Seattle Mechanics?

Hello all,

very happy that i have found this forum and have been sponging up as much knowledge as I can. I am located in Seattle, any other local-ish owners that know of reputable mechanics?
I have called around to a few JDM specialty shops and their reception of my questions has not inspired confidence. I also reached out to a few land cruiser specialists that seem more comfortable working on the van, the waitlists however, tend to be long. Specifically I need the right from CV joint replaced/rebuilt, any tips? Other than the CV joint just a general run through and filter and fluid swap seems needed. I bought the van "straight off the boat" and the owner seemed to look down on the Japanese fluids, he said they recycle them, slightly out of spite for WW2. Who knows he lives on a cat farm and told me that i should join a gang. Wild world out there. I am 18 and mechanically green, hope i didnt purcahse a money pit.

thanks all!

Did you talk to JDM Car and Motorcycle? I'm not sure if they do outside work, or just prep their own vans for sale, but they've been working on these vans for years, so might be worth a shot.

i reached out them, they dont do outside work:(

I’ll be back in the Seattle area tomorrow between missions. You can message me for my phone number.
All of what you want to do makes sense and can be done in your driveway. Parts other than the air filter are locally available. I would save the shop labor and tackle this maintenance yourself. It might be fun too.

Let me know what you think
-Bryan

I am in Boise and have had trouble finding someone to work on my 95 SC 1kz. By chance, a Mitsubishi delica owner chased me down and wanted to talk vans, He suggested a place in Boise. You have to order your own parts and he has pushed me back another two weeks, but he said he would do it. Just maintenance, water pump, timing belt, thermo. Hope I get it done

I am in Seattle as well! I have a LH113 2wd, and am doing quite a bit of the work on my van myself. I'd be happy to talk shop and share notes if you are around!

Also would be great to do a little Seattle meetup for any other Hiace owners. I am sure the community has the tools/knowledge to do almost anything required.

Davekathi

Did the timing belt on my wife’s 1KZ and it only takes 30 minutes tops after you get the drivers seat out of the way. Roughly the same as an alternator belt on these motors.

If you have hand tools and a little mechanical experience I would consider doing it.

Ask if you want to tackle it. I can scare up a photo and step by step if you need it.

Hope it didn’t get too hot in Idaho yesterday.  It touched 110 here yesterday outside of Seattle. The desert I just left wasn’t that hot haha.

30 mins tops! Are you serious? I was thinking about it. Yea, I have access to the tools, and after spending a lot of time creeping on this site, I think I’ll try it. The dude wanted to charge me $1200 for the labor, maybe I’ll give it a try. Water pump a problem?
Thanks for the sympathy, but 110 in Seattle, that’s rough, at least I’m used to it

I’m not exaggerating in the slightest. The timing belt doesn’t go around the crank pulley. It’s off to the side bothering nobody. Few clips and bolts hold the cover on. You remove a tensioner and idler pulley to replace. Coolant hoses stay on. Accessory belts stay on.

-Water pump is under some more stuff adding a few hours. The usual brackets in the way.

But timing belt, all the accessory belts, radiator hoses, AC compressor, alternator and valve cover gasket are all within easy reach once you get the seats out and all the covers off.

Man, you sold me, I’m doing it. I forgot to order the timing belt cover gasket, is it absolutely necessary?

No buddy the perimeter gasket is reusable. Line up the timing marks, release the the tensioner and rotate motor (3) times. Marks on pulleys should line back perfect.

Then put cover back on and send it. If you have any questions message for my number. I am back until the 11th and then I’ll be out pocket until August’ish.

Good Luck!

Got the new t belt on, thanks again. Does the changing the water pump require me to undo everything I just did putting in the new T belt?

It’s under the timing plate yes.

Alternator bracket as well Sir

I replaced the thermostat, alternator and AC belts. The water pump is going to have to wait.

I think you did the best outcome. The water pump isn’t under tension and should have a very long service life.

Headed out Sunday. Hope you have an awesome summer in your van. My wife drives hers everywhere. Starts conversations the moment it leaves the driveway

^^ Provided that's not because of a cloud of smoke?

Ha! Thatś funny. Inevitably, someone will follow me and when I stop, they will want to talk vans.
On a side note, my thermostat replacement did not go so well, I developed a leak on my mail route
today. I saw one of my customers coming out of his shop, who happens to have several Japanese vehicles sitting around. I asked if he was familiar with the Hiace, he said he was but had never had the chance to work on one. long story short, he is working on finding my thermostat problem. I hope he is a better mechanic than I am. updates later

It was a simple fix he said, I took off the heater hose just above the thermostat and didn’t get it back on right. All is good, for the time being

Had a good experience with Loyal Automotive in north Ballard area. Just a quickie inspection for me this time, but they service JDM imports, and have experience with Hiace’s. Definitely recommend checking them out:
https://loyalautorepair.com/

I live in Seattle and just bought a hiace. I had the Toyota dealer down on airport way and holgate do a new buyers inspection, and was very happy with the results. It was the first hiace the have had come through there. They replaced the worn brakes and one wheel bearing. Also replaced all the fluids and did a thorough check up throughout the whole vehicle. I would recommend them highly.

That’s good to know CBD! What was the total for the fluid change?

Agree.

The timing belt is not as daunting as it could be, depending on the engine I suppose. Access is the hardest thing as the better look you can get the greater the chance of getting it right and getting hands and tools in.

I have the timing cover off my van but won't be replacing the belt until I'm ready to put the cover back on in case of spills, over spray or other misadventures. It's currently holding everything correctly timed, but the present belt is sacrificial if you see what I mean.

My other thoughts on timing belts are here: https://hiace-super-custom.forumotion.com/t4319-timing-belt-kit-uk-is-this-the-correct-part

Cheers, All.

CBD wrote:

I live in Seattle and just bought a hiace. I had the Toyota dealer down on airport way and holgate do a new buyers inspection, and was very happy with the results. It was the first hiace the have had come through there.  They replaced the worn brakes and one wheel bearing. Also replaced all the fluids and did a thorough check up throughout the whole vehicle. I would recommend them highly.

Hello and welcome. Be good if you can add some details in the https://hiace-super-custom.forumotion.com/f6-show-us-yours section.

See the 'how to upload a picture' bit there. If it's not available to you, you might have to post a few messages for the icon bar to appear.

Cheers