Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Hi there. I just bought my first Delica van and I'm planning a trip to Calgary from Vancouver, but possibly may continue across the country. The cover over the timing belt says it was changed at 75184km and it's now at 121,000. It was mostly likely done in Japan before being brought over to Canada last year. Should I get this job done before traveling as they have advised at Rising Sun Motors? They also suggested a block heater. Any thoughts on all of this?

Yes to the timing belt, probably for the block heater (depending on what temperatures you expect to see).

Thanks. Rising Sun seems to have the best price in the lower mainland. Any suggestions? They also said that the radiator looks fine but it's a good moment to change it while they have the van. $400 for that part of the job. I heard it's best to recondition the old copper ones rather than get a new one? As far as the extras to bring on the road due to lack of access to Delica parts... Oil/Air/Fuel filter etc?

if the belt looks good, and there's not oil sprayed around and on the belts, i think you can leave it for now.
why would somebody say "the radiator looks fine, but i'll take your $400 anyway" ????

all delica filters and belts are available almost anywhere in canada if you know the parts' numbers. If the fuel filter has been changed since arriving from Japan, its probably fine. oil filters every 5000km. it might be handy to carry one in case you drop in at an oil change place and they refuse to supply a filter b/c your delica does not exist.

IIRC the interval for the timing belts are 100k, so it can be left, my only concern is if the tensioners weren't done at the same time.

If you are planning on spending any time in Calgary or the Prairies in general, I would HIGHLY recommend installing the block heater. Days and nights can surprise you with cold temps and it can be very hard to start without being plugged in. I've done my time trying to start after a day at the office without a plug available for my block heater in minus 20-something or colder... it's really no fun cranking for extended amounts of time and hoping the engine catches... besides, you get heat faster too...

I should mention the reason for saying to replace the timing belt is that if it was done in Japan you have no idea how many years it's been sitting there drying out and cracking. When I first bought mine I kept getting told to replace it for that very reason.

As for the consumable parts in the van, as after oil says, you can buy them anywhere. I just came back from a 46,000km trip around North America and brought very few consumables and didn't actually need any.