My eyes lit-up when I first saw thew section regarding the translation of a manual but other than the electronics no-one seems to have taken the guy on. Maybe it's the "I don't want to be first to put my name down" scenario or like me, I'd sooner see a full manual or perhaps it's a case of by the time a section is complete the problem they had would be cured (hopefully). Now not having owned my townie long (3 weeks) and having read through rakes of postings to find answes to some of the teething problems I've had already plus having read of some of the unfortunate horror stories is anyone else under the same ifluence as me, by that I mean I'd be happy to lay-out £50-£100 for my share of a completed printed manual or perhaps on CD to print yourself. Converted to english and with pics as the man has offered. I'd consider that money well spent. Surely there must be enough of us out there who'd chip in for a completed manual? £2.5-3K between us must be acheivable and I for one am greatful someone has offered to supply the service. If it ever becomes a reality I for one would be happy to offer to help make a CD version from a set of wrod files perhaps in something like a PDF format

- (#5582) Dave B, 22 Sep 02

Thanks for those comments Dave, I am the site owner and I, like you, believe £50 to be a good price for a complete manual but as others will probably point out there is information to be found about the various sections of the vehicle from different sources. There is a manual for the 2C-T engine available from Toyota and some of the electrics were found to be innaccurate to our vehicles due to the manual being from Russia and many, if not all, of ours coming from Japan.

I'm presently holding a list of some 54 names after the diesel sections of the manual translated which still equates to about £50 each but many aren't interested in all sections or are unwilling to pay "such a high price for a workshop manual", despite it being unique and a great selling point for any owner.
- (#5632) Mark, 23 Sep 02

To be honest I'm amazed. Yes they probably could find answers to their questions from other sources but even looking through these excelent pages there often seems to be differing views and often it can take a while to find what you want even days to get an answer. Surely to have those answers to hand and from the horses mouth as it where is far better and these comments don't detract anything from the very helpful folks from these hallowed pages but surely it would be better from the workshop bible and with pictures as well. To say £50 is a bit steep is utter nonsense, lets be honest if you where contemplating purchasing one of these vehicles and had narrowed it down to two identical units, one was a £100 more but had a full workshop manual, sorry but I'd find the extra ton from somewhere and lets all be totally honest, if you knew someone with an English manual, you'd serioulsy contemplate holding their kids to ransom for it. If you ever add a section to your manual section proposing to get a completed manual Mark, let me know, I'll gladly donate upto £100 for a copy. The extra value to my vehicle, an instant source of information regarding any job and the money I'll save on specialists (let alone money saved from cowboys), well worth it.

- (#5633) Dave B, 23 Sep 02

Yes, like Dave Brandwood I'd gladly pay even £100 for an English illustrated workshop bible - totally sound reasoning. However there isn't one, and there doesn't seem to be one in any language.

I have worked on archiving the postings from this bulletin board for over a year (and others have contributed information and sets of photos too) because I think it's the nearest we're ever going to get. In some ways it's better - it deals with the snags that crop up 10 years down the road, like obsolete refrigerant and failing viscous couplings.

I'm tempted to edit Ace Answers into printed booklet and try to sell it to owners who don't use the web but the prospect is daunting - compilation, duplication, distribution. A translation project would be even worse. And how soon would someone start selling pirate copies at half the price? The problem is not the £100 per copy it's finding the £5,000 or so of cash flow to underwrite even a basic publication, let alone an illustrated bible.

Differing views? True and sometimes I'd like to delete the ones with which I don't agree. But usually I don't. Maybe I read this stuff particularly thoroughly, but I find that most people are just sharing their own experience and we all have different values, different driving styles, different requirements and often, at least slightly, different variants of the 'Ace. No wonder there are different views!

- (#5634) Dave Mason, 24 Sep 02

It's not much help but I notice that Mark says that his Russian manual has limitations and suggests that is because Townaces in Russia are not like "UK" ones i.e. used ex-Japan.

Russia is a bit place to generalise about but interestingly Dmitrij Gryazev, manager of the Russian website, who lives way over in the East says (roughly translated)
"I have a Master Ace Surf (Skylite roof) 1991. Cars from Japan get through Vladivostok after 9-10 years and are killed on our roads. They are not much good - except for Townies (as you name them lovingly) - those alone. The only problem - æåñòêîâàò (suspension?), is bouncy off road. But on a good covering, it clears up."

So, I don't know if ex-Japan cars go into the East and there's a Russian spec for Western Russia. Then again, who created the Russian manual?

- (#5635) Dave Mason, 25 Sep 02

the russian book is for Liteace and variants IIRC. It has no reference to TEMS, or our "emmissions computer", and the wiring diagrams seem to have different colours in some areas.

- (#5661) david miller, 25 Sep 02

Yes there are several import sites in the far east of Russia, found them on a Web search.
I have a Spacecruiser body manual which covers most things body wise including common body electrics, and the 2CT engine one. I do not have a Townie wiring diagram.
I would only be interested in obtaining the wiring diagrams.

- (#5662) Clive, 25 Sep 02

I think you are right Clive. Collectively we have covered much of the mechanical aspects and muddled through most of the electrical components but a wiring diagram is always a good safety net when diving into wiring looms.

Personally I think we have moved on tremendously in the last 3 years thanks to David Miller's insight and expertise and Dave Mason's tireless efforts in amalgamating the facts. Shelling out thousands on a full translation at this point is I think a bit late in the day. However, translation of selective parts would be a good idea but securing the correct wiring diagram still seems to be elusive.

- (#5663) Ian Dunse, 25 Sep 02

It's me gain from Moscow.
As far as the type of toyota cars in Russia, there are two. One is the the left had drive made for Europe and the others are the right hand drive that are imported from Japan. The townie/lightace manuel is for the Japanese imports. The difference in the European and Japanese toyotas is so vast that I can not get a real toyota service center to service my townie. They say that they are not allowed to touch Japanese RHD imports. The city of Moscow is even trying to ban RHD cars. The next month should tell the tale of what they are going to do. It seems to me like it would be impossible to outright ban RHD cars since there are over 13,000 in Moscow. It seems that all they can do is not allow anymore in the country. Although, my Russian wife said this is Russia and they do what they want and it doesn't matter how many thousands of RHD cars are in the city and that people paid $3000 - $15,000 for them. They can be legal today and illegal tomorrow meaning they are basically worthless since they are illegal. I still ( hope ) do not see how they can pass such a law.

- (#5664) mervin, 25 Sep 02

I'd be happy to help fund the translation would find any money hard to come by, so the cheaper the better for me.
I do wonder why there are no Japanes manuals. Surely the translation requirement would be the same & we can be sure of accurate manuals, pictures & diagrams etc.
So, why are there no Japanes versions?

- (#5705) Ray, 30 Sep 02