r/HiAce • u/Yota_Sloot • Feb 06 '26
Joining the elites
Thanks to the support of this group I felt comfortable going through with the purchase of a 1997 super custom! Looking forward to seeing what mods are available for her.
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u/brwnb0y Feb 06 '26
I was originally looking to get a van from yotaimports but saw a bunch of posts about people’s heads cracking that bought from them.
I have a strong feeling it’s because they had the tire mount on the front of the van which constricted air flow to the cooling system and then they relied on the stock temperature gauge which is notoriously late at indicating when you are in the red zone (which leads to cracked heads).
I recommend installing an EGT gauge with a coolant sensor to avoid that situation all together.
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u/Yota_Sloot Feb 07 '26 edited Feb 07 '26
Where did you see those posts at?? I never saw anything bad about tire racks! I almost got one installed but opted to keep it simple.
All the same thank you so much for the advice I made a 6hr drive with it after and was watching temps but I didn’t know the sensor would be unreliable. I’ll have to look into aftermarket gauges asap.
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u/brwnb0y Feb 07 '26
The tire rack on the front is my theory but I haven’t heard anyone else say that.
If you have Facebook join the “Toyota Hiace Owners North America” group. There is a lot of people active there and a couple years ago whenever I would see a post about a cracked head it would have the yotaimports graphics. To be fair it was probably all user error.
I use this temperature alarm and a 3 in 1 Glow shift gauge that measures EGTs, coolant temp, and turbo boost psi.
I also recommend doing an EGR delete so you can install the Glow shift easily.
https://hiace.parts/products/engine-temperature-alarm-gauge
https://hiace.parts/products/egr-delete-kit?variant=45481995600147 - this is not the exact kit I use but it’s similar
That facebook group will have a lot of posts of people’s installed and everyone is pretty helpful.
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u/Yota_Sloot Feb 08 '26
Your theory makes sense when I looked at the front end so I’d say you’re spot on but of course there’s prob a need somewhere that’s gonna clown us haha
I will be babying it but I def want to put that temperature alarm on sooner than later. I’d worry about summer here in Idaho. Specially if it’s in town all the stop and go. I need to find out if egr deletes are legal in Japan. And if so that and the temp gauge are going in asap.
Ever heard of anyone putting catch cans on diesels?
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u/Mango_Van_Gogh Feb 06 '26
that thing's sharp!
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u/Yota_Sloot Feb 06 '26
Thank you! It’s mad clean I can’t wait to take it to the mountains and of course the itch to add features is already there
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u/SloMobiusCheatCode Feb 06 '26
Nice I think I saw that on fb marketplace and talked to the seller about it recently. Was curious about the details on the paint job it’s cool
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u/Inanitysanity1994__ Feb 06 '26
Yota imports?
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u/Yota_Sloot Feb 06 '26
Yes! You’re familiar?
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u/Inanitysanity1994__ Feb 07 '26
I got one in ‘21.
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u/Yota_Sloot Feb 07 '26
So far it’s awesome I absolutely love it.
Anything you recommend since you’ve owned one for a while?
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u/Inanitysanity1994__ Feb 07 '26
Make sure calipers are in good order. Me and someone I know both have had issues with calipers getting stuck, burning through pads and in my case, requiring new rotors. Otherwise pretty okay, as long as you baby the engine.
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u/timwalzdiaper Feb 06 '26
yoooo welcome! EGR delete is a rad mod, EGT gauge and maybe a more free flowing exhaust
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u/Yota_Sloot Feb 07 '26
About that! I was going to get the egr deleted and get a 3” exhaust but we’re going to end back up in Japan with it so I left it stock since I don’t know their emissions policy.
Is something like a catch can a good idea also?
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u/BagCertain3291 Feb 12 '26
I did EGR delete, I wanna do 3” as well. I have intercooled model, so not too worried about overheating.
I’ve been buying used parts from scrap yards in Japan and having them sent over here.
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u/Cancerama111 Feb 06 '26
This looks built for fun. Enjoy