1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

New 1995 Hijet Van Owner Intro and Blog

Discussion in 'Daihatsu Hi jet' started by AZmini-t, Feb 26, 2020.

  1. AZmini-t

    AZmini-t Member

    First post!
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: May 28, 2020
  2. AZmini-t

    AZmini-t Member

    Clean
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: May 28, 2020
  3. AZmini-t

    AZmini-t Member

    A/C

    It's not an understatement to express how important A/C is in AZ. I've literally seen days in December get above 100 Fahrenheit. It's rare, but it has happened. When test driving the vehicle prior to my purchase, it was about 55F outside that morning. I couldn't accurately tell whether it was working or not. I looked in the engine bay under the seat and saw that the air compressor clutch would grab and start spinning when I pressed the button. That was good enough for me. Later that afternoon at about 80F, I decided to test it out. No luck. It was blowing ambient temp. Ended up buying a couple small cans of r-134a refrigerant (additive free) and the nozzle from walmart. Watched a couple videos about charging the A/C and went to town shaking those bottles into the low pressure side while blasting the A/C. Problem... the pressure needle never moved an inch. Tried it again later that night. No bueno. Well, I have a buddy from my church who has a snap-on vacuum pump/A/C charger at home. I paid him $100 and he was able to vacuum the whole system. It held a vacuum for about 20m and then we added the refrigerant. He probably would've done it for free (minus the amount of freon), but I'm not that type of guy. I'd rather pay someone I know and care about good money then send it to some dealership. 1.) I can trust the guy 2.) I'd like to have plenty of good mechanics on my side, willing to help out when I really need it. While I didn't do it myself, job 1 is complete!
     
  4. AZmini-t

    AZmini-t Member

    Oil Change

    The first time I had learned how to perform an oil change was when I was 13 years old as a boy scout. It was entirely observational, but I remember it vividly. Fast forward today and I still have never performed an oil change. Always taken my vehicles to a shop to perform them. Price wise, I almost think it's not worth it to do it myself. You can pay someone $20-35 to do it for you and that's pretty much the price of the materials. Don't know if this is true, but I've been told shops sometimes perform oil changes at a loss just to get you in the door and become a regular at their location. However, I wanted this to be a bit of a hobby and wanted to do it myself. I located the filter and send my cellphone camera down there with the flash on to try and get a picture of the product number. As you can see, it was a MicroGard filter MGL51394. I deducted that it's probably had an oil change in the states at least once in the past. That was fairly good news.

    IMG_20200222_151427.jpg

    Went to O'Reily's and found the same MicroGard filter. However, I ended up opting for the more expensive wix filter 51394 for $8.99 rather than $4.99. I figured it couldn't hurt to spend a little extra for a nice filter. All the posts on the forum indicated you should probably run 10w30 or 10w40. I had no idea what the numbers meant at first. However, once again, I turned to the internet. Ok, so higher the number, the thicker the oil is. Well, living in AZ, I figured, I probably should run the thicker oil. O'Reily's only had one full synthetic 10w40 and that was Mobile 1. It was on sale and came out to $32 for a 5 quart container. Got back home and got to work. I don't yet have a jack, ramps, or any stands so I drove the car up on the curb out in the front yard. Slid under there and found the oil pan and drain bolt. I don't remember exactly the size, but I think it was about 14mm?? maybe 16? Got permission from the Mrs. to use a medium size plastic tote in the garage that had a broken lid. I'm guessing it can hold about 1.5 US gallons so I figured that would be satisfactory for all of my fluid changing needs. Got the drain plug loose and started to drain the oil. Once it got to about a drip every 1-15 seconds, slid my tote under the filter and tried to spin it off. I might add right now that I don't have an oil filter wrench. Needless to say, I struggled mightily to get it off. I went into the garage and found my old hole ridden bike tire that I've been harvesting for the past couple years. Cut a strip that fit just around the circumference of the filter and went back under the car. This time, using both hands and the sticky bike tire, I finally got it to budge. It still took much persuasion for the first little bit, but finally gave loose. Filled up the new oil filter with some oil (heard this helps to ensure the engine is starved for oil when you first start it?) and spun it on. At this point I realized I forgot to get a new crush washer (newbie mistake). Oh well. I didn't know what size I would need anyway, so not sure if that would've helped or not. I tightened it back on and it seems to be doing ok. No leaks thus far. Went back up top to the passenger seat and started to put in the new oil. I read that it takes about 3 qts, so that was my starting point. I used the remaining 2+ quarts (less the oil I used in the filter), and put the cap back on. Ran it around the neighborhood. Checked the oil level and it was right where it should be to the top hole in the dipstick. It may be a little bit high, but it looked pretty good to me. Next time, I may only do about 2.8 qts or so. Anyway, it was my first real test and looks to be a success so far. Lol, I'm sure most of the forum members laugh at all the detail I put into describing my oil change because it's something that's second nature to them. I'm think I'm ok with that honestly. I know I'm a rookie when it comes to this. And hopefully detailing my steps can only help me and anyone else who may be nervous to start!
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2020
  5. AZmini-t

    AZmini-t Member

    Spark
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: May 28, 2020
  6. AZmini-t

    AZmini-t Member

    Tcase
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: May 28, 2020
  7. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    RE the clutch cable. They are re pretty easy to adjust. Climb under and you cash see where it hooks onto the bell housing. Slacken the retaining nut, and adjust the cable so you have about a 1/4-inch of slack in the throw out arm. Then relock the retaining nut.

    I’ll be under my truck this weekend, and see if I can figure out how to d a video and post it.
     
    Limestone likes this.
  8. AZmini-t

    AZmini-t Member

    That's a great point. I didn't think to adjust it. Just figured it had stretched too loose. But if just needs to be tightened a bit so it grabs faster, that would be a great fix! I don't want you to go through the hassle of figuring out how to post a video, but a picture or two would be awesome!
     
  9. Arkivel

    Arkivel Member

    Wow nice van. Congrats!

    I've been looking at importing a Kei van from Japan to Canada and have come to the conclusion that the Hijet/Atrai has the features I want most. Its probably the best looking Kei Van. Parts are available in the US since they actually made Hijet trucks for awhile. Some of these vans are 64 hp turbos with lower gear ratios and more torque.

    Do you have any idea which model or engine you have? I see that yours is a blackout edition with a 12v but is this actually a turbo model? Would love to know what you think about the driveability and power etc.
     
  10. AZmini-t

    AZmini-t Member

    Unfortunately, this is NOT a turbo model. I've included a wikipedia page below which has a nice chart for determining which engines are 12/6v and which have turbos. I'm not sure how you determined it was a blackout edition? or 12v? The name plate seems to indicate this is an EF-ES meaning SOHC 6v EFI.

    As for power/driveability, I think it's suitable for my needs. Being a 5 speed, I was able to get up to 68 mph+ on the freeway. Acceleration is slow-ish, but that's to be expected. When driving on the pavement, I have often skipped 1st gear as it's ratio is really low. I would then launch in 2nd. What other questions do you have?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daihatsu_E-series_engine

    IMG_20200210_142645 (1).jpg
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2020
  11. Arkivel

    Arkivel Member

    There's a decal on the rear hatch lid that reads 12v. I've read that there was a blackout edition of the Hijet. These models had black bumpers.
     
  12. AZmini-t

    AZmini-t Member

    Decal reads 12 valves, not 12v. I believe that means there are 12 openings to the Piston cylinders. Three cylinders, so that means four valves per. Two in and two out.

    As for blackout edition, I've never heard or seen anything about this. But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
     
  13. AZmini-t

    AZmini-t Member

    Jigs, I had the van on stands this weekend doing the CV boots on the passenger side and decided to follow the clutch cable back to the transmission. I can see the fork where it hooks in. Also see the large black plastic retaining nut. However, I'm not entirely sure what to do to actually adjust the cable once I unscrew the nut?
     
  14. Arkivel

    Arkivel Member

    12v is a contraction for 12 valves.

    I noticed something interesting about the wikipedia E series engine page. According to wiki the EF-ES is a 6 valve engine, not 12 valve which your van apparently is. The wikipedia page must be wrong.
     
  15. AZmini-t

    AZmini-t Member

    I see what you are saying. Ya, not sure which is correct, the decal or the wiki page. I'd probably think the decal is slightly more accurate than a wiki page. However, I knew someone with a 3 series bmw that swapped out all the badging to make it look like an M3. However, the badges surprisingly didn't make it go any faster! ;) I guess I'll never know unless I do an engine rebuild!
     
  16. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    You’ll know as soon as you set the valve lash. I think the 12-valve is pretty obvious, because the twin cam requires a wider head, and valve cover.
     
  17. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    On mine there are two nuts, one which adjusts the cable, and one to lock it in place. I undo the lock nut, and back it off a few turns, and then adjust the slack with the adjuster nut. What you’re shooting for is about a 1/4-inch of play in the throw out arm.

    As the clutch disc wears, the clutch fingers come up higher. So, you are adjusting to increase the slack in the cable.
     
  18. AZmini-t

    AZmini-t Member

    CV Boots

    CV Boots came a couple weeks ago. I wanted to tackle this project ASAP to avoid any damage to the axle joint where there was a cracked boot (passenger side). Got the tire off, and went to work on removing the axle nut (castle nut). I had rented the right size socket from o'reilly's loaner tool program. The best size fit they had was a 32mm. A 31 may have fit better? I'm not sure because they didn't have one. But the 32 fit just fine. Well, my 1/4" impact driver did nothing. My 1/2 breaker bar with cheater did nothing. Tried penetrating fluid. I torched the nut with map gas. Tried using a jack on the end of my breaker bar. No luck. 3 hours later and I gave up. Next day, I drove it to a buddy who has a motorcycle repair shop. I bought some burritos to share for lunch. He whipped out his 1/2" impact (much beafier than my little BB gun size of an impact driver) and had the nuts of in 10 seconds. Now that they are cracked, I put them back on with the cotter pins to get home. Looks like a new impact driver is going to be on my radar for a new tool purchase ;). Just gotta convince the mrs.

    When I got home, took off the wheel, hub, caliper. Unscrewed the three nuts on top of the strut. That let the control arm drop just enough to pry out the axle from the hub. A good tug got it out from the transmission. I've pretty faithfully watched motocheez's videos. He had a problem taking off the outer joint. So, I did the same thing. Took off the inner joint with the clips. Cleaned the old grease on the outer joint. New grease, new boot with clamps. Then put on the inner boot. Replaced the clip. New grease. Clamps. Done! It was a pretty simple procedure and super rewarding considering I have not mechanical experience. All in all, the process (excluding axle nut shenanigans) took me probably 2.5 hours. Way longer than it should take, but I'm a noob. I just forget dumb things like cracking the lug nuts BEFORE you jack up the front end. Doh! All of those dumb mistakes add up.

    Anyway, I finished the passenger side and waited till the following weekend to start on the drivers side. Everything was going great! I was going to be finished up in about half the time as the passenger, and as I was reassembling, I hit a road block. During reassembly, I used a hammer to get the axle back into the transmission housing. I had to be fairly forceful with it to get in. That's all fine if you put the axle nut on the shaft before using a hammer. Which... I did not. So, the threads were stripped. Couldn't get the nut started. In the process, I ended up stripping the nut trying to start it on the axle. Well, $60 later for a tap and die set large enough (m22 1.5 pitch), and I got the threads repaired. I was considering just filing down the first 2-3 threads of the axle just to start it. I mean, those threads aren't necessary anyway. That part of the axle has the hole for the cotter pin. But I didn't end up doing that. Anyway, it took 2.5 hours again on the drivers side. However, I could probably do it in less than an hour if I had to do it a third time ;) But the new boots look great! The kit was perfect. Had just the right size boots. I'm really glad I did all four of them as well. Taking off the other boots, you could tell they had lots of rubber deterioration. Heat and sun made them pretty crackly. One of them tore as I was removing it.

    IMG_20200321_113804.jpg
     
    Afromus Prime likes this.
  19. AZmini-t

    AZmini-t Member

    After the CV boots came in, the next package to be delivered was my transfer case front output seal. I was really stoked to do this project. I typically do my projects on the weekends, but I decided to get the car on jacks on a Monday after work. I mean, we are all quarantined anyway. I'm not going anywhere ;). I lifted the passenger side up on jacks with the front jacking going behind the front wheel and the back jack going on the leaf spring. Maybe there was a better place to put this jack? I'm not sure. Right on the axle would've been fine I suppose. The manual recommends right on the rear diff. But I wanted something towards the outside, rather than the middle.

    I started by removing the 4 12mm bolts where the drive shaft meets the front diff. They came off fairly easily with an extension. However, after each bolt I had to alter placing the car in neutral with no e-brake and 4th gear with the e-brake. Doing so, allowed me to turn the nut without the drive shaft moving. It's just a pain to get up and down. Once removed, I rested the drive shaft on the motor mount (transmission mount?) bar that runs across the entire vehicle I was hoping to be able to get the shaft off without removing this bar, but that didn't happen. So, I undid the four bolts holding up the passenger side bar with a jack underneath it and slowly lowered the bar. It's a bit unnerving seeing the entire powertrain move a couple inches! However, it stops moving and I can lower the bar all the way down to remove the drive shaft. Once removed, you can see the old seal. It's apparent there is an oil leak in here as seen in the picture.

    IMG_20200323_192622.jpg

    I went around back of the transfer case and popped the fill bolt. Then down to the drain bolt and got it loose. I'm pretty sure I used a 15/16" wrench. I'm sure there is an equivalent metric wrench that was the proper one, but this is what I had in this size! As it was draining, I went back inside to help with my daughter's bedtime routine. 30m later, and it's more or less completely drained. The amount of oil I drained filled a quart bottle to the top.Went around to the front and used my $8 seal puller from Harbor Freight. It was perfect and the the job just right. When I got the seal out, there was a spring that came out with it. My new seal didn't have a spring! What was this spring for?? I'm guessing it is used to apply pressure to the inner circumference of the seal. However, the new seal didn't have one =[. I was a bit worried about it. I watched a couple videos on youtube and some of the seals had this and others did not? I looked everywhere in my packaging and didn't see anything. If anyone has insight on this spring, I'd love a shout out!

    IMG_20200323_193314.jpg

    Anyway, I proceeded with the install. The same 32mm socket I rented from O'Reilly's is the exact diameter as the seal. I used the socket to help tap the new seal in place. Got it mounted just flush.

    IMG_20200323_201415.jpg

    You can kind of see in the picture that there are some noticeable dings to the aluminum shaft where the seal mounts. These were there before I went messing with everything and I was pretty worried about them. Everything I read was that you need to have a perfectly flush mounting point. These dings may be the culprit to the leak, not the rubber seal. We'll see if the case continues to leak or if the new seal holds up. Looking closely, the dings apear to be on the lip of the flange and not on the inside. Here's another look at that big chip. You really can't see any substantive dings on the inside. I'm hopeful it's able to make a good mating surface and I have not issues going forward. Only time will tell! Screwed in the drain bolt and began to fill her up. It took 2+ quarts until it started leaking from the fill bolt. I dont know exactly, but I would estimate 2 1/8 quarts. Basically the transfer case was 50% full before I replaced.

    IMG_20200323_193341.jpg

    I got the drive shaft back in and screwed into the differential. And now was the trickiest part. Re-attaching the engine bracket was a pain. As I pumped up the jack, It was a nightmare getting it to line up with the holes. It took a lot of finagling, some hammering, some clever tricks to get them to line up again, but it finally did. Some of the tactics that helped were using smaller drill bits than the size of the bolt to try and line up the hole with the nut. Once inserted, drop the jack, remove one and try and insert a bolt. That worked once. I also, started threading the bolt from the inside, rather than the outside. This helped to line them up as well. I thought that once I got one it, the rest would line up. That wasn't really the case and I had to go up and down dozens of times in a dozen different locations to try and get to line up perfectly. You can see in the picture below the bracket that spans the entire distance of the car. I removed the four bolts (2 on front and 2 on the back) to get this to drop down. If I had to do this again, I would probably remove the two bolts at the top of the picture that have the massive washer's and rubber bushings. This would be much easier to align, I believe.

    IMG_20200324_110327.jpg

    Well, all's well that ends well and so far so good! Because there are a two dozen or so oil spots on the garage floor from the leak, I placed a piece of paper under the transfer case to see if it catches any drips. It's only been 24hrs, but nothing on the paper yet! The CV boots and the transfer case seal are tiny issues, but I am amazed at the feeling of accomplishment I have received as I have completed them. I'm looking forward to the next maintenance item! I've got a water pump/seal and a timing belt/tensioner currently in the mail. I priced out the water pump on several websites, all of which are pretty much $100 plus shipping. I ultimately found one on Amazon for $110 with free shipping. It was not only the cheapest one, but also is returnable. The part number is 16100-87507-000. This is a perfect for my single cam EF-ES engine. It may be the same for others as well. My water pump hasn't failed, but I want to do all the preventative maintenance to make sure everything runs for a good long time. I may be willing to sell my used water pump for a discount, or I might just hang on to it as a backup. I bought the timing belt and tensioner from fitinpart.sg. They cost a combined $46.91 shipped. This was a great deal! An ebay dealer was selling just the timing belt for $84 and with tensioner for $128. Other websites were similarly priced. Part numbers are 13514-87282-000 and 13505-87205. I also purchased an air filter (js a733j) for $11.90 from the same website. My filter is super unique an unfortunately I can't find it anywhere in auto part stores. I'm considering building my own airbox to be able to fit an off the shelf filter. If anyone has any insight on doing this, I'm all ears. Thanks!
     
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2020
    Limestone likes this.
  20. Limestone

    Limestone Well-Known Member

    Nice job! The key is that you didn't give in. You tackled it and won. A little elbow grease, some common sense watching the video, you jumped in and got er done!!!:)
     
    AZmini-t likes this.
  21. Limestone

    Limestone Well-Known Member

    Going back and re reading these post's, just a little info on the oil filter's. I think you made a great selection on the wix filter! Through many test's in the heavy equipment shop some yrs. back, we would cut different makes of filters open and compare their effectiveness, with size, how many pleat's were in the interior filtering material, etc..... This was a group of very well experienced of mechanic's, that didn't just except thing for what they were supposed to be, but verified, different thing's. We found out that the Micro guard filters were pretty cheaply made, another fine example of getting what you pay for! We were extremely happy with Napa's filters as well as the Fram, and K&N! For example, the Micro guard tin can that holds the filter material is .014 wall thickness, and Napa is .026 thick, and K&N is .022 thick, Where on Caterpillar equipment is .041 in can thickness, but that doesn't really apply to the mini truck applications. The main reason that I am bringing this up is, in case you would encounter a Micro guard thin wall filter, that has been on a vehicle for a while, in extreme hot to cold temps where it affects, what your working on over a period of time with RUST and Corrosion, take my word for it, it takes the fun out of it!
    Limestone
     
    Last edited: Apr 14, 2020
    AZmini-t likes this.
  22. AZmini-t

    AZmini-t Member

    I just did the diff oil on the front and rear. Oil was pretty dark, but mostly clear of any actual debris (couple small items). Rear diff was easy to get to. Front diff Ifound was much easier if you take the front passenger wheel off. I didn't measure amounts for each, but with the transfer case, front, and rear diffs, it took between 5-6qts.
     
  23. Limestone

    Limestone Well-Known Member

    Did you find any debris or extra material in the oil showing extra unwanted wear?
     
  24. AZmini-t

    AZmini-t Member

    I got my water pump, tensioner and timing belt in. Before I did that, I wanted to flush the coolant. It wasn't super dirty, but I just want to make sure and do everything right the first time. Flushed it a few times with just hose water. I know distilled is the way to go, but this is just a temporary flush. Once it was finally running clear, I put a bottle of coolant flush in and have been running that for a week. Gonna run it for another couple weeks to let it do its job. Hopefully will be able to take a full day off to do the belt and water pump (and actual coolant) soon. Will update once I get on it!
     
  25. AZmini-t

    AZmini-t Member

    There were a small handful of debris items in both diffs. Maybe 5-10 very small black sand-sized items. Should I be super worried about this?
     
  26. Gar Vance

    Gar Vance New Member

    Well, it looks like you're doing a great job replacing fluids and repairing things as needed. We own a '92 Hijet with 24,000 miles similar to yours that we bought from Tony at Garanin Corp. last year. It is clean as a whistle, everything works and it runs like a top, so my maintenance has been simpler than yours. I have replaced the front struts and rear shocks, replacing all fluids, installed a Kenwood bluetooth stereo and subwoofer, etc.

    We flew to Atlanta last month and drove 450 miles back home to Orlando in a beautiful '91 Daihatsu Atri FX turbo van with the "Super Cosmic Roof!" (Again, another van imported by Tony at Garanin Corp.) With much regret, we have decided to sell our amazing little Hijet as we are retired and only have room for 2 vehicles (our '17 Subaru Forester is our long-distance vehicle.) We have had so much fun after buying the Hijet that I stopped driving our new '18 GTI that only had 3600 miles...so I sold the VW in order to keep the Hijet! These tiny vans are so practical and fun to drive around town, and we find people are always honking, waving, giving us the "thumbs up" and taking photos of our vans.

    I have changed engine oil & filter (using the same WIX filter), replaced the differential and transmission gear oil, flushed and bled the brakes and now considering flushing the coolant, so I'm online researching tips so I can cover all bases to flush properly and get all the air out of the system.

    Good luck with your project and KEEP POSTING! Years from now, someone may see your posts and find answers to their questions : - )
     
    AZmini-t likes this.
  27. AZmini-t

    AZmini-t Member

    Just did the timing belt, tensioner, and water pump. Also replaced the thermostat. I got everything put back together and started the engine. Timing seemed to be perfect so that's good. However, there is a very audible whine now. From my research, that can come from the timing belt being tensioned to tight. Any thoughts?
     
  28. Limestone

    Limestone Well-Known Member

    With the small amount of debris, sand like size, I wouldn't be too concerned about that, (as far as the fluid change goes). As far as the Timing Belt Wine. How tight is it? Did you over tighten it? What did you use for a tightening guide? Specs? Or like most of us, by feel, with a small amount of flex, 1/4 inch to 3/8! In most cases, within reason, provided you didn't over tighten it, and give it no room to flex. It will loosen up as the belt stretches! You still want to install it as close to being perfectly correct, as to not to put any undo stress on pulleys, and bearings! After it's on, you should be able to squeeze with one hand, and flex the belt about a 1/4 to a 3/8 of an inch, comfortably with one hand! Many an old timer,have used this method, successfully for yrs. with comfortable experience! When I installed mine a couple of weeks back, I used this method with confidence, and noticed that the new belt went on snugly like it should have, and I installed the tensioner, with very little tension, on the belt, mainly using to guide the belt along it's path, as it is designed to do! Not necessarily putting a lot of tension on the belt, to cause it to over stretch, prematurely, and reducing the life of the belt and possible causing failure, of the belt earlier than designed! These belts can withstand a lot, just be confidant of your work and double check, before closing it up!
    Limestone
     
    AZmini-t likes this.
  29. Question about the 12v DOHC. I just purchased a 95 hijet s110V. While I was trying to track down some spark plugs unsuccessfully, I spoke with a man and explained my van has a tic like a out of adjustment valve would make and it is hard to get started when cold. He said that these DOHC EFI 12V "puck" motors cannot be adjusted without grinding something down. Anyone have any advice with regards to the valve adjustment or the sparkplug shenanigans? I have read tons of threads about the plugs with no one seemingly having a answer. TIA

    I haven't done my signature yet but it's a S110V-010631
     
  30. Limestone

    Limestone Well-Known Member

    I would try NGK Iridium ix for a hotter spark! #BPR6EIX 6637 (JMO)!
    You can go nuts, trying to find, what is suggested!
    I'm very happy with them!
    I'm pretty sure that they'll work for yours!
    Limestone
     
    Steven Stewart likes this.

Share This Page