Toyota Van, I need advice quick!

[txsurfer]

Ok, heres the setup. I own a 97 Toyota RAV4 with slight tranny issues, nothing major but she will dump one day. Im planning on driving my car through Mexico on a major surfing trip next summer for 2 months and obviously I have a lot of concerns about something major breaking on my vehicle while I am there. I just found a 84 toyota van (toyota's answer to the VW) for 600 bucks! 240K miles though

Im going to check it out because here is my thinking,

450 for my new tires for the RAV4, 400 for maint., 200 spare parts, 270 for the racks,

Im thinking, 450-500 for the van if i can talk him down, throw 300 at maint and crap, and im set to roll. If it breaks down something major, Ill leave it and still have my daily driver when I return. No worries if something happens to the van, screw it!

Im pretty mechanicly inclined, changed several transmissions in my old honda before, numerous brake jobs, suspension is like candy to me haha. I think Im gonna get her. ADVICE GUYS ADVICE PLEASE!

[hinoranger]

whoa, there. These vans are guarenteed head gasket failures. Cool vans- I've owned two- but probably not a round-trip ticket, especially at that kind of mileage.

Travel light and good luck!

[Grim Reaper]

There are a few forums out there for them. Their is a AWD model I was doing research on at one time.

http://www.toyotavanpeople.com/#
http://siborg.home.comcast.net/
http://www.yotavans.org/
They are a pretty neat little vehicle. Actually fun to drive. I would say go for it. The above forum has some good tips on a little lift for them and what size tires you can cram on it. I think you can put a ball joint spacer for a IFS truck on it and get a little extra wheel travel. www.4crawler.com sells them. What you would need to do is find out the part number for the upper ball joint and see if its the same as on a 4wd truck. If it is then it should work.

I would do some major preventive things like a water pump, all new hoses, have the radiator checked or just replace it. www.radiators.com is usually around $139 for a new one.

[hinoranger]

well, I didn't say they wern't really cool. But I don't think they were sold in Mexico, so you'd be at the mercy of local mechanics, however ingenious they might be.

I currently have an '87 cargo with 4wd.. and a blown headgasket; would love to fix it but engine accessabilty is pracally non-existant so I'm not going to tear into until I have a good place to work.

Fun to drive and, AFAIK, one of the few 4x4 vans with a genuine low range. No numbers to back this up but I'd guess 1st gear/low range is lower than 1st in the only other off-road (as opposed to AWD) van, the VW syncro. Thing is, there are a lot of good engine upgrades for the Vanagon. I've never heard of a meaningful power upgrade for the Toyota van, and I'm sure you can't buy one off the shelf like you can for VW

[calamaridog]

whoa, there. These vans are guarenteed head gasket failures. Cool vans- I've owned two- but probably not a round-trip ticket, especially at that kind of mileage.

Travel light and good luck!

We bought one new in 1985 for the family and the only thing we did to it for well over 250k was replace the timing chain. You couldn't overheat the damn thing either. We tried in Death Valley with the AC running and going up hill but it wouldn't get hot.

Then the gardner drove it for at least another 100k.

Then we had a cargo version for the business and the only thing that stopped it was a major accident. That thing just went and went with minor PM.

I have never heard anyone complain about the HG before Hino? Sorry but I don't buy the whole "guarenteed" HG failure stuff.

Anyways TXSurfer, depending upon vehicle condition, I say go for it. If it breaks down, leave it on the side of the road.

[hinoranger]

Well, I had to get rid of my '84 before I had a chance to find out for sure, but it was starting to overheat at 220k.

I sure hope I can find an explanation my '87 overheating problem besides the head gasket because almost anything else would be simpler to repair, and finally, one of the biggest topics toyotavanpeople is overheating and how to instal a second radiatior.

-your milage may vary!

[Grim Reaper]

Fun to drive and, AFAIK, one of the few 4x4 vans with a genuine low range. No numbers to back this up but I'd guess 1st gear/low range is lower than 1st in the only other off-road (as opposed to AWD) van, the VW syncro. Thing is, there are a lot of good engine upgrades for the Vanagon. I've never heard of a meaningful power upgrade for the Toyota van, and I'm sure you can't buy one off the shelf like you can for VW

22RET is the Turbo motor in the trucks. With a custom exhaust manifold and dropping the compression on the Van motor you can get the 22RET engine management and Turbo to work on that motor. The bore between the Van and the turbo truck I think is the same so its just a matter of swapping out the pistons (while doing a rebuild of course).

Any bi metal (aluminum head cast iron block) motor has the potential to pop a head gasket. Toyota is Notorious for underspecing the head bolt torque. Most of the in line motors from the 80's and int the 90's were around 56lbft of torque. The bolts they use have been tested and it appears the bolts would be better suited to a Torque around 72lbft.

[hinoranger]

Interesting thought on 22RET, although if I were going to spend time and money on perfomance, I'd have to look at a used JDM turbodiesel, hopefuly one out of a late '90's Lightace or Highace.

what do 22RETs go for on the used market? And for that matter, are you sure the 22R has been installed in the van? I didn't go back to look but it seems like the 22R has come up pretty often in the Vanwagon forums (I'm telling you, there are a lot of Toyota vans with cooked motors out there!) and there were a lot of naysayers on the subject.

[txsurfer]

ok, so the van is a little beat up. its not horrible, but some dents here and there along with a little rust. the kid has been working on the engine and she purrs like a cat! He has replaced the fuel pump, starter, thermostat, and alternator. The car drives and shifts fine, but I will def have to buy it new tires and work on the breaks. Im going to do my best to talk him down to 300, but I will pay no more than 400 for it. so we will see

Still a cheap and viable option, but I will def check for the overheating problem

[txsurfer]

ok, so the van is a little beat up. its not horrible, but some dents here and there along with a little rust. the kid has been working on the engine and she purrs like a cat! He has replaced the fuel pump, starter, thermostat, and alternator. The car drives and shifts fine, but I will def have to buy it new tires and work on the breaks. Im going to do my best to talk him down to 300, but I will pay no more than 400 for it. so we will see

Still a cheap and viable option, but I will def check for the overheating problem