Help required

[St3ve]

Hey people...

i bought a 89 surf today. beautiful condition inside and out, low k's (136,000kms). although its not all smoothe sailing.

The car is so slow to drive. i can hear the turbo spooling, but there is not push felt. very slow up hills. alright on the flat. also the turbo light does not come on at all while driving, only the first self test. i read that the turbo pressure sensor vacuum hose could be to blame for some of the problem.... my one is loose.

also the automatic locking hubs isnt working. doesnt lock the front hubs. 4x4 mode still works, but will only drive the rear wheels. not sure whats going on there. the car wasnt tested offroad when i was looking at buying it to see if the hubs locked properly. only onroad, and it seemed alright at the time, but works out it isnt.

also, just interested to know opinions of lift kits for these cars. i'm told that the torsion front suspension is a PITA to do lifts to. rear has coils, so should be bit easier. would a body lift be an ok option???

What should be done to the cooling system so it can handle australia's hotter weather??


Few questions there i know... any help would be muchly appreciated!!!

Thankyou.

Steve in Australia

[Guest]

Hey people...

i bought a 89 surf today. beautiful condition inside and out, low k's (136,000kms). although its not all smoothe sailing.

The car is so slow to drive. i can hear the turbo spooling, but there is not push felt. very slow up hills. alright on the flat. also the turbo light does not come on at all while driving, only the first self test. i read that the turbo pressure sensor vacuum hose could be to blame for some of the problem.... my one is loose.

also the automatic locking hubs isnt working. doesnt lock the front hubs. 4x4 mode still works, but will only drive the rear wheels. not sure whats going on there. the car wasnt tested offroad when i was looking at buying it to see if the hubs locked properly. only onroad, and it seemed alright at the time, but works out it isnt.

also, just interested to know opinions of lift kits for these cars. i'm told that the torsion front suspension is a PITA to do lifts to. rear has coils, so should be bit easier. would a body lift be an ok option???

What should be done to the cooling system so it can handle australia's hotter weather??


Few questions there i know... any help would be muchly appreciated!!!

Thankyou.

Steve in Australia

Steve.

For the Turbo, first thing to check is that all the vaccum hoses are on. That could also explain the 4WD. There are two vacuum hoses, on either end of the Turbo to intake air pipe (small pipes that connect to a metal pipe fixed to the air pipe). This is what activates the 4WD system.

If any of the small vacuum hoses are off, then the turbo may not work (had this on mine when I got them fitted wrong when I replaced my head. I would check this before the turbo pressure sensor as it is the thing most likely to be wrong and if someone has replaced the head then it can easily happen.

For the cooling system, just make sure that everything is in top condition - flush the radiator and engine block well - use a flushing agent like holts speedflush. Replace the thermostat, make sure the hoses are in good nick, gets some DEI rad relief - i use it in mine in the UK and it certainly drops the engine temp and alos speeds up the warm up time.

Also make sure that the viscous fan is working well - replace the fluid in it if you can, you should be able to get some from Toyota. You could also fit an auxiliary electric cooling fan or just bolt through the viscous fan so that it runs all the time - the noise will be pretty bad though.

It's easy to lift the Surf, longer rear coils and crank up the front torsion bars by a maximum of 1 1/2". Nay bigger you need a proper lift kit and will need to drop the diff or put manual locking huibs on the front otherwise you will wear out the CV joints. You can also get body lifts as well so a 2" (1 1/2" on the front) plus a 2" body lift will give you 4" of lift - enough to fit 33" tyres on - mind you a standard 2.4 will have trouble turning those size of wheels.

Cheers and good luck with sorting the problems.

[carbonman]

Steve.

For the Turbo, first thing to check is that all the vaccum hoses are on. That could also explain the 4WD. There are two vacuum hoses, on either end of the Turbo to intake air pipe (small pipes that connect to a metal pipe fixed to the air pipe). This is what activates the 4WD system.

If any of the small vacuum hoses are off, then the turbo may not work (had this on mine when I got them fitted wrong when I replaced my head. I would check this before the turbo pressure sensor as it is the thing most likely to be wrong and if someone has replaced the head then it can easily happen.

For the cooling system, just make sure that everything is in top condition - flush the radiator and engine block well - use a flushing agent like holts speedflush. Replace the thermostat, make sure the hoses are in good nick, gets some DEI rad relief - i use it in mine in the UK and it certainly drops the engine temp and alos speeds up the warm up time.

Also make sure that the viscous fan is working well - replace the fluid in it if you can, you should be able to get some from Toyota. You could also fit an auxiliary electric cooling fan or just bolt through the viscous fan so that it runs all the time - the noise will be pretty bad though.

It's easy to lift the Surf, longer rear coils and crank up the front torsion bars by a maximum of 1 1/2". Nay bigger you need a proper lift kit and will need to drop the diff or put manual locking huibs on the front otherwise you will wear out the CV joints. You can also get body lifts as well so a 2" (1 1/2" on the front) plus a 2" body lift will give you 4" of lift - enough to fit 33" tyres on - mind you a standard 2.4 will have trouble turning those size of wheels.

Cheers and good luck with sorting the problems.

]

I'm not hijacking this thread, honest! but.....
the lift bit... is that all you need? longer springs? no new
shocks etc..?
Ta
CM

[Guest]

]

I'm not hijacking this thread, honest! but.....
the lift bit... is that all you need? longer springs? no new
shocks etc..?
Ta
CM

With a 2" lift on the back, the shocks will be at the limit of the travel, new shocks should be fitted but you can get away with it, if you are intending to do a lot of off road and really using the suspension travel then new shocks are pretty much required. To be honest the Toyota shocks are useless anyway and very expensive to replace. A set of Pro Comp ES3000 or ES9000, £30 - £35 each are a good investment, you lose the easy adjustability of the Toyota ones but then on Soft setting they are too soft (like driving a Chevrolet Caprice) and on hard you can lose your teeth. For a 2" lift that is really all you need - longer rear springs and adjust the front torsion bars - shocks are worth having though. You shouldn't need longer brake hoses or anthing like that for that level of lift. Above that you need to do lots, lengthen the panhard rod, fit manual locking hubs on the front, drop the diff, uprated propshaft UJs, maybe even fit double UJs.

Cheers

[carbonman]

With a 2" lift on the back, the shocks will be at the limit of the travel, new shocks should be fitted but you can get away with it, if you are intending to do a lot of off road and really using the suspension travel then new shocks are pretty much required. To be honest the Toyota shocks are useless anyway and very expensive to replace. A set of Pro Comp ES3000 or ES9000, £30 - £35 each are a good investment, you lose the easy adjustability of the Toyota ones but then on Soft setting they are too soft (like driving a Chevrolet Caprice) and on hard you can lose your teeth. For a 2" lift that is really all you need - longer rear springs and adjust the front torsion bars - shocks are worth having though. You shouldn't need longer brake hoses or anthing like that for that level of lift. Above that you need to do lots, lengthen the panhard rod, fit manual locking hubs on the front, drop the diff, uprated propshaft UJs, maybe even fit double UJs.

Cheers

Cool Thanks,
Do the shocks on the front too?

[Linda]

Cool Thanks,
Do the shocks on the front too?

Did all 4 on mine at the same time. I used ES9000 all round as I plan on sticking a winch on in time. If you have no plans for that tho ES3000 would be fine on the front.

Got mine from here www.supertrux.com. Give them a ring - lots of good free advice... got my lift kit there too..

[Guest]

Did all 4 on mine at the same time. I used ES9000 all round as I plan on sticking a winch on in time. If you have no plans for that tho ES3000 would be fine on the front.

Got mine from here www.supertrux.com. Give them a ring - lots of good free advice... got my lift kit there too..

As Steve is in Australia I would suggest Old Man EMU as they are locally made. Pro Comp are made in the US so the shipping would be much more expensive.

Should be able to get them from here.

http://www.arb.com.au/

or ring them here:

ARB Corporation Ltd
42-44 Garden Street
Kilsyth VIC 3137
Australia
Tel: +61 3 9761 6622
Fax: +61 3 9761 6807.

The Nitrocharger Shocks are supposed to be the muts nuts and they also do uprated and longer springs. They are built and designed for use in the outback so should be pretty sturdy.

Cheers

[Linda]

As Steve is in Australia

Opps - that'll teach me to read it properly... Derr!

[St3ve]

Thanks for the replies guys!

went out this morning and had a look at all vacuum hoses. and i came accross one that wasnt being used at all. wondering if anyone might know what it is meant to be doing.

i took a pic of the hose.

every other hose seems to be ok.

thanks again...

[St3ve]

i found another plug that isnt plugged into anywhere....the one in the pic on the right, with orange tape



also, there is a plug not plugged in under the fuse box. blue/red small single wire.



not sure if either of these are meant to be plugged in to anything else???


also, how does the Glow 80A fuse unscrew?? i have the fuse box upside down, cant work out how to take fuse out. its blown. car still starts fine, no worries.

[Guest]

Steve.

Pretty sure the first one is the 4WD activation - I'll have a look at mine in a while. The second plug I'm not sure about - will have a look, and for the third.

The 80A fuse bolts in from underneath, you need to unscrew the fusebox and with much trouble, turn it over, the fuse is held in underneath with 2 nuts.

Cheers

[St3ve]

thanks again Lucky.

i had a good read of this site, and checked out what they said. i traced the vacuum ADD lines. that first pic is definately to do with 4wd activation. i'd be very interested to find out where they Tee into...

http://www.off-road.com/toyota/tech/add/

all vacuum lines seem to be in good condition. so its just that first pic hoses that i need to plug in somewhere...

i look forward to your reply thanks

[JimL]

aside:

a cleaner engine bay you wont find, and its 15 yrs old, fair play to ya (its great fun gettin it dirty though)

Good luck

[NiftyNev]

Steve

First to the plug under fuse box.I have the same on my '92 - 2.4 and is also not connected.Probably for an option thats not installed.

The second plug looks similar to the oil pressure sender connection on mine (different color) and connects to wire for this at the alternator wiring harness.

The vacuum hose setup on yours is a little different to mine but check that there is a hose connected to vacuum pump on alternator.There are two - A large on for the brakes and a small one for the ADD and other vacuum components.If you can't find a place to connect then plug the end of hose and see if this has any effect.On mine there is a vacuum tank mounted to front of right wheel arch.If you have the same then make sure the two hoses are connected.

Hope this helps.

Neville

[St3ve]

Thanks Nev, and thanks guys. i'll check it out some more soon.

Lucky, were u able to take a look at yours? find where my missing plug plugs into?

and yer, JimL, engine bay, and whole car for that matter is very very clean

thanks.