Big Disappointment with "new" (1993, 55'000 km) Delica

[impalator]

Hello everybody,

Big disappointment and disaster... I had happily posted that we had just become members of the Delica community in BC and had a few questions about driving lights and glow-plugs.... but these were minor issues compared to what happened to us on our first road trip (i.e. last weekend) - exactly 6 days after we bought the van:

Going up the Coquihala everything was still good - the engine temperature increased a little - to about halfways between cold and hot - which I considered to be ok. On the way down into Merrit it cooled off pretty good anyway to just around one quarter of the gauge.

However, starting to climb the Surrey Hill Mountain before it goes down again into Kamloops is where the real problems started. First our Delica started to heat up pretty good. I kept things going as long as the temperature gauge was between 1/2 and 2/3 of the gauge range.

Keep in mind that we are doing about 60 Km/h's and I locked the overdrive to prevent the transmission from switching back and forth. The motor was revving at about 2700 - 2800 rpms, I was very gentle on the gaspedal (obviously keeping a close eye on the heat) and running the heater fan at full throttle with the windows open. We didn't tow anything, had no heavy baggage or else with us - the only weight except the Van was me, my wife and our 6 week old son plus two duffel bags and sleeping bags and a baby car seat.

As the needle climbed further and was just short of getting into the red, my wife and I looked at each other and I pulled over, let it just idle for a couple of minutes and then switched the motor off. We stood there, on the side of the road (no pull out of off ramp near) with semis and cars blasting past us and me standing essentially on the highway trying to make sense of the engine compartment through the passenger door.

After about 40 minutes or so, the engine had cooled off back to about 1/4 of the gauge-range (which is where it would normally be when just cruising), I opened the plastic overflow container in front of the batteries and poured about a half a bottle of Dasani in there as no more would even fit (since it was about half full anyway).

As I am not a mechanic and never had a Diesel before, I looked at my wife, we both nodded at eachother, I closed the motor-lid and I climbed back in the drivers seat, fired the Delica up and proceeded further up the road.

It took us just a few short minutes and maybe two kilometers and the needle was climbing again - just much faster this time. Imagine the speed of your second-hand on your watch - and we were right in full red before we even knew it.

I looked at my wife again, said: "This is not good" and then I saw the white smoke come from underneath the side of the vehicle in the mirror. Needless to say that I pulled over again - but there was no more need to stop the motor - it stalled as the van coasted to a halt.

I was in shock - I mean: its a 1993 Delica with only 55K on the clock. I have done the Coke with my old Dodge slant six van over and over again (almost on a weekly basis) when we built our little cabin in the Shuswap - and that thing never even came close to showing any signs of heating up (and the slant six 225 cu in in its basic version in my 1982 Van develops a modest 90hp - but is quite a bit bigger and heavier than the Delica)

So this is a very big disappointment and here are my questions:

Are Delicas prone to overheating? Does this happen a lot? Do I always have to worry now when driving on the Coquihala? Do some of you have similar experiences - and what can be done?

Fortunately we have a warranty on the drive train. Anyway, I would love to hear from anybody who may have some insight into this kind of happening.

Thanks and Cheers,

Chris

[Adam]

Sounds like there's a problem with your water pump. I had similar temp issues when my water pump wasn't turning because of a loose belt. Other than that time I've never seen my temp much over the 1/2 way mark no matter how hard I was pushing it up the Malahat.

[quadzilla]

Sorry to hear of your recent woes. Did you have the vehicle serviced at all? Although your van has low km's, it has most definitely been sitting for quite sometime and things do deteriorate. Most people on this forum will attest to having a significant amount of work done on their vans, including all belts replaced (no matter the km's), radiator hoses, flushes, new batteries, etc. etc. etc. before embarking on significant journeys. Most of us will also tell you that once all of this 'regular' servicing has been complete, our vans run well and require nothing more than the regular maintenance of oil changes, air filters, etc. Check out the wiki for a comprehensive listing of the types of things that one should consider having done to their van.

Good luck.

[jessef]

I was in shock - I mean: its a 1993 Delica with only 55K on the clock.

Chris, I hope you guys are okay. Not a good experience.

Like above, waterpump and thermostat are typical culprits. Something which should have been looked over and/or change at the dealer you bought it from.

With regards to the 'only 55k on the clock' , being a 15+ year old vehicle and most likely driven short distances (stop and go), the mileage can be very deceiving.

For a 15yr old Japanese vehicle, the 'average' mileage spread out over that time if it was used consistently is around 120-180k.

There's been a few threads on mileage.

Growing up around diesels and mechanics, I opt for a higher mileage diesel with regular use as opposed to a lower mileage diesel with little to sparingly use.

Hope you get it sorted out without any more inconveniences.

Jesse

[Profister]

If you read my post here http://www.delica.ca/forum/overheating-3151-15.html you will find that I had the very similar experience which pushed me to CC Autos and after Glen replaced the radiator, the cap and the hoses I was laughing going the same route again and climbing on Coquihalla. Oh, the water pump has been replaced by CVI in March because of leakage. Now the temp needle stays at 9 o'clock no matter what.

[mararmeisto]

I would echo the other comments/questions:

• -did you have the vehicle serviced from where you bought it?
  -did you import it yourself?
  -sounds like your water pump is the culprit
  -could be the thermostat
  -how was your oil? when last changed?

All of that being said, these vehicles do run a bit warmer going up a hill than most of us are used to. I climbed the Kootenay Pass this summer, and ran the temp almost to the red. A couple of months later my temperature sensor was cooked, but other than that no ill effects (I was also towing a trailer and was fully loaded with children and dogs and camping gear).

I would suggest the 55000km could be the biggest issue: why does a 15yr-old vehicle have so little distance on the dial? Could be it was sitting for a long while. And why was it sitting?

Best advice, get it checked over by a reputable JDM mechanic. There are plenty of them mentioned on this forum - just ask and we'll tell you who we like. If you happen to be on Vancouver Island (and I suspect you're not) you could go to Coombs Country Auto and get the "E-package" which Glen has put together up there (don't remember the price). Mardy in the Lower Mainland gets good reviews, you might want to call him up (Amazing Auto Imports).

[mdrive]

I would say Radiator needs be re-cored. We saw many buyers bring their Delica to us for overheating problem. In Most cases, the radiator is all rusty.

[MardyDelica]

Hi, Chris,
sorry to hear that from you, hope you & your wife wont be dissapointed with owning a delica then this thing happen.
i Drive & own delica for 41/2 yrs now,i am one of the few first owner of delica here in canada way back 41/2 yrs ago,
thru my experience of owning a delica this vehice need to be service.
no matter what mileage you got, i do change delica timingbelt ranging from 10 , 23 km to up to 45kms. car is in mint condition. but if you open & see the timing belt its worn out. so i change it all the time.no matter what. this is one of the main factor of your engine that need attention if not you will have problem.
pls dont be carried away by low mileage vehicle if you buy it from someone either by private or dealer, its need to be service no matter what if not been service its up to you to decide if you want to buy, but your taking a risk like what happen to you now.
to buy this vehicle is expensive. all you want is your wife & kids to enjoy it.
i pressume if you buy it from a dealer or private sale. the owner dont know anything about this Vehicle beware, as this should not happen to you.
my prediction is that they never replace or check the radiator condition before they sell to you. i usually change , replace complete radiator & do complete service from timing belt thru transmission & under chassis of any delica i sold . its a big preventive maintenance you need. no need to see if the vehicle is good outside but no service its not worth to buy that Delica.
but if the delica has few scatch dent not perfect but the seller do full service on our delica then thats worth of buying. as you know its been service by people who really know about this delica. in short cannot do short cut as it create problem. big money to buy this delica.
hope this help you.
if need help just give me a call & will glad to help you.
cheers;
Mardy

[impalator]

Hi everybody and thanks for the many replies!

The vehicle was towed back from Kamloops to Richmond (straight to CVI). As we do have a 6 months warranty on it from the dealer, the repair job will be covered. What gets me is that the dealer would sell the car with a six month powertrain warranty without having such obvious points as radiator, thermostat, waterpump and hoses at least inspected and if needed (which would have obviously been the right thing to do) replaced.

We actually got a spare water pump and a timing belt along with the purchase - sort of "for the future" as the dealer put it...

Well, the future has arrived a bit earlier than expected....

From talking to Edwin at CVI over the phone, it appears that the radiator was pretty full with calcium and actually sprung a leak at one point. So the radiator will be replaced, a new thermostat installed, the new waterpump mounted, new hoses and I asked him to do the timing belt as well.

He also said that the cylinder head may have to be replaced as well - so this will be quite a job to get that machine back onto the road. Not sure yet if any "overheat" related mechanical damage occured (pistons, push-rods, crankcase or so) but I am very thankful for having a 6 months drivetrain warranty.

Other than that I have to say that the dealer, VIB Motors on No. 3 Road in Richmond, has been quite accomodating so far (although by servicing the vehicle, prior to selling it, they would have likely avoided the ongoing headaches alltogether).

In any case, it will be a while again before I feel fully confident cruising long distances with the Delica (which, in essence, with a little cottage in the interior) is why we bought it (for a few thousand bucks more, we could have picked up a brandnew domestic minivan - but this doesn't really appeal to me).

Once again, many thanks for all your tips - I hope that the key critical elements will be fixed / taken care of once this repair job is carried out.

One more thing - I read the link to the article that one of you had posted in reply - and there was mention of mounting a turbo-boost gauge... that way, the report claims, you get a better idea of when the turbo is working overtime (and thus heating things up).

Does anybody have experience with this and is this something that you would recommend as well?

Cheers and have a great (although rainy) weekend,

Chris

[Schwa]

The boost gauge was a very easy and cheap install, and works quite well to let you know how hard the turbo is pushing, good for backing off the throttle just enough to not be running at full boost. The ultimate setup is boost gauge + pyrometer, where the pyrometer tells you the exhaust temperature, either before or after the turbo, but is a much more expensive device.

[jessef]

Does anybody have experience with this and is this something that you would recommend as well?

I recommend above anything else at the very least a pyrometer.

http://www.delica.ca/forum/overheating- ... -3437.html

[marsgal42]

Sorry your first Delica experience was a bad one. As you have read around here, most Canadian Delica owners have had excellent experience with their Delicas. Including me. Japanoid did a full service on Gumdrop before she left Japan, belts, fluids, filters, the works. It cost money, but it was money well-spent, IMHO.

We have some challenging roads in B.C., and I've had Gumdrop on the Coquihalla, 97C, Kootenay Pass and Duffy Lake. The only accommodation I made to road/weather conditions was not using air conditioning on some of the long grades in the summer; when the outside air temperature is 40 degrees, even current vehicles don't like grinding up the long grades on 97C.

When all is said and done, our Delicas remain 15 year old used vehicles, and we cannot expect new car reliability or performance out of them. Gumdrop has had a few issues, but nothing that major, considering her age. She has never left me stranded. Fixing the glowplug controller last fall was almost fun, though I let Japanoid handle the alternator that decided it didn't want to alternate anymore. February, y'know.

We drive our Delicas a lot more than their Japanese owners did. Gumdrop's previous owners averaged 6500 km per year (legit: I have full service history from a Mitsubishi dealer). I did 15000 in my first year. This is bound to have long-term implications, though I can't imagine what they might be.

...laura

[magicbus]

I had the exact same problem.
Water pump and timing belt needs replacement!

[Erebus]

I hope all is well with your Delica by now.

My Delica was even lower mileage, at 24,000 when I got it. I had the timing belt and water pump done right away. My dealer (Luxury imports) highly recommended installing a pyrometer, and did so. It is amazing to see the temp go up from 900 to 1400 deg F when going up a long steep hill, and the regular temp guage will go from just below 1/2 to 3/4. But backing off the gas pedal ever so slightly will make the EGT drop by 100-200. They when you get over the top of the hill, and coast down, the EGT can drop to 200, and the temp guage will drop too.

As for reliability, mine now has over 50,000. In other words, I've more than doubled the mileage in the 14 months I've had it, and that includes a 10,000 trouble-free trip to Inuvik and back this summer.