2006 Toyota Land Cruiser - Unremarkable 12 months of ownership update

[warch]

I'm amazed the parts are so cheap in Australia. The cost of living (with the exception of fuel) is much higher in Aus, especially when you factor in health insurance and other necessaries. 

That said the Land Cruiser is an Australian icon, especially the J70 and old 40 series versions. They don't really have the rust issue we have in colder wetter (saltier) climes so they last forever. Australians tend to identify with the rugged outback image, even if they live in the burbs and several thousand km from the bush, so Chelsea (Sydney?) tractors are fairly common. People who actually live or work in remote areas tend to use quite a narrow range of vehicles, for which spares are regularly available. Parts backup is all important for places like Australia, so there are probably loads of say, Landcruiser parts in every settlement in the country. 

I hadn't really appreciated that the Land Cruiser is really two model lines either. They sell an off road line (that we don't get in the UK) and a comfort line (that we do). The off road line is much more basic and old fashioned and doesn't conform to modern emissions laws, so is only sold in a few markets, usually the developing world, Saffrica, Canada (for special purposes only) and Daanunda. 

[St.Jude]

It’s some plane for it to be still in the air from Wednesday…

Would be my luck for the plane to have bastard crashed somewhere like on “Lost”. Still, I’ve had this in my head every time I’ve checked (Steve Miller can fuck off).

Paul Peña is the original version FYI. And best.

[mat_the_cat]

Could be worse...

[St.Jude]

11 minutes ago, mat_the_cat said:

Could be worse...

Is that an Amazon delivery?

Got an update today. It’s in Coventry so I’ll have it in the next day or two.

[St.Jude]

It’s been a week nearly.

And it’s not shifted from this. 

[666jjp]

looks like they are waiting for a payment,

 

Your parcel: ET212936580AUPart of consignment: EH076877795GB

• 1
  In origin country
   
• 2
  Exported
   
• 3
  Arrived in UK
   
• 4
  In delivery depot
   
• 5
  Out for delivery
   
• 6
  Delivered

Your parcel is being held in our delivery depot awaiting payment of customs charges. The addressee is being sent a letter outlining the charges and how to pay.

Item tracking history

Date	Time	Location	Tracking event
18/4/2023	9:09	Birmingham Depot	Awaiting payment of customs charges
17/4/2023	22:06	Birmingham Depot	Received at delivery depot
17/4/2023	13:44	International Hub	Released from customs
17/4/2023	13:32	International Hub	Revised Customs charges raised
17/4/2023	13:15	International Hub	Customs charges raised
17/4/2023	11:35	International Hub	Awaiting Customs clearance
17/4/2023	11:31	International Hub	Arrived in the UK
12/4/2023	3:23	Delivery Agent -SYDNEY - PTT…+Delivery Agent - SYDNEY - PTT	Despatched to the UK
12/4/2023	3:22	Delivery Agent -SYDNEY - PTT…+Delivery Agent - SYDNEY - PTT	Prepared for despatch to the UK

[St.Jude]

4 minutes ago, 666jjp said:

looks like they are waiting for a payment,

 

Your parcel: ET212936580AUPart of consignment: EH076877795GB

• 1
  In origin country
   
• 2
  Exported
   
• 3
  Arrived in UK
   
• 4
  In delivery depot
   
• 5
  Out for delivery
   
• 6
  Delivered

Your parcel is being held in our delivery depot awaiting payment of customs charges. The addressee is being sent a letter outlining the charges and how to pay.

Item tracking history

Date	Time	Location	Tracking event
18/4/2023	9:09	Birmingham Depot	Awaiting payment of customs charges
17/4/2023	22:06	Birmingham Depot	Received at delivery depot
17/4/2023	13:44	International Hub	Released from customs
17/4/2023	13:32	International Hub	Revised Customs charges raised
17/4/2023	13:15	International Hub	Customs charges raised
17/4/2023	11:35	International Hub	Awaiting Customs clearance
17/4/2023	11:31	International Hub	Arrived in the UK
12/4/2023	3:23	Delivery Agent -SYDNEY - PTT…+Delivery Agent - SYDNEY - PTT	Despatched to the UK
12/4/2023	3:22	Delivery Agent -SYDNEY - PTT…+Delivery Agent - SYDNEY - PTT	Prepared for despatch to the UK

Well I’m annoyed I didn’t hide the tracking number, but at least that makes sense.

Not had a letter yet though annoyingly.

[666jjp]

Sorry, I recognised the number as a Royal mail one, letter is probably in your local delivery office with our record recently.

[St.Jude]

12 minutes ago, 666jjp said:

Sorry, I recognised the number as a Royal mail one, letter is probably in your local delivery office with our record recently.

S’alright. I did think given the length of time there must be an issue with payment.

Funny though, I bought a camera from Japan 2 years ago and I got the camera (and a lovey hand written letter from the seller which I kept) and about 2 weeks later I got an invoice from FedEx asking for payment. So I thought it’d go like that this time but obviously not.

[mat_the_cat]

FedEx are the only ones I know which deliver first before demanding duty payment (along with their processing fee).

[St.Jude]

Rang Parcelforce up today about it, they gave me the reference online to pay (£81.50) and it’s being delivered tomorrow.

All in, so far, the pair have cost £269.

Im half tempted to buy more and sell them here!

[EyesWeldedShut]

1 hour ago, St.Jude said:

Rang Parcelforce up today about it, they gave me the reference online to pay (£81.50) and it’s being delivered tomorrow.

All in, so far, the pair have cost £269.

Im half tempted to buy more and sell them here!

I bought some unobtainium quad parts from the USA last year - the dealer suggested they list them on FleaBay so I could buy/pay through the FleaBay International Parcel/Delivery setup as, in their experience, it worked well.
Bought the stuff, paid eBay for the customs/processing etc etc up front  and the parts were here in 5 days via UPS - given that it's just taken a UK based seller 14 days to deliver a bearing then 5 days is feckin' marvellous.

[St.Jude]

24 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

I bought some unobtainium quad parts from the USA last year - the dealer suggested they list them on FleaBay so I could buy/pay through the FleaBay International Parcel/Delivery setup as, in their experience, it worked well.
Bought the stuff, paid eBay for the customs/processing etc etc up front  and the parts were here in 5 days via UPS - given that it's just taken a UK based seller 14 days to deliver a bearing then 5 days is feckin' marvellous.

The magic of UPS! I think as a delivery service they're rather good.

Annoyingly, even though Parcelforce have my details (email, phone number) and have often had texts from them saying they're going to deliver between X and Y - if you've got the bloody parcel and want me to pay for it just text me? Warn me that a letter is coming or I can make a payment online.

I'd have been sat here today wondering what the fuck is going on with it if it wasn't for @666jjp recognising it's a Parcelforce number, as I was still looking at the AusPost number.

[St.Jude]

Look what arrived today…

There is a fair weight to them, and look genuine enough. As in they look sturdy and not cheap.

Now to fit them! Or at least get someone to fit them.

[St.Jude]

Went to fit these shocks this afternoon. First thing I’d do I thought is raise the ride height so that I’d have more room under it.

Well it didn’t start, despite my best efforts:

Optimistic much? Of course! It did feck all.

Borrowed the wife’s Merc and it came to life. Great!

Except no. The suspension won’t raise or lower. I’m pressing the ride height button and there’s a light on the dash to say what position it’s at. It’s just stuck at N. 

It’s raining but I got out and turned it off, and then turned it back on to see if I could hear the compressor. I can’t hear the compressor.

What do we do now? Well, we get the laptop and plug it in and see what Techstream says. But do you think I know where this shagging laptop is? No.

So, yeah. Might be getting more parts from Australia!

[RoverFolkUs]

I think you've just been unlucky, the ones we look after are still performing fine and have not shit themselves

They are used properly - for offroading. 

With that being said, one is sprung all round, the other is on bags at the rear. So maybe they've previously borked themselves 🤔

[St.Jude]

It’s expensive all of this bad luck!

The issue is I can’t really ask for help from the hive minds on the Faceache groups or websites, as the answer will be “do the spring conversion m9”.

If I wanted fucking springs I’d have bought a bed. Or the LC4.

[St.Jude]

Finally got the Land Cruiser started today (with the help of a Halfrauds battery charger), got Techstream to fire up on a laptop that has sat on the Lada’s floor being pissed on by the rain (fucking so happy about that) and Techstream returns this:

You fucking daft twat for buying this piece of shit

C1751 - Continuous current to compressor motor

I have checked the fuse and the fuse is fine. So me thinks the compressor is fucked. Perfect. Did a bit of doom googling and yeah it’s not a cheap part.

Going to see if I can recondition it or someone can fix it or if I can get a good second hand one.

[Rocket88]

You sound like you’re getting close to a “burn it with fire 🔥 “ moment……

[St.Jude]

20 minutes ago, Rocket88 said:

You sound like you’re getting close to a “burn it with fire 🔥 “ moment……

I’m beyond it, I’m just wondering what else could possibly go wrong with it now. 

Given the cash it’s eating up it’s not even a case of getting rid of it ASAP, it’s more I’ve got to keep it now just to get the use of it. It’s been laid up since November. 6 months of it just sat there doing fuck all because of various problems that aren’t cheap fixes and it just keeps finding new ones to throw up.

And I still haven’t got shagging air con working in the cunt!!!!!!!!

[St.Jude]

I may well live to regret this, but I’ve paid for it with a credit card and the seller has 100% feedback. 

Someone on the Land Cruiser Faceache group reckoned they bought one similar (in price) a few years ago. So I’d imagine they do work for a period of time.

The plan then is fit this but keep the old one and see if I can get it fixed properly, so if/when this one stops working I can then have a proper Toyota one to replace it.

[Rust Collector]

10 minutes ago, St.Jude said:

I may well live to regret this, but I’ve paid for it with a credit card and the seller has 100% feedback. 

Someone on the Land Cruiser Faceache group reckoned they bought one similar (in price) a few years ago. So I’d imagine they do work for a period of time.

The plan then is fit this but keep the old one and see if I can get it fixed properly, so if/when this one stops working I can then have a proper Toyota one to replace it.

If it's not a bastard to replace, and it works for a year or so then at least it's kicked the problem down the line for not a lot of money - you can then reassess later whether to spend out on a Toyota unit to replace it.

[Dave_Q]

My only relevant suggestion is that on the Audi allroad I had once, the compressor is pretty simple and you could get a rebuild kit which just consisted of a fat seal for the piston for not that much.

They basically aren't designed to run continuously but if you have eg a leaky bag, they run on to try and keep it up and get hot and melt/damage the pump seal.

Even if there isn't anyone selling such a thing as a kit the compressors are not complicated and I reckon you'd be able to find a seal for it once you had it in bits.

[St.Jude]

I tried googling it and no one seems to do rebuild kits for them, which is odd. But then the Range Rover and Audi ones came up a lot so I dunno, maybe they break more often?

100% going to rebuild the current one. Just not now.

[warch]

I note a genuwhine (sic) compressor is about 1200 quid for one of these (the same price as, say a workshop compressor might cost), so buying one for almost a tenth of the price is not that great a risk. I fitted a wiper motor bought for 12 quid off ebay for my car about five years ago, and have recently had to replace it, and only because the seals on it were shit and it got filled with water after a flash rainstorm. 

[St.Jude]

35 minutes ago, warch said:

I note a genuwhine (sic) compressor is about 1200 quid for one of these (the same price as, say a workshop compressor might cost), so buying one for almost a tenth of the price is not that great a risk. I fitted a wiper motor bought for 12 quid off ebay for my car about five years ago, and have recently had to replace it, and only because the seals on it were shit and it got filled with water after a flash rainstorm. 

Well £1,200 is what Roughtrax have managed to “negotiate”. Mr.T wants nearer £2,000 I think. Amayana or whatever it Is has them for ~£600.

Im only pessimistic about it as the last part I bought off eBay for this was the height sensor and that was a crock of shit altogether.

[artdjones]

According to this site it may not be the compressor.

http://zatonevkredit.ru/repair_manuals/raw_content/rm000002pec00zx.xml

[St.Jude]

13 minutes ago, artdjones said:

According to this site it may not be the compressor.

http://zatonevkredit.ru/repair_manuals/raw_content/rm000002pec00zx.xml

I am sick to fucking death of relays. That is the first mention of relays I've seen though, most of it has been to do with the compressor or ECU. But the C1751 code means different things apparently as well. So who knows until the compressor turns up.

[St.Jude]

Here’s something new.

The old air suspension compressor! Woop!

You know what though? It took 6 fucking hours. Most of that time was spent spraying the 3 bolts that hold that frame to the ladder frame, 3 turns out, spray, then 3 turns back in just to avoid the bolts breaking. 

I broke 2 bolts out of a possible 8. That’s not bad considering it’s a Toyota.

It is such a horrible fuck of a job. The place where the pump lives is really tight. If you took the bumpers off and the body it’d be easy.  But it’s anything but easy regardless. The frame itself wouldn’t come out without the pump being detached, and the pump couldn’t come out because there’s a black filter (not pictured) covering the one bolt of the pump. That took an hour trying to get a 10mm socket on them in a recess that has no right to have a tool on it.

Heres the new pump:

Same I think. 

[St.Jude]

So the replacement of the new pump, along with cleaning up all of the bolts and shit so I don’t have any bolts breaking on replacement, took about 2 hours. 

 

As you can see I wasn’t joking about how tight the space is.

Turned it on, set the height control to High and I hear the fiddly fuck of an air pump burst in to life.

Fantastic!

Eh? That’s not high.

Indeed it’s not high. It hasn’t moved a fucking inch. It’s still sat on its bump stops. Can I move it back to N? No. It’s stuck in H. I’m back where I was yesterday. 

I do have a slight issue that my laptop with Techstream on it may have spent the last week outside in the rain, not helped by todays rain. 

So I don’t know if it’s thrown a code, the same code, or maybe I need to reconfigure the height before I turn it on or some shit. Fucked if I know.