A little update…
Went to the alignment shop today. It wasn’t that far off. But he did say the front right shock might be slightly damaged.
The alignment didn’t make a difference. So i picked up a shock from the wrecker.
When i removed the wheel i was really shocked. I couldn’t believe i didn’t see it earlier.
If you look closely you can see the whole shock is bend
Now it doesn’t pull to the right anymore when i accelerate.
But it does feel like i need to get it realigned.
Now that the temperatures have gone down i no longer need the A/C. Instead i need the heater now.
But my daily commute is too short for the engine to warm up properly. And because of that i have to sit in a freezing car while driving to work.
So i decided to help the engine warm up a bit quicker. But i can’t use any plug in heaters and i refuse to use one of those things that either run all night or on a timer.
The way i plan on doing it is by heating the coolant.
Over the past couple of weeks i’ve been collecting everything i’m gonna need.
This is the unit i plan using. (Don’t look at the mess, I’ve got a lot going on).
I picked this up at the local wrecker. Unfortunately all 4 glow plugs were dead.
Luckily we had plenty of plugs that will fit even though they’re slightly different.
On the left the old one and on the right the new one. (Obviously).
In order to fuse the plugs i picked up this little high amp fuse holder from a Suzuki Alto.
The reason i choose this because it’s small, looks OE and can be fitted with of the shelf connectors.
To switch the system i’m gonna use a Carling switch. I haven’t tried to fit it yet but it seems it’s gonna fit perfectly.
The switch on the left is the Carling switch and the one on the right is the OE switch for the headlight adjustment.
Of course i’ll fit a relay as well and i do have one, i just don’t have a picture of it.
I hope to fit everything this week.
On a side note.
I recently found the first L7 automatic with A/C for sale. Which is the first one in a years time.
And because it was an import i’m now 99.99% sure we never got them from the factory with A/C in a automatic.
Not much has happened since my last post. 
Been sick for a week and a lot of work to catch up on.
My car was due for it’s yearly check up. There was quite a bit that wouldn’t pass the inspection.
A few bulbs were broken, a very small exhaust leak, rear seat belts were slightly damaged, both ball joint boots were torn and a little bit of play in the right ball joint. When i went to inspect both ball joints the left one was perfectly fine and only replaced the boot, but the right one was fairly rusty. So i replaced the right control arm.
But after replacing it my steering was of again. So now i spend a little extra and got a ‘‘new’’ hub and stabilizer bar. And the steering is even more of now.
On the positive side… When i went to the wreckers to pick up the parts i noticed they got a new L7 in.
It had a spoiler, but not for long.
It’ll need a VERY good cleaning and some new paint.
Quick question…
Is there a difference between the 3 door and 5 door electric window mechanisms?
Would i be able to use the 5 door mechanisms in my 3 door?
I know there’s some difference in the length of the doors and windows. But 3 door L7’s with the ‘‘electric package’’ are hard to find around here at the wreckers.
What did you have to do to replace the valve stem seals? mine seem to have gone bad sadly…
Us aussie’s cant help with the 3 and 4 door question as we only got the 3 door over here. In saying that though, Last Year at a local car meet that happens weekly, a group of daihatsu people were there and to all there shock a random old guy turns up in a 5 door L7 but not to the meet just there to go to the supermarket. Someone asked him about his car and he just shrugged it off like he thought it was an old piece of crap and didn’t care about it. I wish I had of been there to see it myself.
With the right tools you can do it without taking the head. But i recommend just taking the head of.
What makes you think it’s the valvestem seals? Cause the oil consumption is usually caused by the piston rings.
Just remember to put a bolt in the camgear to save yourself a lot of work and frustration.
Thanks anyway. It was worth a shot.
They are quite rare here , but my local wrecker just happens to have one.
They should’ve bought it from the old man. 
your not wrong. I think there were just too stunned
All symtoms lead to it being the valve stem seals, there is also no damp coming from the oil cap which would mean that the piston rings have gone bad.
It is typical for the EJ-DE to suffer from both piston rings gumming up and the valve stem seals to be leaking. Due to the 2.5 litre oil capacity, regular oil changes keep this from happening as quick. The upside is 5 litres of oil is two oil changes for the price of one.
Viton rubber valve stem seals for both inlet and exhaust are a great idea, (I’m not sure of the late 90’s) but older cars had plain rubber valve stem seals for the inlet.
About the only help with windows is the mechanisms were different between the 3 and 5 door G200 charades, different mounting points.
This update came a little later then i hoped. What started as a calm and quiet week turned quickly into very stressful and busy week.
Had to find a replacement transmission for a customer and later a whole car because the transmission is impossible to find a replacement for.
But back to my car.
I not only decided to paint the spoiler but also some interior trim.
The color of choice was high gloss black. The paint looks a lot better in person.
And everything installed.
I even removed the original 3rd brake light and wired in the brake light in the spoiler.
And of course it works.
Looks so much better if you ask me.
After seeing the high gloss black parts installed i think it need more.
Like for example the handle on the boot lid, the outside door handles and the mirrors.
They look so old and weathered.
So… Now i have to get more high gloss black and clear.
Plus there’s more in the pipeline.
Got just a little bit done this weekend.
Yesterday I went to the wrecker and unbolted the power window motors from the front doors. And I also ripped out the door looms.
Later that day I had to go back, cause I found out that the rest of the loom isn’t pre-fitted to every body loom. Only to those with the “electric package”.
Knowing that… I went back and got the dashboard out and cut out the wires and plugs I needed. I didn’t feel like carefully taking out the whole freaking loom as it is one with the full body loom.
This is what I started out with today.
After a little de-pinning and carefully reading the diagrams what I’ve ended up with is just a few wires for the power windows and a whole bunch in the bin.
Now all that’s left to do is fix the door looms and make all the looms look nice and neat.
Then I’ve got to find a driver side switch panel and fit everything to the car. They only had the housing at the wrecker.
For anyone who’s interested in power windows… The mechanisms are the same for 3 & 5 door L7’s front doors despite the length difference in the doors themself.
Still looking for a drivers side switch before I install the power windows.
So yesterday I decided to polish the headlights. And I found out I definitely don’t have the patience for it. But I got it done, and not bad for a first time and not having the patience for it if I may say so myself.
Before
After
And now looking at the persisting problem. Even after 3 wheel alignments and replacing a ton of parts she still pulls to the right. So I whipped up a crude measuring stick and from what I can tell the right side is pushed in a bit. But I’m not sure if that can cause the car to pull so hard.
The largest deviation I measured was around 1cm.
Any help with this will be very much appreciated.
On a side note…
I truly abused her a little today.
This morning someone I know called me up to ask me for help after being stranded with an empty tank with his Mercedes sprinter tow truck.
I thought I could get the sprinter started at the spot, but that didn’t work. So we decided to tow his tow truck. If I had known it wouldn’t start I would’ve picked up the company car. But I was soaking wet and tired and wanted to go home. So I used my little Cuore to tow it. I was genuinely pleasantly surprised about how well she did.
Afterwards I didn’t notice any damage to the engine and transmission, but I’m sure she must’ve suffered quite a bit.
It must have looked really silly a Cuore towing a tow truck. 
Theres a difference between pulling and a bad alligment. If you hold the wheel straight but the car moves to the side, its the alligment. But if the wheel is pulling itself to one side (when you let it go), you might want to look at your tires. If case one is true read on.
You wont belive it but,
have someone your weight sit in the car while doing the alligment.
Also go to a good tyreshop (not kwikfit) like profile. See if they use good new equipment.
I think you have steel rims, get the allignment without the hubcaps and mark where the lead balancing weights are placed. Then remove them.
This will make for a flatter surface to mount the laser target on.
I had the same problem with my buddys car, on mine i never had an issue.
Even a shop with a good aligner may just set the front toe and that’s it. Rear should be aligned correctly first. Correct rear camber. Rear toe equaulised as per center line. Front camber generally corrected if way out. Excess camber on one side will make it steer like a “boy on a bike” the lean is the direction the wheel leans. Two wheels with the same amount of lean cancels this out. Check castor. Correct this. Front toe. Fwds get close to 0 or very slight toe out. Soft bushings will under power drive the wheel assembly forward for sight toe in. Under brakes it will toe out. Something with more solid bushes will benefit when turning in with some toe out as it makes the car “nervous”. Such can really kill tires though. Having done wheel alignments as part of my job 90% of “it’s pulling” is generally tires.
Where camber or castor are not adjustable one must get creative. Somethings get swapped out for adjustable items. Let say though this is not possible then sometimes things are bent to make them work or pivot locations moved.
@Mr_Gormsby any suggestions for a places that would do a good job around Salisbury/Acacia Ridge area? I have to get mine done.
The alignment is done by a proper alignment company. I personally hate kwikfit and never go there anymore after being ripped off after a APK when i still had my G11.
The alignment company i went to all 3 times also do the alignments on other cars i bring there for work. And i never had any issues with the alignments. So it’d be weird if they wouldn’t be able to do my car properly the first time.
So i doubt the alignment is the problem.
I’ve tried 2 of the same tyres with similar wear at the front and also 2 new tyres.
I can feel the car tugging at the steering wheel and when i let go of the steering wheel it turns relatively hard to the right.
I could try the no hubcaps and no lead trick. But i honestly doubt it would work in my case. As i said the chassis right chassis leg seems to be pushed in a bit. Which i think is the problem in my case, of course i could be very well wrong here as i’m not trained in alignments and body work.
He did only adjust the front toe as it is the only adjustment on L7’s.
The rear is nicely within spec.
According to the last alignment the camber on the left is +003 ’ and the right -016 '.
The castor is 255 ’ on the left and 205 ’ on the right.
(Which seem logical if the frame is indeed bent).
I’ve tried a feew different tyre combo’s but without any noticeable effect.
I’ve been considering adjustable strut tops to help adjust the above mentioned numbers.
