The Zen of Maintaining a diesel car

1. FUEL IS KING: Perfect fuel, perfect filters, drain water daily. Watch injectors like a hawk.
2. TIMING BELT: Replace religiously at the specified interval – no excuses.
3. COOLING: Maintain perfectly. Overheating kills.
4. EGR: Expect to clean it periodically; drive it hard sometimes.
5. AIR FILTER: Keep it spotless, change often off-road.
6. OIL: Correct grade & spec (5W-30 CK-4), correct intervals.
7. TURBO COOL-DOWN: Idle 3-5 mins after hard work.
8. DPF (if fitted): Use correct oil, allow regens.
9. DAILY CHECKS: Coolant, Oil, Air Filter, Fuel Water Drain, Listen for noises.

I own two cars. Both have unusually high mileaged. Both are pushing into their 20 year cycle. The question is why not buy a new car? First a new car is a lousy business proposition, no matter how you choose to argue the case. Its lose lose. Simple. Secondly for my type of work, new cars simply cant do the job. The diesel car that I own is a first generation Toyota Hilux, it was manufactured in an era when engineers did not completely trust electronics to feature as the primary engine management tool. Hence they built plenty of failsafes into the engine i.e if the electronics died partially, the car can still run, albeit inefficiently, but run it still can and this crucial for field work. New cars these days are 100% dependent on electronics, so if one circuit fails, it cuts off automatically and there and then it just konks out and dies. You can forget trying to fix it. Because modern cars only tell you their ailments thru a computer link. So when they die, its final. You’re done. That means I having to sleep out field. Not recommended. Most importantly the first generation diesel engines are still tweakable. That’s to say there’s plenty of room for improvisation. They still have such a thing as a soul. The only caveat is you really have to know what you’re doing when you decide to undertake major modifications on your car, its a bit like a constructing a bespoke suit. The driving that this car has been optimized for is unusual, for one it shouldn’t be used for town driving as it has been optimized for field conditions which requires moderate speed with high torque to enable it to transverse steep and uneven terrain. The type of tires are essential here. Even the grease is marine grade as agri soil is acidic and corrosive. Unlike town cars, plantation cars idle for prolonged periods. They cant be driven hard on the highway unlike my other car which has been optimized for town driving with occasional field trips. The most important thing when it comes to car care is to be mindful and attentive, its a balance because if one keeps it perfect like an aircraft its expensive and unnecessary and even dumb to go that far. Fortunately old cars don’t just suffer sudden catastrophic failures without a least producing some warning which usually comes in the form of squeeks and noises. A chirping sound means something that rotates at high speed is going to die soon. A clunking sound means something that’s related to the tires is going soon. A whirling sound that produces a nervous condition means its fan belt related. My Kryptonite when it comes to any car is fire. Most car owners go thru at least five cars without ever once having to pull out the fire extinguisher. I am cursed by the Gods of the internal combustion engine, every car I have ever owned has smoked on me. Even the ones I used to own in my other life in Singapore. So I keep at least two industrial sized fire extinguishers and a pair of fire proof arm length gloves nearby. For some drivers their nemesis is being rear ended or getting broadsided by a freighter, or maybe its water that presents itself in a sudden storm in the field or driving into a raging river, but for me its 🔥……that’s my Kryptonite.