I've had a 1989 Toyota Lite-ace for the past year, I fell in love with the little van but unfortuantely, It's been on the road about 6 times in all, I've had all sorts of problems including two dead head gaskets. Smoking exhausts and even starting/timing problems. Anyway I was just on my way to the junkyard to do some snooping and found a Hi-ace door, the fellow in charge said he`d just scrapped one and had the engine for sale (good price too, £100 including fitting) The question is.....Is it possible to drop a Hi-ace petrol engine into a Lite-ace petrol chassis. Any help would be appreciated, I love the van and I really want it on the road annoying all the boy racers. Thanks

- (#10840) Kris Atkins, 22 Sep 03 18:26

Fitting the engine in the gap may be easy but connecting up may present problems. First does the gearbox mate, does the prop still fit, electric/fuel/cooling may all need re-routing/modification.
Second are the brakes man enough !
How much bigger is the engine as all the above work may not be worth the effort?

- (#10841) Clive, 23 Sep 03 1:47

Another consideration here is £100 to supply and fit a Hiace engine to a Liteace sounds too good to be true. Last year I had a Rover gearbox changed by a scrap yard, and it turned out that the fault was a common one. The replacement box was worse than the original, and I was £200 lighter in the wallet. Meanwhile the happy scrappy had moved on to pastures new.
What is it that is keeping your Liteace off the road?

- (#10842) dave Bright, 23 Sep 03 2:18

I've had constant problems with timing, I need a new head gasket, I've had to have a new distributor fitted, new coils. The Ace chassis is like new but I don't know what the previous owner did to the engine. Well, I'll speak to the guys at the yard and see if the engine is the same cc, I'll mention the above connecting worries and see what they say, thank you so much for your advice. I'll keep you posted. PS any good garages in the Middlesbrough area would be nice, My mechanic told me that the expansion bottle was for my washers.

- (#10843) Kris Atkins, 23 Sep 03 8:48

I've just been surfing the archives, and found a post from David Miller.

All 1c, 2c, and 3c engines interchange, but the ancilliaries differ (manifolds, mountings, alternator etc). Gearbox-wise, Toyota bell housings interchange, so nearly any box can go onto any engine... - David Miller, 11 Dec 01

I cant help feeling that it would be better to resolve the problems with your existing engine. What is the history behind the timing problems and failed head gaskets ? Has the mechanic who mistook the expansion bottle for the washer bottle been the only source of advise in this history?

- (#10844) dave Bright, 23 Sep 03 10:23

The mechanic was the first guy I took the ace too after the over heating probs started. He took the radiatior apart, pressure tested and everything. I found out about the coolant system from the BOK (gawd bless it) anyhoo, After my last breakdown ( a sudden engine death near whitby) the AA man said he thought it was the distributor, I had that replaced and it now fires up again. Unfortunately now the top of the expansion bottle will blow off after about 100 yards down the road. Previous to changing the distributor I had the overheating sorted, but now I've got plumes of white smoke and oil dripping from my exhaust. I've made sure the bottle had the right amount of coolant in it, and 50/50 mix. However I'm pretty sure it's the head gasket that`s died. It's going to cost me I think ;-)

- (#10845) Kris Atkins, 23 Sep 03 12:20

Hmmm this is ringing some bells. I vaguely remember a post about an expansion tank blowing the top off, and yes it does sound like the gasket I‘m afraid. In your first post you say that it has already blown one gasket before. Did you get the head pressure tested and skimmed before rebuilding? There is a chance that the block may be cracked and the head is ok.

I guess your options are to replace the gasket, or the head, or a complete engine. To be honest I would look at a replacement engine, but the same type as you already have. This Hiace engine still sounds like a gambol. Checkout BBC spares or other places that import Japanese spares, there are some on the archives somewhere.

One other alternative is to try some cargo liquid glass. Its £10 for one bottle and may, just may have the desired effect.

- (#10846) dave Bright, 23 Sep 03 14:20

Thank you for your suggestions, I'm going to sleep on it and make a decision. It's nice to get help from people who have experience with these machines.

- (#10847) Kris Atkins, 23 Sep 03 14:59

hi, ive got an 85 litece with a 1Y petrol motor (1600cc) and am buildin a 3Y (2L) hiace motor for it.(im one of those boy racers you mentioned) and have been assured by a few different mechanics that the 3Y should replace the 1Y easily. ive read up on the 2Y,3Y,&4Y motors which are all the same size and same gear with the only difference being bore and stroke. im pretty cofident that the 1Y should be the same, my manuel didnt cover 1Y. or was yours a C series motor?
Ive luved my van so far and have given the 1Y motor a very hard work out for two years, never skippin a beat. just looking for better power.

- (#10848) vince, 25 Sep 03 2:26

I purchased a Toyota Lite Ace vehicle imported from Japan. The vehicle has a fitted radio (standard with the vehicle) and /I was given a CD player(model No.08601-00170 Matsusnita) from another Toyota Lite Ace vehicle. The problem is that the radio and CD player fit together on the same bracket and are both standard for the Lite Ace but they have different plugs. I would appreciate it if anyone can suggest anything or if anyone has a wiring diagram for the Cd player or the radio.

- (#11556) Andre Herbst, 6 Nov 03 15:29