Ukraine Refugee Assistance

ok, but more importantly, Yaroslav sent me a message!

(ok, he actually sent it a while back but I was too busy to post)

I can't believe he started this project 2-3 years ago.  That kid is going places!

(hehe, maybe next christmas santa needs to bring him a 3d printer...)

ooh!  Ninja edit:  His comment is the only comment for that video (it's about his Kremlin burning wallpaper).  If you wanted to leave him a comment, I bet he'd see it!

Obligatory memes (because nerd):

Ha-haaa  you made me laugh  

I like this one It seems that everything works this way  always!!!

Are you going to replace all these parts? 

You know for a long time i've been thinking about buying a Toyota for me - not 4-runner 

I'd like Toyota rav4 3-doors (90's)   

So guys i need some advice - what do you think about such cars? How reliable is such a car? I can't fix it myself, like Bill does.

 And i need to find this one in Ukraine in good condition 

Or if you can recommend some other SUV(3-doors) not too expensive and reliable 

I would be grateful for your advice 

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

That kid is going places!

That's TRUE!!! this boy will definitely achieve great results and come up with something outstanding 

I met him and his grandmother last summer - he's very smart and thinks very outside the box  

It was very interesting and pleasant to communicate with him!!!

So i think in 10 or 20 years, if you see his name somewhere in the news, you will be say certainty - hey, i know that boy!!! For sure!!!

VikkiDp said:

Are you going to replace all these parts? 

You know for a long time i've been thinking about buying a Toyota for me - not 4-runner 

I'd like Toyota rav4 3-doors (90's)   

So guys i need some advice - what do you think about such cars? How reliable is such a car? I can't fix it myself, like Bill does.

 And i need to find this one in Ukraine in good condition 

Or if you can recommend some other SUV(3-doors) not too expensive and reliable 

I would be grateful for your advice 

About half the parts in the top photo will be replaced.  It's not as bad as it looks.  You just match the hoses, remove the old one, and clamp the new one in!

The 90's Rav4's I think were known to be pretty reliable.  If you found one that was well taken care of, I wouldn't expect too many issues (I'm sure someone on here could give you better advice than I could, though).

I think I made mention, but I 100% bought my truck off of someone who used it as farm equipment.  It was the only one for sale in Hungary or Germany and it was very much used as farm equipment is used (zero maintenance, duct tape, zip ties, and all sorts of add ons and irregularities).  It took a lot of work just to get it inspected and back on the road again, so I wouldn't base your opinion about reliability too much on what you see with mine.   I mean, if the person before me took even the slightest interest in scheduled maintenance, a lot of what's been happening probably wouldnt have happened (plus it doesn't help that it has nearly 400,000km on the odometer)

The nice side about a Rav4 like you like, is parts are available, and not usually that expensive (and that's always nice). 

VikkiDp said:

So i think in 10 or 20 years, if you see his name somewhere in the news, you will be say certainty - hey, i know that boy!!! For sure!!!

I would absolutely die of joy if that happened.

VikkiDp said:

You know for a long time i've been thinking about buying a Toyota for me - not 4-runner 

I'd like Toyota rav4 3-doors (90's)   

So guys i need some advice - what do you think about such cars? How reliable is such a car? I can't fix it myself, like Bill does.

 And i need to find this one in Ukraine in good condition 

Or if you can recommend some other SUV(3-doors) not too expensive and reliable 

I would be grateful for your advice 

An early RAV4 would be a great choice if, as Bill said, you can find one that has been maintained well and is in good condition. The only real risk that I can think of is that they're now pretty old. The engine is the 3S-FE, which is great, because they are abundant (also used in Camry, Celica, etc.) and really don't have any significant weaknesses. Similarly, the transmissions and other mechanical parts are also shared with other Toyota vehicles of the same era.

The engines last a very long time and can start leaking oil because people often do not replace oil seals when they do other maintenance. It's a good policy to replace several seals on the front (nose) of the engine, and also to replace the water pump, when the timing belt is replaced. The distributor can also start to leak internally. Toyota does not sell a replacement seal for that, but I can direct you to a nice aftermarket kit that has what you need.

Another vehicle that I would consider is a Suzuki Vitara (Sidekick in the US market). I don't know as much about them, but I still them on the road out here, so apparently they can hold up if they are maintained. It looks like Europe may have had a diesel engine available starting in 1996, whereas the RAV4 was gasoline only.

I can help with Toyota parts, or at least part numbers, if you end up going with a RAV4.

Hi everyone!!!

I'm away on a work trip (for a week). But I took the kids list with me. I'm going to text moms to ask what need for kiddos.

Stay by touch!!!

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

I have a Toyota MR2 from the similar year- 1987- do you know if toyota parts binned things? I have extras.

Please let me know right away anything Ira needs. E36 M3, if she needed a computer and monitor I even have a spare, I think one can do 220v.

In reply to VikkiDp :

Good to hear! I'll be waiting, I'm already gathering up more headphones and stuffies for my next round. I can also never tried to look for donations from my hospital or surrounding ones, but now that i'm not in school I can try.

GIRTHQUAKE said:

I have a Toyota MR2 from the similar year- 1987- do you know if toyota parts binned things? I have extras.

Unfortunately, not much at all will be shared between an AW11 and Bill's 4Runner. Maybe a few little sensors and switches, clips, some fairly generic nuts and bolts, but nothing much beyond that. 

In reply to DarkMonohue :

Damn.

GIRTHQUAKE said:

In reply to DarkMonohue :

Damn.

That would have been too darn easy.

I just sent Ira a message.  I'll let you know as soon as I have her reply.

Thanks!

In reply to VikkiDp :

Have a safe trip!  We'll see you on here when you get back.

okie dokie, everyone!  Here's our Monday update!

First up, we've got Vikki's donation bucket going and we've already received about 156,077 forint ($445usd).  I'm pretty excited about this as she's been able to absolutely AMAZING things with the money we sent her back in January.

Continuing the good news, we've had a nice little bump in donations to our GoFundMe since our last update.  We're now over $2200!  This of course does not include the 250,000 forint I've received from local donors (about $713usd).  I can honestly say I'm starting to breathe easier with this one.  Like Dark Monohue said, donating once is hard enough.  Keeping this going long term is an absolute marathon.   From here on, regardless of whether or not we're able to purchase ALL the lamps the hospital needs, we're at least going to make a good showing when we deliver (plus the school supplies as well!)

As you've seen recently we've just delivered Girthquake's art supplies to Ira, and they were very VERY well received.  It's exciting seeing everyone in the new building over there.  Girthquake also mentioned above that he's collecting for his next box, so I'm looking forward to visiting the school again when that arrives.

I talked to Miroslav who will be driving his vehicle with us on this next run.  He reports that he's been working out of town and has tasked his sister with collecting donations.  I don't have any reports from her  yet, but fingers crossed she's getting plenty of baby food and diapers.

Ok, with that I do have a bit more to add but I'm going to make a new post for it as I think it deserves its own topic.

Cheers guys, and thank you!!!!

okie dokie.  the new post.

Those kids from the school being from Kharkiv got me thinking.  I know I offered to bring Ira anything she needed from inside Ukraine (school books, etc) but I got to thinking:  Is there something from Kharkiv that I could bring back to the children that would give them a little piece of "home" while they attend their new school?

Unfortunately, nothing yet has come to mind.

But first I had to answer the question:  Could I even GET to Kharkiv if I wanted to?

Well, I had some help from this forum, and I was able to contact boots on the ground in the area and the answer was "absolutely!".

so there we go.  I might be driving through Kharkiv on this run.  Doing so would add about 2.5 hours to my total drive time, but I think it would be worth it if I could bring something back to the children.

The question is "what"?  What could I possibly bring back from a city of 1.2 million that would give the kids that warm fuzzy feeling of "home"?

Your thoughts on that one would be appreciated.

About something warm fuzzy things to bring feelings of "home" for kids - I have a few good friends in Kharkiv.  So I can ask them what it could be.

I have an ability typing only  short posts because of phone.

Stay by touch!!!

Bill, you’re really something.   Your raffle package arrived today undamaged and again I’m humbled and not worthy. 

The amount of awesome in this picture is amazing! Not only the Ukrainian vodka but Dnipro Express stickers!   My daughter speaks some conversational russian and thinks the label on the bottle says “Wind of victory from the air” although it may be different in Ukrainian. Thank you again for everything that you do, it gives us hope for the world.  Slava Ukraine!

Damnnn dude! Now I need to get me some commemerative alcohols, put more of my money to good use!

VikkiDp said:

About something warm fuzzy things to bring feelings of "home" for kids - I have a few good friends in Kharkiv.  So I can ask them what it could be.

I have an ability typing only  short posts because of phone.

Stay by touch!!!

Awesome!  Thanks Vikki!

11GTCS said:

Bill, you’re really something.   Your raffle package arrived today undamaged and again I’m humbled and not worthy. 

The amount of awesome in this picture is amazing! Not only the Ukrainian vodka but Dnipro Express stickers!   My daughter speaks some conversational russian and thinks the label on the bottle says “Wind of victory from the air” although it may be different in Ukrainian. Thank you again for everything that you do, it gives us hope for the world.  Slava Ukraine!

YASS!  Glad it made it there safe and sound.  You know, I never attempted translation of the bottle, but I like "Wind of victory from the air".

Enjoy!

GIRTHQUAKE said:

Damnnn dude! Now I need to get me some commemerative alcohols, put more of my money to good use!

I'm going to keep my eye out for more on this next run.  Fingers crossed I can find some more.

Alright alrigh alright,

Slightly off subject, but I was tinkering with the truck this morning again (yup, 4am) and it's SUPER petty but I think I can finally explain why I'm never worried about the truck breaking down even though it always seems like SOMETHING happens on all of our runs

So, it's rough history aside (and I know I'm going to irritate someone with this one) Mrs. Hungary and I joke that Hungary's national motto is "eh, it's good enough".

Where this comes from is probably a long geo-political topic that spans several hundred years, but I will say that being here has made me a far better mechanic than I ever would have been had I stayed back in the states.  Supply issues, extremely long shipping times, extremely high shipping costs, VAT that gets charged to the part AND the shipping cost...  there is good motivation for you to find something that works locally instead of trying to find the CORRECT part from somewhere else.  In fact, it's as natural to a Hungarian as breathing is.

Case and point:

I attempted to change my spark plugs this morning (now how in the world could THAT possibly go wrong???).  Here goes:

I attempted to change my spark plugs this morning as I've been meaning to do an ignition health tune up in an effort to stay ahead of things that I'm currently caught up on.  The plugs (cap, rotor, wires, etc) in the truck now were all installed in December of 2021, and they've got a few miles on them considering the work they've done between Ukraine and Africa. 

I always have a spare set of plgs on the shelf, and usually keep my old ones in my truck box (just in case), so I moved forward thinking I would be good with what I had on hand.  Now coming out of the truck were "NGK BPR5ES" and what was going in were NGK BPR5EY.  I figured this is just what the parts store had on hand, and I was comfortable with going forward without checking any cross-reference sheets.

The first three went in ok.  The removed spark plugs needed a 19mm sockets, and the ones going in needed a 17mm socket, but my mind didn't trigger that as something I needed to worry about.

Until I got to the fourth hole.

On cyl #4, I did my usually 19mm socket out, 17mm socket in but on this one the 17mm didn't fit the spark plug I was installing!

crap.

I look at the plug and sure enough it's "NGK BPR5EY", but why is it different than the other "NGK BPR5EYs" I'm installing???

Answer:  From the parts store, I was given 3ea NGK BKR5EY, and one BPR5EY.  So when I looked at the top plug in the stack I was handed, I saw BPR5EY and went on my way.  When I checked the stack again in my garage, the top was the same, so I went on my way.  When I gapped them I gapped the top one first and when I installed them I did so in reverse order thinking all my plugs were the same.

they weren't.

(3ea BKR shown at top of photo, 1ea BPR shown at bottom)

The difference between a BPR and a BKR plug isn't just the wrench size needed, but the insulation porcelain is thicker on the BPR and the base is taller as well (internal depth, is the same and honestly it probably would have worked if I tried to start the engine).

So our helpful FLAPS (Friendly Local Auto Parts Store) representative probably thought "aw man, I only have 1ea BPR...  Well, this looks the same" and sent me out the door thinking I'd be Hungarian about it.

Except I'm not (sorry dude) and here's why (spoiler alert, it's trivial):

The thinner insulation means that the rubber boot doesn't fit on the spark plug as tight as it should.  Which would 100% go unnoticed for 99% of the time I'm operating the truck.  But you start to add Sahara sand, African red dirt, or maybe you try to ford a river or even spray down your truck at the car wash and... well, now you can't say for certain that this is going to work anymore (and that's where we seem to be  running into problems).

and that's what I've been finding all through the truck.  The truck works.  It's just that I keep finding DECADES of "eh, it's good enough" that pop up at the most unfortunate times and I have to go and undo them (and luckily I prevented this one).

So yeah. 

I ended up digging all through the garage and took inventory of potential spark plugs for the truck.  Here's what I found:

3ea BKR5EY (top)

1ea BPR5EY (first row)

3ea BPR5EGP

and the four BPR5ESs I removed from the engine.

In the end, I gapped the 3ea PBR5EGP and installed them in holes #2, 3, and 4.  I put the 1ea PBR5EY in hole #1 while I order a fourth BPR5EGP.  I probably wont be driving the truck much, but if I run into long supply lead times then it'll be nice to have it mobile.

what a hassle for simple spark plugs, huh?

So yeah, that's all.  It may be small fish, and it may still act up from time to time, but I'm 100% confident that there can be only so much "good enough" that remains behind at this point 

(Chart for your spark plug translating pleasure)

I've also been trying to get that clutch slave cylinder to repeat its shenanigans.  Not knowing what fluid is in there, but noticing that the line does kind of run close to the header, I'm going to bleed the system and run fresh fluid.  I might have a situation where the metal line got a little hot from the exhaust and boiled the old fluid.

good times.

Submitting for peer review:

I see a bit of uneven wear on the center electrodes, but thought they were pretty good to go otherwise.  If you see something, say something

Update: 

I could not find the desired spark plug in all of Hungary or Germany.  RockAuto saves the day (estimated delivery is 26 July)

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

before i saw your quantity, i thought "i sure hope he orders 5"

brilliant!