Land Crusier FJ62 question
 

There is a 1990 FJ62 for sale in the general area. I have not gone to see it yet, but I have spoken to the owner. He claims the only rust is in the the lower doors, clean frame, and everything works except AC.

Now, my questions for the LC crowd.

It is an auto/6 cylinder. I know these aren't swift by any means, but are they a complete pig with the automatic?

It has 250K miles. Too much?

The RR just isn't doing it for me, and I was itching to get back into Full Size Jeeps, but have always admired the cruisers, so any info is appreciated.

The 3FE engine will run forever, 250k is nothing to run away from. Easy to work on, will go anywhere. I did have to change out a few alternators, but got to the point it became a 25-30 minute job. Negatives are gas mileage, acceleration. If you buy it you will become a Cruiser fanatic for life.

3F-e engine is a darn good motor. By the time they started putting that variant of the "F" engine into the 62's it was almost a 45 year old design. They say that they can go 300k normally before they need a overhaul but I've seen a lot more on them.

The rust though... I hope it's limited to just the doors. The areas behind the rockers and under the rear carpets where the bed is welded together are often hiding a lot of rust.

But to answer your original question I could merge onto the highway pretty well with mine. And it cruised at 65 without any problems. The mileage around town was dreadful though.

My Landcruiser is an 82 FJ60 with the regular transmission. So far it ran about 600,000 to 1 million miles on the first engine and transmission. Can't tell exactly because the odometer broke at 180,000 in the early nineties, sometime. The car is a tank and moves deliberately with top speed of barely 80 MPH. Milage atrocious, 10 MPG in the city but car lasts forever with only realtively minor repairs. The body is heavy built on double I-beams, leaf springs front and rear, and good for towing because of its weight and the high torque in low RPM's. And is has real ground clearance. Great car if you don't use it very much. Great in 4WD mode.

The other great thing is the rear hatch. So big you can load drywall, washer/ dryer, etc. Just Huge!

This. I seriously regret selling my '91 FJ80. Power with the 3FE is just adequate, you can cruise at 70 MPH on the highway but it doesn't get in any hurry to get there. Mine was made worse by the addition of 33" AT tires which didn't do any favors for MPG or acceleration. If you can get away with it desmog the truck. Toyota saddled the US market with a cobbled together EGR and emissions system, removing it was the best thing that I ever did for mine. I sold mine with 199k, it didn't use a drop of oil and still drove like new. I drove it everywhere without worry.

Forgot about the rear hatch. Yes, I prefer the two piece hatch. The bottom folds down and together with the downed rear seat bench you have an almost 8 feet long flat loading surface. Also the lower hatch makes a great seat for tail gate entertainment. And the LC is one of the few SUV's with a 4 foot wide clearance rear door. You can easily load 4X8' panels above the wheel wells. I have used my LC for camping. Inside it has a 6' long, completely flat sleep area. And with all the space inside it parks easily in a compact car parking space.

Just a quick update. Last night I checked her out and took a road test. It did have some rust in the door bottoms, and on the hatch, but underneath and the frame were clean--It was a South Carolina ride for much of it's time. Some slight oil drips and a worn driver seat, had new bearings in the front wheels, and an updated drive shaft coupling, and upgraded H4 headlights. There was a slight ticking at idle--possible lifter tick--went away once warmed up--everything indeed works excpet the AC(compressor engages, just blows warm) drove straight ran it up to 65 with no problems. I ended up pulling the trigger.

I pick it up Monday and will post pics then.

Cool!!

Really cool! Subd for photos.

Congrats! Pics will be needed. The 3FE does still require valve adjustments, that may account for some of the ticking. Even after an adjustment mine always ticked a little when cold.

Yep. I miss my 82 fj-60

I'm still jonesing for an FJ80... You guys aren't helping at all.

dang it....now I'm looking.

I just started shopping for a land cruiser. I don't need one and I don't have the room for one. I have however been looking for something that would love a cummins 4bt under the hood...

Although not related to your engine question I have two LC's an 85 BJ-60 (3.4 diesel) and a 90 HDJ-81 (4.2 turbo diesel) and they are great trucks. However after running the 60 for 15 years in this (PNW) climate, her body is almost shot....bums me out man. Starts every time and will always get you there...slowly. The 60 diesel gets up to 25MPG on the hiway which is pretty good for the size it is. The 81 gets maybe five MPG less due to the AWD system, it's a very much more refined truck but an awful lot more complex (electric diff locks, sunroof, electric locks and drivers seat, ...etc) I love the 60, it's my DD, for me she might be the last of those simple, reliable, efficient machines that you can in theory, keep on the road indefinitely. That is if you're located in a climate that doesn't show up it's one major weakness, corrosion. Cheers

There's an FJ80 here in town for sale that has a Cummins turbo diesel in it...

Any pics of your new cruiser yet?

I pick it up tonight at 6:30. Will have pics up on Wednesday(I will be at a project site tomorrow and away from the computer).:)

Congrats .... Pics wednesday .... What color is it ?