Milage or Price, advice needed!

[denis]

Hi Folks,

I am about buying myself an LJ80 from germany. I want to get the one in a good condition and do not plan to change it for the next 15 years and probably more. There are two LJs to choose from, both cars are in good condition, no rust, freshly repainted.

1st - 25 000 km, 7500EUR
2nd - 69 000 km, 4500EUR

So if both cars visually are in the same condition, how important is the mileage?
Should i invest 3000Eur in 44 000 km difference?
How reliable is LJ, are there standard issues which come with kilometers? And i mean serious issues like gearbox, differentials, engine?

I need to choose before friday and really hope for your advice.
Thank you,
Denis.

[Frankenstein]

Welcome to the forums Denis!

Ok, where to start... How reliable is mileage on a car that is 30 years old? The speedo turns to 0 at 99.999 km so most of them have done more that 100.000km. The speedo itself could be replaced in under 10 minutes with just a screwdriver and the engine could be replaced at some point in it's 30 year long life.

I think overall condition is more important than a speedoreading that is not really reliable. Or the engine has been overhauled with papers to prove it than you could go on that.

Standard issue with lj80's are rust and engineoilconsumption. So what's the state and quality of the bodywork and paintjob. Start the car with a cold engine, blue smoke means the engine needs work, pistonrings or valvestemseals. Drive it and listen for whining and other strange noises from the gearbox and transfercase. Diffs are pretty reliable. The rear diff on mine was totally worn out but I think they drove it for a long time with no oil in it.

Good and rustfree bodypanels are a bit hard to find but mechanical parts are out there for reasonable prices and they are really simple so no complex overhauling but straight forward rebuilds. The engine could be replaced with a 1 liter from the santana sj410 and gearboxes could be rebuild with pretty standard garage equipment.

So I would't look at the mileage but look at the quality of the car and the work they have done on it. Post some pics of the lj's, maybe we can help you decide!

[Offroadrunner]

Hi Denis, welcome to the forum!

Frank said it all, i think rust is the major problem!
Good luck by choosing, and and when you have one, enjoy driving!

[denis]

Thank you very much for a great reply! Now things are much more clear for me.

here are two similar options, both cost 8000 eur but i believe i can negotiate to 7500 eur

http://kleinanzeigen.ebay.de/anzeigen/s ... ent=ViewAd

http://suchen.mobile.de/auto-inserat/su ... res=EXPORT

and this is the other one, i can get it for 4500 eur. This is the one i hope for (only opens with shift+click):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/95363593@N ... otostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/95363593@N ... otostream/

Please let me know what you think, guys, of course in case there is something to say after seeing only photos.

I'll buy one of those in germany and will have to drive it for 2500 kilometers back home. Hope there will be no issues, however i am going to check oil in the engine, gearbox and also in differentials if not too complicated.

Thank you,
Denis.

[Frankenstein]

I would skip the white one. Sound like original but there is no softtop in the pics and they are 550 euro's new.

The cheap red one looks good but not totally original. There is something going on with the dash. It should be in the color of the body but it's black. The radio should be in the dash and not under it. And the engine bay is a different color than the body. Cheap paintjob where they left the engine in place? The carpets in the back could cover up bad spots. Overall it looks like a good lj, outside of the body is in good condition with all the details in place and a good softtop.

The 8000 euro red one looks stunning! Nice combo of the red body and black top wich is in good condition! Interior looks good and original except for the radio. Could be a later model radio but can't find it in the brochures. Steeringwheel is non original but the original is in the back. It is straight and complete, seats look good, even the mudflaps.

So i think it comes down to budget and how original you want it to be!

[denis]

I think not totally original is ok. Also i should be able to fix some things. And going to repaint it in dark green anyway

So I will try with cheap one and see how it goes.

Frank, thank you for your help, it is highly appreciated!!

[Frankenstein]

No problem, that's the fun thing about the lj comunity! Everyone wants to help eachother

When you go look at it, take your time. Go over it from bumper to back and from the ground to the top. Smell the oilfillercap, if it smell's like charcoal the engine could be burning oil. Listen to the drivetrain. Jack up the front and feel if there is a lot of play on the front drums. Weak point of the standard lj, the castlenuts tend to be undertightened and then the drumsplines wear out. You could replace the drumbrakes with discbrakes from the sj410! It is a very common upgrade.

I'm sure there is enough for you to fix, but that's part of the fun! Good luck and let us know how it went and wich one is going to the UK!

[Offroadrunner]

To Spain.
(Check LJ80-Freunde forum)

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[denis]

So I bought one for 4000eur and drove it 500km so far. The body is in ok shape, few places with a bit of rust.
I am going to repaint it anyway so this will get solved. There are some issues with it where your advice would be very appreciated:

- top speed it managed to get is 95km/h, form a hill it got to 105km/h is it ok for lj80?
- engine stops at idle. The only solution for now was to increase idle rpm. I think to clean the carburetor and check the seals.
- clutch is to rough, there is no way to switch gears smooth. It is hard to press and when you release it pedal jumps out, so there is no way to release it smooth.
The solution would be to replace the clutch, right? In order to do it do i need to pull engine off, how difficult is it?
- there is some whining sound on speed from 15 to 40 no matter which gear you are on. Not sure if it is gearbox or transfer box, to me sounded like gearbox.
Not sure what to do about it and if it is a signal something will break soon.

The rest seems to be ok, hope to get it to spain soon.
Thank you for your help guys,
Denis.

[ernabenno]

Hello Denis. Congratulations with your LJ Is it the first time you own one?

So I bought one for 4000eur and drove it 500km so far. The body is in ok shape, few places with a bit of rust.
I am going to repaint it anyway so this will get solved. There are some issues with it where your advice would be very appreciated:

- top speed it managed to get is 95km/h, form a hill it got to 105km/h is it ok for lj80?
It's also the topspeed of the one we own
- engine stops at idle. The only solution for now was to increase idle rpm. I think to clean the carburetor and check the seals.
There is also a big screw on the top of the carburator, for your fuel/air mix. You can try to turn it a bit farder
- clutch is to rough, there is no way to switch gears smooth. It is hard to press and when you release it pedal jumps out, so there is no way to release it smooth. The solution would be to replace the clutch, right? In order to do it do i need to pull engine off, how difficult is it?
The clutch on an LJ isn't smooth. There is just a very little "slip". But it must not be "hard to press" .But if it is necessary, it is not very hard to put in a new one. You can pull the engine of, or you can take the gearbox off. You can fix it in a saturday morning.....
- there is some whining sound on speed from 15 to 40 no matter which gear you are on. Not sure if it is gearbox or transfer box, to me sounded like gearbox.
Not sure what to do about it and if it is a signal something will break soon. Drive slower than 15 km/h , or better, faster as 40 I have no idea
The rest seems to be ok, hope to get it to spain soon.
Thank you for your help guys,
Denis.

Good luck with your LJ, have a good tour to spain, and keep posting...................................
and

[Frankenstein]

The carb could be a matter of cleaning it. Could be the idlejet is clogged or the engine just needs to be tuned and adjusted.

Clutch could be a matter of adjusting. Check the workshopmanual and go from there.

The noise. Is it going up with the speed increasing or does it go up with the rpm of the engine? And does it go away when you press on the clutch pedal?


Awesome that you've got one! Have a safe trip back home and try to post some pics!

[denis]

Noise is not dependent on the gear, with clutch pressed noise disappears if i remember correct. I left the car in Munich, will get to drive it again only in few weeks time Also will make some photos. Can't wait... This is my first LJ, the only experience i had before is 2 minutes drive on the passenger seat. I saw a girl driving green LJ in Malta, stopped her and asked her to give me a ride cause i wanted to get a car like hers Both LJ and girl were nice

[denis]

My LJ got stock rear diff lock, seems it was a requirement in germany to have it for the handbrake to lock both wheels. Do you know anything about it? I heard it is not a good idea to use it for anything beside parking and this sounds quite strange... if suzuki added diff lock for parking how difficult would it be to make it properly so it could be used for driving?

[Frankenstein]

You can buy reinforced parts to make the parkinglocker usable offroad.

[Frankenstein]

These guys sell the parts to make the parking locker into an offroadlocker! http://www.lehmann-ft.de/index.php?page ... 01&kat=001