rough running on 1st start of the day.

fan belt looks easy to change. got a m8 to guide me on tension tomorrow.
but.. things arent behaving as they should.
last few months when i start the van, i always leave it for a min or two to warm up.. or start to, then set off. when i use 2nd gear the van would some times feel like it has fuel starvation or 1 cylinder wasnt receiving a spark. after a few meters it would clear up and be fine.
this week its gotten a heck lot worse. i started the van up yesterday morn to go to work, been using bike for the 1st part of the week. it wasnt idling right, it juddered/sputtered for far longer than usual 2nd gear.. took 2 miles to "clear up". when i finished work it was sound as a bell!
this morning it did it again.
so...
i am going to change the fan belt (as originally planned)
change the spark plugs
change the air and fuel filters.
can get my hands on new HT leads monday if the problem persists...
i dont want to take it in to a garage as i have heard so many bad things about them all! everyone has samat bad to say about a garage that other people say are good! esp that they can diagnose one thing, replace it and find its still got an issue! i can not afford to piss about like that.

any ideas?

Yeah HT based issue that sounds like, take the dizzy cap off and have a look at the contacts and the rotor arm. Bet they have seen better days. Check the plugs too.

Dizzy cap, Rotor arm, and Plugs are all service components and can be changed with great ease.

On damp cold mornings mine starts on 3 then clears up in half a minutes, I am 99.5% sure its a sparking problem.

Leads are the last thing i'd change, but they have been at fault on other cars I've fixed in the past. But they tend to cause continued misfire not just cold start issues. As for the filters, I've replaced hundreds of filters on "customers" machines that don't need replacing but its on the service schedule. The worst looking air filters would be clean after a quick banging out and a blow out with compressed air. Fuel filters tend to look almost immaculate inside after 150k.

i bought a "service kit" months ago.. fuel/air filters + 3 plugs..... found the filters.. cant find the sodding plugs!
and its pissing with rain and windy as hell! i dont think we'll get any work done today as no garage/car port to hide under.
yep distributor strip down/rotor arm, change plugs were/are 1st on list.
just had a look through the sparse manuals on my van.. vague as usual, i'll never slag off Haynes ever again!

i am glad i have small hands! i thought the plugs on my bike were a hard job...... the van is the same! cant see where the plug is.. "see" with your fingers.
hope i can find the plugs i bought at work tomorrow, if not will have to buy a new set + distributor cap/rotor arm.

bollox!
the plugs the shop gave me.. are the wrong size! have to take em back tomorrow! i didnt have one to hand when i phoned.. but they supposedly got the right part via the vans Reg...

Just got back from a wet late night autumn drifting joyride in the Hijet, getting the hang of it a little bit. Although I did nearly loose it big time but turned out quite a good drift somehow.

That computer system that all the motor factors use is wank when it comes to low production/imports, its also crap at getting the right parts if you own something on a date/model change. I was looking at my v5c logbook today, it says pretty much nothing, Daihatsu Hijet 1.3 efi, seats n/a, type: van/windows, no weights or anything. Looks like whoever registered them filled in as little as possible. My old friend who orginally got me into daihatsu's has a Jap Mistubishi Colt Cyborg RS which on the V5 says "Mitsubishi", as the car has no stickers etc, on getting a quote the insurance company requested a copy of the v5 to try and work out what it is. They came back and insured it as a 1.6 colt lx or something.... if only they knew it was over twice the horsepower.

Good luck getting the plugs, maybe add the plug number to the info sticky. Mine takes NGK BKUR6EK, and 3.7 Litres 10w-30 Engine oil.

i think thats what they gave me.. deffo got a 6 in the number as to a 5 on the old plugs.

after the plug run around.. van seems to be running sweet again. been a few days now and no juddering or rough running.