1993 LH119 4WD Operation & Maintenance

Finally managed to track down the owners manual for my Hiace. Attached are some pictures of pages of the manual relating to 4WD.

Some questions:

1. Managed to get the 4WD dash button illuminating, but I dont get the symbol on the dash display. Anybody else get it to light up?
2. Other threads have made me reluctant to use 4WD on anything but very slippery ground for fear of dmagaing the 4WD system. The manual aludes to using it even in just wet conditions. Anybody else do this?
3. Again previous threads have stated you must be stopped to engage 4WD mode. Unless I am reading it wrong the manual states you can put the vehicle in the 4WD mode at any point provided the hubs are locked and the vehicle speed below 62mph.  Anybody do this? Presume it has to be OK if the manual says it's OK?
4. Feel that I have been remiss in not following procedure by driving with the hubs locked for at least 10 miles each month. Hope everyone else has been doing it?
5. With regards to lubricating the arm bushings, I am not that mechanically minded but stuck my head under the car to have a go. I cant even see the screw plug as indicated in the diagram. Anyon have a picture where they can point me to the correct screw(s).








Thanks for your comments and any additional words with regards to 4WD operation and maintenance

Interesting.

Is this out of the manual set that Ryank has recently posted? I think this is the same set that Andonic sent over to me, it seems to be about the same size and looks to have similar publications but haven't checked too carefully.

I find it useful to have as many different set of manuals as possible and it’d be great if it was possible to host these here, but I don’t think this forum mechanism can do this. It would also be handy if it could host files other than images, such as zips or pdfs, which I think would be great.

I’ve never been too precious about going into 4WD. As the system is vacuum actuated it’ll engage when it does. There’s no mechanical linkage on the part-time 4x4 between actuation and engagement, but I’ve never been driving anywhere near the upper speeds in the manual when engaging 4WD!

Yes, engaging the hubs for short spells is useful as it will turn the front diff and allow the oil to be thrown about lubricating everything. It’ll also lubricate the oil seals. By turning the front shafts for a time it should keep things nice inside the boots, too and it’ll also mean different parts of the CV boots will be flexed for steering.

It’s not good to run about in 4WD on sealed roads as the transmission will bind up and create a lot of tire wear and potential transmission damage so when you lock the front hubs for your monthly drive do so in 2WD. This is how you can drive about so that with the push of a button you get 4WD rather than having to step into a muddy puddle and turn the hubs. The downside is there's more drag on the system with the front hubs engaged as the front shafts, diff and front propshaft are turning (but not being driven). In 2WD and with the hubs freewheeling then it's basically a rear wheel drive van.

Thanks for the diagram of the front suspension lube points as I wasn’t aware.

I’ve just been out and took these few pictures:




These show the machine screw (bolt with a 10mm head) that’s at the extreme front end of the upper suspension arm. The second of these screw plugs is not obvious to me. I need a more detailed look.

Not mentioned on your diagram, but perhaps on a nearby page in the manual is another grease fitting on the upper suspension arm that lubricates the joint to the steering knuckle, see:


I've added the cap. Greasing this fitting can take away any slight slop in this joint too. It did for me. I think the rubber should be fairly full but you don’t want grease to be oozing out.

I think these upper suspension arms on my van are either original or OEM. It’s possible that yours might have been replaced with parts from another manufacturer who didn’t build these features into the parts.

Really interested to know where you found these maintenance points and I’d like to view these more thoroughly.

Would be good to get a list of all the grease points (there's also one on the rear prop shaft for example) it's probably good to gerease all the fittings once a year or so.

Cheers

LH119V wrote:

Interesting.

Is this out of the manual set that Ryank has recently posted? I think this is the same set that Andonic sent over to me, it seems to be about the same size and looks to have similar publications but haven't checked too carefully.

I find it useful to have as many different set of manuals as possible and it’d be great if it was possible to host these here, but I don’t think this forum mechanism can do this. It would also be handy if it could host files other than images, such as zips or pdfs, which I think would be great.

I’ve never been too precious about going into 4WD. As the system is vacuum actuated it’ll engage when it does. There’s no mechanical linkage on the part-time 4x4 between actuation and engagement, but I’ve never been driving anywhere near the upper speeds in the manual when engaging 4WD!

Yes, engaging the hubs for short spells is useful as it will turn the front diff and allow the oil to be thrown about lubricating everything. It’ll also lubricate the oil seals. By turning the front shafts for a time it should keep things nice inside the boots, too and it’ll also mean different parts of the CV boots will be flexed for steering.

It’s not good to run about in 4WD on sealed roads as the transmission will bind up and create a lot of tire wear and potential transmission damage so when you lock the front hubs for your monthly drive do so in 2WD. This is how you can drive about so that with the push of a button you get 4WD rather than having to step into a muddy puddle and turn the hubs. The downside is there's more drag on the system with the front hubs engaged as the front shafts, diff and front propshaft are turning (but not being driven). In 2WD and with the hubs freewheeling then it's basically a rear wheel drive van.

Thanks for the diagram of the front suspension lube points as I wasn’t aware.

I’ve just been out and took these few pictures:




These show the machine screw (bolt with a 10mm head) that’s at the extreme front end of the upper suspension arm. The second of these screw plugs is not obvious to me. I need a more detailed look.

Not mentioned on your diagram, but perhaps on a nearby page in the manual is another grease fitting on the upper suspension arm that lubricates the joint to the steering knuckle, see:


I've added the cap. Greasing this fitting can take away any slight slop in this joint too. It did for me. I think the rubber should be fairly full but you don’t want grease to be oozing out.

I think these upper suspension arms on my van are either original or OEM. It’s possible that yours might have been replaced with parts from another manufacturer who didn’t build these features into the parts.

Really interested to know where you found these maintenance points and I’d like to view these more thoroughly.

Would be good to get a list of all the grease points (there's also one on the rear prop shaft for example) it's probably good to gerease all the fittings once a year or so.

Cheers

Got the owners manual off of Ebay and received it yesterday. It's from 1993 so everything is relevant to my van where as some of the manuals on here were from later years. It's 162 pages. Would love to scan it all in and post it here, but dont really have time at the moment but may start trying to do a few pages at a time. In the meantime if there is anything I can scan/look up for you please done hesitate to PM me. Below is the piece with regards to the prop shaft, and also checking transfer and dif oil. There isnt much else with regards to DIY bar changing bulbs and wipers though.

Thanks for the info on 4WD use. I'm guessing mine hasnt been used much in the past, and in the year i've owned it I havent driven it any distance with the hubs locked so hope no damage has occurred.

I checked those grease points. They might be there hiding below the rust. Mine looks way worse than yours rust wise.

Does your 4WD sysmbol on the dash illuminate???

Is the front grease point the one I have circled in red?

Thanks again

Hello.

The eBay manual looks like a great buy and it’d be handy to get a scanned copy but I know how long it takes to scan a booklet so don’t worry.

I have these manuals (both are in Japanese). The one on the left is for the base vehicle and the one on the right is for the camper, but this is unique to the Cruising Cabin camper only.


If the manual set that ‘Ryank’ has recently posted is the same as I got from ‘Andonic’ then there’s a decent Hiace manual in there, but it’s from 2002 and not as detailed as the one you have. I think it’s typical for earlier versions to be more comprehensive. Within the manual set is also all the best repair manuals, but for electrics I prefer the version from Hiace Southeast; it’s in a single file.

Don’t worry about not having run around with the front hubs engaged. Just set them to lock from time to time and you’ll be fine. It is definitely worth checking the quantity and quality of the front diff oil before doing this though. There’s no point in engaging the front diff to oil everything if the oil is poor (old or watery) or lacking.

The fill and drain plugs are both 24mm and access is particularly tight on the front fill plug. Later Toyotas moved to hex-splined plugs, but I like the older types. They are much less likely to strip. Before I got a 24mm spanner I used a short 6-sided impact socket and as the space is too tight for a socket and a ratchet I drilled through the socket to accept a 3/8” extension bar as I couldn’t get vice grips to grip the socket and the plug itself is a bit mangled. Hope these pictures help:










It’s good practise to open the fill plug before draining out oil in gearboxes and diffs. If the drain opens easy and fill is impossible to budge then you can be without oil and old oil is better than none. Anyway you don’t need to drain the oil to check the level, just open the fill and stick in your finger, or a camera etc. If you want to check the oil properly then you do need to drain it, but if it’s fine then put it back. Draining the oil allows you to check how much swarf has been attracted to the magnet on the drain plug. There are plenty of YT vids on diffs.

If you do open up the fill or drain plugs you should replace the washers. Fortunately they are all the same size on my Hiace and with two diffs, a gearbox and transfer a full oil change takes 8. Packs of 10 are available quite cheaply as Toyota parts on eBay.
See:


Another service element that is often overlooked is the breather plug, see the relevant EPC pages for these. The breathers are important since if blocked then as the diff or box gets warm there’s a danger that oil will be forced past oil seals. On the rear diff this’ll push oil down towards the hubs and this can contaminate the rear brakes. This isn’t to worry you, but if you see a dirty oily stain around the breather plug then is way better than a clean and dry casting and oil being forced where it shouldn’t. Again there are various YT videos that include these breather plugs.

Yes, the 4WD symbol lights up on the dash for confirmation of engagement (when the van is all together). It’s top centre on the instruments.

Yes, the red-circled bolt is to replace with the grease fitting. I’ve still not looked further for the one at the rear of the upper suspension arm as shown in your picture but I plan to, plus I’ll pull out the bolt and have a poke about with a camera or piece of wire to see what’s what. It might be that the rear bolt is only accessible if the torsion arm is removed and this can only be done with the energy taken out of the torsion bar so don't just randomly undo bolts without knowing how the susypension works or you could damage something and get injured. There's a lot of energy stored in the front suspension.

It’s possible you have a missing or damaged grease fitting on the outer part of that upper suspension arm. I’d suggest giving things a gentle scrub with some dilute Fairy liquid and an old toothbrush. Plus compare the two arms on your van. If it’s missing you should replace as crud will get into the joint. If it’s damaged then getting a better look with help assess what to do. Grease fittings are widely available but they come in both metric and standard sizes and even though these vans are metric it’s possible the grease fittings are not. I don’t know but can try to pull one out and see the thread pitch.

HTH