L200 '94 After a Year

Alright!
So now the old truck's revived odometer reads 200,000+ kms which means I've contributed about 26k kms to its mileage.  That is after more that a year of ownership.  It could've been more if I didn't have to leave it parked for about a month because of electrical issues.

Late last year, the pickup developed leak problems on its power steering system.  Quite unfortunate that the alternator is directly underneath the hydraulic pump and leaking fluid goes straight to it.  A few days after losing steering power assist, the alternator quit as well.  The first shop where I took it for repair rerouted the hydraulic lines but the O-ring used for the banjo bolt is undersized that I had to replace it myself just to stop the leak.  As for the alternator, I needed to visit the electrical shop twice. First they replaced the winding and then later the IC regulator because it gave up as well.  So much for leak issues.

The AC went off late 2016 too.  There was some grinding sound and then no cold air coming out of the vents.  I said good riddance!  Turning AC ON anyway causes the pickup to overheat.  But then when a vehicle has no AC, the windshield and windows has this tendency to accumulate moist and then visibility issues.  Quite dangerous specially when it is raining and moreso during the night when there is glare from other vehicle's headlights.  This month though hesitant, I had it repaired because of the coming rainy season.  Cost me about 10k php.  P3500 for the suplus 15C compressor to replace the fried old unit (no oil.)  Filter/drier and expansion valve replaced as well with brand new parts.  Moist issue is now gone but the overheating issue is back specially when sitting on traffic for a long time.

As an attempt to cure the overheating issue, I removed the radiator from the pickup last week.  I know that there are a lot of bent/deformed cooling fins so I took some time to straighten them up hoping that it will help in improving the air flow passing though the radiator.  I also put some spacers to bring the radiator closer to the cooling fan.  Performance is still under observation.  I noticed an improvement but my initial assessment is that the fix is not enough to completely eradicate the problem.

The DIY fixes I did for the lighting system seems to be holding up quite well.  The only source of grief for several instances already was the central locking system because of the low quality wires that came with the aftermarket kit bought by the previous owner.  The copper in these wires are thin and has the tendency to disintegrate causing poor, intermittent, and sometimes completely open connection.  I've started buying quality wires to rectify the issue.

To make travels less boring, I installed an el-cheapo car stereo from Lazada.  It is good enough.  The pickup got two front speakers and only the left side is usable.  Right side speaker has cracks on its driver and it sounds annoyingly terrible.  Now at least I can listen to FM radio channels, play music via USB or Bluetooth, and even make hands free calls.  How long this stereo will last is still a question but so far I'm enjoying it.

Lastly, although the old 4D56 workhorse is leaking engine oil, fuel consumption is almost consistent at 13km/L.  I'm saving funds to have the timing belt replaced including the tensioner and oil seals to get rid of the leaks.  ASAP!

L200 '94

I recently bought a 22-year old pickup truck.  It is diesel fueled with 174k kms in the odometer.  But since the previous owner didn't bother to replace the speedometer cable, the actual number will forever be a mystery.  I have installed the replacement part therefore km counting can now continue.

What I've done so far
1.) As mentioned above, I've replaced the broken speedo cable.  I had to crawl underneath the pickup.  Though the label says it is for Strada which is of course the newer version of the truck, I had no issues installing the replacement.
2.) Revived the backing light circuit which was another crawling activity.  The switch was still there but there were no wires.  I had to clean the switch first with WD40 because it didn't work at first.  The next part is tracing the wiring of the bulbs.  Fortunately, the male connector is still there near the firewall so I just needed to attach the female at the end of the wires I added (from the switch).
3.) The truck has a lot of lighting issues, from brake lights to signal lights.  Some of the sockets are actually corroded and there were errors in the wiring connections.  My assumption is that previous owner must be trying to fix it but messed up so he just left it as it is out of frustration.  I've fixed them because as a personal policy, all my vehicles should have a properly working lights system.
4.) I used to have problems starting the engine specially on mornings.  I thought it was just because the glow plugs are old and needs to be replaced.  It turned out that the wire going to the plugs is burned out.  Based on what I've read, there is supposed to be smart circuit that should automate the process of preheating the cylinder.  For some reason, someone added a manual switch to energize the plugs.  Quite unfortunate that the wires are too thin for the application which lead to its demise.  At least the relay still works and there was a fuse so I just had to replace the burned wire with a thicker gauge.
5.) I was heading home one night and noticed that the headlights were not as bright as the previous night.  As I was nearing home, all dashboard lights went out and even the hazard light didn't work.  Fortunately, the battery has enough juice to power the fuel cut solenoid and I was able to go home.  Yes it was a battery problem because the alternator quit working.  Brought it to a shop and the guy replace/rewind something in the alternator assembly.  Three months since and no issues so far.
6.)  There was a noticeable change in idling and acceleration whenever the temperature gauge reaches the halfway mark.  Under the hood, the engine seems to running hotter than normal or when the gauge is at 1/4 mark for example.  The needle also moves faster towards the red zone if I do a consistent 100kph on the expressway.  I was thinking about the worst case because 4D56 is quite notoriously known for warped cylinder heads.  Brought the pickup to a radiator shop one Saturday and personally saw how much gunk has accumulated inside the radiator.  Added calibration of the gauge in the todo list.
7.)  I was driving one day and for some reason the truck has this tendency to veer right.  Checked the tires for uneven wear and yes there was on the front tire driver side.  Brought it to a shop that specializes on underchassis.   They replaced the lower bushing and machine press a component of the front suspension which I can't remember.  Afterwards, they aligned the wheels.  Now I have to visit them each month to have it checked as part of the 6-month warranty.
8.) Of course, there are other minor things which is to be expected for old vehicles like this one.  Things such as tidying up the wirings, tightening the screws, checking the spare tire among other things.

This is my first time to own a diesel vehicle, also the first time to own a pickup and I'm enjoying it so far.  To date, I've added more than 5k kms to its resurrected odometer.