Hello,  Since March I have bought 3 Samurai. I have been making a list of things that confused me since starting to work on them and would like some input. Pick a question or all of them I did search and could not find what I was looking for.

Blue 86 Samurai

1. Before replacing my head gasket I was wondering where all this oil I was getting on my under carriage was coming from. It seemed to be coming from above the bell housing and to the passenger side(LHD) I have not seen it since the gasket replacement till yesterday. It was only a few drops so it was easier to trace. I put my finger on the unused port on the fuel pump and there was some clean oil on it. What is this port? It is not attached to anything on any of the samurais that I own or have seen. Does this mean that there is some sort of internal pump failure going on?

2. I plan on taking my garmin out on the next ride to confirm this but it seems like the truck is geared lower than my silver 88. The owner said that only the wheels,tires, shocks and shackles were changed. The tires are a 235/75-15. If anything I would think due to the taller tire that my RPMs would be lower per given gear. Oh, I do remember him saying that the tranny was replaced. Could he have installed a tranny with different gearing? He gave me a good spare as well but neither are the original. Is there a chart out there that would give RPM per gear based on tire size?

3. The front brakes pull to the right causing me to correct through steering when I brake hard. The owner did tell me about this and said he replaced the brakes and rotors but thinks the rubber line is internally failing. I have not tried anything yet but What do you think? Could a line cause this? I was thinking a sticking caliper but there is no drag. Could this be an artifact of the shackle lift and taller tires? Since I will most likely be pulling the calipers off of the red 88(see below) I have another set to try. Perhaps the left caliper is not working correctly and the right is braking harder...

Silver 88 Samurai

1. This is the one that would not pass emissions so I do not drive it any more. But when I did I noticed a higher idle and sometimes after kicking it down and walk away for a minute I would find that it died. There is a little smoke as well(dark) but because the owner said it sat for years I plan on installing new valve seals to see what happens. Anyway, it passed high rpm emissions but failed low RPM. I had to let the clutch slip too get the RPMs under 1100RPM for the tester. I took it home and put my dwell tack on it and it read around 1200 RPM, I found the idle adjustment screw but it only had affect in increasing the idle. Do I have a bad choke? Will the rebuild kit I have for the carb fix this?

2. Passenger side headlight is dimmer than drivers side. swaping bulbs has not affect. All other lights work fine and show no dimming.

Red 88 (my first sammy)

Thousands of questions but I'll stick to the current big 2.

1. Drivers side headlight is 1/3 the brightness of passengers. Swapping bulbs has no affect. This is someones Frankenstein project and is now mine. The truck was wired up to be towed as there is a 4 pin oval trailer connector wired into the front turn signals and most likely into the rear brake lights. Other than that I see no changes to the wiring for the headlights. I read that kicks have a different circuit for L and R headlights but I don't think this is the case. All other lights work fine and show no dimming.

2. I installed a over the top steering setup because even with the drop pitman there was significant rubbing on the springs. I bought a highsteer kit from low range and noticed that the stock calipers do not work with the new knuckle arm. It seems like the curved part is not dished out enough to clear the piston cylinder. Here is the odd part. Replacement Raybestos calipers do clear. I looked at the 2 side by side and it seems that the stock sit lower in the caliper than the replacement causing that housing to make contact with the bracket. If I put in one caliper bolt the other won't line up because the caliper hits the bracket first. I'll include a picture from low Ranges site of the bracket/arm. Are there different calipers that pass as stock but would differ in their dimensions?(other than mounting points of course) I have not installed the new calipers but see no other way around this without machining the mount. Too bad because the brakes work well.

Thanks for any light you folks can shed on me.

Jim in PA

On the oil leak, stop driving that Sammy NOW!! Replace the fuel pump immediately! If it's leaking oil it means the diaphragm has ruptured, which also means there's gas getting in your oil. Change the oil immediately too!! Don't put it off or it will ruin your engine!!

On the oil leak, stop driving that Sammy NOW!! Replace the fuel pump immediately! If it's leaking oil it means the diaphragm has ruptured, which also means there's gas getting in your oil. Change the oil immediately too!! Don't put it off or it will ruin your engine!!

It bothered me enough to buy the pump last night.  Prior to the head gasket replacement a few mile drive would put oil on the entire underside.  I guess it would drip on the front drive shaft and spin off of it.  There seemed to be a lot of oil but if I would open the hood and watch it idle I saw no oil dripping from anywhere.  I would rev the engine and still see no oil.  I would spray degreaser then hose off all the oil sprayed areas then let it dry before I did this.  Everything seemed normal till I took it for a ride and pulled back in front of the house and watched the oil dripping on to the road.  I would clean it up again and run the engine with no sign of a leak.  I was only the other day( about 3 weeks and 3 drives ) after the head gasket change that I looked under the truck bad saw a little bead of cleaner oil about to form a drop on the front u joint.  I opened up the hood  and started looking for the source and that is when I saw another drop of oil on that unused fuel pump port.  Hope this is not too common...

So you need a new gasket on the "unused fuel pump port",that should be easy fix.