New member from the Netherlands, Lisse

Hi there, I am Paul and just recently the new proud owner of a Daihatsu Hijet pickup, I bought the Hijet for a purpose, witch is to convert it into a camper (on a long term base, why hury?).
It is a 2001 model and had 1 previous owner, so I'm the second and has 55000km on it, but to expect, there are a few things to sort out sinds the 1st owner was a small gardning company and used it well.
So after the purchase I cleaned the cabine thoroughly and it came out reasonable, the dashcolour is a bit faded and the flourcarpet has a huge hole in it and a doorcard is damaged but thats only cosmatics.

Technical there ar a few "minor" problems, as I hope so first of all, it has always been in service with a Daihatsu dealer so the cambelt is changed at 40000km (due to age), all fluids are perfect execpt the braking fluid (gets forgotten a lot), so that gets flushed.
All the rearlight connectors were corroded, cleaned them and works well for the time but i am replacing them all, to be sure, ow and the junctionbox under the dash had to be taken apart, there were several contacts corroded and concactspray wasn't enough, they probably left the window down or door open in the rain, I guess.

Now there is one thing left to sort out and that's the reason I came across this forum with all it's great info, so I thought I maight as well join the club .
But Paul what is that one thing left (i hear you think).
When we (my girlfriend and I) took it for a testdrive there was vibration in the car at and that topped out at 80km/h in 5th gear, going faster i seems to dissapear, thinking that it was the tires or propellershaft.
Because the tires were old and worn they have been all replaced for new ones, took it out for a testdrive again and it's still there, so what is it then?
I took the propellershaft out and feld if there was any play, yep there is, not much but it's there and from what I understand a propellershaft should not have any play at all!
So last week I orderd a new one in Italy for 122 euro from a Piaggio service Center, It still has to be deliverd but I am curious if that is the couse of the vibration, if the problem has being solved i will post it in a relevant topic.

This week I try to take some pictures so I can post them here.

Grtz,

Paul

Welcome to the forum

All the Hijets I came across on Marktplaats that belonged to "camper people" had just replaced their head gasket. My guess is that these vans aren't really good for camping because overheating and ripping the head gasket (they tend to overheat, common flaw) is not really something you want happening when on vacation.

Anyway, I hope you have more luck than most "camper people" on Marktplaats. Keep us posted, take pictures (especially when you solve problems, solutions are what make a forum useful) and propagate the Hijet!

Welcome H.S. ( my abréviation of your name). You carry out your Camper plans. Yes Lex is correct to a point. They do get hot but carrying half a tonne of Romahome body and all your gear in it with a body with the aerodynamics of a house brick or whatever you decide to build on yours, then too damn right it is going to get hot. So would you running up a hill with 25kilos of backpack strapped to you back.

But we come back to the same old problem. Bleed the cooling system properly, fit two new rad caps. Make sure that the seating on the metal pipes under the passenger seat is rust free and smooth, making a good seal. But above all, and DON'T LISTEN TO ANY OF THE DOUBTING THOMAS'S ON HERE, FIT A RADIATOR COOLANT FAN OVERIDE SWITCH AND USE IT. EVERY TIME YOU COME TO A STEEP HILL, A TRAFFIC JAM, SLOW MOVING TRAFFIC - - PUT THE FAN ON WHILE THE TEMPERATURE GAUGE IS READING NORMAL WORKING TEMPERATURE. ONCE THAT GAUGE IS UP NEAR TO THE RED IT IS TOO LATE.

I worked for Romahome for two years, I have owned Hundreds of Hi-Jets in the past 12 years. I have seen the problems, I have read the moaners on here. Follow what I have described on here and FIT A SWITCH-- AND USE IT.

hi Woody, any recommendations for a fan and switch to use and how to fit it. Easy job?

That´s a good tip Woody, I will fit one soon and keep it cool, thanks.
I inspected the whole cooling system and all is in very good nick, I will take a closer look at the rad caps, although changing them is a better option to be sure I quess.

Thank you all.

Found some info on the overide switch setup here: Link to Info 
What guage wire would anyone recommend for this setup, looking at the simple heavy guage wire direct to terminals and a heavey duty rocker switch in dash.
Van not overheating at momen but have seen how quick it rises when it stands still or moving slowly.

Well as Logi in his infinite wisdom often says,  It's Eazi Peasey.  It depends if you have Coal Shovels or Mobile Bear Traps for hands like I have.  
On the 1300's under the passenger seat are the two metal water  pipes one of which has the infamous Radcap  seating on it and the whole pipe assembly has 8 pipe outlets on it.  I always refer to it as The Strangled Octopus.
However as usual I digress. The pipe you need to get to is the lower one which is probably easier to access from under the vehicle jacked up and axle stands or front wheels sat on two wheels and tyres each side if you have them. I've got dozens the damn things I need to get rid of, so if any of you are coming down to the Isle of Wight..........
On the pipe is the Temperature Sensor ( switch) . There are three types, one blue, one green and one smaller black version.  All three have just two wires going to them although the green and the blue have a T shaped plug and the sensors have three pins only two are used. The smaller black plug has just two connections. The green and blue sensors have a larger Base and thread and not interchangeable with the black one.
The Sensor purely is a switch between the two wires and one of the wires goes to the Fan Relay which is situated on a bracket held with a 10mm set bolt  on the bodywork just  in front of the Radiator Cap. The wires ONLY switch the Relay so use very little current. THEY ARE NOT SUPPLYING THE RADFAN MOTOR.
All you need is ideally a rocker on/off  switch with two terminals,  two Scotchlock Connectors and two  Blue  Crimp Spade Connectors and a length of Dual Core Cable ( meatier than  speaker cable).

I cut an oblong hole in the Centre Console just to the right of the Handbrake to fit the Rocker Switch in nice and flush. Positioned here it is easy to switch on and off and requires the minimum amount of wiring in.  You will need to thread the cable from the Console Switch through a suitable hole in the central Handbrake and Seatbelt mounting plate.  Cable tie the wire in suitable places.
From underneath the vehicle take the connector off the Sensor  and pull back or cut off some of the wiring sheathing so that you have enough room to get  the two blue Scotchlocks in position on the two loom wires and the two wires from the rocker switch and Crimp them together.  Job done!!  

The  fan when wired this way will only work with the ignition on, so no flat batteries. The fad fan does use a heck of a lot of current, and the pathetic little alternator can't keep up with its constant demand, so only use it when you really need to.

If you need further information or advice, email me at : hi.jetmaniow@gmail.com giving me your phone number and I will contact you.

Hello

As usual a brilliant detailed and useful reply. Mine is the 993, is the temp sensor in a different place?

There is no Relay in the circuit Raggy as you have correctly identified. It isn't such  a bad job as you can bring two wires up off the sensor (which is situated on the bottom of the radiator between the two main hoses) through one of the rubber grommets in the floor pan or the tunnel behind the radiator under the dash.
You will need a fairly meaty rocker switch to cope with the power draw. I don't know how much the 993cc Fan is rated at amperage wise but like the 993cc Radiator the fan is a good bit smaller than the 1300 fan. Perhaps a Heated Rear Window switch may do the job. You also get the bonus that it is an illuminated switch too.
I have used an aftermarket red illuminated rocker switch on 2 of my Hi-Jets.
If I get time tomorrow I will wire a HRW Switch up to a battery and a 993cc fan and see if it will run for a good length of time without burning out.
I will let you all know how I get on with that experiment.

Thanks, that would be really helpful.

I have looked at the 993cc Fan and forgotten how small it and the electric motor is. The wiring to it is the normal loom swg lighting and accessories size so yes the Heated Rear Window switch appears to be adequate.
I have wired the switch up to the fan and a battery and run it for 15 minutes with no problems. Neither the wires or the switch got warm. So no need for heavy duty switch or cable.

Woody! You should write a book, Hijet's for Dummies, crystal clear explanation, very usefull
Thank you.

Today all the goodies from Italy have arrived incl the propshaft, exchanged it but the vibration isn't gone, its less though.
So the shaft was part of it, what I now noticed is that it's rpm related, the search goes on.

In the tailstock of the gearbox there is a bush that the splined nose of the Propshaft slides into. It should be a nice sliding fit ( behave  Logi). Check and see if there is any side play of the splined nose.  It could well be that the worn Propshaft you replaced has caused wear in the bush by the Propshaft vibration and is causing your new Propshaft to vibrate in the worn bush.
Check it out as soon as possible. Also check the gearbox rubber mounts too and possibly the engine mountings too for splits or breakage  in the rubber.
If as you say that it is revs related are you referring to engine RPM through the gears? Clutch Pressure Plates are balanced and some have little balance weights riveted to them and if it comes off can cause a mild engine vibration, but it is very unusual for that to happen. Just pray that it's not something a bit more serious with the engine.

welcome from holland, Vlaardingen here.
Great forum with lots of useable info.

Wish you a lot of joy with your pickup!