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

Importing a 1997 S110P

Discussion in 'Daihatsu Hi jet' started by maboyce, Apr 8, 2023.

  1. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    When I lifted up the truck to do the belts, I noticed that there was dried coolant crust all down the bottom of the engine and as far back as the rear differential. I had planned to take a peek under the timing cover, but now looking at the water pump and its seams became a priority. It never seems to leave a drip on the ground, so all I can think is that it must do most of the leaking at high speeds, such as our 45-minute drive to Tacoma on the interstate this last weekend.

    PXL_20230523_015935273.jpg

    Once the accessory belts are removed, there remains a small wiring harness for the cam position sensor and the temperature sensor. Mine has some electrical tape in the middle and is a little tight across the front of the cover, so I think someone repaired a break in the past. There's an unpopulated hook on the side of the timing cover that I think is intended for this harness.

    The cam sensor plug has a retainer that has to be pressed in before it comes out. It took me some time to be brave enough to press it in enough for the the plug to release.

    PXL_20230523_020850593.jpg

    It wasn't possible to remove 'upper' (left?) half of the timing cover without taking off the water pump pulley, so I used a strap wrench for a counterhold and removed the nuts. They are small and have a very low tightening torque, so it wasn't difficult.

    PXL_20230523_021900787.jpg

    With the pulley off, I removed the (also small) bolts for the upper half of the timing cover and removed it. I had to use a screwdriver to pry it up off of some brass sleeves that still hold it to the other half even after the bolts are removed. There is a grommet that goes around the cam sensor plug that I almost lost when pulling the cover off, so take care.

    It looks like most, and probably all, of the leakage is from the weep holes on the pump body. There is a separate part number for just the pump 'nose' without the large casting that goes against the block, so I considered ordering that, but it's probably penny wise and pound foolish not to just order the whole thing. I would assume that if you could get just the rubber seals from inside the pump, this one would be fine, but there don't seem to be part numbers for those. Only the large o-ring that seals the pump nose to the rest of the pump casting is available, and that doesn't seem to be the problem here.

    PXL_20230523_022454711.jpg
    PXL_20230523_022505671.jpg

    The timing belt looks OK visually, so I won't ground the truck until the new one I ordered gets here. Since the accessory belts were so bad, I assume this hasn't been changed either since new. I did order a tensioner with it, which at this mileage may be a waste. I will examine the existing one when I take this belt off later.

    I replaced everything 'in the reverse order of disassembly'. The water pump pulley bolts get 9.5 Nm of torque and the timing cover bolts get 5.5 (don't overdo it!).

    I will keep an eye on the coolant level from now on, especially after long hard drives. I'm planning to replace the coolant with the same Toyota Super Long Life I used in our Camry. The Toyota forums seem to believe that 'Toyota Long Life' and 'Super Long Life' are concentrated and diluted versions of the same thing, respectively. (Edit: Others disagree. I'm going to pick up some Long Life to be safe.) I also assume that 'Ammix Long Life' and 'Toyota Long Life' are the same product. I would love to know for sure if anyone has more concrete information...I should have the new water pump in two weeks or so, ideally.
     
    Last edited: Jun 22, 2023
    Slashaar likes this.
  2. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    I recently bought tailgate chains from JPN Auto Import (thanks to the previous poster who let me know about them). They stock a handful of dealer parts, including the tailgate chains. I decided I'd rather pay a little more for the part itself, less shipping, and not have to wait two weeks.

    They are an S500 accessory, but the features in the bed haven't changed in 25 years, so they still work fine on the S1x0 series.

    PXL_20230525_015913510.jpg
    PXL_20230525_020056474.jpg
     
  3. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    The first step is to apply the clear paint protection stickers to the back of the two nut plates. (Done in the picture, but it's hard to see.)

    PXL_20230525_020605395.jpg

    The nut plates slip behind the folded section at the end of the bed sides.

    PXL_20230525_020735636.jpg
    PXL_20230525_020849729.jpg

    On the other side, the chain is trapped between a long bolt and nut, and the whole thing is threaded into the nut plate. I had to use a wrench to keep the nut plate from twisting when tightening the bolt, since it doesn't precisely fit the pressed channel in the bed side. I tightened the bolts to 7 Nm per the instructions.

    Apparently on the S500 there are large resin bumpers that obscure the mounting hole. The instructions want you to take them out and cut off the ends. But this truck isn't made that way, so I skipped that step.

    PXL_20230525_020841992.jpg

    The last step is to remove the tailgate latches and replace the two bolts with ones from the kit, sandwiching the provided chain hooks in place. The instructions warn to be careful in puting the latches back in the same place, since there is play in the bolt holes. These should also be tightened to 7 Nm.

    That's all there is to it! The chain ends do bounce against the bed a little, so I'm waiting to see if it's noisy while driving. This does give me the ability to carry long things with the tailgate down without obscuring the lights.

    PXL_20230525_022419674.jpg
     
    Slashaar and gary-3 like this.
  4. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    The water pump is still out on special order with no ETA, so my wings are a little clipped (no more trips to Tacoma). Yokohama Motors has the part that's just the pump 'core' in stock and I kind of regret not ordering that instead. The leak is getting more significant. I suppose I could still try to order it and keep the Aisin pump as a spare if it ever shows up. I'm missing the driving season here.

    In the meantime, I received the rest of the order. Tiny, cheap detail parts are pretty good bang for the buck. I was able to replace the two missing bed plugs with new ones in what appears to be the same colour and everything. Impex warned me that there was a part number change and a colour change. Maybe the other plugs were already replaced years ago with these S500 parts?

    PXL_20230602_185008805.jpg
    PXL_20230602_185054497.jpg

    I also added a new rubber bumper for the right side. I had to MacGuyver a nylon bushing onto my large slide hammer to pull the hole back into shape with little access to the back, in order to install the new bumper. I think this bed side got opened pretty hard over the years.

    PXL_20230607_015352519.jpg
    PXL_20230607_021334881.jpg
     
  5. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    I also received new flexible brake hoses to replace the existing ones of unknown age. The way they seemed to have underbody paint on the fittings would seem to indicate they were the originals.

    There is one in the rear that serves both of the rear drums. This is my first real experience with both a solid axle and drum brakes, so I was surprised to find that the rear brakes are plumbed in series with one another. The single flex hose connects to a short rigid line and then to the right drum, from which a longer rigid line goes all the way across to the left drum. The left drum is the only one with a bleed nipple (I replaced all of the bleed nipple caps, ending up with an extra for the rear because I thought there would be two).

    PXL_20230603_022921010.jpg
    PXL_20230603_022926926.jpg

    There's a U-shaped clip that holds the hose in place on the bracket, and then the nut from the rigid line screws into the end. There are flats on the flex hose and in the hole in the bracket that keep it from spinning. I couldn't find a tightening torque for the nuts, so I tightened them to the limit of my courage.

    PXL_20230603_023040362.jpg PXL_20230603_024305403.jpg
     
  6. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    In front there are the two flex hoses you would expect, with a flare fitting on one end and a banjo bolt on the other. The banjo bolt takes copper sealing rings on both sides of the 'banjo', so I made sure to order those along with the hoses. These hoses are bolted to a bracket on the strut as well as being fastened at both ends.

    PXL_20230603_025045117.jpg
    PXL_20230603_025542247.jpg

    I tightened the banjo bolt to 31 Nm, and the other fasteners according to my inner wisdom. I bled the brakes the old fashioned way using the pedal and a short piece of hose. This is a really tiny brake system - by the time I finished fiddling with all the hoses, the reservoir had drained itself, but I didn't even use up all of the smallest container of DOT3 I could find to do the bleeding and top it up again.

    Under pressure I got a leak at the right front union with the rigid line, so I tightened it a little more. A day later it was still weeping, so I loosened and repositioned the rigid line a few times. I've never had that much trouble with a brake joint before. So far it has survived a ten-minute test drive, but I don't entirely trust it yet. There is apparently a 'lapping' tool you can get for the flare that seems to be good at fixing weeps. Cutting off and re-forming a flare seems to often make things worse unless you're really good with the flaring tool.

    After this I ordered a little special-purpose brake bleeding can, because my short piece of hose kept flinging brake fluid around or popping off the fitting, and life is too short.

    PXL_20230603_030531112.jpg
     
    Slashaar likes this.
  7. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    On our last longer trip, I noticed that there was a humming or growling at speed that was getting worse as we went along. After playing around with it a little, I discovered that turning off the AC compressor fixed it. I had just changed the belt, so I hoped that the noise might be because it loosened up. It was loose when I checked it later, but it was also at the end of its adjustment. The belt I got was a 'light duty' V-belt, and more investigation showed that the automotive belts it replaced are actually more resilient. So I ordered the OEM Bando belt through Rakuten for $5, hoping it would be faster than Impex generally is. I ended up paying like $45 for shipping to Buyee, probably because Rakuten packed the belt like this:

    PXL_20230607_195003166.jpg

    'Dimensional weight' is killer, and even more killer when it was COMPLETELY unnecessary.

    You can see comparing this belt with the old one that the cording is much more apparent and substantial. I hope it will be much less likely to stretch.

    PXL_20230608_025739305.jpg

    I hope that because this belt too sits pretty close to the end of its adjustment range. I experienced this on my old 320,000 mile station wagon because the pulley grooves were worn, but that feels unlikely with such a low mileage on this truck. Unless it sat idling with the AC on for long stretches?

    PXL_20230608_030752370.jpg
     
  8. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    The new belt did not improve the noise. To recap the symptoms, it's quiet as long as the compressor is off. When you hit the AC button and the clutch engages, the compressor sort of roars or growls to life, then quiets down a little bit but is pretty noisy. When driving, there are a few RPM points where the noise is very notable as a hum or growl, even over the symphony of other noise that occurs at highway speeds. From my perusal of the internet, this sounds like a compressor whose internal bearings or other parts may be dying.

    I suspect the compressor may be NLA from the dealer. Impex was a dead end on the part number I found for it, but I have an emailed request to Yokohama Motors to see if they can find something that works. If that fails, the compressor unit seems to be available in various places with a different clutch and a different or no AC line manifold on the top, so I could switch those parts over in a pinch (or have a shop with actual AC equipment do it...).

    In the meantime, I probably won't do anything until the water pump is sorted out, and then I will probably need to take it to a shop to get a second opinion before I order anything drastic. I wish I had more experience driving it before this happened. I feel like it wasn't this noisy when I got it, but I have no way to validate my feeling.

    Here are the Numbers if anyone is interested: Denso 447200-8962 / 10P08E, Daihatsu 88310-87516-000. I can't quite read the clutch number without doing forensics on the picture.

    PXL_20230531_024353922.jpg
    PXL_20230531_024111903.jpg
     
    Slashaar likes this.
  9. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    My 'large' water pump (including the housing with drain plug) from Japan is still on special order with no ETA. I got tired of missing the summer driving season, so I bit the bullet and ordered a local 'small' pump (only the impeller and pulley mount) from minitruckgarage.net in California. It was probably 2x the price of a Japanese one, but I had it in three or four days. With pump in hand, I set about doing the coolant, water pump, and timing belt all in one session.

    There are handy-dandy instructions printed in the engine compartment under the passenger's seat for draining and filling the coolant. The drain cock is at the lower left corner of the radiator.

    PXL_20230627_004852313.jpg

    There is also a rubber vent cap at the upper left corner of the radiator that should be removed before filling. Removing it now makes the coolant come out faster, if that's desirable.

    PXL_20230627_005138771.jpg

    There is also a block drain below the water pump, on the lower front edge of the engine. It takes a copper sealing washer that should be renewed once you open it. NOTE, you are looking for a male hex plug pointing straight down, not the recessed allen bolt at an angle pointing towards the crankshaft pulley. Ask me how I know. The plug should be tightened to 24 Nm when done.

    PXL_20230627_011203232.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2023
    Slashaar likes this.
  10. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    Earlier in this thread you can see removal of the accessory belts, the water pump pulley, and the left half of the timing cover, so I won't repeat it here. From that point, to change the timing belt you have to remove the crankshaft pulley and the right half of the timing cover underneath that. The service manual says to use a strap wrench (an official special tool, in fact) to apply a counterhold in order to loosen the bolt on the pulley. But the torque on that bolt is 98 Nm, and it has probably never been off. I tried the flat strap wrench I have on hand, I tried using vice grips on the old V-belt, I tried using vice grips on the old serpentine belt...the pulley spun every time.

    I decided to just use the air impact to blast it off, but the electric fan housing was in the way of presenting the tool. I unbolted the fan housing to drop it down out of the engine bay, but the front propeller shaft kept me from getting it in an orientation that would allow it to drop all the way down. I decided to go up instead, by removing the center bar that holds the shifter and brake handle.

    There are really only four bolts for the metal frame itself and four for the plastic cover, plus one bolt each for the seat belts. Once I had the plastic cover off, I pulled off the wiring harness and laid it aside, and removed the Bowden cable that connects to the shifter from the front.

    PXL_20230627_021153672.jpg

    I didn't need or want to disconnect the brake cable or anything else, so I swung the whole frame up and propped it with a stick. I was then able to remove the fan housing, and THEN get the impact driver to the front of the engine.

    PXL_20230627_022217124.jpg

    I zipped off the bolt and removed the crankshaft pulley. It looks like at some point the timing cover was loose and hit the back of the pulley.

    PXL_20230627_023151765.jpg
     
  11. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    I planned to remove the upper radiator hose anyway, because it had been seeping at some point, so I did it now to get it out of the way. The nipple looked terrible - I wonder if the coolant was ever fully changed or just topped up?

    PXL_20230627_023709264.jpg

    I took off the whole timing cover and got a look at the previously unseen right side.

    PXL_20230627_030025509.jpg

    I took the 'keeper' off of the crankshaft pulley and put the bolt back in. I used that to turn the engine clockwise until the timing marks on the crankshaft sprocket and the camshaft sprocket were lined up with their mates on the case. This was very hard to photograph, let alone see, because of parallax issues.

    PXL_20230627_034824722.jpg
    PXL_20230627_034806845.jpg

    I was then able to unbolt the tensioner and remove it, followed by the belt itself. It looked OK other than a deep-ish scratch all along the flat side. I was really surprised that the tensioner was clearly worn out and rattly. I almost didn't bother ordering one because the mileage on the truck is so low! I guess that the lubricant on these sealed bearings turns to dust and kills them at this age even if they don't travel very far?
     
  12. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    This single post here is going to represent an hour and a half of work, at least. Getting the old water pump out nearly broke me. Removing the three bolts was easy, but it WOULD NOT budge. I couldn't even rotate it by tapping with a hammer, which it should do since it lives in a cylindrical bore. I didn't have room for a slide hammer without removing the entire radiator, which I considered. Casual prying against the few safe surfaces to do so had no effect at all. I finally got out my bearing separator in the hopes that the pump would come out as a unit before the pulley boss popped off. I tried to protect the pump case by putting some little pieces of brass for the screws to push against.

    PXL_20230627_042810101.jpg

    I finally got the pump to start moving by working the two screws in alternation. At least once I took the puller off because it looked loose enough to come out by hand, but it wasn't. I had to use the tool until it was almost all the way out. Behold, the very crusty pump:

    PXL_20230627_045016982.jpg

    Coming out it managed to crack a weak edge off of the pump body. I'm glad to say that the cavity looked a lot better than the pump, even though I still had to scrape out some of the corrosion and smooth it out a little.

    PXL_20230627_044609613.jpg
     
  13. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    The new pump was an aftermarket Aisin unit. It comes with the O-ring for the outside, plus what I believe are the gasket and O-ring for the housing in case you have to remove that. I strongly considered that, in order to use the press to force the old pump out from the back, but I wasn't sure that the housing would come out straight toward the front of the vehicle. It looks like it would have to pivot on its side to release the O-ring from the thermostat housing at the right.

    PXL_20230627_030858222.jpg

    I put some Silglide on the O-ring and inserted the new pump, tightening the bolts to 6 Nm (many of the torques on the front of the engine are quite low - beware using a calibrated elbow).

    PXL_20230627_051448003.jpg

    I cleaned the brass shavings from the extraction and the dried coolant crust from the timing compartment and blew it dry with compressed air.
     
  14. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    I also cleaned the timing cover and blew it dry. The service manual calls for the seal along the edge to be replaced. I used a small flat-ended awl to pick out the old (thoroughly crushed) seal. Most of it came out clean, but the recalcitrant places could be rubbed with a towel until the rubber and adhesive pilled up and came off.

    PXL_20230628_010531122.jpg
    I then went around the edge inserting the new seal (while removing the paper backing from the adhesive side).

    PXL_20230628_012348006.jpg

    I installed the seal with the two halves of the cover put together, bridging the gap, since that was how it was when I took the right half of the cover off a few weeks ago.
     
  15. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    With the cover ready, I put the new timing belt in place with the yellow lines corresponding to the timing marks on the case and sprockets, and installed the tensioner. The slack in the belt should be on the top where the tensioner is.

    PXL_20230628_014120781.jpg
    PXL_20230628_014048073.jpg

    The service manual says that, when tensioned properly, there should be ~8 mm between the top of the tensioner and the top of the timing case (i.e., the ceiling of its room directly above it) and the lowe span of the belt should deflect ~5 mm when pressed with a force of 2 -3 kgf. Once I verified the measurements, I tightened the tensioner bolt to 39 Nm.

    It then has you turn the engine over for two revolutions of the crank to verify that the timing marks come back around again in the right place. The sprocket marks matched the case, but the lines on the belt did not, which I assume is OK since they are only installation guides and it's the relationship between the crank and cams that matters. I installed the timing cover and tightened the bolts to 5.5 Nm, then installed the crankshaft pulley. I was just barely able to get enough counterhold with vice grips and one of the old belts to apply the tightening torque of 98 Nm.

    PXL_20230628_021910791.jpg
     
  16. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    I reassembled the front of the engine as previously described, and reinstalled the old radiator hose after cleaning it out and cleaning the nipple as best I could. I buttoned everything back up 'in the reverse order of disassembly' until I was ready to start the engine again. FYI the seat belts 'inner' parts have a torque range of 290 - 540 kg cm; I chose 45 Nm.

    The timing belt came with a nice change interval sticker to put somewhere where it can be seen. I put it under the old oil change sticker that came with the truck.

    PXL_20230629_041631538.jpg

    I ran the engine once with plain water to flush, drained that, and added some Toyota Long Life coolant. I mixed it to 40% based on the chart on the back of the jug (In twenty-five years here I've never seen temperatures below -15 C (5 F)). After a test drive to warm things up, I checked the levels again and looked for leaks.

    PXL_20230629_022514150.jpg

    Now I just have to clean all of the coolant crust off the underside of the truck...
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2023
    movemint likes this.
  17. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    Around this time, an order of 'quality of life' parts from Japan came in. I got new side mirrors, since the existing ones were both cracked at the joint. The new ones take slow and steady force to adjust them, and I think the old ones must have been folded in to the body during shipping with what can only be described as excessive vigour.

    The mirrors are held on with three bolts under a triangular panel that snaps off.

    PXL_20230629_025214495.jpg

    Here's a good view of the damage. I've been worried this whole time that the wrong gust of wind on the highway was going to rip them completely off.

    PXL_20230629_025502028.jpg

    They were surprisingly cheap, like < $50 before shipping, and Impex managed to get them packed under the magic 30x30x30 cm size, so even shipping was only around $30. I'm quite surprised they were still available. Maybe the s2xx mirrors are the same?

    PXL_20230629_025727188.jpg

    Much better, and now they don't creep out of position as I drive.

    PXL_20230629_025953162.jpg
     
    Slashaar likes this.
  18. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    There has been a rattle at the front that I located at a bracket that holds brake and AC lines. The retainer broke off of the large AC(?) line. The clip is still available and really cheap, so I replaced it.

    PXL_20230629_031833341.jpg

    PXL_20230629_033155817.jpg
     
    Slashaar likes this.
  19. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    I got a pair of replacement rear shocks a few weeks ago from Yokohama Motors who had a deal for both of them shipped. They came with bushings but not nuts, which are single-use locknuts that have to be replaced after use. I had to wait until this order came in to install them.

    PXL_20230630_010241155.jpg

    The old shocks weren't leaking, but it felt like they weren't damping as effectively as they should and the bushings looked completely rotten. I still have a vibration at highway speeds that I would like to reduce, and this was the next candidate.

    PXL_20230630_010014856.jpg

    Of course, when I took them off, I found that the bushings were mostly just abraded around their exposed edges and the insides were still firm and tight.

    PXL_20230630_012610990.jpg

    Oh well. I installed the new shocks and tightened the nuts to 45 Nm. On the truck it's a pretty simple matter of take off the old and put on the new. I didn't even lift up the whole truck, just the back. The service manual has a bunch of stuff about unbolting the AC condenser and removing the spare tire, but that must be for vans. I did not need to do any of those things.

    PXL_20230630_012333576.jpg

    I have not noticed any changes driving on the new ones, so I conclude that the old shocks were probably just fine. I tell myself that this way I have a good decade of use without needing to replace them in three to five years and discovering that they are NLA.
     
  20. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    Now we come to my #1 old-car pet peeve: door checks that don't work any more. All of the work I've done to this point has been done with the driver's door sneaking up behind me to look over my shoulder when I try to work in the engine compartment. On my old car the anchors in the A-pillars were loose, so I had to do some fun plug welding on the body to get everything tight, but in this case I just needed to order a replacement check strap.

    PXL_20230630_022250422.jpg

    I had to take off the door card to get access. The first step is removing the window crank using the factory-approved method. I discovered that you have to use a rag of the right thickness: too thin, and it won't grab the c-clip; too thick; and you can't really get it between the plastic washer and the crank handle.

    PXL_20230630_020738202.jpg

    After that, there's a triangular piece opposite the mirror that snaps off from the top and hides a screw, plus two more under the grab handle.

    PXL_20230629_024940430.jpg
    PXL_20230630_021226258.jpg

    The latch pull has one screw, and then you have to pop up the L-shaped wire out of the clip that holds it. I could barely see it, let alone photograph it.

    PXL_20230630_021018612.jpg

    The window brush pops up and frees the top edge of the door card, and then there are some snaps around the perimeter. I felt around for them gingerly using a plastic prying tool since I expected them to be brittle. After that I was able to lift off the door card.

    PXL_20230630_021820468.jpg

    The seal holding on the vapour barrier is some kind of non-hardening rubberised tacky stuff. I was able to pull up part of the lower left corner (around the circular hole) and stick it out of the way. The door check is held to the A-pillar by a pin that is pressed in from the top. I tapped it out from the bottom with a hammer and drift, but after it was out I saw that it isn't actually a plain roll pin. There are two little one-way retaining clips around the back where I couldn't see them. It would have been a better idea to press them in with pliers while tapping the pin out.

    PXL_20230630_022450571.jpg

    Once the pin was out I unbolted the check from the door and reached in to remove it and swap in the new one. I couldn't really see anything, so no pictures either. The job is easier if you have another elbow between your elbow and wrist.

    I put the door card back on in the reverse order of disassembly. And now the door stays open, even when the truck isn't level! I keep forgetting to use enough force to open the door all the way now, in fact. But it's so much less annoying!
     
    Slashaar likes this.
  21. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    This transmission doesn't have a drain plug on the torque converter. It sounds like, without using a transmission flushing machine, the accepted practice is to just perform a few fluid changes in a row to get most of the old fluid, or to open one of the transmission cooler lines and let the transmission pump itself nearly dry. I'm not brave enough for the latter, so I'm going the multiple change route. It also gives me experience reading the transmission dipstick. I'm pretty sure I overfilled the first time I did this, and it feels like shifts were happening too early and too hard.

    I went ahead and drained the pan again, and carefully added fluid with the engine off until the level was up to the 'cold' mark. I started the engine and ran through the shift positions, then checked the dipstick. The manual tells you to look at the lowest place where there is dryness on the dipstick, since even after wiping and inserting again there are smears of fluid all over the place. It was indeed low, so I added a tiny amount to bring it up.

    I went and did a ten minute round trip on the road at about 80 - 90 km/h, then checked the level again. I added another tiny amount to bring it up to the 'hot' range.

    Even during the test drive with slightly low fluid, I could tell that the shifts were better timed and less harsh. It's still shifting well now. I guess the lesson is, the fluid capacities on this truck are so small that you need way less than experience with other cars tells you in order to bring a fluid level up.
     
    Slashaar likes this.
  22. Slashaar

    Slashaar New Member

    This thread is a great treasure trove of info! I'm looking to get my first Kei truck soonish. I'm test driving a few that are stateside first to determine what I like/dislike or if I even fit. I'm also making inquiries to local DoT to make sure I can even title and drive it on the roads here. Also sent an email to my insurance agent. Keep them updates coming!
     
    maboyce likes this.
  23. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    On one of our early highway trips I noticed the AC compressor starting to howl. It only got worse until it was noticeably loud every time the compressor was engaged. The internet says that if it's quiet with the AC button off and loud with it on, it's probably the compressor 'going bad'. On the remote chance that low refrigerant charge was causing the noise I took it to a shop for diagnosis. Charge was a little low based on the sight glass (there is no correct refrigerant amount written on the truck anywhere, or on the internet anywhere, that I can find), but when they corrected it it didn't fix the noise. Still blew cold, just noisy. I had them go ahead and evacuate the system and check for debris, but they didn't find any. I took the truck back evacuated since it's playing with fire to let the compressor get worse and possibly grenade by continuing to run it.

    It looks like the only cure for a 'bad' compressor is a new one, or a 'rebuilt' one. New compressors from the dealer are NLA, as are the nearly identical S2XX compressors. The guts of the compressor are fairly common even in the US (it's a Denso 10P08E with ports on top, going into a replaceable 'hat' that directs the lines in the right direction), but every other version I could find for other cars and even tractors has the mounting lugs on the case 'clocked' differently. They need to be at 6 and 2, but the options are 6 and 12 or 6 and 10. The mounting ears appear to be integral to the compressor body and not on separate plates, so they can't be rotated either.

    In the end, I wrote an email to Yokohama Motors to see if they would order a rebuilt unit for me (they are advertised on Yahoo auctions, for example, but the forwarders cough up their skulls if a listing has anything about air conditioning written in it and won't allow a purchase). They disappeared for a while on me, but eventually took my money and sent a compressor, no core. I'm going to have it installed tomorrow along with a new receiver-dryer (which is still available from the dealer) and will report back. 'Rebuilt' is a meaningless term, so I have no idea how much life is going to be in this replacement.
     
    Slashaar and movemint like this.
  24. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    Along with the new receiver-dryer, I got my second attempt at hardware for the battery cover. It's version 'A' for early s2xx trucks and turns out to be screw-rivets (push in like a rivet, screw out to remove). They actually did the job and stayed in the holes, so I can finally use the battery cover I've literally had longer than I've had the truck.

    PXL_20230727_010229449.jpg

    PXL_20230727_010417658.jpg

    PXL_20230727_010408555.jpg
     
    Slashaar and movemint like this.
  25. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    I also bought some new wiper blade inserts, because they were something like $2 each. Dealer parts, no less! I've never replaced just the blade before, but it seems to be common outside of North America. My Mercedes came with wipers like that from the factory.

    The blades have a little notch at one end that the claw of the wiper frame fits into. It keeps the blade from sliding horizontally. I had to squeeze the rubber around the notch to get the blade to slide out - it took some fiddling.

    PXL_20230726_180512541.jpg
    PXL_20230726_180903994.jpg

    The old and new blades looked pretty similar. I don't think the old ones were actually that bad...

    PXL_20230726_180726419.jpg

    There are two metal stiffeners on either side of the blade that have to be transferred over. Then the new blade can be slid on, making sure the claw ends up in the notch.

    PXL_20230726_180816434.jpg
    PXL_20230726_181138383.jpg
     
    Slashaar and movemint like this.
  26. Slashaar

    Slashaar New Member

    Is Impex and Yokohama where you source most of your parts from? Or is there somewhere this side of the pond to get stuff? I had read somewhere that since Daihatsus are made by Toyota, that there may be some interplay on part numbers.
     
  27. movemint

    movemint New Member Supporting Member

    I've found only a couple of parts locally from my Toyota dealer, where I buy all my parts for my other truck. They usually have the best prices around. I have only found a couple of bolts and washers available. Toyota may own/make the parts, but most of them are not sold in the US, so not readily available

    Everything OE Diahatsu, I ordered from Impex or Amayama
     
    Slashaar likes this.
  28. Slashaar

    Slashaar New Member

    Thanks, I own a 2015 Tacoma and am friends with the parts manager of a local dealer so I was wondering.
     
  29. maboyce

    maboyce Active Member

    I have the same experience as movemint above - the only Toyota item I've used so far has been Toyota Long Life Coolant, which I'm 90% sure is exactly the same as Ammix Long Life Coolant.

    Impex is the cheapest with shipping for items they are willing to ship; for shocks I would use Amayama. I got my rear shocks from Yokohama because they had a deal selling them as a pair. Otherwise their prices are in USD and are quite high; however for that price they can get anything if it still exists somewhere, such as my AC compressor.

    You can get things through Yahoo Auctions and a freight forwarder like Buyee, but it's a gamble because shipping is a mystery until you're already committed to buy. If someone whimsically uses a big box you're out as much as $40 or more because of 'dimensional weight'. I'm still smarting because some clown just packaged my four tiny plastic gate latch pads in a box that was 33 cm long on one side... So far Buyee has been the best of the forwarders, with a low flat fee (¥300) and OK shipping, and 'official' integration with the Yahoo Auctions Japanese site. I tried another place for the gate latch pads and also suffered a ¥1000 junk fee that I didn't expect. Buyee doesn't use Fedex, unfortunately, so their shipping is often about 25% higher than if they did (Fedex recently lowered their rates).
     
    Slashaar likes this.
  30. MrMo

    MrMo New Member

    Thanks for all the photos and details. I have a '97 S110P Twin Cam and just recently changed my water pump after noticing exactly the same coolant drip pattern as you show. Somehow destroyed the CPS sensor while wrestling with pump removal and waiting on a replacement. Will tackle the Timing belt and tensioner next.
    Looks like we live in the same general area.
     
    Slashaar and maboyce like this.

Share This Page