Delivery!

Radio silence, I know! Well, unless you follow us on Instagram! But yes, the camper did arrive! Awesome! Here it is showing up on the flat deck. This was back in February, I think?

That is a lot of tongue weight on that trailer!

It arrived right before a sudden snowstorm!

Fortunately we were able to offload it before it really started coming down. I must say that the towing setup it arrived on left a lot to be desired. I think this is what you get when you try and cheap out a bit on car hauling. I really think a lot of weight must have been on that hitch! It probably ought to have at least been a gooseneck trailer.

Without going into the the painful details too much, one cause of delay is the driver's truck breaking down somewhere in Ohio. I guess his DEF heater failed and put the truck into a limp mode! And then he had to wait for parts, etc. At the time I couldn't believe my luck. This delay came right after I had spend so long waiting for a driver to even pick the vehicle up.

Because I was about to head off to work for a very important meeting, I just had a few moments to look inside the camper after it was unloaded. The driver had to jump start it, because the batteries were old and dead. It has two batteries and so it was good to get a quick idea of which battery to jump in order to start the vehicle.

I had arranged to have the camper delivered at the mechanic's. So once said mechanic showed up, I basically rapid fired an explanation of who I was and what the vehicle even was. I think it took him a second to realize that it was indeed THE JAPANESE CAMPER which I had been telling him about for the past month and which had failed to materialize until now.

Now we were on the same page, but I needed to make haste and get out of there. The mechanic gave me the go ahead to park it inside of his shop. Because he works only on diesels, the vehicles he works with are usually pretty sizable and his bay doors are pretty big. This was good because I needed to quickly figure out how to drive this incredibly peculiar vehicle.

I'm pretty sure I immediately tried to enter the cab from the left side of the vehicle, because I'm completely used to American cars that of course have the steering wheel on the left. It was kind of enjoyable to make that sort of mistake. It definitely confirmed that this was not a normal vehicle.

Running over to the other side, I hopped in. I knew I was dealing with a 5-speed but I honestly knew little else. I played around with the shifter a bit, felt the clutch pedal, and just tried to establish myself in space. It felt pretty funny, and quite tiny in there. The vehicle was already running because the driver hadn't shut it off after unloading it from the trailer. If I stalled it...I'd have to jump start it again!

I tried to be overly cautious with everything, making sure I was in the proper gear so I could maneuver the incredibly short distance into the shop. Even with such a short distance to go, I realized that the visibility behind isn't too great. Complementing this short challenge was a lack of power steering (mentioned in prior blog posts). Still, the overall lightness of the vehicle meant I could, even with a little bit of fore or aft movement, turn the wheel easily enough.

My curiosity got the better of me when I started fiddling with the transfer case lever. I recall noticing that the front hubs were in the "locked" position for some reason. I put them to unlocked, and also tried to make sure the transfer case was in 2WD. Of course, that meant popping into 4WD first. A bit of a mistake, because I had a heck of a time getting back to 2WD. There's a small light on the dash that indicates 4WD, and I had a heck of a time getting it to go away.

After much fiddling, the light shut off, and I could tell the shift lever was in 2WD. This meant I could reverse a bit to ensure the system was fully uncoupled. I recalled from my childhood that older '90s 4WD vehicles needed to be reversed a bit after coming out of 4WD. Not sure if that was actually needed, but I wanted to be safe!

Right, so I then proceeded to make a multi-point turn to get the camper into the shop. Phew!

Safe and sound in the shop

From there, I handed the mechanic the keys and ran off to work. I knew I'd return in a handful of hours. I couldn't possibly stay at work all day and miss an opportunity to start looking over our camper.

Power steering pumps have arrived! New YouTube video!

Awesome! We received both power steering pumps. Here is a quick (maybe not...) video comparing the two. I'm excited to install one of them ;)

Parts obsession

I have to admit a bit of an addiction.

When there's something to search for, and it's on the internet, I get pretty obsessed.

An imported Japanese vehicle with lots of obscure parts therefore lends itself to this sort of time-consuming activity.

You see, after I won the bid, and the mechanic confirmed that yes, it did need a new power steering pump, the hunt was on!

I briefly touched on this in the previous post. It only took me a few paragraphs to explain myself, but it really took up way more of my time that I let on.

To start, I jumped on partsouq.com. This site is great, because it offers very excellent exploded diagrams of nearly the entire vehicle. Powertrain, accessories, electrical, it's all there!

This map of the entire vehicle wasn't actually specific to my RV. Rather it was for the Isuzu Fargo truck (van?) that existed before it was hacked up and converted to an RV. But majoritively all of the parts were still present and therefore accurately represented in these diagrams.

All one has to do is click through the various systems until they dig down to the part they think is needed.

In my case, I did strongly desire a power steering pump.

At first, my beginner understanding of Partsouq let me only to an exploded diagram of the pump. I spent far too long staring at this blown up assembly, trying to figure out which parts might be available and which I would want to try for a rebuild.

It took quite a while before I basically gave up on these small parts. Even though they were largely clickable and existed as real parts sometime back in the '90s, nowadays they were nowhere to be found.

I sent a few emails to other parts vendors (see my prior post) and came up empty handed.

Eventually, after digging around for some time longer, I found that the entire pump itself was represented in another exploded diagram of a broader steering system category!

If you look near the center, you'll see Item #1. That's the pump I needed!

Obviously enough, this part number turned out to be the same one that the mechanic back in Japan found I needed to order. It was also the one that would cost around $900 new!

Most power steering pumps for Isuzus of this generation run about $100. So I knew it was not financially practical to pursue this option, even though the perfectionist in me wanted to do so. Period correct Isuzu Fargos aren't a thing, so I didn't need to keep in authentic!

Knowing the actual pump part number, I pushed my Google-Fu to the limits. Glimmers of people selling this pump as a used item popped up on very foreign websites. Most of the languages were Cyrillic in one form or another. I admit to knowing zero about language, but basically many of them were Russian or near neighbors of Russia.

But lo and behold, they WERE selling the pump I needed!

So close, and yet so far.

I made numerous attempts to contact these various sellers. But their oddly complicated methods of contacting (I needed a foreign phone number) and impossible to solve Captchas (because my keyboard could hardly handle their alphabet) made it hard to reach them.

I haven't heard back yet. I figure they wouldn't want to bother shipping overseas anyway. I wouldn't, at least.

Another avenue took me to an Indian automotive forum. They seemed super techy, knew their diesels, and also spoke of the rare 4FG1 engine that my Fargo has.

But again a road block. I tried to register for their exclusive forum and was denied!

I want to try again, but possibly the same issues would come up. Who would want to ship a cheap old pump to the US from another country?

So now I think I've finally come to accept not getting an OEM pump.

I have an angle on a similar pump, and some fine folks at PlanetIsuzoo seem to assure me that if I can just mount it up proper, it will work fine. I think that's convincing enough!

And so my pump hunt comes to a close.

But I cannot rest, for there are many more parts to be had!

Congratulations!

I definitely felt a flash of panic as I read the title of the email.

"Congratulations. You are now the owner of an Isuzu Fargo."

it was the "Congratulations" that set me off. You know how you wake up and for a moment you don't remember anything from the prior day? That was very obvious in this moment.

I don't want to get too far into my own emotions (not enough time...) but it was definitely a bit of a roller coaster to bid on and win a Japanese car that was (is still...) literally in Japan. For the first time!

Alright, so upon winning the bid, the auction broker definitely moves into action quickly. There's basically no going back at this point, unless possibly you can say "hey, just relist it right away". But that costs a few hundred bucks. And I don't know why you'd want to do that unless you suddenly learned that you didn't have enough money to pay the full fare.

The auction houses require you to get that vehicle the heck out of there when you win.

Japanese campers create a bit of a dilemma. They are usually a bit too large for a car transporter (at least, those in Japan which I guess are smaller?). So they need to be driven off the lot, and driven somewhere else.

Normally that would be straight to the port, where it sits and waits for shipping.

But my camper had an issue with the power steering, plus any other unknown issues that the initial inspection failed to show.

So the best course of action was to have it sent to a mechanic. My auction broker uses a specific mechanic that is down by the port of Yokohama. This makes sense because that port is typically where many vehicles are sent from when destined for the USA.

I had good faith in their mechanic and so I was on board to have it moved down there.

But oh...how far did it have to travel?

1,200 dang kilometers.

In the heat of it all, I failed to really consider how far away this was. My broker made it clear, but I figured the low bid I was planning to put in at the time would negate that transport distance.

I suppose it did. The fee to move it was pretty reasonable. Whoever did the driving...not of the transport truck...but of the camper itself, got a little road trip in. Granted, I heard that a ferry was also involved, but was it just between the two major islands?

And the fee and who was driving it wasn't really part of my concern, so much as the genuine possibility that it might break down during said drive. Or blow up or otherwise destroy itself.

It took a few days (or maybe it was a week?) but eventually I got word that the vehicle had shown up at the port mechanic!

This was great, because finally I could get some piece of mind about the condition of the vehicle. It was also my chance to get any maintenance done at the hands of a skilled mechanic who knew how to work on these vehicles.

And not only that, but the mechanic also took a ton of photos for me. I don't know if this was part of the deal, but I was very happy to receive them!

The photos were much higher resolution than the prior inspection photos, and worlds above the auction listing photos. Whomever your auction broker is, I would recommend trying to nab some better photos before the vehicle makes its way onto the ship. It could also help you identify any issues ahead of time (since you'll be waiting at least a month).

My main request to the port mechanic was having the power steering pump evaluated. Granted, I didn't want a bunch of tinkering to occur. I really just wanted to source a new pump and have it replaced, if the cost was reasonable.

Well, it turned out to be what I'm sure is reasonable, but still quite expensive. I know the work would have been stellar, but I was trying to keep costs low. I bought this camper for cheap, on purpose!

However, while it was still in the hands of the mechanic I did opt to have him look for a replacement pump. Possibly he could order it and just pack it with the camper when it shipped, or ship it to me. I think it's actually frowned upon to load a vehicle up with spare parts and then export it. Customs doesn't like that ;)

But I wouldn't get a chance to do that either! Apparently, the engine in this vehicle, an Isuzu 2.4 liter 4FG1, carries some very obsolete parts. At least the power steering pump is nowhere to be found. I won't get into my hours and hours of searching, but suffice to say neither me, the mechanic, or my broker could get an angle on a readily available pump.

There are a lot of sites out there for Japanese vehicle parts. My search primarily entailed the following sites:

www.partsouq.com (great diagrams, just put in your VIN)
www.amayama.com (good prices)
www.megazip.net (a good backup)

And yet, none of them carried the pump!

The only option was to order an OEM pump from somewhere (Isuzu?) that seemingly had to fire up their forge tooling again and cast a brand new one. The cost of that was nearly $1000. I even managed to find a few suppliers myself who could give me a quote, and the price was effectively the same. Plus, the lead time was 2 months!

Ultimately I had to come to terms with not getting an OEM pump (though I honestly haven't at the time of writing this...).

From my hours of research, it seems like any near equivalent pump will do, and it's just a matter of creating a proper bracket to attach it in the right place. Easier said that done I figure. But I won't know until I try to sort that out.

After a few days at the mechanic, and an otherwise clean bill of health awarded, I gave the okay to move the Fargo to the actual port. This is where the waiting game would begin!

Indecisiveness

*Disclaimer: I ain't an expert on this. Consult your auction broker for any questions you might have :)

It's way too easy to get excited and buy a vehicle sight-unseen from one of the Japanese auction houses.

Okay, almost sight-unseen. Here is what you're typically presented with when carousing the vehicle auctions in Japan.

It seems like a lot of info to digest, but when it comes down to it, this doesn't tell you much about the vehicle.

From left to right, you immediately get to see:

1. Front and rear images of the vehicle. These are typically low resolution and make it nearly impossible to tell exactly how good of condition a vehicle is in. If the vehicle is filthy and rusted, sure, you can make out that detail. But beyond that, who knows if there are dents or damage otherwise. And it's really tricky for an RV because you're counting on it being watertight, with all the seals and caulk lines being nice.

2. Auction sheet. It's a world unto itself. You can glean a lot from it even if you don't read Japanese. Ideally your broker will translate it for you. There are also many guides to interpreting them if you just search around a bit.

Our Fargo's auction sheet

3. Lot #. Clicking it takes you to a more detailed page for that car.

4. Auction date. When is it up for auction, or was it just recently auctioned?

5. Year/name. This is as it sounds. Though the short form descriptions almost require a decoder ring sometimes.

6. Transmission type and displacement and maybe some other options?

7. Mileage and condition. Condition is based on what the auction house decides. There's way more to it than that. I recommend using your auction broker's interpretation of things as a guide. But typically, if it's 3 or higher (up to 5) then it's worth looking at. 4 and 5 are super good. That's not to say there won't be some major issue, but ideally the car is in reasonable condition.

A quick sidebar: My RV is condition 3.5. This is pretty good, but not the best. A 4 would have been great. But in my limited experience a 4 is going to command some $$$. Plus, they just aren't that common. So holding out for one can take a while. While I don't have the RV in my hands yet, it seems like the interior and exterior are actually really good. Maybe rivaling a 4?

We'll see, of course. The powertrain is possibly causing it to drop down to a 3.5. There is allegedly some rust and some oilyness to the engine. And note there is also a power steering issue that I've yet to understand the true meaning of.

I did take a long look at some ranked 3. But those (especially after getting interior shots) definitely made it clear as to the lower ranking. Maybe the outside was okay but the interior was just very...suspect.

It's ultimately much harder to gauge the true condition on an RV from your computer, compared to a regular auto. There is much more to look at than just the engine and exterior.

8. Pricing. What the starting bid is, and what it sold for. Sometimes it starts at 0 dollars. It's usually irrelevant unless you're talking fancier collector cars or really popular ones. If the starting bid on an RV is $500 there's little chance of it staying down that low. The sold price is kind of weird. It doesn't seem to update quickly, and in addition it sounds like the USS auction houses don't post the sell price regardless.

9. Average price. This is also a bit confusing. It depends on trim and options and condition. So you need to dig through your broker's historic selling prices and try to hash out what the average price really means. It might that value because only one sold. Or two sold, but they were very different prices and then averaged to something in the middle. But that doens't mean you'll necessarily get a vehicle for that price. Again, maybe more fitting for in-demand collector cars, etc.

I will say that the average price did help inform my max bid for my RV. I saw a handful of past prices for the Isuzu Fargo camper and it gave me hope of landing one for much less than the usual going price of an RV.

Okay, so there's enough information to get excited about your potential new RV, but not enough to make a well-informed decision!

So what to do?

Fortunately there is the option of both an inspection and additional photos!

For my RV, I opted for both.

In past cases, I had asked for photos of the interior first. However, because this RV was ranked as a 3.5, I was a bit more hopeful. And the exterior photos looked pretty good, honestly. I had a good feeling about it!

Therefore, I decided to ask for a mechanical inspection first. Any auction broker worth its salt offers mechanical inspections before purchase. You will have to pay for it most likely, but the cost is less than $100 and can save you a world of hurt. Imagine waiting for a month for your RV to arrive and finding out that coolant is leaking into the crank case!

The inspection went quickly and yielded the following info:

battery dead, engine starts one shot, slight vibration at idle, revs fine, no smoke or vibrations, no sludge, coolant ok, non-turbo, oil cap area slightly oily, engine slightly oily but not dripping, engine area surface rust and slight corrosion, tires have 50% slight cracks, spare old but ok, camping section ceiling liner loose in places but does not appear to leak, toilet, no shower, kitchen area double stove, fridge, floor ok, diff area/suspension corrosion and flaking but no holes, boots ok, some paint peeling on exterior, windshield chips small, bedroom area above cabin ok, drivers seat creased and wear but ok, passenger seat ok, dashboard 6 screw holes, ceiling liner dirty, interior ok, ac ok, clutch ok, gears ok, 4wd ok, check lamps ok, lights ok, wipers ok

I really don't want to dissect this whole thing. It's pretty comprehensive honestly. And you're sort of taking the inspectors word for it also. Basically, reading between the lines a bit. when they say something is dirty, or loose, that's definitely on the eye of the beholder. I think that the inspectors are pretty stringent in that regard. It's not covered in filth. It's just not "pristine".

"Engine starts one shot" is a good one though. That means they were able to jump it easily. I am sad about the non-turbo aspect but if I wanted a turbo I'd probably have to wait another year or so for the era of when Japanese diesels had made a bulk of the transition to turbos. Patience would have definitely been a virtue in that case!

The inspector also looked for leaks (per my request) within the camper area. I was nervous about water damage.

Note that they didn't mention power steering. I guess they don't have a good opportunity to drive around a bunch. It's more of an idling inspection. So, that mystery remains to be solved!

So, the inspection panned out better than I expected.

Now what?

Well, I needed further convincing. I was apprehensive about this whole auction/import process. It's just way too uncertain for my personality, haha!

So I asked for some photos. My broker already knew what I was looking for, and kindly ordered (for a few $$) 6 photos of the interior.

The interior was definitely one of the better ones I had seen. And recall that the interior grade was only a "C". So it could have been pretty hit or miss I think. I really appreciated that the cushions looked so good. Here is hoping they don't carry any funky smells ;)

A quick side bar: I made a bit of a rookie mistake not asking for a photo under the vehicle to look for rust. Granted, the mechanic inspection took care of that, but it's nice to see it for yourself.

Right, so normally I would have mulled over the photos and the inspection further. But because the photos came in very close to auction close, and because I further complicated things by not seeing that they had come in until even closer to auction close, my broker took the liberty to put the previously agreed bid in. Their experience with these vehicles and the quality of the interior basically led them to make a bit of an executive decision.

I was a bit freaked out by that. But I think that if they hadn't done that, I wouldn't be writing this blog right now :)

So their decisiveness, despite a lack of my own got me over the decision hump to bid on the camper.

I can't recall the exact sequence of events, but I do remember falling asleep having seen the bidding end. The website is unfortunately a bit delayed to show results, and doesn't let you know what the bid was, or if you won, etc.

With a huge amount of excitement wriggly around in my body, I had a really hard time getting to sleep.

Morning eventually came and I woke to a very specific email that I both dreaded and enjoyed seeing. Dreaded because it was a really big crazy bizarre purchase, and enjoyed because I was still really excited about possibly owning a tiny camper.

I'll paraphrase, but the subject basically said: "Congratulations on your new RV!"