Hello, I'm new to the mini truck world! I would just like to get your guys advice on things to check when it arrives. I have a 1998 Carry arriving in 3 weeks, rated a 4 in the auctions! 28k Kms! cant wait for it to arrive. It's going to go through the out of province inspection, so hopefully that will cover a few bases, but I am wondering if there are any other fluids, things that need grease, seals maybe that need replacing. Above the oil and coolant, nothing has been looked at in a long time I can only assume. Let me know what you guys think! Thanks, Rob
I hope so, but years do wonders on rubber bits! The few old bikes I've owned have needed almost all rubber components replaced, but they were 30+ years old though. this truck will be 18.
My 95 dump with 83 was a 3 I think at auction and the rubber on the windscreen and doors is a bit UV damaged but not bad.
take your time and go through everything. When mine landed I went from head to toe changed all oils and rubber mounts. take a good look at your transmission mounts. Air filter will probably need replacing. Your going to have fun. Tony
Just like any other ride... you're gonna have to look and see. At that mileage I suspect she should be in pretty good shape. Depends a little... is this a fresh import or has it been over there for a while? First things I'd look at: Engine oil/filter, brake fluid, coolant.
I managed to find the english service manual PDF, its 80 or so pages and seems to be just engine related but I think it looks at a few other things as well. I think there is a huge 2-300 page manual as well I'd like to find. I see it says to change the transmission fluid at 20k so unless they are strict about that stuff in Japan I doubt it was done being it has 28k on it. Thanks for the advice so far guys!
one more thing, If you live in colder climate , like I do. go with 5w30. way easier to crank that engine
I see this is an old thread, but I think it’s good to revive. I just imported a JDM mini truck from Japan. It only had 19,000 original miles on it. But since it was 25+ years old, I thought it would be good to tap into the well of Japanese parts and mechanical-experience to get it serviced before rolling it onto the boat across the Pacific. Here’s what I asked to be serviced, and the price quoted (this is 2024). I decided to proceed with all maintenance listed here: (1) Oil change: $50 (2) Element replacement: $50 (3) Air element replacement: $50 (4) Fuel filter replacement: $70 (5) Spark plug replacement: $100 (6) Timing belt replacement: $400 (7) Water pump: $150 (8) Fan belt: $30 (9) Coolant: $30 (10) Brake oil：$40 So, I paid nearly $1,000 to get Japanese mechanics with experience in mini trucks to service the truck with original parts prior to shipping. As an aside, my truck has A/C, and I was quoted $100 for “A/C gas inspection and filling.” Since this would have brought the total cost of service above $1k, and it was a non-essential feature, I decided to NOT purchase this service. When the truck arrived, and the A/C air was not cool, I bought some refrigerant from an auto-parts store, but that didn’t fix the problem. Eventually I needed to bring it to a service station that ended up costing $280 to get the A/C nice and cool. Now I am grateful to have nice, cold A/C (I live in TX), but if I could have a do-over, I would go back in time and agree to have the Japanese mechanics sort out the issue for $100. I’m not saying this is what a new importer shoud do, or what any specific person should do. I’m just listing what I did, and I am very happy to have spent the money to get a truck that has been serviced by experienced mechanics with knowledge about this type of vehicle. ~T
