The Toyota Landcruiser Owners Club

[timbo]

Hi everyone, recently my LC3 120 has taken a fraction longer to start first go, if left time span seems to increase, any ideas?
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[Tractionman]

A little more info please.  d4d engine ?  Is it turning over fast enough, I.e. good battery power, and its just the amount of cranking time involved you are talking about ?  If so, is it just from cold, or any time, and how does it run once started?

[Juddian]

The only battery failures i've had on Yotas has been the 70 series, around 11 years old at the time original batteries, never failed to start just got slower turning over, tried recharging properly but that was only a temp fix, replaced them and all was good again.

Similar slower start one morning on the present 120, bit of surprise that because the batts are MR T and only about 3 years old at the time, then i realised i had no ignition light at all engine started or not, took a chance on it being alternator, it was, Lucus recon was £126 from the local sparky shop and took me about 2 hours to swap over.

NB, easiest way to remove if it is alternator, is to take off the offside front wheel and work through the two gaps after removing the plastic splash guards, its also easier from that angle to get enough arm strength to work against the spring on the auxilliary belt constant tensioner.  Also possible to do the job from above but you'll be working blind.

[Tractionman]

How you doing Juddian ? Hopefully timbo can give us more to go on, and we can be of help.
Interesting, I had battery failure on a 70 series, after 9/10 years of ownership, they were Jap batteries that it came over with, and my 120 batteries failed soon after I bought it, so dont know of age, looked pretty old though.
Usual thing, plenty of volts, not enough amps to fire up.
Agree 're alternator, deffo go in from o/s, much less drama.
If it's not related battery/alternator power here, there are the usual suspects, depending how it's running.

[Juddian]

Spiffing thanks Tractionman, sitting here at home watching stair rods of rain battering down the drive.
Had planned to put the Forester up on the ramps and top up the rustproofing, but seeing as it about 2" deep in water, er no.
My weekend on shift so here's hoping it clears up.

We're lucky with the twin battery set up on our motors, and maybe Japanese or far eastern batteries generally in that they don't seem to suddenly just die on you leaving you stranded, but then i always buy the best batteries i can at replacement time, nothing worse than a battery that's only just up to the job, i want one that laughs at -15' temps, when i'm on shift at 4am the last thing i want is to hear a click or thw demoralising sound of an engine turning over about twice then the starter clicking.

[Tractionman]

Same weather here mate.
Karl and I have been doing doing underbody treatment/proofing on our 120s these last few months as per weather allows.
There are some that disagree with twin battery set ups, but I have been happy with them.Toyota didn't design the system for fun, and yes, no expense spared on batteries. I put the biggest ah and cca that would fit the trays on the 120, from a reliable well known manufacturer.
Been in your line of work myself as you know, and unsociable hours (for us) when snow is creeping up yer trouser leg, is not acceptable for a non starter, especially when we have to get to work, then to travel a few hundred miles and more to cover customers needs. LC needs to be as reliable as the trucks we drive.

[TONYCY11]

I would first look at the batteries , how old are they , and how does the engine run when it is started , if it runs good then it is likly to be the batteries , as the batteries get old and weak it happens gradually and not noticeable hearing the sound of the engine turning over and taking longer to start , and its only when you change the batteries you you notice the engine cranks round faster and starts much quicker that tells you that you should have changed them sooner , and like Tractionman and Juddian I fitted the most powerful batteries I could find that would fit in the battery tray , which I got from europarts/carparts4less at 70 quid each for 70ah/600cca that are calcium/calcium batteries , I have no experience with calcium/calcium batteries but they are supposed to last longer than lead acid batteries so I will find out if that is the case , had them in for nearly 4 years and they still spin the engine round quickly on the starter and so they should . and Hi Traction man and Juddian glad you both busy doing jobs on your cars .as its very therapeutic but not when ya watching through the windows at the rain stopping you from doing it ,

[karl2000]

Nice to see all the 120 action here!

Are the calcium batteries any lighter?

Speaking as someone who just had to lift batteries out to change a headlight bulb!  Could have done it with the batteries in I think until the bulb retaining clip fell off.... in the p*ssing rain of course.

Just FYI I've got Yuasa 830CCA / 100Ah in mine.

[TONYCY11]

They dont feel any lighter Karl , talking about headlamp spring clips when I was fitting led headlight bulbs some a few years ago as I undid the clip on the passenger side and took the original bulb out the spring clip came off it hinge and fell into the head lamp and after trying to pull it out with a magnet the sod worked its way under the headlamp at the back so I could not see it any more , so I could not be bothered to take off the headlamp so I tied the led bulb in with wire and got one off e bay that came in a set and fits any h4 fitment,

[Tractionman]

Nice one , Tony and Karl.  I have 2 Varta 930cca/ 95ah. These bigger capacity batteries we all have, as long as everything else is good, spin over for instantaneous start.
Can't remember what stock is, but much lower than ours, and in my opinion, just adequate. Once they are into numerous cranks, through other problems, soon deteriorate.
Karl, you get all the easy jobs !

[Tractionman]

Nice one , Tony and Karl.  I have 2 Varta 930cca/ 95ah. These bigger capacity batteries we all have, as long as everything else is good, spin over for instantaneous start.
Can't remember what stock is, but much lower than ours, and in my opinion, just adequate. Once they are into numerous cranks, through other problems, soon deteriorate.
Karl, you get all the easy jobs !

[TONYCY11]

Thats two powerfull batteries you got there Traction man

[Tractionman]

Oops, dunno what happened there. 2 for tge price of one, sorry all

[Tractionman]

Yes Tony, sometimes I help the National Grid out, haha.

[Juddian]

I've still got the standard replacement batteries from Mr T, though i understand they don't have the same kick as OE but apparently if you could get OE spec from the parts dept they'd be something like twice the price.

Been on probably 6 years now and still doing the job fine, no issues so happy to put the same capacity set on again, combined they still have more AH and CCA than the single battery my Hilux had with the same engine, so if and when they die i'll probably stick with the same dimensions which fit well in the trays but more than likely buy Yuasa.
If both trays would accommodate the larger sizes (which ironically can be sourced cheaper) easily then going up in spec is a no brainer because even if one batt failed competely the other is more than capable of starting and running the vehicle by its own self.

Recall now i bought Hella batteries for the 70 all those years ago, can't say i've seen a Hella badged battery since.
Miss that 70 but it saved my lovely wifey from harm or worse in the accident, had she been in her little company issue Punto that would not have been the case.

Best battery i ever had was a huge Varta on my Volvo 740 Diesel, that never failed despite getting hell caned out of it when the glow plugs failed, could be turning over for minutes at a time until i could swap the glow plugs out,  my sister bought the car from us, she drove a foreign regd Volvo glass carrier artic  for years, which she kept in a yard during holidays, every holiday the batteries on that would go flat and she'd jump start the thing of that Volvo estate, that Varta battery was 10 years old to my knowledge and when the car was eventually scrapped said battery was still going strong.
Disappointingly, the Varta i bought for my W124 died completely after going flat over a winter when i stood it (CTEK smart charger died undected for weeks) and no charger would recover it, hence why Yuasa are now my choice.

Nice to see the usual friendly faces here, hope you're all tickety boo.