Hey guys I was looking at this 1990 LC this weekend, and had a few questions. It was a beautiful, clean, rust free, original owner LC, gray with wood panneling, with 149K on it. This truck was in excellent condition. He was asking $6800, but would take ~$5500.

1. This had a manual throttle lever on the lower dash, down by your right knee. It didn't say choke on it like the 60's, since they are carbuerated and the 62 is EFI. Is this factory? What is its purpose?

2. I have seen others over the years with the fake wood panneling sticker on the sides. Is this factory? Is it more desirable, since it is rare, or is it less desirable? Any maintinance issues?

3. When I started it up I noticed that the AT temp light was illuminated on the gear shifter. It has been sitting for ~2days so I know the ATF was not too hot from driving. I assume that the sensor has gone bad. Is this a difficult thing to replace? Is this common?

4. It looked like the rear main seal has a very small leak. It just had a moist area around that general area, with a drip or two. The seller said, the Toyota dealership said, that all LC's have that leak and to not worry about it since it was not serious. I just want to know if that sounds like some BS.

5. Also the AC doesn't blow very cold. The compressor cycles on but I guess the freon leaked out. So I guess it has a leak that needs to be found, fixed, and then converted to the new style? Anyone had any experience with this?

Sorry for all the questions, but these are the only things that I could find that were questionable.
Thanks

 

Sounds like a great fine with some pretty low mileage for one so old. I'd love to have one in that kinda shape...

Good luck!

 

Yea Brian that's the way I feel. I'm having trouble convincing my significant other the same thing.

Anyone have any ideas on the questions?
Thanks

 

1. Hand throttle, when crawling over obsticles it's handy, I have used the one on ours.

2. I don't have fake wood. Don't know.

3. The light should go on when you strat it and then go off once it's running. That's what ours does.

4. They thought ours needed a main seal but it was the valve cover gasket. Probably that on your too. It's common.

5. The AC could be more than a leak, ours had to have the little radiator thing replaced it was all gunked up.

5500 is a very good price. I would take it as a given that you will have to fix some things.

 

Well Steve, not to hijack my own thread, but I checked out your LC site and it is very impressive. I'm not looking to wheel this truck hard if I purchase it, that is what the 4runner is for, but to keep it in EC condition. Have you had any engine, transmission, electrical problems? From what I understand this is a fairly bulletproof engine. A neighbor of mine has one with ~240K on it, and they treat it terribly. I read that you got your with 190K on it, does it still run strong? Burn any oil? Or anything else I should look out for?

Thanks

 

Bought it at 190,000 and now it has I think 197,000 after 1 year with us. My wife does not drive much as you can see.

What our FJ needed was: new belts, new valve cover gasket, new radiator, new fuel injectors, new brakes (aussie, vented), new steering box. Alot of light bulbs needed to be changed out, the rubber hose to the rear squirter was cracked, spliced a new one in.

What it did not need but got anyway: ARB lockers, 4.88 gears, All-Pro Profields, All-Pro Cro-Mo front axles, Full front axle rebuild, full rear axle rebuild, Old Man Emu Suspension, Aluminum rims, Bigger tires, Fancy Randy Ellis bumpers, Complete interior restore to show room new, every part with a crack or scratch replaced, New sunvisors, new rear view mirror - original was loose, Fancy MP3 stereo and Polk speakers.


If you just take the maintenence it's not so bad, but if you add up all the restore/off road stuff it did get a bit crazy.