Buying advice for a novice - what to look for in a J reg hilux

[uktosa]

Hi everybody.

I am hopefully to soon be a first time surf owner. Joy!
I am going to look at the car on sunday. Now I am no mechanic - though i intend to take a brief course. So apart from the rust, 'mayo' on rad cap, blue smoke, soft suspension, water pump and coolant working etc etc. blah blah, are there any specific things that I should be looking for on a J reg 2.4 surf that should send alarm bells ringing?

I should note that the guy that owns it has been running it (in the summer) on pure veg. oil. Apart from the fuel filter is there anything that may have problems because of this? The car has also been SORNed for a few months.

Only problems from our brief chat is one worn tyre (tracking issues?) and the back window motor is busted (I'm not really sure what that means - you have to fold that up to open the door down? is it easy to fix?).

For background I'm planning on taking to SA through europe and East Africa so I'll give a good going through if I go ahead with the car.

Looking forward to your responses.

[Apache]

Evidence of head replacement would be number 1 on my list - oh, and a price less than 4 figures for a J plate.

[JUDWAK]

window motor are easy to fix
look out for rust at the under side on the back end

other than that shop around dude
theres plenty about
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...ge/1?logcode=p
nice one there just needs some tax al tho it has some

and that was with 3 mins of looking
welcome by the way

[blackpoolsparks]

a 3 litre lump under the bonnet.

[BioHazard]

Might help..........................

http://daemon4x4.org/tech/hiluxsurf/

[adrianash]

K Reg 2.4Td 1993

Son is thinking of selling his , good condition for year Mot'd till April Rust on Bumper quarters , Timing Belt changed recently serviced New exhaust recently fitted also starter motor.

[Surfer Ross]

Hi everybody.

I am hopefully to soon be a first time surf owner. Joy!
I am going to look at the car on sunday. Now I am no mechanic - though i intend to take a brief course. So apart from the rust, 'mayo' on rad cap, blue smoke, soft suspension, water pump and coolant working etc etc. blah blah, are there any specific things that I should be looking for on a J reg 2.4 surf that should send alarm bells ringing?

I should note that the guy that owns it has been running it (in the summer) on pure veg. oil. Apart from the fuel filter is there anything that may have problems because of this? The car has also been SORNed for a few months.

Only problems from our brief chat is one worn tyre (tracking issues?) and the back window motor is busted (I'm not really sure what that means - you have to fold that up to open the door down? is it easy to fix?).

For background I'm planning on taking to SA through europe and East Africa so I'll give a good going through if I go ahead with the car.

Looking forward to your responses.

I would strongly suggest that a 3.0TD would be far better suited to your needs if you plan on doing such a trip. Lots more power, more economical and more reliable.

The cylinder heads on both the 2.4 and 3.0 do not admit water to the oil when they crack and the headgaskets don't really blow on either engine. You won't see any mayo on the oil cap or oil in the water. If you do, its because the radiator doubles as the gearbox oil cooler and it has split internally.

The only reliable test for a bust head is a "sniffer test" of the coolant to check for exhaust gases. As Apache says, you really ought to be looking for evidence of a cylinder head replacement and ideally paying less than £1k for a J plate 2.4

[uktosa]

The price is right (a casual £600, i think the guy just wants rid off it). Though this low price makes me a wee bit nervous, to an impoverished student such as myself, it is music to my ears. I'd like the idea of a 3L but, as said, I'm lacking somewhat in funds and the insurance will be astronomical with 3 points and as a 22 year old male.

I've just been reading about the head problems, which scares me a little, but, for £600 + rebuild of a head I'm still financially better off than mucking about with the one of the old g-wagens i have knocking about at home (one is petrol - not ideal - with a weeping head. And the other diesel needs new shocks, springs, tyres, and overheats - though we can't work out why.) That said a G-wagen is a dang cool and great once tip-top.

I'll have a look at the surf on sunday an take heed of all of your suggestions. I will almost certainly be back for more questions!

Cheers all

[uktosa]

It's also very close which is a massive bonus as I need to start on all of the paper work for the trip asap. (which includes all of the car details)

[Surfer Ross]

You're looking at over £900 in parts and fluids alone for a cylinder head swap. Best to make sure its been done. G-Wagons are superb, I love them.

[Overland Tonka]

Having done a Africa trip I found that buying insurance at boarders in Africa is cheep and usually covers you for many countries you travel through. They don't care about your age. Usually Axa insurance. From memory it was £30 euros for 8 countries in western Africa.
I had no probs with army or police when I had to produce the documents.
Get enough insurance to get you across into Africa (2days? 2 weeks?) then your off and running....

[uktosa]

Re insurance, I think thats the ticket, just try to insure it for a wee bit, thanks for the advice.

So I went to see the Surf today. Bad rust on the bumbers but that is to be expected, I can always replace them for nae much if i get that bothered. The rust on the underside really doesnt seem too bad. I had a little drive around (only 100m or so as it is on SORN). It seems to be fine, running well, getting up to temp. fine through the lower gears, reverse and hi & lo ratio + diffs.

There are just a few things:

The oil is black black black, i'm not sure if that is a bad sign, i suspect its not so bad in a diesel. I'll change it all anyway.

There was no coolant in the resevoir. I had some in the car so filled it up. (which meant I couldnt check for exhaust fumes to see if the head was ok). With other cars you can dab the throttle and you can see the coolant in the header tank being drawn through by the water pump - couldnt do that with the surf, but i guess it is working as the temp is fine.

The fan is on as soon as you start up.

The tailgate is a pain, the motor works but the runners that the window sit on are bust (or something to that effect) so its temporarily duck taped.

There are some wee things like the air con, far side mirror bust, rust on tailgate and wiper, broken oil pressure gauge, dash fogs up a little, spots not working, spare tyre stuck underneath, light in back dud.

New cam belt 22K ago, and importantly a new head (allegedly, i'll check with the garage).

Nothing sounds too serious eh? Going to try and split the tax for half a year with the owner, get a days temp insurance and rag it round a 4x4 centre near perth (and hour or so away) for a few hours and see if any problems develop over a longer and more ardous trip.

[stormforce]

forget that truck and look for another one

[Surfer Ross]

forget that truck and look for another one

The oil will turn black within about 30 seconds of being changed, quite normal.

No coolant in the header tank would have me walking away. Why was there no coolant? If the seller looked after it, they would keep a close eye on coolant, especially after having to replace the head. The header tank doesn't work the way you're expecting it to. There is only one hose which goes in through the cap and allows coolant into the bottle when hot and sucks it back out as the coolant in the radiator and engine contracts whilst cooling down.

100 metres is nowhere near enough for a test drive. You need to put the engine under load to reveal if its going to overheat. £600 sounds cheap now but with the kind of use you're planning and from what you've said there, you could be looking at shelling out a lot of money to get it up to the standard you require.

[uktosa]

Got me worried now! Is it just the coolant issue that makes you think that or the rusty bumpers + tailgate?
Just had a chat to the seller and I'm going to muck about with it for the day - should get some real miles up and get the engine working properly - we'll see how it goes, what goes wrong etc. Even if I don't end up buying it (which I probably won't on your guys recommendation, it'll still be a great day out...

cheers guys