(Home) Owner in sweden (Sp+)

Hi there!
Weīre having a cold winter in Sweden.
I have a Model F 2.2l petrol and last night I forgot to plug in the electric engineheater.

Today it was -23 degrees centigrade, and it wouldnīt start. Itīs probably a combination of things, such as the battery, perhaps not correct oil(Iīve only had my Model F for less than two months).
Hopefully you donīt have this extreme cold in the UK, but how do you prepare your Toyotas for the winter? - (#1779) Kapten Zoom, 3 Jan 02

Basically we don't!
We wing it and then when something goes wrong we blame it on the weather. In case you didn't know, complaining about the weather is a national pastime for us Brits. -23 sounds a bit rough - pass the schnaps! - (#1788) Ian Dunse, 3 Jan 02


Hello there!
As a new owner of an old car, (I have owned my 1988 DX Model F for two months now), it is very comforting to know that there are a lot of helpful people on this forum.
I also have a Toyota Camry, used to have two, but we sold one when bying the minibus, and from using a American Camry board I know how useful these can be.
Specially as I just got a reply to my mail to the Toyota head of spares in Sweden, with a no in response to my question
Is there any way I could get a repair manual for a Model F? I have sent for a US repair manual, hoping it will be of some use.
From reading this forum it looks like diesel engines and auto transmission seems to be the most common version in the UK. Am I correct?
In Sweden we only have three variants of Toyota minibusses to choose from
Hiace, Model F(Spacecruiser) and Previa(Estima).
Model F were sold between 1984 and 1990. It was then replaced by Previa (Estima)
The years 1984 to 1987 had a 1.8 liter petrol engine, and 1987 to 1990 had a 2.2 liter petrol engine.
As far as i know, no diesels were sold in Sweden, and they almost always have a manual gearbox.
With its rear wheel drive and very little weight on the rear, its no picknick driving it on snowy and slippery Swedish winter roads.
I have a couple of minor faults to my car (or should I say bus, what do you call your vehicle?)
First, the water temperature never seem to reach up to normal temperature. It only reaches 30-35% of the scale(with 50% meaning "normal" and 90-100% red hot). But I still havnīt driven it in a hot summers day, so it will have to wait until then.
Secondly, the oil warning lamp glows now and then. The former owner assures me that it isnīt low oil pressure, his workshop has tested it. It comes on sometimes when accelerating, braking, riding over speedbumps and similar. It will have to wait for summer to.
Third, when using lots of current, for instance using rear defogging, both coupefans (or what you call them) and turning on my to extra Hi-beam head light, I can hear the fans lower the speed. The generator was replaced by the last owner, so I think it must be poor wiring and/or poor earth( minus) somewhere.
But it will also have to wait until the summer.
Fourth, corrosion! Without question the only big problem all Toyotas seem to have here in Sweden (and maybe the rest of the world to?).
At least until the latest five years. This is my third Toyota and they all sufferd from rust. Once it gets a grip of the car, its not much you can do.
Like terminal cancer, you can slow it down, but the car will slowly die. Iīm not sure if I should do anything about it.
I think the car would last about three or four years before is gets severe rustproblems, and that not bad for a vehicle I payed about Ģ700 for. - (#1978) Kapten Zoom, 29 Jan 02