SLUDGE! 13 Year Late Oil Change & First Start - Daihatsu Cuore Avanzato TR-XX R4 Project Episode 2

NEVER seen oil sludge this bad! Draining really old oil from my Daihatsu Cuore Avanzato TR-XX R4 to reveal some SERIOUS gunk. Let's get that out, and see if we can start the car for the first time!

The FAQs:

"So this is a Mira, right?"
- Yes, sort of. It is basically identical to the L500 (specifically, the L512S) Daihatsu Mira TR-XX Avanzato R4.

"Don't Mighty Car Mods have one of these?"
- Again, sort of. They're a very close relative of the Daihatsu MCM's Marty is a big fan of. The car in their Kei To The City film (and Marty's later conversion project) share much of this car's DNA.

"Didn't Regular Car Reviews drive one of these?"
- Yes! On the RCR UK trip, they drove an almost identical UK-spec Cuore Avanzato. I actually met the owner at the RCR UK meetup. It's actually my Suzuki Cappuccino that they mention in the video about the meet.

"What does Cuore Avanzato even mean, anyway?"
- It's Italian, actually. "Cuore" means "Heart", and "Avanzato" means "Advanced".

"I drove one of these in Gran Turismo, and it said it was front wheel drive, not all wheel drive?"
- They did 2WD/FWD versions of the turbo Miras in Japan, too, the "4" in the name is what denotes the AWD/4WD/4x4 version.

"Is it a kei car?"
- Yes, it meets the kei car regulations, though whether it "counts", being a UK car, is an interesting question.

"Is it JDM?"
- No, it's a UK model, there are some subtle differences/modifications for the UK market, though nothing earth shattering.

"Did they really only make 80 of them?"
- Of the UK road car version, yes, give or take a couple, plus there were about 20 rally-prepared ones. The Japanese equivalent is far more common.

"Is it a 3 cylinder engine?"
- No, it's a 4 cylinder, the Daihatsu JB-JL 16v engine, though it meets the same 660cc capacity limit for kei cars that the three cylinders used elsewhere do.

"Is it turbocharged?"
- Yes, with a small top-mount intercooler.

"How does the AWD work?"
- There is a selectable drive to the rear coming off the gearbox, with a viscous coupling between the rear differential and the propshaft to allow for the difference in wheel speeds when cornering.

"How much does it weigh?"
- 768kg, per the UK original specification sheet.

"Where can I get one?"
- To be perfectly honest, it's a lot easier to find a JDM one as an import than a UK car, but if you keep an eye on Ebay and forums, one might come up.

"Is it for sale?"
- I'm afraid not, no.

Title music:
"RetroFuture Clean"
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

[Spacefish]

Sold as: Just one elderly pre-owner, serviced according to manual.

[forresttucker]

I don't know why I found that sludge coming out so satisfying, like getting relief after a bout of the runs.

[Goultek]

As a mechanic, I have seen shitty oil, but this beats it all flat out

[markhamq]

This feels like the mechanical equivalent to those pimple popping videos.

[NostalgikProductions]

Me: Watches one Chris Fix video.

YouTube: *SLUDGE!*

[EricFortuneJr.]

I got a weird sense of satisfaction watching this.

[antiangelofmusic]

The fluids and time spent on this car are way more than the car is worth! It's a Daihatsu!

[miaugato]

Just goes to show how brilliant Japanese engineering is, if it managed to run this far.

[cmdrriotz]

2:32 me after 4 burritos and a glass of all natural mexican h2o

[ReinventingTheSteve]

2:32= me on the toilet after a night of heavy beers and bad food choices 😂

[RonaldFinger]

In a few days, I'm going to pick up a Fiero that's been sitting for 20 years. I guess I have this to look forward to haha. Great video though!

[marktrenfield]

Turbo is both oil lubricated and water cooled. It's an IHI RHF3 VQ27, which is unbelievably hard to get hold of in the UK. Hoping yours is all good!

[yactabay]

Almost no drip from that much sludge automatically means I remove the oil pan. That will allow as much of the sludge from the pan to be removed as possible as well as removing every last drop of oil that has sunk to the pan. You can't clear out the oil pickup mesh that sucks up the oil up to the upper components of the engine. Third and final thing of the initial 3 steps is to take out the spark plugs so you can lubricate the walls of the cylinders with Fogging Oil. Even straight oil into the cylinders in a small amount is good if no fogging oil spray is not available. You scraped up the cylinder walls with the piston rings as well as scraped the rings, themselves, by not doing that. It shortens the life of the engine and/or causes oul-burning. You're going to say too much for a car that may not start up but it sure was worth it with that car.

[areeskinwar]

That old gas must have turned to gel also. Would have like to seen the clean up on that, also it must have clogged the injectors

[octaviustaistra]

Would’ve just been easier to remove the oil pan and clean it instead of doing all that extra hard stuff

[tommygun]

Wouldn't be easy to just take the oil pan off and clean properly ?

[isoconfused]

Think I would have bought 8 liters of cheapest oil i could and be doing 2x oil changes after 100 miles each, then putting in castrol.

[Fvck_Yu_SadQ_K]

2:30 when you eat a Lidl ready meal that's two days out of date and you hit the bog

[stevest]

Man...at first sight of that goo, I'd have a beer, drop the pan, pull the rocker covers, take out the spark plugs, and fog the cylinders, diesel flush the whole thing, have a beer, blow the turbo lines, swap the coolant, remove the mouse nest from the air intake, have a beer, siphon the old gas out, crank it with fresh gas with the fuel line disconnected at the motor, have a beer, reassemble everything with new gaskets, have a beer and order pizza, do a sacrificial oil change, and then try starting it.

That goo is like cholesterol in a fat man. It's throughout the engine and will simply roam around and contaminate the new oil...fatal for a turboed motor.

I hope it's still running.

[DSJVNdsjnvf]

2:44 That moment when you finally let it all out..