Life after the L300?

[nxski]

On that note, I drove my Delica 56,000km and 5 months around North America with little more than general maintenance required.

[thedjjack]

Delica is 4wd so as my dad always told me 2x as many parts....

I drive my L300 anywhere without worry...and my L300 was one of the first in Canada and the original Cdn owner drove it hard...

I think the biggest problem is 22:1ish compression with an aluminum head....need to warm up the Delica slowly and not push it until the motor is in the normal section....then being a turbo you need to let it cool down.

also being a diesel if pushing the accelerator and it does not go any faster all you are doing is making is heat and wasting fuel (I suspect this is where most head gaskets and heads are destroyed).

Lots of L300 driving all over the world without major engine/drive train issues...

You can swap in a gas motor if you want to race it :)....

[mararmeisto]

...I'd likely get a Nissan or a Toyota pickup instead.

This is exactly what I've gone and done. In my case, it's definitely been about requirements: what I need or want my vehicle to be able to do. My Star Wagon was great, but as we all know, it's a little lacking in the power and towing capacity, but it had tonnes of interior space, seating 7 passengers. My Pajero was better, but what I gained in towing I lost in interior space (really lost).

With my Titan, the cab alone is as big as the Pajero, and then there's the truck box besides. Towing is no longer a concern at all, what with the 5.6 litre engine, but I've had to sacrifice fuel economy and maneuverability (turning radius is disappointing after six years of L300-length wheelbases). I haven't figured out how to sleep in the back (only a 5'6" box with the gate shut) and I'm not yet committed to drilling holes in the canopy to mount a roof rack for the rooftop tent (but I'm sure it'll happen some day).

Owning a vehicle is like having a best friend: you generally only have one. One good thing for the Pajero, I don't think I hurt his feelings.

[Rattlenbang]

Delica is 4wd so as my dad always told me 2x as many parts....

I drive my L300 anywhere without worry...and my L300 was one of the first in Canada and the original Cdn owner drove it hard...

I think the biggest problem is 22:1ish compression with an aluminum head....need to warm up the Delica slowly and not push it until the motor is in the normal section....then being a turbo you need to let it cool down.

also being a diesel if pushing the accelerator and it does not go any faster all you are doing is making is heat and wasting fuel (I suspect this is where most head gaskets and heads are destroyed).

Lots of L300 driving all over the world without major engine/drive train issues...

You can swap in a gas motor if you want to race it :)....

I'm not so sure it's just the aluminum head thing; VW makes bulletproof diesels with such heads. But some brands just didn't quite design the castings right. When I showed my cracked cylinder head to my machinist, he thought it was a Ford. After some talk it seems that some of their diesels also have weak heads prone to cracking. In fact, many manufacturers cut things way too close in order to keep costs down, with very thin castings. Many late model heads aren't even designed to be rebuilt, but have to be tossed out once worn. In fairness though, if the Japanese are tossing their vehicles at 100,000K, why design a head that will last 500,000K, as we generally expect from a diesel? It's easy enough to do, but costs more.

Last year I sold my BMW ragtop to an Austrian guy, and at first he was freaked by the 190,000K on the odo; Where he comes from you never saw a car with even 100,000 on the clock. I had to explain the difference between European norms and Canadian norms, and that for a 1997 car, 190 wasn't that bad. Vehicle manufacturers know that people in North America keep their vehicles on average over ten years and 200,000K, so they cannot get away with designing an engine so light it craps out at 150K. In other parts of the world they can. That might just be one of the consequences of owning vehicles not designed for this market.

[thedjjack]

the problem with aluminum for me is the different expansion rates in the motor...

I do not see the VW family as bullet proof diesels it was pretty common on the 1.6 to have ring and head problems....

Bullet proof light duty diesels OM616 or OM616 from Mercedes or Cummins BT series (both cast iron block/heads take all the abuse you can throw at them moving big vehicles)

202,000km on mine....

[Erebus]

In answer to the question about Delis not lasting here. My Delica, when it arrived, had 24000 km on it. In the first year I had it, I doubled that. So I did 15x the driving of the previous owner(s).

And I'm sure the previous owner(s) didn't drive the Coquihalla, the Cassier, nor the Dempster, all of which can eat vehicles for breakfast, and spit them out for lunch, and my Deli has done all three.

That said, and I'm now 5 1/2 years later, I'm over 190,000 km and going well. Sure I've done maintenance such as IP, alternator, and air conditioning, but that isn't outrageous considering.

[Rattlenbang]

That's good to know. Much I've what I've had to do is delayed maintenance, but cracked head is not. So what's the secret to your rig's longevity? I would like to emulate it.

[nxski]

That's good to know. Much I've what I've had to do is delayed maintenance, but cracked head is not. So what's the secret to your rig's longevity? I would like to emulate it.

I bought mine in a semi-state of repair, it was brought over with 67,000km and purchased for $13,000, I bought it with 144,000km 4 years later for $4000, now after another 2.5 years and $20,000 invested, it now has 208,000km. When I bought it, like you, there were some issue's to take care of. Basically, just pin-point the problems, fix everything that needs fixing and hope that you don't have a lemon. As it happened, after 1 year of throwing money at it (as mentioned before, a lot of that money was in upgrades, not in repairs, but there was about $7000 total in maintenance/repairs) I had a reliable vehicle. Since then, I went on a long trip that required lots of general maintenance and some minor repairs which came to a total of just under $4000 over 56,000km but I haven't have the slightest inclination of problems since I've returned and am hoping it's a sign of continued reliability.

Based on the fact that the average owner of a 15 year on Japanese car spends $2000/year on maintenance and repairs and drives on average 20,000km/year it doesn't seem to me that my vehicle is straying very far from this, in fact now that I've worked out the bugs it looks like I'll be doing even better.

[konadog]

The L-300s which last are generally the ones that are thoroughly refit upon arrival in Canada and then serviced and maintained properly by their Canadian owners. Driving styles play a big role too - Slow down and rev up when climbing or towing and go easy in general. Lemons happen, it's true, but neglect and insensitive, impatient driving habits are more commonly the root cause of problems.

[Rattlenbang]

WOW, 20 grand is a lot into a vehicle. Was that commercial servicing/repairs or did you do the work yourself?

[thedjjack]

My Delica bought low end of the Delica market...Since I bought my Delica (3 years - 35,000km).. no shop time (do my own work) and items in Red are items I had to fix...rest just so I could stand up and camp with 4 people sleeping inside..

Rad, belts, oil seals, water pump, thermo, hoses (cracked head could be low water in rad in the L300 head would get air pockets soon) $500 parts + $100 for radiator recondition/flush (original copper).

Used upper control arms (can't remember price but not significant value)

Spare tire bumper ($300 + $50 in steel)

Replace bush guard newer version $80.00 + $20.00 paint (mine rusted, bent, old style)

Tires & Rack sold +$700.00 (money in my pocket :) )

2 sets tires and + 1 set rims used $300.00

New hitop roof (love you Jay for all the help and Christine for putting up with us ) total under $250.00

Camper build total in parts $600.00?? ish Including furnace and only Delica with a slide (still working fine after 3 years)

New Batteries $350.00 pair + Alternator rebuild $225.00

Added a muffler and flex pipe $200.00 (was way to loud)

Ghetto Snorkel $40.00

New back window $150.00ish installed

Manual Hubs ($150.00)

Newish Ranchos shocks (free -thanks RichD)

and oil changes (no: brakes, ball joints or anything yet)

Awning $400.00

Pyro Gauge (good deal thanks RichD and awesome setup)

so far not bad (needs an alignment when the weather gets better due to rebuilding the front end)

[nxski]

WOW, 20 grand is a lot into a vehicle. Was that commercial servicing/repairs or did you do the work yourself?

$7,000 was what I actually spent on repairs / maintenance, $20,000 is the total including significant modifications (which I paid more for than djjack because I don't like the ghetto look ). I'd say 1/3 was done myself and the rest was done by CVI because I either didn't have the time, energy or knowledge to do it myself.

If you take into account how much I've driven it and that I bought it for $4000 when ones of similar condition were selling for $8000 at the time it really isn't bad.

[thedjjack]

(which I paid more for than djjack because I don't like the ghetto look )

Sounds like we need a Custom Delica Car Show with trophies this summer....Bring it on...

Best in show
Best veggie modification
Best camper conversion
Best off road modifications
Cleanest stock example
Most factory options still working
Most stuff inside a Delica (for Christine)
Most Delicas welded together (or held together with bubble gum)
Nicest slideout
Nicest raised roof
Most things attached to a roof rack
Highest mileage rig
Best BatmanDelcia
Slowest 0-50km/h time

We will have to come up with a few that L400s could win???

[nxski]

(which I paid more for than djjack because I don't like the ghetto look )

Sounds like we need a Custom Delica Car Show with trophies this summer....Bring it on...

Best in show
Best veggie modification
Best camper conversion
Best off road modifications
Cleanest stock example
Most factory options still working
Most stuff inside a Delica (for Christine)
Most Delicas welded together (or held together with bubble gum)
Nicest slideout
Nicest raised roof
Most things attached to a roof rack
Highest mileage rig
Best BatmanDelcia
Slowest 0-50km/h time

We will have to come up with a few that L400s could win???

Sounds like a plan to me! We could add "best soccer mum van" for the L400's

[thedjjack]