In preparation for the Japanese Classic Car Show this Saturday, I went to our storage to pick up all the stuff needed to set up our booth at the show. With our J80 Land Cruiser packed to the headliner, I headed home. However, while stopped at a red light, the notoriously smooth 4.5-liter straight-six began to sputter and vibrate. It had suddenly developed a misfire. My heart sank. In less than 48 hours we had to be at Long Beach with all our gear and there were still a million things left to do. We were screwed.
In the eight years that we’ve owned it, the 1997 Land Cruiser has been insanely reliable. It even made the trek from where we bought it in North Carolina to New York City, back to NC, and then cross country to San Francisco before coming down to LA. It had always been tip top, mechanically.
When the light turned green, I hit the pedal. Its 212 horses have never been sprightly, but now I was really struggling. It felt like it was running on five cylinders as I limped it through some of the busiest areas of LA to get home. I tried my best not to come to a complete stop lest I lose all momentum and beach it in the middle of an intersection teeming with aggressively driven Range Rovers and G-Wagons. It seemed to bog less in neutral, so I coasted wherever I could.
After 20 sphincter clenching minutes I made it home. I got online and booked a rental SUV just in case. Annoyingly, the only ones available were at the airport. Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers.
Then I went back out, popped the hood, and began pulling off spark plug wires from the distributor one by one. Each dropped the rpm more, the engine was running on four cylinders, until I got to cylinder No.2. Disconnecting that wire made no difference, meaning that spark plug was already dead. Good thing it was at the front, not the rear half of the motor, which would have required removing more stuff to access.
I extracted the plug. Luckily, it just looked worn. There was no fouling or evidence of a bigger issue. I called my nearest Autozone to see if they had it in stock, but after 10 minutes on hold before getting disconnected, I decided it would be quicker just to drive there (in another car). Turns out three employees had called in sick and there was just one lady at her wit’s end holding down the store.
I got the plugs, but made the call to replace just this one for now. I don’t have time to do more, but will be replacing the other five after the show. After buttoning the plug cover back up I turned the key. The 1FZ was back to its old self, or so I thought.
I had just enough time to pick my kid up from school, so I got back into the Cruiser and headed out. About a half a mile down the road the engine stumbled. Then another. The more I drove, the more frequent they got. It wasn’t as bad as the misfire earlier, but something was still awry.
If a new problem arises, my rule of thumb is that it’s the thing last fucked with. I parked at the school and opened the hood. There was the culprit. In my haste to remove the bad plug, I had pulled on the spark plug wire too hard and torn the insulation on the sleeve. It was arcing, hence the stumble. I happened to have some electrical tape and wrapped the torn rubber as best I could. On the way home that reduced the stumble a little, and under acceleration it was mostly gone, but I wasn’t confident it would hold from LA to Long Beach.
I searched online for a set of Denso plug wires. From the factory the Land Cruiser was supplied by Yazaki, impossible to find in the US. However, even Amazon couldn’t deliver the Densos until sometime Saturday. That wouldn’t do, as we have a call time at Marina Green Park of 6:15 am. I ordered them anyway since they were clearly due for a replacement, but I still needed one for cylinder No.2 ASAP.
After dinner my quest continued. Back at Autozone, the Denso wires were a special order item and wouldn’t arrive before next week. Next stop, O’Reilly, where the only brand available was a questionable Import Direct. They cost double the Densos and the store didn’t have them in stock. Another branch did, but it would add 45 minutes to my drive.
I racked my brain until I realized, “Wait a minute! Land Cruiser owners are pathologically over-prepared.” I texted a couple of Land Cruiser owners I’ve gotten to know over the years. Harald Lacson owns several J80s, all rare spec. Surely he’d have a spare, right? I waited like a schoolgirl for the status to turn to “Read” but it just sat there as “Delivered”.
I reached out to Steve Hatanaka, a friend I’ve known since his days as an events manager at the now-defunct Scion brand, who now works with Corsetti Cruisers. He owns an immaculate white example that’s been shown at JCCS and Toyotafest many times. He responded immediately, “No, I don’t. Let me ask Harald”. I was back to square one.
Just as I was about to give in, Steve texted again. “You know what? We can jack it from my neighbor’s 80. I have the keys and its just sits parked. She never drives it. We grab the wire and put it back after.” I couldn’t believe my luck. “Can I swing by tonight?” Steve texted me his address and even more luck: it was just five minutes from the O’Reilly parking lot I was sitting in.
I pulled up and Steve was there with flashlights in hand. As it happens, the Land Cruiser belonged to a family member of the neighbor that passed away a few years ago. Since then, the car’s been mostly parked. Steve helps the neighbor with occasional tasks, and washes the Land Cruiser for her once in a while to keep it from being completely subsumed by LA’s pervasive dust.
For some reason, that made me feel better about pilfering the spark plug wire. A few minutes and a couple of 10mm bolts later, the wire was in my hand. I thanked Steve, promised to bring back the wire after my Densos arrive, and went home. I dropped it in, test drove it around the block a few times, and the stumble was gone. Crisis averted.
As I was writing this post recounting my adventurer, I got a reply from Harald, “Sorry, just got out of work. Lmk if you need help.” I no longer did, but I’ll be forever grateful at the kindness and resourcefulness of the Land Cruiser community. And thanks to them, we’ll see you at JCCS this Saturday, October 3. Stop by the booth and say hi!
