(Home) New owner advice

i just bought a 1989 Toyota town ace because i fell in love with the craftsmanship and shape and space of her, but now i'm panicing, is it going to be high maintenance and high on fuel consumption. It's diesel F reg.

- (#8321) Nigel Alderson, 4 Feb 04 15:55

Nigel, have a look through Ace Answers (click on Ace Answers at top of this page). The on line handbook should cover all you need to know. 30 mpg would be good. They do require looking after, but if they are they will look after you.
Have a read and get back with any fine points.
Well done on a splendid choice of vehicle. Where are you in the World?

- (#8321) Clive (Bristol), 4 Feb 04 16:37

Hello Nigel
First of all this is the right place to talk to many Ace owners, so try not to panic. Your probably a bit nervous because its 15 years old and you have spent, what at first seems like a disproportionate amount of money on it. That’s the nature of the Ace I’m afraid, but if you love the look and driving position, its definitely for you. Where abouts are you? What type is yours?, 2wd or 4wd? Royal lounge or other? Sunroof or skylight? Did you get it privately or from a dealer?

Its not really high maintenance, its more to do with the age and getting into preventative maintenance rather than fixing problems once they develop. The fuel consumption varies quite a lot across the differing spec levels, but at worse its going to be between 26 and 30 MPG. Some get better than 30, but not without some considerable effort. If your not into DIY maintenance, then why not start now. If you need to, enrol in a basic mechanics course. The Townace is not particularly difficult to work on, just time consuming because so much has been squeezed into a small space.

If you have no history with the van, its advisable to change the cam belt, but it should be good for 100,000 Kilometres so if yours only has 60,000 there is some time to get it done.
The ATF can be checked and replaced by a specialist for around £80 and they will tell you if they find evidence of possible problems.
There are other things to consider changing as well, but take some time to get used to it first. The best advise I would offer is to surf the archives at Townace.com, and get one of Dave Masons temperature alarms fitted as soon as you can. It goes a long way to increase peace of mind, and if you are in the Bournemouth area, I could help you to fit it.

- (#8321) dave Bright (Bournemouth), 4 Feb 04 16:52

My lovely mechanic recently fixed the crankshaft cover oil seal on our Loyal Rounge, but advised us to pass it on as he said there was back pressure in the crankshaft & that this could mean piston rings bust (I thought Diesel's didn't have em?).

It seems to be running OK but on a motorway type journey we get oil all over the tailgate. We're planning to bung it in the local Auction, but I just thought I'd check here & see if it's as bad as he thinks. Any comments? Thanks...

- (#8321) Chris McCanna (Worthing), 14 Feb 04 08:01

Guess you mean crankcase? The engine has been designed for some blow by, thats why the oil goes black so quick, there is a vent hose off of the rocker cover that feeds back into the air intake.
Could be pistons(s), valve(s) or head gasket.
Have you thought about a replacement engine?

- (#8321) Clive (Bristol), 14 Feb 04 00:06


Back pressure in the crankcase is not entirely a symptom of a worn engine. Hand on heart, have you, or a previous owner neglected to maintain the engine properly ? If it is a high mileage vehicle (150,000 miles plus) then, yes, some bore wear is to be expected but, changing the oil and filter, using a premium brand, at every 3000 miles, replacing the air filter, a thorough check on the crankcase breathing system etc, will work wonders. Replacing a crankshaft oil seal might just be attending to the symptom and not the cause. Clive's suggestion re a replacement engine is very sound and this would give you many more miles in a unique and individual vehicle.
Yes, there are piston rings and, it's not such a daunting job for a good engine repair shop to re-bore and re-piston the engine. An "off the shelf" reconditioned engine is not too expensive, especially if compared to the losses incurred in selling the vehicle and the disatisfaction in replacing it with something inferior like Galaxy, Espace, etc, etc.

- (#8321) John Davis, 14 Feb 04 01:27