I purchased my Honda mini truck 2 yrs ago with 72000 kms. I've been quite pleased with it's performance, economy and engine smoothness since purchasing it. However, I've seen some people stating their minis would easily run at 120 km+. Mine would typically pull about 94-110 km depending on whether or not I was fighting a headwind. But I figured that wasn't real shabby for a 660. Now that I'm approaching 100000 km. I thought I better do some preventative maintenence. I did a fair bit of work to the little truck and I could not believe the difference it made. It feels like I gained about 20% in power and it runs so much smoother. Here are most of the items I worked on: Changed timing belt, belt tensioner, belt idler Adjusted valve timing as it was slightly out of whack before I changed the belt. Adjusted valve clearances..... None of them were horrendously beyond the specs, but not one of the sixteen valves were within spec Replaced distributer cap, rotor, plug wires, & spark plugs Replaced air and fuel filters Replaced clutch, pressure plate, pilot & release bearings Replaced muffler.....I modified one from some car and it likely flows a little more freely Repaired loose LH engine mount I am not sure which of these changes made the most difference because I did everything all at the same time, but this little rig really scoots along now and I'm guessing my gas mileage will be improved as well. I actually had the truck up to 128 km/hr tonight, but I will admit I had the benefit of an approx 15 km/hr tailwind. But when I turned back for home and headed into the wind, I still managed about 112 km/hour. There's no way it would have done that before. And the engine sounds so much better when accelerating compared to way it sounded before.
I'm assuming you did most of the work yourself. How much money do you have invested in your 'major' tuneup? I ask because I recently bought a '92 Honda Acty also, and I'm wondering how much it will end up costing me. But, mine will never be used 'on road' and 100 miles a year is about what I expect to put on it.
I purchased a whack of parts last fall from West Shore Auto which I think totalled around $900.00, but among this bunch of parts were several items I bought simply as spares such as 4 CV boot kits, extra filters, etc etc which were not required for this tune-up. I'm guessing the stuff I used for this tune-up likely would have totalled around $700.00 or so. It might sound like alot, but I don't think that's too bad for getting a 100,000 km vehicle of any sort back into good running order. Yes, I did all the work myself and it was a learning experience. I probably could have done all this work without pulling the engine out, but I thought it would be a whole lot nicer to work on the motor with it sitting on the bench rather than trying to fit my fat arms into some pretty tight places. Furthermore, the thought of pulling the engine out kind of scared me because I have zero experience with automobile engine work......so I thought I better just do it and overcome my fears of getting deep inside the little truck. As it turned out, it wasn't so bad.
Not too sure about that, Starpuss. That little Diahatsu of your looks kinda potent in your youtube videos and I wouldn't wanna get my a$$ kicked. Enjoyed the vid with Paul Williamson. He came out to Roblin this past winter to ride an old sled in our vintage snowmobile derby. I think he a had a pretty good time judging from the write up he did in the Free Press. I was thinking it might be neat someday to hold a Manitoba/Saskatchewan mini truck get together. Seems there's lots enough of them around the two provinces to make it doable. Any thoughts on that, Starpuss?
Hello, Your list of service work looks good, the only thing I would suggest that I don't see there is water pump (would have been nice to do during timing belt) and coolant flush. When I say flush, I don't mean just changing the coolant but sticking a garden hose inside the radiator and lines to flush out all the gunk. Also, double check your coolant overflow tank next to the battery as they are known to disintegrate on the Honda. You can get an OEM one for about $45 or a generic aftermarket for about $30.
Hello Kei King......actually, I did also replace the water pump, thermostat and did a complete coolant flush as well while I was doing the other work. Not sure why I forgot to mention it in the list of things I did to the truck......But good point, as it would be dumb to have pulled the engine out and skipped changing the w/p.
