Mid-engined turbocharged 4wd JDM shite

[wuvvum]

This is my latest purchase, collected on the Saturday before Christmas and driven home from Sheffield in the snow.

 

 

It's a Toyota Townace, with a 2-litre turbo diesel and an autobox. I'd never really given much thought to these things before, but I was browsing through the "Buy It Now" section on eBay Motors and this jumped out at me as being too much of a bargain to miss. I have to say I've been quite pleasantly surprised so far - it goes adequately well for what it is, it's comfortable and pretty relaxing to drive, and although it's no LS400 it's quieter than I would have expected considering I'm basically sitting on the engine. It's also ridiculously well equipped for a nearly 20-year-old van, with electric windows, central locking, climate control, dual zone aircon, automatic adaptive shocks etc. etc..

 

 

The 4wd setup is very similar to that on my Fourtrak, with 4-high selected via a push button on the dash and a separate lever next to the gear lever to select 4-low, and manual freewheeling hubs on the front.

 

In the back it's been made into a sort of mini camper, with a double bed, sink, fridge and a space for a cooker (cooker was removed by the seller to go in her new van, but if I ever use the thing for camping I'm sure I can pick up a cooker easily enough). It's also wired up for a 240v hookup, with 240v lighting and sockets in the back.

 

 

I can see myself having some fun in this thing, providing the head gasket holds up - and it's taxed until the end of September so I don't have to worry about spending anything more on it for a while.

[Station]

Are these similar to the Estimas? My dad had one, they are very nice, but horrible on diesel. Excellent as a camper I reckon!I love the old Town Ace version, they look like skips.

[pogweasel]

Jesus. I guess the ambient temperature on the drive home kept it sufficiently cool as to not melt the cheddar headgasket. I'll give you a fortnight before it's kippered.

[Milford Cubicle]

Looks really useful, nice buy. Although the headgaskets are a bit of a weak point, I wonder how much of the problem is caused by the kind of people who tend to buy them. Or that they're already neglected by the time they hit British shores.

[wuvvum]

I don't think these are quite as bad as the Estimas for head gasket issues, or indeed for other mechanical problems - for one thing all ancillaries are driven from belts off the crankshaft pulley as per normal, rather than from a propshaft coming off the front of the engine. I suspect a lot of them do get neglected though, as engine access is a bit of a pain - you basically have to lift up the nearside half of the cab floor, complete with passenger seat, to get at the oily bits, which doesn't bother me but would probably put a lot of people off checking things on a regular basis. This one has been in the UK for a while and has been regularly serviced, including a cambelt 15K miles ago, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll be OK.

[pogweasel]

I don't think I have ever seen one of these for sale that didn't have some kind of cooling problem. Usual ad would read like this:"For Sale: 1992 Toyota Townace, all extras, had replacement headgasket 1000 miles ago, cost £2000, now overheating again, for sale due to ineptitude, I paid a fortune for this shitbox grey import of unknown history so a bargain at £995 (no MoT no Tax),"

[warren t claim]

Jesus. I guess the ambient temperature on the drive home kept it sufficiently cool as to not melt the cheddar headgasket. I'll give you a fortnight before it's kippered.

I'm afraid that as a former owner I have to agree. they really are shit! ALWAYS keep The heater running-even during summer.Make sure you have a long set of jumpleads 'cos you have to trail them through the side window.

[Rusty Pelican]

My neighbours got an Estima , had loads of trouble , not with the H/G but the head itself , not sure if its the same on yours but hes had two heads CRACK .Nice usefull looking bit of kit though

[Cavcraft]

Aye, I thought it was the 2.4 with the papier mache head gaskets so hopefully the 2.0 will be ok?

[mk1_4dr]

Nice van, looks mega useful. You'll never have to piss about with a tent again.Is it not possible to upgrade the rad? have it recored or whatever. Maybe a kenlowe fan or two? Even if its a pig to get the rad out, once its done....

[Milford Cubicle]

That's the thing isn't it? The headgasket is just the pressure release valve... it's problems in the rest of the cooling system that cause it.