Oka owners group newsletter

OKA Owners Group Website: www.okaownersgroup.info ₉

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Hi Everyone,

OKA OWNERS GROUP (PUTTING PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT FIRST)

NEWSLETTER March 2008

Easter has been and gone, and it is getting close to the time when Oka Owners are setting out on their outback trips. Of course, we can trip at any time of year, but the north is mostly too difficult to travel off the bitumen from December to April because of the wet season, and it is much too hot to venture into the deserts in the peak of summer. This is the time to visit Tasmania or the southern coastal regions. We travel in July/August because that is the time we can safely leave livestock as water problems don’t happen quickly at that time of year, and we like to escape the frosty weather at home. Not that desert nights aren’t cold – we have sometimes had frost on the inside of the Oka’s windscreen early in the morning!

Rowena Paterson has let us know that she is starting a new adventure. She is heading over to Western Australia in mid-May for 6 months to work. She has been in her present job for 14 years and feels it is time for a change. She is intending to take her laptop with her so will carry on with being our Secretary/Treasurer while she is away, and will have a new email address that she will pass on to you when we know it. The Victorian Oka Owners have been lucky to have her to organise all their camping weekends over the past years, but I am sure that Rowena has someone lined up to take over for her. We know she will have plenty of adventures while she is away and wish her well. Watch out for her Oka if you are in the West.

We are looking for more input from our members. While we almost always find something different and useful about other Okas, very often we don’t read about . The highs and lows of your travelling adventures are always of interest to other Owners – particularly how you managed to fix or prevent a problem that occurred, how you took a shortcut from somewhere to somewhere and what requirements were necessary for particular regions or how you rebuilt your Oka using only superglue, fencing wire and a screwdriver!. We would appreciate it is you would write to us, ring us or best of all, email us with an account of what happened.

We wish you all happy travels in 2008. Marj Parsons

MAJORS CREEK, NAGAMBIE - ANZAC DAY LONG WEEKEND - 25th - 27th April 2008

Where: Major Creek Reserve, 25km north of Seymour near Michellstown. Access

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via Michellstown road, off the Goulburn Valley Hwy. Please bring firewood.

Reference: Vicroads: 46 C7

OKA RALLY – Simpson/Pricetown, Great Ocean Road, Victoria

Written by Rowena Paterson

Attendance: Wayne & Lisa Simmons, Bill & Josephine Price, Rowena Paterson, Fred Hallett & Vicki Blackley, Geoff & Annette Lloyd, Ian & Jackie Jones, Paul Nott, Tony & Rasa Mauragis, Malcolm & Karen Thompson, Lloyd & Helen Hoskin, Peter Davis & Serena Fraser & Cameron, Glen Davies and the Boyle family.

We spent the Australia day weekend camped on Wayne & Lisa’s 5 acres property, a short drive from the Great Ocean Road.

The property had plenty of room for lots of OKAs, with a large shed situated in the middle. The shed was great for shade or when the weather became a bit damp.

The weather was quite hot during the day, but cooled down at night so we could socialise & enjoy a BBQ around the campfire. Tony entertained us one night with his Piano accordion. Thanks Tony, great music! Glen turned up in his new look duel cab OKA, recently converted to a camper. I couldn’t believe how awesome it looked. It certainly attracted everybody’s attention. Photos of Glens OKA have been placed on the website. Check them out, well worth a look!

We also went for a day drive in 6 of our OKAs down to the beach visiting Lockhart Gorge & Port Campbell. As it was a long weekend Port Campbell was extremely busy. We certainly turned a lot of heads as we drove around town in convoy.

During the weekend I couldn’t help but notice abit of activity underneath Pauls OKA. Of course Paul has the best kept secret to keeping cool on a hot day, just simply lay under your OKA. It must have been really cool under there, because next time I looked over lots of other people joined in, all lying there having a chat, talking OKAs I bet!!

Thanks heaps to Wayne & Lisa for the use of their property, everybody had a great time.

OKA RALLY, Jamieson, Victoria – 7^th – 10^th March 2008

Written by Rowena Paterson

Attendance: 7 OKAs - Lynn & Yvonne Fraser, Rowena Paterson, Paul Nott, Glenn Davies, Peter Davis, Geoff & Sandra Wilkinson & Chris & Arleen Deed with family Brad & Wyatt.

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New members Lynn & Yvonne Fraser from Cairns were the first to arrive at Grannys Flat camping area, 8kms east of Jamieson in the high country of Victoria.

A real beaut camping area, situated right on the Jamieson River. Lynn & Yvonne found a great spot over looking the Jamieson River. I was also camped along the river and all I could hear all night was the flow of the water over the rocks. Great way to put you to sleep.

Our camp fire was situated right in the middle of the camp. Wyatt decided to cook some lunch, placing 2 cans of vegetable soup directly on the fire resulting in 2 large explosions. The Kookaburras had a great time having a feed from the exploded food. Wyatt also looked the part, covered in soup and veg! Wyatts Dad wasn't too impressed when he discovered a burn mark in the bottom of his chair. Even Paul was wondering why his chair had a couple of burn marks.

Paul found a new friend, a big yellow belly black snake, soaking up the sun just near us along the river. It started moving alittle closer to our camp, but Paul came to the rescue and scared it away, last thing we needed was an unwanted visitor.

The people camped next to us brought us over a plate of fish they had caught in the river. The way the fish was cooked and prepared was absolutely beautiful, I couldn’t believe was it European Carp.

A really good weekend, just relaxing enjoying the really great weather.

SHARING YOUR OKA PICTURES

Hi team admin....

As our website is getting close to the limit with pictures, I propose that from now on any trips or rallies are placed on the free google panoramio website. This website allows you to upload 2 gb of pictures (roughly 3000) which I don't think any OKA member will ever exceed.

If you want to upload pictures, please register for free with http://www.panoramio.com . Once this has been done by either me or the OKA member, they can send me an email with the link and I will place the link on their homepage so that everyone can share the pictures. The great thing about this is that they can upload any trips anytime themselves and it will automatically reflect to the link in their homepage.

I use it myself (see my homepage) and so do others, here are a few links for you to check out: http://www.panoramio.com/user/1267278/tags/Coonamble%202007

David Ribbans: http://www.panoramio.com/user/1049881/tags/Desert%20Tracks

I hope this meets with your approval and if it does, I would like it mentioned in the next newsletter so that all OKA members start using this free facility and they take a little bit of ownership of all the work that is needed.

The beaut thing is that pictures will automatically be resized to the required size and if they feel adventurous they can geotag them as well.

Regards,

John Hendriks

OKA Owners Group webmaster [e-mail]

Hi folks....

Just a quick email to inform you that a new feature "BLOGS" has been added to the website and you can view a created blog called ' D-Gas for your OKA ', in the OKA Clipboard section. You are able to add comments to this blog and share it with all the members. This first Blog is set up be me to share the excellent results I am getting with the D-Gas system that Peter Furlong has told me about and I have had fitted to my Nissan patrol recently.

D-Gas are keen to do the installation on an OKA, but as an OKA is over the 3.5t GVM, a petition has

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been instagated and if your are keen to do something about this, read up on this on the Table of Contents page.

If anybody would like a special interest blog to be added, simply email me, with the details and I will create the blog.

Many websites today use the blog facility and we now have an inbuilt Blog system. I find that the Forum topics in many cases should be blogs to keep Forums as discussions only.

Your feedback would be much appreciated....

Regards,

John Hendriks

OKA Owners group webmaster

“HOLY MOD” alternator tensioning made easy.

I recently installed a 120-amp alternator and had the usual belt slipping problems. This is due to only one V belt driving the big alternator.

I plan on adding extra crank and fan pulleys so that I can run two V belts on the alternator and A/C compressor.

A serpentine belt would be easier and simpler to install. Unfortunately I found that they slip at the slightest bit of water immersion, get overheated and crack. OK so it was in a new generation Jeep (not real Jeeps) These Chrysler Jeeps appear to have a lot of problems when driven of expressways, serpentine belt failure was just a minor one.

In the interim I will simply have to live with regular tensioning of the V belt. To make this task quick and easy I drilled a large access hole in the inner guard, driver’s side so that I can reach through to the adjustment bolt easily. Double check your measurements first as you do not want to drill into the cabin box section.

The below pictures show what I have done.

100mm

Alternator adjustment bolt

125mm

When I get 5 minutes free time I will make up a bolt on cover using the blind nuts that OKA use through out the truck. These are called nutserts and are an excellent type of fastener although a little inside info helps make them easy to live with.

I recommend using a 90mm hole saw. This hole is 80mm, which is a little tight for my hand while holding a spanner.

REMOVE THE HOLESAW BURRS to avoid some nasty hand cuts.

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Cabin box section

Another cause of belt wear (causing more frequent re-tensioning) is pulley misalignment. The problem for me is either elongated holes in the mounting bracket or the bracket was welded on crooked. Easy fix one day!

“HOLY MOD” for XT radiator access.

And how to BBQ an NP205.

With the power upgrade completed and a full load of industrial shopping (tyres, wheels, Aluminium planks for new tray, a Quad and my favorite Rock) plus the newly acquired old caravan overloaded with more industrial shopping. The Kuranda range caused the old girl to get a little heated, flicked off the A/C and she cooled down. Any way to cut a long story short we came back down the Kuranda range a few hours later and flew home to Weipa. Some D... H... put the wrong oil in the transfer case, which promptly ran out the input shaft seal. I can still hear the back seat drivers “Good one dad”, doncha love em.

So with OKA Allen’s help I organized a triple oversize radiator core.

Triple oversized radiator core.

Pacific Radiators were lined up down in Cairns for a quick one day rebuild while Col, best mate ever, and I install the refurbished

transfer case. Col endured 5 weeks of OKA and Caravan on front lawn hence best Mate status.

Ok so we needed the radiator out fast. Easy job until we came to the top mounting nuts. We just managed to wiggle the Intercooler radiator and A/C condenser around enough to undo the top right hand nut, the only one still there. I strongly recommend checking these four nuts regally! At Cols suggestion we drilled two 90mm access holes in the side of the radiator air ram tunnel.

One of four Radiator retaining nuts. Replaced wi the radiator in.th Nylocs, as this was the only nut still holding

Note the new red hose. The original hose was completely perished and ready to fail

200mm

135mm

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Refitting the radiator was now a breeze. We taped the holes up to get home, surprisingly this made little difference to the engine noise inside the cab. I am thinking that this section should have sound insulation on it also. Eventually I will make proper plates that bolt on using the nutserts.

It was just as well that we decided to replace the radiator as every hose had perished. The only easy way to replace the hoses is to remove the radiator.

The next attempt at the Kuranda range was interesting.

On the first attempt the engine temp got up to about 105 deg and I was down to second gear. After the radiator recore the temp stayed, with A/C on full boar, on a pleasant 93 deg and the old girl easily held third gear.

On the first attempt we were past Mount Malloy when the transfer case rear output bearing failed. This is about 120 ks further along so I don’t think that the transfer case was causing a power lose problem until much closer to Cairns on the limp home return run.

Just to note how tough these transfer cases are we drove all the way back into Cairns on the front diff with no oil in the transfer case, yep dumb and dumber. Ok so there were other circumstances of ignorance (excuses) like the oil leaked into the coupling so was not outwardly visible. Checking oil level is a basic thing to do when gears get noisy. We certainly had power loss problems by the time we got back to Cairns, caused by the now very over hot transfer case.

Rear output shaft bearing inner is very well blued. This sounded like a star picket was jammed up under the tray scraping along on the road. It was a very different sound than what the Park brake cowling rubbing on the drum brake made on a previous

occasion.

Engine Watchdog TM2

Digital Temperature Gauge with built-in ((( Audible Warning Alarm )))

The TM2 digitally displays your exact engine temperature and gives you early warning with a Light and Buzzer if the slightest engine overheating occurs from a Cooling system or Oil system failure.

The TM2 is extremely accurate, requires no specialised knowledge to fit or operate and suits all air or water-cooled engines.

You would never drive without accident insurance!

So don’t drive without engine insurance, it's inexpensive, lasts for life and will save you many $1000’s in engine repairs and inconvenience.

(The older your engine, the greater the risk gets)

Order Australia’s No.1 selling Engine Protection System Today! ... Engine Watchdog TM2.Very loud MINI SIRENS are available for noisy locations. Sirens must be ordered with the unit. Price is an extra $20 (a TM2 with a mini siren costs $138 TM2 specifications and features.

Suits all water or air-cooled engines.

Free Installation kit and Simple fitting Instructions enclosed.

Suits 12 or 24 volt DC systems and is fully reverse polarity protected. (You won’t blow it up)

Size: Less mounting tabs 80 x 30 x 60mm (3.2” x 1.2” x 2.4”)

The LED display constantly shows the engine temperature and is updated every 2 seconds.

The temperature you set in the alarm memory briefly displays each time you start up.

TM2 can simply turn your dashboard Oil warning light (provided you have one) into an ‘Audible’ Oil warning light by tagging onto the TM2s internal buzzer.

Rear Output shaft bearing

• • • • • • •

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Idler shaft Bearing

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•

•

TM2: Maximum display temperature is 125 degrees C. The alarm can be set anywhere between in 1 to 125C in one degree increments.

Standard lead length is 4m (13ft) or they can be ordered to size for long vehicles at no extra cost. (the lead is

standard wire and can be sight if required)

TM2 F: Maximum display degrees F. The alarm can increments from 34 to 255F.

extended on the job

temperature is 255 be set in two degree

of purchase.

Guarantee, twelve months from date

Technical Information & Questions

Why is the TM2 so accurate and reliable?

The TM2 uses a unique electronic temperature sensor which allows it to react much faster and more accurately than conventional temperature gauges. With a TM2 you will see your engine temperature constantly rising and falling as you drive under varying loads and traffic conditions. While the alarm will sound instantly if any abnormal heat build-up is detected, even if coolant is suddenly lost or is blocked.

How do I know where to set the temperature alarm?

With a Tm2 you do not need to know your engines temperature specifications. You simply read the highest temperature your engine reaches on the display during normal driving and then set the alarm a few degrees higher using the push button on the front panel. It's that simple.

Is the TM2 easy to fit?

The electronic ’EASY FIT’ sensor fits in seconds under any convenient bolt on the engine that is near the heat source. If monitoring the block temperature, you may choose a tappet cover bolt or similar, if monitoring the coolant temperature, a thermostat housing bolt would be an ideal location, either way you’re protected.

SIGNALS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

39 REGIUS STREET SALISBURY QLD 4107 AUSTRALIA E-mail:[e-mail] www.sig.itel.net

Phone:(07) - 3277 6770 FAX: [phone]

With a TM2 you are not breaking into the cooling system in any way, so YOU WILL NOT VOID YOUR ENGINE WARRANTY.

How can the TM2 detect Oil and Coolant system problems?

Because the TM2’s extreme accuracy allows you to set the alarm temperature at only a few degrees above the engines highest normal running temperature, any unusual heat build up from either an Oil or Coolant System fault is detected immediately.

MEMBERSHIP LIST:

An up-to-date membership will be sent out shortly, and we would like to update our database..

If you have changed your address, have sold your Oka, or if any details have changed (especially your email address if any), we would appreciate it if you could drop Rowena or myself a line and let us know.

If you know of any owners of Okas who are not members of the group, could you ask them to contact us, or let us know their contact details so that we can let them know the kind of things we do.

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Thank you.

Marj Parsons [e-mail] : Rowena Paterson (as below)

Subject: Altar

Throughout the ages, men have been trying to unlock the mystery as to why their wives who accepted them as they were before they got married, subtly and with determination began the quest to change their behaviour and life-style once their vows were exchanged.

Finally, the riddle was solved. A social-scientist arrived at a simple and logical conclusion.

When the bride, accompanied by her father, starts to walk slowly down the long aisle, she sees the altar at the

end and hears the choir singing a hymn. Walking down the aisle, the conditioning process where the brain absorbs these three stimuli: aisle, altar, hymn, begins. She becomes mesmerized as she continually reinforces these perceptions:

aisle, altar, hymn. .. . aisle, altar, hymn. . . aisle, altar, hymn. .

and finally, as she stops beside the groom, the conditioning process is completed. She looks up at him lovingly, smiling sweetly and thinks

'I'll alter him.'

2008 SUBSCRIPTION RENEWALS

Please note renewals for the 2008 subscriptions are now due. Could you please make a $25 cheque payment payable to "The OKA Owners Group" and forward to:

Secretary, OKA Owners Group

C/- Rowena Paterson

7605 Goulburn Valley Highway Kialla Victoria 3631

For Direct banking use:

BSB No. 063547 Account No. 10131505

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If you have recently joined the group during the second half of 2007, please disregard this renewal notice.

The membership funds are used to cover the following costs:

Embroidery Workwear – OKA drink coolers

Hosting of website each year and purchasing additional webspace and security upgrades.

Payment for distribution of newsletters ie.. postage stamps, paper, printer ink, envelopes and email time.

For enquires please contact Rowena Paterson on 03 5823 2732 Email:[e-mail]

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Hi Everyone,

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OKA OWNERS GROUP (PUTTING PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT FIRST)

NEWSLETTER June 2008

June has rolled round again, and its Newsletter time. Thanks again to Tim Forsyth for his interesting and informative pieces, with the great photos to illustrate all the changes he has made. I hope some more of you will put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) and let us all know what is going on with your Okas. I know it is bad enough working out how to do the job, how to make the time to do the job and then just doing it, but if you could record it as well, it would be great. Some more trip reports would be wonderful as well.

Fuel prices are a concern at the moment, and of course the best way to keep your fuel consumption down is to keep the speed down. We find that if we press the pedal hard enough to exceed 100 kph on the bitumen, it really hurts the wallet! We also find that we are more relaxed driving a little slower and we definitely see more. Therefore we aim to travel at around 90 kph on the open road. But maybe some of you have a better way to conserve fuel – any new ideas?

We had a letter from the new Sales Manager at Oka, asking for feedback about your Oka. See details below. He also sent a copy of the price list, which hasn’t changed since 2007, and the prices of the basic new vehicles seem pretty reasonable when compared, for instance, with a 4x4 Mitsubishi.

We are planning to head off again early in July. This time we will probably travel by ourselves, as we haven’t made a very definite plan, except that we aim to stay with a mate who manages a cattle place near Burketown. He owns a boat and said he is sure we can catch some fish if he takes us out. We plan to be away for about a month, give or take a few days, and are looking forward to the break. For a change there is water in our dams this year, and hopefully plenty of feed to last the livestock until we make it home again.

Last newsletter we had problems with emails – not ours, but some members have different requirements as regards security, and others had changed their addresses. All this takes considerable time to sort out, so if you don’t receive a newsletter every three months or so, let me know, and I will work something out. It is possible that some of you would prefer to receive notification of Newsletters, and then download from the Website yourselves, rather than receive a big file (as they are when we include photos) by email. Once again, please let me know. We will be sending out the up-to-date members list shortly, so if you have sold your Oka or changed your details, we would appreciate it if you could let us know, and also notify any new owners of our existence.

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Please note that Rowena Paterson has changed her email address, as she is now residing and working in W.A.

She can be contacted at: [e-mail] or by phone on: 0412 701 333. She is able to do any business for the Oka Owners Group through email and internet.

We conclude condolences for one of our members, Frank Loughnan of Victoria, owner of Oka 132, who recently passed away. Glenice and family have our sympathy.

Yours sincerely, Marj Parsons

OKA RALLY - 25<sup>th</sup> - 27<sup>th</sup> April 2008 - MAJORS CREEK, NAGAMBIE

Written by Rowena Paterson

Attendance: Fred Hallett & Vicki Blackley, Ian Jones, Paul Nott, John & Dianne Smithard, Rowena Paterson, Greg Boyle & Thomas & Robert, Keith & Sue Harris, Lex & Corina Brown, Geoff & Sandra Wilkinson, Chris Deed & Bradley & Glenn Davies.