I live in Perth, Ontario where the winters can be anywhere from -10 to -30 for months at a time and we often put up with 3 – 12 inches of snow. What can you tell me about the feasibility of having a 1993 Daihatsu Hijet as a daily driver this winter (does it start in the cold, what is likely to break, how does it perform in the snow, etc.)? Would you recommend buying a 1993 Hijet as a daily driver in the winter? yes/no and why or why not? Thanks, I really appreciate it!
I’m in central Idaho, at about 4500-ft. So we have winters, with snow, and frequent subzero Fahrenheit temperatures. My Hijet was purchased to run a snow plow, because it made a lot more sense than an ATV or UTV. An enclosed cab with a heater and windshield wipers is definitely handy when plowing. And, the little truck has become my daily driver. The four wheel drive, and 50/50 weight balance makes it very stable on snow and ice, with studded snow tires on all four corners. I added a shore power circuit to my truck and plug it in at night. I have the glue on oil pan heaters, attached to the oil pan and the transfer case, and a hard mounted battery heater, and charger. The battery charger is on whenever it is plugged in to shore power, and there is a thermostatic switch, and only come on when it is below freezing. The fact that mine is a pick/tipper (scissors lift/dump) means that there is a handy area just at eh back of the cab, but shielded from the worst of the weather to mount some junction boxes for the shore power. Not sure how hard it would be on a non dump with the standard bed. The electrical outlet it is plugged into is on a timer, and comes on at about 0400, and turns off at 0900. May change the shutoff time this winter, as I’m working from the house. After I rebuilt the carb, installed the new vacuum hoses, and got the idle set correctly, it starts ok when really cold. But, it can take a while to warm up enough to run well.
You might. There isn’t a very big oil pan to hook the magnet to. I did use one for the first winter, reaching in from the drivers side seat, and attaching it just behind the dipstick tube. But the tranny was still really cold, and I had to increase the rpm and slip the clutch to keep the engine running to get it moving enough to start warming up. Adding the glue on heaters to the oil pan and transfer case part of the transmission made a big difference, over just the magnet heater alone.