Project Chronicle

I have a connection with the local Lexus dealer that has proven helpful over the years. Joe Manzi, a former technician with the now-defunct Oxford Motorcars, joined the Lexus dealer technician team in Warwick, Rhode Island, a few years back. Joe worked on my E21-chassis BMW 320 and my extremely obscure 1981 Toyota HiAce wagon. He was a life-saver time and again on that HiAce and I'm sure he was grateful to see it go onto a new owner. 

The Lexus LX450 I picked up recently had some needs. The power steering leak, non-working rear hatch, warm A/C, and no evidence of recent transfer case or transmission fluid changes. All told, I wanted to get Joe's capable eyes on it to address some standard, deferred maintenance along with flagging anything I should be mindful of over the long-term. 

He has yet to text me with an update, which is good and bad. It either means he's found nothing out of the ordinary or the list of needs has quadrupled he's afraid to call me. To that end, you have to take advantage of the few perks going to a dealer affords you, so I didn't hesitate to take the complimentary loaner car they offered me while they work on a 248K mile LX450 that is profusely leaking power steering fluid. 

And hey, for a brief minute, the neighbors may even think I've come to my senses and purchased a reliable, late-model vehicle. Joke's on them! 

The Lexus LX450 arrived with a pretty powerful stream of fluid terminating from below, and the best guess so far is the power steering oil cooler. Of course, the cooler consists of hard lines and therefore can't be replaced. 

There's the possibility that the leak is coming from the power steering reservoir itself, as there's a few accounts online of a misdiagnosed leak being traced back to the very cheap fix of replacing some O-rings inside the tank itself.

My friend Jeff, a professional mechanic who arranged the sale of the LX450, said it's the hard lines going into the cooler. I have no reason not to believe him, so I tracked down a used cooler assembly from a place in New Hampshire that deals exclusively in Land Cruiser parts. I've also got an appointment on the books for the truck to go to the local Lexus dealer for this repair along with proactively swapping the water pump, thermostat, and drive belts while it's there. My good mechanic friend Joe Manzi, from the now-defunct Oxford Motorcars, will be handling this job, which I'm pretty psyched about. Joe's a great guy and an excellent mechanic. 

The tags from Vermont should arrive shortly, and then we can get this thing some beach passes and take it on the sand! 

Well, although it seemed like a pretty done deal, I confirmed today I will finally be a Land Cruiser owner as of tomorrow. I've been searching for a very specific truck - the FJ80-series Land Cruiser with the Lexus trim, otherwise known as an LX450 - and my friend Jeff, a local mechanic, snagged this one from a customer. 

The cherry on top was to find one wearing the pretty shade of blue/green paint that was unique to the Lexus variant. This truck, which I inadvertently took a picture of in the background of a photo of my departed Trooper, belongs to a family from Newport, RI. I visited it in person today and while it needs a serious detailing and has some rot issues to resolve, it's surprisingly solid for a New England truck. 

It drives nicely; runs cool; and any negative surprises (so far) have been pleasingly mild. I keep forgetting this is a Lexus from the golden-era of Toyota's luxury arm over-engineering everything they built. The Lexus does have some leaks, primarily an oil leak from the pan gasket area and a power steering leak. The rear hatch took a direct hit near the lock mechanism, and as such, it doesn't open. The driver's window falls off the track if it goes down all the way, and the radio just blows static.

Overall, minor faults, and while the rust will need to be addressed, it's contained and I have a good local resource now for rust repair (even though he hasn't called me back about when the Cosworth can come by....) More to the point, we can use it as I've always intended, which is a vehicle we all fit into that can drive down to the beach and back when called upon. 

And, when funds allow, we'll find some must-have off-road pieces, like a set of wheels from 1552, larger tires, and an ARB brush guard with some period-correct off-road lights. Exciting!