Hiace Electrical Issue 1998 super custom 4WD

I recently bought a 1998 Hiace super custom 4WD and mechanically seems sound, been a few long trips but after a week im starting to noticing mechanical issues. The dashboard is all electronic and randomly turns off completely, clock is playing up, fuel indication showing 5 barss, then 2 bars, then 5 bars, and randomly changing, windows stopped wining up/down, break lights also malfunctioned at one point and there was also smoke coming from the wires in the back, side and roof at one point. It also has 140k on the odometer so i was thinking maybe they messed around with the odometer and effected the wiring.

I'm quite clueless about cars and vans but i am looking to build a camper and travel full time and this one car i was drawn to more than the others but bit worried about this electrical issue. I took it back to the seller as he said he will get his electrician to fix it but yeah i was directed by a friend to look up these forums and ask the experts to give me tips and ideas a long the way.

Apparently it was imported from japan last year and everything in the back is empty and has been pulled apart because there are wires everywhere. I also told him to isolate wires if he can cause the electronic curtains and all that extra stuff are not important for me, just the basics. I also hear some whistling sounds while driving, very faint but i don't think that's electrical.

Thanks

So just got it back and seems like the wiring has been touched up now since the dashboard seems much brighter than it was before and apparently it was a back camera wiring issue that was causing the whole issue. Still hear some whistling near the drivers side seat or mirror/door and some rattling noises in the back but i guess because its empty and pulled apart with no insulation its normal. I will update as i start building slowly.

Glad you got that sorted. Good luck with the build

Good luck with the whistle.

Our Hiace / Dyna or whatever you want to call it has a whistle which arises at around 80 km/h (depending on any wind also) and I've tried everything I can think of to try to find its source with no luck so far. Using a plastic cup with a tube fed through it as a stethoscope did not reveal anything, the sound just seems to be everywhere and I'm limited to where I can listen while traveling at 80 km/h. It is likely outside which will make it impossible to find, I hope yours is not so challenging!
Rattles come with the territory.

At least you've got the other issue fixed.

Yeah i hear ya, thanks for the kind responses guys