freeze plug heaters. Less effecient are the oil pan heaters, but they can be handy in a multi unit installation. The tank heaters plumb into the block drain and a heater hose, or other fitting at the top of the block. They set up a convective current which draws cold coolant from the bottom of the block, to the heater, and hot coolant flows out of the heater to the top of the engine. The main draw back to this design is the fact that large amouints of heat are lost by the exposure of the heater and the hoses to the cold air. The freeze plug heaters (as their name implies) replace one of the freeze plugs in the block. The largest drawback to this approach is the difficulty on some engines of reaching the plugs. However this design is much more effecient, as the heating element is inside the engine, and all the heat is put where it is needed. They also set up a convective current within the engine itself, and the warmed coolant permeates the cooling system passages. Due to the lower heat loss of this design, they are normally found in the 400 watt range for power draw, while the tank heaters come in 1000, 1500, and 2000 watt range. The "oilpan" heaters fall into the "Magnetic" heater, and the "heating pad" types. Magnetic heaters are a block unit which adheres to the botom of the oil pan. They are easily knocked off, and radiate much of their heat to the surrounding air. Generally a poor choice for a 4x4. The pad type heaters are a silicon pad of varying size. They are about as thick as a credit card or two. They are glued to the bottom or side of the pan. Their heat output (and current draw) is determined by their size (usually about 25 watts per square inch). They get very hot for their draw, but they do lose a good bit of heat to the air. There are also propane and diesel fired engine heaters available. These are of the tank type design and are completely external to the engine. The great part about these is that you can use them in the field, far from and source of electricity. The downside of a propane heater is that when it gets really cold, the fuel tank will need to be preheated before the fuel will vaporize sufficiently for the heater to work. Stuffing it in the foot of your sleeping bag with you, or carrying it under your coat for a while will do the trick. And of course unless you have a diesel (or propane?) powered rig, it means you have to carry an additional fuel container with you. A battery heater is a very good idea too. In fact, if I had to chose between a block and a battery heater I would lean toward the latter. The performance of an automotive starting battery drops off geometrically as the temperature drops. A heating pad under the battery, and a bit of insulation for good measure can keep the battery it normal levels of output. The best set up for a rig that see's truely cold weather is a block heater (freezeplug type) or two, a battery heater (and insulation) and an oil pan heater as well. On the north slpoe of Alaska, a lot of the trucks that the oil companies use actually have heating pads fitted to the transmissions and differentials as well. Now, (finally) on to the question that Dean actually asked. In the earlier model Cruisers, the freeze plugs are relatively easy to access, and I would reccommend use of a freeze plug heater. Yes, they do install as easily as it appears they do. Make sure to put a little bit of sealant on the O-ring, and lightly sand the edges of the opening before installing the heater. Don't get carried away tightening up the heater in the freeze plug hole. it is easy to snap the small bolt which secures it. But the FJ60 has a good bit of emissions gear, as well as a power steering system which complicates access to the front freeze plugs (which are the easiest to reach in the older rigs). If you are willing to remove enough engine accessories to reach thre freeze plugs on the later engine, this is still the way to go. The center plugs work best, but a heater in any one of them will work fine. If you can not get to any of the freeze plugs on your rig, a tank heater can be connected from the block drain (lower back driver side corner) to the heater hose at the head (rear driver side). This will work well, but make sure you do not allow the hoses to rub against the steering column, or accelerator linkage, or let the heater sit on the exhuast pipe. I have seen people tie into the heater hoses on the passenger side of the engine, or tie into the lower radiator hose, but these are rather ineffecient routings for the heated coolant. Due largly to the routing of the heater hoses across the top of the rear of the motor, Cruisers are known for retaining air bubbles in the cooling system after it has been drained and refilled. A little patience, some careful venting of pressure (but not coolant) while the engine is warm, keeping the overflow tank full, and letting the engine work through a heat/cool cycle or three will usually deal with this though. |
Q: Jim Hodge wrote: I currently own a '93 FJ80, but I'm considering a switch to the LX470 when it becomes available next year. Unfortunately, the independent front suspension means no front locker; I assume the center and rear diffs still lock. How much do you think offroad performance will suffer without front lockers? Is there much hope that the after market will offer solutions to address this shortcoming? What are your thoughts on the LX470's offroadability? A:With a locked center diff (or a non-differentiating transfer case) and open diffs at each end, it is possible to spin a single tire at each end, and loose all driving force. Furthermore, if one tire breaks loose at one end of the rig, the full driving force of the engine will immediately be transfered to the other end of the rig (remember the center diff is locked). A quick foot can compensate for this, but it is very likely to put more power to the two remaining tires which both have traction, and are getting power. This can cause one or both of them to "spin out" as well. Once either one does so. all of your motive power is spent spinning one tire at each end of the rig, and going nowhere. So, with open diffs a tire spinning freely at each end will stop you, and as soon as ANY tire looses traction, there is a chance to loose traction at the other end of the rig due to the inability to transmit the full power of the engine to the ground when it is suddenly passed through just two tires, instead of four.. The addition of a locker to one end of the rig changes this significantly. In order for any tire to spin faster than the others, you have to overcome the traction available to at least three tires at the same time (both tires on the axle equipped with the locker, and at least on of the tires on the other axle. The addition of the second locker will now require all four tires to break free before one can spin. As you can see, the first locker added to the equation produces a much larger improvement than the second one does. Additionally, since the vehicle is driven forward much more than backward, and traction is usually more of a factor when trying to power up and over obstacle, than it is when coasting down them, the weight transfer to the rear of the vehicle will enhance the effects of a locker in the rear. Obviously a rig with lockers at both ends will have more potential traction than the same rig with only one in the rear. But not a tremendous amount more. Other improvements and additions can easily offset this (increased suspension articulation makes a tremendous difference in rocky terrain, and a set of tire chains is just about impossible to beat in slick, muddy or snow covered situations). I have not heard anything about aftermarket offerings for the new model. To be honest, the vast majority of the market that this vehicle is aimed at could probably not care less, and that is going to adversely impact any drive to develop them. But I also do not keep a real close eye on upgrades for the newest Cruisers, so there may be something that has slipped by without my noticing it. I'm sure that someone will correct me on this if this is the case, and i'll pass it along. As to the second part of your question... My thoughts as to the off road ability of the LX470. For serious off roading, and heavy hauling duty, the independant front suspension would not be my first choice. But other concerns actually occur to me first. My personal off roading style entails fairly large distances over pretty rough terrain. Boulder bites, high water rings (sorta like a bathtub ring, but caused by deep silty water), alder "pinstripping", and other such field decorations usually adorn all my rigs. I can not imagine taking a rig which costs what an LX450 does (How far over $50,000 are they now ?) down any serious trail. Leather, carpet, expensive elctronics, EXPENSIVE body parts, and paint treatment, dealer only sourcing for replacement components, and a service department which is not familier with dealing with vehicles that get used in offroad conditions... These are not factors in favor of using this rig for serious backcountry travel. If I get one of my rigs too deeply into a river, or lay it on it's side on a tricky cross up, I winch it out, or upright, and continue down the trail with a shrug about a little bent sheet metal. If a narrow spot requires sacrificing a rocker panel, I cringe a little and get on with it. Are you willing and able to do this with a rig as expensive as an LX450? If I was in Australia, with the availability of less "dressed up" versions of the '80 series Cruiser, a different type of outback travel, and (I assume) dealerships that are used to seeing these rigs used a bit harder, that would color my opinions a bit differently. But to answer the question more directly, the LX450 should be as good an off road rig as is the FJ80. Lose the silly running boards, put the spare tire anywhere but under the fuel tank, swap on some decent size tires with an agressive tread pattern, ignore the occasional scratch and ding, and head on down the trail. While the new front axle setup will not improve the vehicle's potential for serious trail use, it will probably be a shortcoming that few will actually run up against in their usual use of the rig. The capabilties of the '80 series has been proven, and while there are some features of the new rigs that may not match up, the biggest question will probably the suitability for the uses that the individual buyer will put it to. Send your questions to Mark at cruiser@rockcrawler.com |
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