I recently bought my first diesel, a 1988 HJ61 "deluxe" which I believe is the automatic version of the Sahara. I purchased it from my ex wife's brother, (I knew I married her for some reason) who regularly changed the oil for the two years he owned it, but that about it. I only paid $8,500 for the car, and yes it does need some work. However it has numerous accessories fitted including ARB bullbar, IPF spot lights, Kaymar swing away rear wheel carrier, cruise control, and more, plus the factory luxuries drink cooler/ice maker, dual aircon, etc. etc.
It has the 12-HT engine which compared to my old 82 2F petrol troopy, is a dream on fuel, not to mention the vastly improved ride and lack of noise. (I drove the troopy from
Cairns to
Adelaide and back, twice, once via
Melbourne, is there an award for that??)
I don't mind the auto, but unfortunately the lock up on the torque converter is shot, and when it changes into O/D it shudders, and also on acceleration in O/D. So, out with the auto and in with a 5 speed, which I have lying around in the shed. (I am a cruiser hoarder, I still have my 82 troopy, plus a 77 FJ55 with 302 Cleveland and 5 speed Trans that I have been restoring for 6 years now....)
So after all that waffle, I was wondering if there are any other 12HT owners out there who can give me some advice on the following:
1. A good diesel mechanic/tuner in the
Cairns area.
2. What sort of fuel economy are they getting? (auto and manual)
3. Any tips on what modifications work, and what to look out for with 12-HT engines. (mine has a 3” mandrel bent exhaust fitted, I was wondering if this would improve or impeded performance)
A work colleague has an identical cruiser to mine with the exception that his is manual, and he gets around 26mpg around town. I get around 22. I do recall a post on this site a last year about someone getting 40mpg out of a 2H diesel 60 series cruiser, which caused a few sparks to fly. One thing I was amazed at is that no raised the issue of tire size and speedo correction. I had 31 x 10.5 x 15" wheels on my troopy, and my speedo was reading a higher speed that I was actually doing, when meant that fuel economy would have been incorrectly good. (
well, not good but better on a 2F!!)
So I measured the diameter of my tyres, and found that a 31" tyre is in fact only around 29" in diameter. I fitted new wheels and tyres, 265 x 75 x 16” which did not improve the fuel economy on paper, but made a huge difference in engine noise/rpm when driving the vehicle in top gear. (only a 4 speed transmission, no over drive).
So, does Toyota have two gears for the speedometer drive? or, do they calibrate the speedo to the tires fitted at the factory? My HJ61 has the original tyre fitment sticker in place inside the driver’s door, and shows both 10R x 15” and 7.5 16” were factory options.
Thanks in advance for you
views,
Martin
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