delica L300 owner's manual and automatic tranny questions...

[surferboy]

Hey folks, just got my delica yesterday, pretty stocked on it for the most part, a few issues with the dealer that i wasn't perticully happy with but whatever, i guess thats to be expected with those kinds of deals... i was wondering if anybody ever managed to get a hold of a proper owner's manual and one that covers a lot of infos about mechanical issues and trouble shooting for the L 300 "91 exceed, Mark had previously refered me to this russsick manual out of E-bay or U.k or something but according to the members at the U.K club, they are absolutely worthless.
some guy from an aussie club tryed to refer me to the one he has available thru his site (delicashop.com) but at this point i am not to sure what to do.. the importer told me that the van has gonne thru a vigourus gov. inspection in order to get the proper paper work to get it insured but as i found out when i drove it back to vic, that the rear signal lights are not working properly, the front head lights are not the same intensity, and makes me wonder that if those small details were overlooked by the "inspector" then what else has!!? i looked under the van and the upper and lower ball joints looked rather ruff to me and all the small rubber bushing on steering components and linkage are cracked and brittle, i know its a 15 year old vehicle but it be nice to know if something is gonna give soon, and what to do about it or how to fix it... the front window wind deflectors are rather annoying me as they are not all that clear so i'm thinking about removing them, i don't even know how yet, i know some of you guys have manage to clean them up real good with brasso or even car wax but i think they are just too big, i might even just cut them to a smaller size with a cutting disc mounted on a dremmel tool.
the C.D player/radio is this cool but never seen one like that before and i am not sure how it works yet, i mean they pretty much sent me away with verry little infos, i find that the automatic transmission revs really high before it will switch gear, it almost hits the red zone on the rpm
gauge between every gear when i accelerate on the hwy, there is an overdrive button wich i used once on the hwy, but it doesn't seem to make a difference, maybe its normal, i never owned an automatic before,
once at speed, if i release the gas pedal a bit, then the tranny will finnaly "kick down" back to a more normal rev of about 2500 to 2800 rpms at around 100 kms/hr..... any insight for me anyone? should i get this looked at and road tested by an automatic transmission shop? (i hate this, they usually just take advantage and rip you off!!) also a weird vibration seems to be comming from either the rear or front wheels when i accelerate from a stop or when i first drive off with it, then it goes away as soon as i'm going it almost feel like the wheels are grabbing or slipping i can't quite describe it properly, and i'm not in 4whl mode, if i stop at a light and the tranny is in "drive", the van tends to vibrate were if i put it in neutral or park, then it iddles smoother, does this have to do with the fact that the van is trying to move ahead while just iddling at a stop light but having my foot on the break prevents it from it therefore creating the vehicle to vibrate a bit? i don't know, like i said, never driven an auto before, maybe i am supposed to take it out of gear when i stop i hope my questions are not to stupid, i just don't want to dammage the tranny...
anyways, if anybody has infos about those owner's manual in english, that would be great, insights about the automatic tranny and issues i just mentionned would be great, the people at V.I seems like decent folks, but their focus is definatelly not on that part of their business and therefore, profesionalism and customer service sure lacks.. i felt pressured and unfortunatelly being really busy with their other primary business, they were understaffed for the vehicle sale part of it.. a lot of stuff was forgotten and i now will have to go back there to rectify some small issues and hopefully this time get someone to take the time to really show me and explain to me what the hell i just bought! they told me that they could have sold that van for more that i bought it for many times over while it was on hold for me but does that should affect the way i'm being dealt with? i don't think so! anyways, amongst all the crazyness that was going on that day at their shop plus the lack of people they had to deal with it all, i guess they did what they could...

[coastdog]

hey,
I just picked up my delica from vi a couple of weeks ago. I can't help much with auto problems as this my first automatic in 18 years. i had problems with my head lights-they had wired the North American lights into the power window fuse so that I would have daytime running lights. it was a crap job taht shorted out and melted a couple of fuses. i would open up the fuse box and check to see if they did the same to yours-i would remove that wire.
hope that helps

[Green1]

I can't comment on the delica specifically as I'm still waiting for mine (it should be on the boat as we speak...) however I can offer some insight from lots of driving of a diesel with an automatic transmission

regarding the transmission, it really just sounds like you're not used to an auto... regarding going close to redline and not shifting earlier unless you ease off the pedal... that's normal on autos... keep in mind that on a standard shift vehicle you always ease off on the gas before shifting, same on an auto, if you ease off on the pedal it should shift at a more "reasonable" spot...

vibration at stop lights is normal on autos as you haven't taken it out of gear, that's ok, you don't need to take it out of gear at a stop light, just get used to it, and of course because diesels run at slower RPMs with more vibrations it will be more pronounced on a diesel than on a gas vehicle. (or are you talking about vibration after leaving a stop? if so I can't help you much...)

regarding overdrive, basically just leave it "on" (the button is an overdrive disable) it is essentially another gear above the highest gear.

the manual... I bought the user's guide and russek manuals from the UK delica club shop and the user guide seems really good it includes all sorts of info useful to the owner, as for the russek manual, I don't know yet how good it is, there was a bit of discusion on on uk site about it being garbage, but that seemed to be mainly from one person who was selling a competeing manual... he also claimed that it was an exact copy of the official mitsubishi manual... so I guess either the official mitsubishi manual is garbage, or this fellow was biased... I dunno I haven't looked through it yet and I won't know how useful it is until I have my van to compare to.

as for the headlights being different intensities, it may just be the aim of the lights, (look at most vehicles and the driver's side light looks dimmer as it is aimed down lower so as to avoid blinding oncomming traffic)

and as for the wind deflectors... they're an aquired taste... I know I want some, but I don't know if I want the huge ones that a lot of the delicas come with... I may end up thinking along the same lines as you...

the stereo, if it's the japanese one you'll probably want to replace it anyway as they have a different FM band than we do and therefore you won't get many of our stations on it... if it's the stock one and you are keeping it there's info in the user's manual, and if it's an aftermarket one... you can try looking it up on the web, most manufacturers seem to have manuals for their stereos available online.

as for the dealer... I didn't deal with VI because they never responed to me (I contacted them 3 times before giving up never hearing back from them)... unfortunately I found most dealers weren't verry responsive... of about 10 importers I contacted I only got responsed from 4, one of those basically told me they weren't interested in bringing in a delica, one took eons to answer anything, and stopped answering at all after the 3rd message, the only 2 that were really responsive **** EDIT: removing my recomendation for Luxury imports due to their recent change in attitude slandering the entire import process, flinging baseless accusations at other importers and exporters, and admission of illegal importing **** I went with the other responsive one I found jdm-wholesale out of delta bc, so far I have been very impressed with them, but again I don't have my vehicle yet so I still reserve the right to change my mind ;)

wow... longer reply than I was thinking of writing, hope it was of some help...

[Breadman]

hey surfer boy sounds like you had quite the trip home. they are essentially good vehicles although you have to keep in mind they are 15 years old. i would assume if you can't find the owners manual then it sounds like you have a lot of technical knowledge and that should take over. check the oil filter and if it not in english then chances are vi didn't change the oil then you can assume they haven't done anything else. they seem to be like most used car lots, in to make a lot of money and riding the delica wave. don't let them take away the fact that you own a great vehicle. in talking with them they seem to know less about them than i do and i bake bread for a living. this forum seems to be a better place for answers than they do. you should also keep in mind your delica might have sit idle for months if not a year and a good couple of drives up and down the island should blow out the cob webs. all the stuff about the idle and auto thing sound pretty much normal. if you are coming through nanaimo i could pop over and meet for coffee and take a quick look if you need. my deli's run much better now that i have put 10,000 km's on them.
chin up
paul

[BCDelica]

Congarts on get your Delica surferboy, :D

Long read there, but I agree with the other guys - you'll love your Delica.
Clean those shades, dirty ones like mine drove me nuts! Polished up and nice'n clear you forget their there, except if you try and stick your head out of the window. And don't take em off completely, living here in the rainforest that's a mistake, when you or your passenger gets a liter of water dumped in your lap while stopping in a heavy rain you'll understand. Well she knock hers off accidentally and I took awhile to get around to putting the shade back on; so she gets a soaker on her way to work and of course it's my fault.

Sounds like you would have preferred a standard. How about when you drive slow in reverse, the van almost shakes. I have noticed that in four different Delica's now. We found our family Delica shifts at lower RPM's after we had the tranny fluid changed.

I find the Russek manual helpful and very accurate, but it does leave out the running gear on the 4 wheel stuff. As for the undercarriage stuff that does show these vehicles age. Our family's Delica is in super shape, but looks much more neglected underneath, we changed the rear leaf spring bushings and there is a little rust. My new work van is rougher on the outside and it shows that it was kept outside all the time as the plastic is very faded everywhere. But underneath it is in superior shape, almost no rust and various bushings and boots look new. I guess with buying a JDM you take a bit of a gamble.

Hey and post a pictures of your new Delica!!!
Kevin

[BCDelica]

Welcome also Coastdoy,

Now there's a perfect home for a Delica, long beach.

Kev

[surferboy]

Hey everyone, thanks for all the input about my incertanties about my new van,very helpfull but hey, Paul i'll definitelly take your offer on hooking up when i'm in nanaimo, i have a feeling you could answer a lot of my questions about simple things and noises i'm still not sure about... i'll e-mail you my phone # and if it fits your schedule, i would'nt mind if you'd take my van for a spin.. well guys let me tell you that i realised the hard way that these vans aren't as clean as they look like on the pictures that i saw! i spent the last two days hand scrubbing the van and i never seen anything like it! the winshield alone took me like an hour to get rid of the soot build up from sitting around in the japanese pollution! all the rubbers around the doors and windows, all those hard to get in-between spots etc... i went thru a case of rags and yet it still has this cruddy film of crap all over it!! the roof is totally faded out in the front and it looks like the whole body needs a good cut and polish to bring back the shine of the paint! i stripped all the seats out and got the van pretty much bare floor in the back, i found some neet rubber/vapor barrier matting that has a wood laminate finish at home depot, it just interlocks and makes for easy maintenance and cleaning, i think it will look really good to with the wood look on the floor... i guess i probably shouldn't have taken those wind shields off but no biggy, i'll polish them real good then put them back..
about the vibrations, well it iddles really rough in the morning i mean the whole van shakes! then its not so bad once the van has been driven for awhile but you guys are right, in reverse it definitelly is worse, any idea as to why? the easing off the gas pedal trick seems to help a lot with the shifting, and i guess i'll just take those vibrations as normal when stopped at a light in drive.. there is a clicking noise that seems to be coming from the back when i turn the key half way (while i let the glow plugs warm up)
kinda curious what that is too, and by the way, how long are you supposed to wait before turning the key all the way? (never owned a diesel before...) and am i supposed to wait every time i start the van throughout the day? sorry to bombard everybody with my novel size question log but they sure didn't tell me much about anything at V.I !!
anyways, thanks once again folks and oh, how the hell for like the fourth time do i post pictures of my van on the site?!! 8)

[Breadman]

just quickly on the clicking noise. there should be two clicks the second means the glow plugs are ready. like most diesels you only need to wait the first time in the day and from then on it should start right away. i will reply to your pm as soon as i can.
paul

[Green1]

most diesels have a glow plug light on the dash that you wait for and then when it goes out you start the vehicle, the delica however doesn't seem to have one of these convenient lights.... as a general rule, I put the key in and turn to glow, put my seat belt on, check the mirrors, and then start the vehicle... if the engine is still hot you don't need to wait for the glow plugs at all, and if it's -30, you'll want to run them for a couple of cycles (most likely they turn off after a short while, turning the key to off and back on will restart the cycle)

[BCDelica]

Do you know about the idle/throttle below and the left of the steering wheel. In the morning pull that out before starting your van when it's cold, and just let it back in till it's just below 1000 rpm or so. The idle adjuster turn's to the right to lock it at the rpm's you want it set. In a few minutes the van's idle will have speeded up a bit, then you push in that throttle and the van should run smoother. When it's really cold you can let that throttle in steps to keep the idle over 700 rpm, that's where the shaking comes from - cold diesels don't run up to speed right away. The click you hear behind you is the glow plug timer shutting them off to prevent over heating. How long you let the glow plugs warm up depends on how warm the engine is, it's a good idea if it's cold to wait for the click. Of course new diesels take care of all this for you; they adjust the idle for warm up and crank the engine only when the glow plugs have reached the right temp, and in my option that's just more things to fail.

Wish I had taken the time to pull the carpets from my work van - they have a pretty darn thick underlay in these van's don't they. Imagine with that wooden look floor adding custom cut sheet vinyl wood grain and wood trim on the body panels kicking on the side of a deli. Hmmm.

For posting pictures you have to upload your pictures from your PC to a photo site such as flickr.com or photobucket (after creating an account). The pictures are only web links and not stored on the forum. Once posted you right click on the web picture for the photo's properties and copy the url. Then when you post on a forum paste the url into the brackets [img]your pictures url here[/img].

Kev

[BCDelica]

Wow we are geting busy around here, I read your post, answer the phone, post and I'm third on the draw.

Don't say we don't try n' help. :P

[surferboy]

Hey guys, just as i thought that the world was populated by careless selfish money hungry individuals, i came accross the members of this great forum that restored my faith in human kind!!! THANKS EVERYBODY!!
all those infos are very valuable to me and if everybody would have the same mentality, we would live in a much better world!! i think that Hutch might be able to look at my van in Vic, he used to be a mechanic and seems to want to help.. i can't wait to see what he has to say.. i'm gonna polish up those wind defectors with brasso and put them back on, i'll let you guys know how they turned out.. i will also look into posting the pics of my conversion i just picked up the materials today, i can't believe i'm missing out on a good swell right now, i am so absorbed by this van, my girlfriend is pissed!! i tried that throttle knob by the steering wheel but unfortunately, the knob stayed in my hand!! the little screw is missing, thank you VI!! i guess vise grips will have to do for now!! the whole transmission thing and vibrations at iddle are getting better, but the only concern i have left with the tranny (if it even has anything to do with it) is that once i'm stoped, when i'm getting going again, lets say at a stop light or just leaving in the morning, for a few seconds, there is this weird vibration, it almost feels like a whell is spinning or grabing, i can't quite explain it, my girlfriend has noticed it too, it is worse up-hills, just at the first moments of accelarating... i dunno, anyone came across that?
anyways folks, i'll keep posting my development and maybe one day, we should have a big delica get together like a rally or something, a meeting like they do in europe! cheers! :D

[BCDelica]

Wish I could suggest something about your problem there. Might be one for a mechanic to look at. After having the bushings for the rear leafs on my wife's changed, I took it in for clunking noises coming out of the back. I thought the shop left out one bushing or something, nope, just a shot muffler.

Hope yours is something simple, I don't experience anything like.

Kevin

[biozach]

Hey Group,

A quick question here. I'm noticing some noise when I'm turning right, especially when accelerating. It's kind of sraping metallic noise. The harder right I turn, the more prominent it is. Anyone else heave this problem? Thanks

[argo]

Does it make the noise in 2wd and 4wd?