smoking on start and acceleration

[aaptoday]

Hi all, I have just put a deposit on a 94 delica here in calgary, it has 84,000k but smokes white on start up and black under acceleration. Even puffs black when just reving it hard.

I know that black on acceleration is unburnt fuel or running rich as is white on start up.

The guy selling it says it is injection pump timimg and pending that getting fixed she will be mine.

My question is does this sound reasonable that the pump timing should be out at 84,000 k? Injectors were replaced in Japan apparently.

Thanks all and I look foreward to hopefully being a proud owener in the next week or two.

Steve

[delicat]

It doesn't surprise me. If he adjusts it for you before you drive it away that sounds reasonable to me. Enjoy!

[Stiful]

Sound like 2 seperate problems. Possibly the egr valve is sticking open. That can either be replace, cleaned or blanked off. Most here do the blanking off as it is a permanent fix and other 4m40 engines in Pajeros don't even have one anyway so it is not that critical. I would have a look inside the intercooler pipes for signs of excessive oil. Also have a look inside the air filter box for oil. Check if the filter has been replaced while your in there. Make sure the fuel pump gets a mention on the warranty. Was the car "warmed up for you" before you got there. If so may have fuel pump issues.. Read $$$$$. Cheers.

[Modsqwad]

After reading some of the posts and talking to Glen at Combs Country Auto about it I question some of the odometer readings that
are claimed out of Japan. When you think about it a 15 year old vehicle with 84k on the odo has only turned 5,600 k/year. I have some
trouble trusting that completely. Even if it is true that much sitting around is not good for vehicles either. Maybe your 94's injection system has more km's on it than the clock shows. This is in no way meant as a stab at your dealer as he would be just as much in the
dark as you in this case. Its not that hard to swap out the dash of a wreck. I don't mean to sound pessimistic and I surely could be totally wrong in this case.Good luck.
Andy Wilson
Sayulita Nay.Mx.

[aaptoday]

thanks for the replies guys, I will look into it all, the deal is that if the smoke is not reduced then I don't have to take the van.

This one seems quite clean but who knows if it's actual mileage. Here is the link for the sale.

http://zenautoworks.ca/Current%20Stock% ... 202023.htm

He is asking 10,300 I figured that was fair so long as it's running properly.

Also he says the egr was replaced in Japan too... so they were trying to fix the problem but did not get it fixed.

I also stipulated that if the smoke can't be fixed I want a compression test done.

The van has loads of power and was cold when I arrived. He claimed it was not started in three days. The glow plugs did take about 15 seconds to warm up so that sounds like they could be bad (he mentioned I ought to replace them) that could cause some unburnt fuel on start up.

Thanks again all!

[snelson]

Wow what a beauty! I can't wait to see a 400 in person.

The only thing I'd maybe work out is if it's been registered in Alberta yet?

I don't know if a dealer is selling it, then that automatically means its been registered already in Alberta?? However if perhaps it hasn't been registered here yet, then you'll have to get an Out of Province Inspection done - which could mean more things to repair, bring up to code. Mind you it appears to be in nice shape, so perhaps it needs nothing.

Just something to ask about.

[madmazda]

nice, another l400 in calgary.... thats going to be 6 now when mine gets here tomorrow......(mon) cant wait and I'm sure you can't as well...good luck on the new ride hope you enjoy it...

[Stiful]

You can ignore the speedo readings on almost all second hand Japanese cars. It has most likely been wound back on more than one occasion. The process is known in Japan as " Haircut ". This is commonly done to avoid taxes on high Klm cars. EG.....I buy new car and keep it for 60,000ks. I get it wound back to 35,000ks. New owner drives it till 80,000ks and gets it wound back to 60,000ks, new owner drives it till 100,000ks and winds it back to 85,000ks so that Deli has 85,000ks on the speedo but has actually done 145,000ks instead of the 85,000ks on the speed. Also dealers in Australia, I am sure yours wouldn't do this, get them wound back before they are shipped. that is one of the reasons they wont want to show auction sheets. That and the fact that the "grade" my be low or non existent. We know this happens as we have members in Japan who can track particular cars. We have caught a couple of dealers, one in particular we have caught out a couple of times winding from 189,000ks back to 85,000 . That doesn't include the haircuts it had already had. That is why you see Delis with worn out timing chains (makes a chuffing noise) on car that have supposedly done 120,000 or what ever ks. A timing chain should last 400,000+ks. Do not believe people when they say " Japan is a small place so their cars don't do many Ks... I have seen quite a few Delicas and not just 15 year old ones with over 500,000ks. I saw one at TAU once with 700,000+ks on a 96 Delica which looked quite nice. To avoid detection they often don't service their cars as that makes it trackable as the ks are shown on documentation. It is an illegal practice. You need to look at pedal wear etc etc to try to determine usage. New pedal rubber is not a good sign.. Don't let this put you off buying an L400 as there are many genuine good Delicas for sale. Only buy from the southern island auctions as there is less chance of rust..They export 120,000 second hand cars a WEEK , that is 6 million a year. Hope you find a good one.. Cheers..

[Green1]

I have never heard of ANY evidence of a rolled back odometer from Japan. The reading is likely correct.
Those that say otherwise simply don't understand that Japan has a different culture and geography than we do. 5-6000km/yr is more than enough when there's nowhere to go.
People don't drive to the store, in fact they usually have to take transit just to get to their vehicles. Vehicles are used rarely, and are more of a status symbol than an essential transportation device.

[Mitsuballistic]

I have never heard of ANY evidence of a rolled back odometer from Japan. The reading is likely correct.
Those that say otherwise simply don't understand that Japan has a different culture and geography than we do. 5-6000km/yr is more than enough when there's nowhere to go.
People don't drive to the store, in fact they usually have to take transit just to get to their vehicles. Vehicles are used rarely, and are more of a status symbol than an essential transportation device.

I haven't heard about rollbacks myself, but I think it's fair to say that you can actually drive quite a bit in Japan. The country may look small on a map, but it is actually quite a distance north-to-south, and there are many, many freeways as well as winding mountain highways.

And while cityfolk take advantage of the world's best public rail network, people also drive like crazy. I knew of one fellow who used to drive his Lexus to the end of his block (about 5 houses away) to go to a coffee vending machine. More significantly, many workers in the trades and in business will drive back and forth between major cities like Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka.

Just my two cents. But yeah, I have no idea about rollbacks. Interesting discussion, though.

[Stiful]

We have had members in Oz who have found documentation in the new delis that show the speedos have been wound back, in one case 120,000 ks more than the speedo. The subject of " haircuts" is from club members who live in Japan. We have one member who has lived there for 13 years. This member has physically inspected cars that have turned up here several weeks later with tens of thousands of ks wiped off. This has been done by the dealers agent in Japan . However it is also done within the Japanese domestic market as well. I know this member personally as he has visited me on a couple of occasions when he has been here and I have no doubt that was he says is true. Cheers..

[aaptoday]

hey guys thanks a bunch for the info and comments.

I don't mind if it has been rolled back. The van is clean and runs good but for the black on acceleration.

I am super excited but it won't get into the shop till friday then it will be there for a week apparently. Then I will get it.

My problem is that my 88 SAAB SPG's transmissinon blew the other day and now I have to drive my camper to work!! hahaa!

Know anyone who wants a parts car?

Anyway I am looking foreward to this vehicle and meeting with others to discuss modifications etc. I used to have an old landcruiser FJ40 so I enjoy the "strange vehicle cults"

[jessef]

There are vehicles coming out of Japan with the odometer rolled back.

There are also vehicles coming out of Japan with the original odometer mileage intact.

Rule of thumb : do not believe everything you hear.

If you know what to look for, chassis & mechanical, the mileage of a vehicle can be determined even if the odometer has been tampered with and the vehicle has been 'prepped'.

Just like buying a used car locally, scrutinize it and have a trustworthy mechanic or mechanically-inclined person to verify the sale.

There are lots of jems and lemons out there.

Picking the right one's on a consistent basis requires patience, trustworthy contacts overseas and at times sacrifices (taking lemons back).

Choosing a dealer or importer with those qualities is quite simple nowadays as the reputations have had time to build up over the years.

[EnviroImports.com]

Not everyone who buys a vehicle from Japan has to use Auctions, I ONLY buy from Private sales and a condition of the sale is I get the previous Shaken on them and not just one of them. with a auction vehicle you are buying blind, no history, no info other than a 60 second viewing by someone who has hundreds or thousands of vehicles to look at, if you get 60 seconds , your lucky, I go to Japan on a regular basis Ive been to the auctions and that was enough to answer all the questions about why so many things are mis represented,
you have a computer screen thats divided into 4 sections and you can have 4 vehicles going at a time, its Fast and furious....and there is No North american auction style auctioneer, the windows have a traffic light on the top of each, Green, Start your bidding, yellow, auction is almost over, and red is done, its timed and thats all you get...

you can have great results and you can have Catastrophic results... if you have the money to gamble....
But enough thread hijacking...

for your van smoking, I would look at your glow plugs, First, also if your van has corosion on the buss bar that sends the power to the plugs,
I am changing my set up to have 4 leads coming from the glow plug relay instead of one and then the first one and two get most of the power. the last two get the least
my set up will look like Spark plug wires , this way each plug will gets its full voltage and the first 2 plugs wont burn out ....
because the first 2 plugs are right next to where the lead wire attaches to it, they suck up most of the power the 2 farthest ones starve and with our Fast glow plugs, they don't get enough power in there few seconds of cycle before you start so you get more unburnt fuel until it warms up enough aka white smoke.

[aaptoday]

hey great idea and thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

Do you have any comment on black smoke on acceleration? Normal? pump timing? It feels like it has lots of power but I don't have another one to compare it to.

I will have to really look at these suggestions because it gets cold here and I want to be able to leave it for a few hours of cross country skiing and not worry about it starting.

Not everyone who buys a vehicle from Japan has to use Auctions, I ONLY buy from Private sales and a condition of the sale is I get the previous Shaken on them and not just one of them. with a auction vehicle you are buying blind, no history, no info other than a 60 second viewing by someone who has hundreds or thousands of vehicles to look at, if you get 60 seconds , your lucky, I go to Japan on a regular basis Ive been to the auctions and that was enough to answer all the questions about why so many things are mis represented,
you have a computer screen thats divided into 4 sections and you can have 4 vehicles going at a time, its Fast and furious....and there is No North american auction style auctioneer, the windows have a traffic light on the top of each, Green, Start your bidding, yellow, auction is almost over, and red is done, its timed and thats all you get...

you can have great results and you can have Catastrophic results... if you have the money to gamble....
But enough thread hijacking...

for your van smoking, I would look at your glow plugs, First, also if your van has corosion on the buss bar that sends the power to the plugs,
I am changing my set up to have 4 leads coming from the glow plug relay instead of one and then the first one and two get most of the power. the last two get the least
my set up will look like Spark plug wires , this way each plug will gets its full voltage and the first 2 plugs wont burn out ....
because the first 2 plugs are right next to where the lead wire attaches to it, they suck up most of the power the 2 farthest ones starve and with our Fast glow plugs, they don't get enough power in there few seconds of cycle before you start so you get more unburnt fuel until it warms up enough aka white smoke.