Comments: 1-15, 16
Bad oil leak traced to break in head gasket resulting in loosing lots of oil while driving, I did the job myself with the advice of Toyota Australia (who owns Daihatsu) I cannot express how much I thank one guy there, Josh, he helped me so much with technical advice and understood why I declined the dealership servicemen.
Josh, you are a "legend" man!
Had to replace all shock absorbers after traveling on Kangaroo Island (off the coast of South Australia) K.I. has some of the worst roads I have ever traveled upon in my 34 years of driving.
Driver's seat broke, I had to weld it up, however, since I am a huge guy, maybe my weight broke it, I expect it was designed for small light Japanese.
Folks, apart from the oil leak at 209,000kms and the damaged shocks at 179,000 kms, 10 years of trouble free motoring, without a doubt, the best car I have ever owned, 10 year without having to put a spanner to it! Now that is awesome. serviced almost 10,000 kms every time, oil filters at 5,000Kms and I added ROIL, a metal conditioner 6 years ago, it goes like a rocket, had to lower the revs several times as it freed up. It corners like it is on rails and you point it, it goes, brakes could be a bit better, or I should slow down. Maybe I slow down.
It travels quite well at 140-155 kph 170 with no effort, at 258,000km that awsesome! (when cops are not around) fuel economy about 11km/litre city driving and 12 on trips. I still own and do all my own servicing. I do not trust the dealers, I have been ripped off too many times by one very shady dealers, claiming dud injectors, how do I know this, I have the supposed injector running since mid 2002 and the new one packed away in a box. You really have to watch car servicing Dealerships, most are shady.
Anyhow, the car, an Auto, which I drive like a t-bar manual, goes well.
I have the same car although a manual. Made a few modifications though, ripped out the air cleaner box and replaced with a KN air filter. Had extractors fitted which lead into a 2.5 inch sports exhaust. Tell you what would recommend it to anybody, my baby now can pull a jetski and you don't even know she is there. When not towing and on the open road I get 589Km to the tank, that is nearly 100Km more than she normally did. The whole thing cost me just over three hundred dollars money well spent. When you want to put your foot down she goes. Like you it has been a fantastic car and I have had no problems at all.
Updating: October 11th 2003 Now reading 259,000 Kms
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Adding to the above for an update. The Applause electronics ignition was removed from inside the distributor and placed in a metal box, sealed and a "electronics" heat sink added, it now runs better, no thermal runaway.
It runs better now. Found connectors at local wrecking yard. Some other Japanese cars used the same and well as Charades do also. A local parts seller "Super Cheap Auto" is a good source of connectors also in Sydney.
Next: MAJOR problems, Difficult to diagnose at first.
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I had to replace lower cam gear (or cog) on the crankshaft as the cast iron key shattered into what I can only describe as rusty particles, a million bits of brown dust. 3.5 hours to get it off, 3.5 to get it back on.
Toyota (who owns Daihatsu) said they had never heard of this and were puzzled......... (a standard response???) Yeah... And I believe in Santa too.
Anyhow, three cogs later it ran, the cam gear shifts on the crankshaft allowing the timing to go way out and dangerously close to valve splatter at 20 degrees out.
AUD$69. per cog. They replaced the last ones under warranty, I supplied the 7 hours labour to do the job.
Symptoms:
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No guts, no pulling power... gradually it gets worse to the stage where putting the pedal flat to the boards, the car creeps away from stationary at 1-3 Kph, yet spark is OK and fuel OK... timing top gear mark and bottom gear mark are both spot on, however the bottom gear (or Cog) has moved on the crankshaft by a few degrees, thus resulting in poor acceleration.
In time it declines to no go at all, a symptom check is to move the distributor till the engine starts to fire, the you will know you have this exact problem. The engine will idle, but it will not rev at all. The cog moving on the crankshaft is the direct cause here. Make sure you attend to it asap. It will damage the valves and what ever else.
Theory why?
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My theory is that it is a faulty batch of gears (or cogs). The metallurgical properties of the cast iron cog had deteriorated over the years making it brittle and not able to stand the stresses of working correctly in the car.
Toyota Sydney declined any comments on my theory.
I guess they did not want to buy into a possible legal battle. I took (and kept) plenty of digital photos of this.
Aging wires.
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Note, the wiring is showing signs of deterioration, the head lights were not getting their full 12 Volts so in with 4 relays, two each side, one for hi-beam, one for lo-beam with diodes across the coils to stop back emf into the 12V line and possible damage to the car's computer.
I also am running 130w/90w globes awesome! and 2 x 55 watt "HELLA" rectangular lamps mounted on the bumper bar.
These also go through two separate relays (with diodes across the coils) The power to each relay is on separate wires via in-line water proof marine type fuses straight to the battery. Now I can see better. 6 relays and as well as 6 more slightly thicker red wires made it so much better.
I also have a sort of workshop type manual for the car a lot of which I researched myself, tracing wires and doing circuit diagrams in my (ahem) spare time?...
Do I still like my Applause?, You bet, now it's running good again, I see better at night and it runs better.
More top follow...
Any info or comments : jeff@unitechelectronics.com
Further to my original comments about my Daihatsu Applause 1991 Xi, We had an oil leak which my wife though I had added oil, I thought she had added oil, neither of us did, and we ran with virtually no oil in the engine, for three months we both drive the car, at 110 Kph down the freeway, the rockers were a tad noisey, but we did have ROIL in it.
In fact when I filled the engine, it took 4.5 litres, whereas it states 4 litres filling capacity. I had a problem with the water pump, Thermostat cooked and radiator blew up... a giant crack in the upper tank.
I replaced the defective bits and had the radiator fixed.
I noted the cooked oil, black and like stalactites, I removed the rocker cover and noted a coffee coloured stain and more evidence of "stalactites" of cooked oil, this was not a pretty sight yet the motor still ran, So I elected to pull it out and remove the sump and inspect the bearings, the sump had badly cooked oil stains and it was then I decided to rebuild the engine totally.
I purchased the correct tools and dial verniers and micrometer as well as ring clamps and pullers etc.
The engine was a mess inside, the walls were caramel coloured and in the sump, what appeared to be finger nails like particles, some of which were in the sieve, I questioned the staff at the local Toyota service center
who reluctanty said they used to use Nulon in a service.
Was this cooked Nulon? does teflon go like finger nails?
So over a period of 2 months, working after hours and on weekends, together with my Father, I set to and stripped down the entire engine, bit by bit, labeling where each bit went and measuring each piece for the correct specifications, I was amazed, every part was not worn, in fact all moving measurable bits were well within their tolerances by the book, New pistons, rings and crankshaft bearings were added as one piston had a broken segment above the oil ring.
The engine was cleaned very very thoroughly by hand and reassembled and oiled and setup ready to run, 239,000kms and its first major service, not bad. We have been using ROIL, a metal conditioner in it for 5 years. All parts where there was metal to metal contact were shiny and linished like a mirror, quite extraordinary to see no wear marks despite driving with no oil in the sump for approximately three months. Unreal! The rockers I could have used them as a mirror and shaved with, outstanding stuff this ROIL.
The engine now rebuilt, ran well, in fact the pulling power was extraordinary compared to before and all ran well for 39,000 kms no problems at all... read on...
...It descends from here in.
At 39,000Kms The pulling power was fading...
I encountered a strange problem of "lack of guts" from the engine, which after rebuilding it meticulously and blue printing it as I went, it was found that the bottom crankshaft gear had suffered metallurgical disintegration by way of metal fatigue, the gear was replaced after some bad advice stating it was everything from wiring to the computer to my moving the distributors around 18 degrees just to make it run. I even pulled out the computer and traced every wire with a special loom test and linked to my trusty On-screen display Computerized Hitachi Oscilloscope, but no wiring defects could be demonstrated.
Well, after removing the crankshaft V-Belt pulleys, I had
discovered the keyway (cast with the shaft as one piece) did in fact shatter into fine rusty dust and did in fact shift some 18 degrees from its designated position.
I have very many digital photographs which I sent to Josh at Toyota Head Office in Sydney, Josh was most helpful.
Now, in order to make the engine run, I had to move the "Dizzy" after locating the two bolts securing the distributor assembly, I loosened and the "dizzy"
rotated until it would fire the engine and run.
It ran, but very "hairy" indeed and this worried me as I have seen valve damage from pistons smashing into valves while revving, not a pretty sight.
This was not desirable as the valves were close to being open while a firing of a cylinder was occurring, thus wasting energy and possibly some valve damage may occur.
I ordered (from Toyota) another lower crankshaft cam belt driver gear and replaced it, the same thing happened about two weeks later, knowing the symptoms, I went straight to it and removed the crankshaft cam belt driver gear.. there it was the second keyway had gone to dust...
So... I contacted Toyota Head Office who said they would cover that cog under warranty and that I would have to take it to the local Toyota dealer to have them replace it under their "um...Strict guidelines" and so the warranty could be effective, like... it is a cog, it slips into a keyway, you tighten the pulley back over it, it can only go one way put loctite on the thread and bingo...simple...all done... a no brainer.
So...how wrong can anyone be doing that?" yeah right!?
So...I very reluctantly took the Applause to the local Toyota Dealer service center as requested by Toyota Head Office and was informed I could not watch the proceedings
at all due to insurance issues and footwear rules, so to
get around this, I bought steel capped shoes so they could not deny me access while they supposedly worked on it, however I declined staying and waiting, so later I picked up the car, it ran nice once again... and guess what..
A few days later... another one disintegrated...
But wait...there's more, yet another one did the same.
It started the same thing once again..."no guts" very poor performance, now this engine had only done 39,000 kms since I rebuilt it... now here is the crunch... I took it back to Toyota's service centre and the guys said they would look at it and come back later in the afternoon... I did and they handed the me keys, no charge... Puzzled?
So I drove the car out of the their driveway and noted it the engine was just as "gutless" as I had brought it in.
"The plot thickens"...
I requested that a member of their mechanic staff accompany me on a drive to see, he sat and said, that's normal for an Applause... Yeah right. What next pixies?
I do not have a problem with people lying to me, however
I do have a problem with them when they want me to believe their lies.
I had an earlier problem with this service center whereas they replaced and charged my wife $200 for an injector, giving the "alleged" dud injector to my wife, I put it away for future, so when I rebuilt the engine I used that injector (I just had a hunch) and I was right, it worked perfectly... I had been ripped off a year earlier and raised the issue, however they said the mechanic no longer worked there and was sacked. Yeah as if...
Having owned the car from New in March 1991 and very happy with the vehicle since then, I think I would know my own car's quirks and any strange idiosyncrasies by now.
I drove the car on the freeway where I had top use the gears (it is automatic) by lacking in 1st, 2nd and third to get it to move, same as I brought it in... however I noted the oil light coming on. The oil pressure sensor was replaced NEW with a genuine Daihatsu new part when I rebuilt the engine at 239,000Kms. I replaced new pistons, new full set of crankshaft bearings, big-ends, new rings
full gasket set, new head gasket, all paper gaskets using STAG gasket joiner and the sump with that wonderful Toyota product, Toyota's own black silastic, wow! that stuff is incredible, the best silastic type sealant I have ever used and at $28.00 a small tube it was worth every cent.
This engine was meticulously reassembled over a two day time frame, covered at most times to keep any dust or bugs out and then lifted by block and tackle into the car's engine bay area and reconnected with everything needed to run with. It was clean. Clean fresh oil was pushed trough the capillaries and into the filter to make starting not an issue. All moving parts were coated in oil prior to assembly including the cylinder walls, previously honed
as per the specs layed out in the service manual.
Checked and re-checked and it ran first go to even my amazement. My Father, who assisted in a "gopher" and good assistant capacity, was also stunned and proud of my accomplishments, 239,000 and rebuilt blue printed to the book, however none of this could give me a reason as to why the oil light was on and going out at 3000 RPM.
This puzzled me as I had just put on a new oil filter about 1 week prior and changed the oil as well and added ROIL, a metal conditioner which I have been using for 5 years to cut down friction, however the oil light prevailed and the engine began to cease up. It died.
The Mechanic stated to me that "ah!..it's the big ends".
Prior knowledge ? esp? God talking to him?
Yeah right... 39,000kms and they went?...the originals were not worn at 239,000 but hey, the engine was apart and it would be lame not to have replaced the pistons without doing justice to the bearings.
The oil pump is a simple epi-trochoidal which was measured with dial vernier in mm and as well with micrometer and it was not at all worn, in fact it, along with the crankshaft were "spot on" 50.00 mm as far as tolerances go, well within the workshop manuals specs, however the chap insisted "it's ya big ends"...I looked at him with contempt, how could he pin-point a slight noise as "big ends" or did he know something that I did not know what had been done to the engine previously? why was he so insistant?
The noise is not consistent with big end failure however.. I humored him... I crossed the median strip of grass and attempted to start the Applause again it ran, but only at 3000 RPM, the oil light went out and I moved off back to the local Toyota's service centre, on the way back the engine finally ceased and we both had to push the vehicle down the freeway closer to a NRMA pickup point, fortunately it was a downhill run making it easy to push.
The amused Toyota mechanic waited for his lift back to his workshop, he joined his colleague in their car where I observed them both laughing about the incident.
The car was towed to a friend who is a skilled mechanical engineer, who put the vehicle on the hoist and removed the sump. The pan had small particles which resembled either sawdust or cardboard, the oil pan sieve was very clogged and the two inner main bearings were blue-gray from intense heat due to no oil flow, so I will let you draw your own conclusions as to how the blockages occurred.
ROIL is great, but I did not know how long it can protect in the absense of abolutely no oil and for how long and at revs of over 5000 RPM and at speeds of up to 110Kph.
This engine was totally clean, impeccable inside, you could eat off the clean metal with confidence.
In rebuilding the engine, I had scrubbed the entire inner casing of the engine block by hand (this took ages) with a wire brush, it shined like it was polished aluminium and all capillaries were cleaned and flushed to remove any "gunk" I certified the engine as being 100% clean, so much so that it resembled a brand new engine.
So, how did the particles blocking the oil sieve get in?
Considering the only paper gasket is around the water pump which is not involved in the oil regions of this engine.
All seals and sealants pertaining to the inner engine were of rubber and or silastic, no cardboard used what so ever.
A talk with my local Lawyer proved to be interesting, it was hard to prove who did what and when and why it was done.
We discussed the possible thought of a theroetical service person wishing to theretically rid "someone" of a unique problem that re-occurred so they (me and my Applause) did not theoretically come back.. ever.
Interesting theory ? draw your own conclusions.
By the way the gear crankshaft gear was "loctited" in
resembled a resin based glue/filler and had in fact moved yet again proving to me that there is a fault in these cogs, metallurgically they are old (machined from one piece of cast iron, all four disintegrated on this engine for no apparent reason. Fragile cast iron.
I bought another 1600cc applause engine and replaced the damaged one and have been driving the newer one for about 1 year now with no problems. Put ROIL in at every oil change and new oil filter and oil in every 5000 Kms and
I do all my own oil changes and servicing and will never set foot in a car dealer's service premises EVER again.
What trust I may have had has been betrayed. 500kms is very important to all Applause's I believe.
There is an old saying, what comes around goes around.
As Mulder (x-Files fame) says trust no-one. JR.
By the way, has anyone else had the lower crankshaft cam belt driver cog do exactly this as I outlined?
I trust ROIL. No moly, no lead, no copper no teflon no suspended solids, No bullshit, it just works.
jeff@unitechelectronics.com.
I’m looking at buying an applause, and decided to search the net to see what I could find out about them. I’m sure those last comments would be extremely helpful if I knew anything about cars! If I understand correctly, it’s a great car and would have been much better had you not taken it to a dealer when it broke?
So a simple question, I’m a chick who knows nothing about cars and will have to rely on these dodge dealers. It’ll be my first car. Anyone got any advice for or against my purchasing it?
I have a 1992 applause 5spd manual, great car, but after I have a problem which I can't figure out. When I brought it, it had near a full tank of fuel as I drove it around to just under half a tank of fuel left it started to develop a sudden lack of power like it was about to cut out- almost stalling. The lower the fuel got the worse it was.
I've taken it to a few mechanics who all gave different theories & said they'd need to pull the ignition & fuel injection apart to get a better idea. I didn't have the money for that so I filled the tank with petrol Hoping maybe it was just a broken fuel gauge & it went perfect again until it hit half a tank again- the same symptoms. If I keep the tank over half full it's a perfect car, but under half a tank it's a danger of being hit from behind trying to accelerate & having it cut out.
Now- I have no idea, but I know it's obviously fuel system related. Does anyone have a knowledge of the way the tank & fuel system pick up system works & could you give me any idea's or theories please.
Also I seem to get a workshop manual for the applause at any car parts shop anywhere- anyone know where I can buy one in Australia or on-line?.
I recently bought a 1992 Daihatsu Applause XI. It had low kilometres (just over 100,000) so I thought it would be a good purchase. It seems to run really well, however, recently I am having trouble starting it, especially when it is a little bit cold. It was given a full service when I purchased it, so I would think that they would have picked something up, wouldn't they. Any suggestions.
Has anyone had a problem where the car would cut out on left hand turns, it's a 1990 auto, 287k kilometres original, goes like new, have except for this problem, spose i'f no-one knows what the problem may be I'll have to trust a mechanic
thanks guys
John.
I have recently purchased a manual 89 Xi model and it goes like a rocket,248,000ks and was running well for about a month after purchase.
Here are a few problems you might encounter:
Had injectors cleaned and seemed to fix a problem of running rough and not idling properly until you could get it up to 3000rpm.
Motor seems to run hot and heats up very quickly and fan cuts in, even though it does not go over halfway.
Had to disconnect heater as was loosing cooling fluid and was cheap option.
Radiator hoses seem to hold a lot of pressure and was worried it was blown head gasket, no oil in water, no water in oil, no cooling fluid or steam from exhaust, no condensation in hoses or under rocker cover. Had tests done by mechanic when injectors were cleaned and found nothing, although said it could be a very small leak into cooling system.
Would love to fit new exhaust system, extractors and air filter as suggested by some. Take it out to 6000rpm's and it sings like a canary, music to my ears!
My other car is a GQ Patrol, another great reliable car, but it's a truck.
This Applause is comfortable, handles well, easy to drive, goes like a rocket, great on fuel, seats 5, you will be surprised at the size of the boot for the groceries and probably won't get stolen.
248,000ks and now its going beautifully again, lets hope it lasts.
P.s. it cost me a 1000 bucks with 5 months rego and I'll keep it forever, its that good...
My friend has a 1990 Daihatsu Applause with a mysterious intermittent over-heating problem. Hot or cold weather doesn’t seem to be a factor. The temperature gauge suddenly climbs slowly, but surely off the gauge. There is no loss to the coolant except what’s boiling out. The head gasket has been tested and is fine. The computer has been replaced as is everything to do with the cooling system as well. The thermo fan is fixed on all the time. The car runs very well and seems to have plenty of power. Does anybody have any suggestions?
Hello, I live in Peru, South America, I had just bought my 1st car, yes an White Daihatsu Applause 92 automatic with carburetor, I's in very well shape, I'm really happy for my purchase, grate car, but my "problem" is the millage, is giving me 24mpg, I think it could be better??? but, with carburetor, without a ECU, all the adjustments have to be done manually, perhaps there is the problem, here (in Peru) this model is poorly known... so if you have a workshop manual, pls... pls... send it to listasrcp12yahoo.com.
Thank you very much in advance, pls, excuse me for my English and so for my dared request.
To the overheating problem, I had the same thing, except mine was quite strange at first it would heat up whilst driving then cool down when stopped? it eventually got worse... over about 6 MONTHS which wasn't bad, I put some radiator stop leak in and it seemed fine, it never went over half way on the thermometer, until one day it overheated, and over heated, and overheated, no matter how much water was in it, found out the radiator was 75% blocked sent it away and got it unblocked and reconditioned, now the coolant temp barely even goes up to a quarter, never ran any different while it was blocked though, water just used to boil out the overflow, which frustrated me when doing pressure tests to find a NON EXISTENT LEAK.
Be wary as mechanics all said it was either a headgasket or a cracked head, never had a problem since.
Tengo applause 1992 necessity un manual de taller.
I've just bought one. 1990, Xi, 281000kms already. The biggest problem is that when starting the car in the morning, the first try will always fail, regardless how long you hold the key. But the second try will always be successful no matter how long you hold the key in the first try. I sent it to Kmart and they said "possible a early sign of head gasket". Anybody had similar problem?
About the fuel problem above... my Mazda was having a similar problem and mechanics couldn't find anything wrong.
Turned out to be the fuel filter... the old one had a moth's wing in it!!! Replacement was a few dollars. Something to look at maybe?
Hello all.
I have recently purchased a 1991 auto Applause, but since I got it, the oil light has been coming on when below 1000 revs. This is slowly getting worse, and now when the car is warm and out of gear, idling at a grand, it has the oil light on constantly. I think this is an oil pump issue; any ideas?