In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :
"And that's the way it should be, I think. Invisible helping hands."
How beautifully you said!
It's what people don't always see, but it's what they always feel! they always feel support!
Good things are going to start with each of us - from hands to hands, from heart to heart!
And this way the good is filling all the world! Every drop fills the whole ocean of goodness!
Bill, have you fixed the truck?
I have the one good news! Ukraine have the first win in Eurovision songs contest 2022! So waiting the other one!!!
After event our winners presented official video and i want to share it with you.
When i'm watching it i'm always crying, because these aren't decorations in this video - these are really locations!!!
i can't believe that it's happening in 2022, i can't believe it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8Z51no1TD0
Since yesterday morning we have "fun" again - i woke up from the sounds of explosions somewhere near. it was about 6am.
In the evening air-alarm sirens were working more five hours - it doesn't add relaxation
But... live goes on no matter what!!!
In reply to GaryC83 :
did you make it? that's cool!!!
VikkiDp said:Since yesterday morning we have "fun" again - i woke up from the sounds of explosions somewhere near. it was about 6am.
In the evening air-alarm sirens were working more five hours - it doesn't add relaxation
But... live goes on no matter what!!!
Keep posting updates, Vikki. Your country has fought hard against incredible odds. I am ever hopeful that the tide is turning against the Russian war machine and you will prevail, but we really want to know that you are safe through it all!
GaryC83 said:Bill, as always you are the absolute best!
I'll fire off another email to your personal email address, as I need your shipping address as 2 of these will be headed your way, once i get them polished and the clock kits installed, along with some other things for yourself and the Mayor as you're both car guys. Least I can do, to thank you both.
Things have been crazy around here so I haven't had as much time as id have liked to get further.... But I'll have final details and pictures in a few days. Already have a few pre-sold, so as soon as they get the deposits to me, those funds will be headed your way.
Huge thanks to you and the Mayor, once again for ALL you guys are doing. Absolutely mean that.
Beautiful!!!!
I got your cash sitting in Paypal right now, as soon as I'm done updating the thread I'll kick it over to Mayor Kozma. Thank you sir, and great work!
DarkMonohue said:Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:...if you were waiting for a "needs funds or wont fire" this might be it.
That's as good a reminder as any. Funds inbound.
Got 'em sir! I'm going to pull out the cash and use the funds to prime our donation box for the party this weekend 
Thank you!
DarkMonohue said:How did the alignment and oil leak work come out? The problems you have had with this old 4Runner are sort of astonishing, especially given how incredibly forgiving my old Corollas were. Even my MR2 seldom gives me any grief. I expect it from the J20, but Toyotas of the golden age...they're just not supposed to be that way.
VikkiDpsaid:Bill, have you fixed the truck?
Well, I thought I did I wasn't going to do a writeup on it, but the poor truck has had a hard life before I got to her. Here goes:
So Monday being a bust, I put down the tools before I broke something I couldn't fix. And a good call, I thought, because on Tuesday I had a revalation. When I went tearing through my engine, I remembered that I was too lazy to change my oil pan gasket because after everything I did I didn't want to disconnect my motor mounts and pick up the engine to do the job. It sounded like I might have found my leak.
Sure enough, Tuesday was a knuckle-buster of a day but things progressed. I got the old gasket out, and got everything in place. I was able to take a bit of a shortcut as I did drop the motor mounts, and I did pick up the engine a "little" but only enough to worm the new gasket in place. After that, I saw what I found to be the points of failure:
That's the front, the driver's side middle, and the back of the gasket there and it matches perfectly with where I see oil coming from so I had high hopes that this would be it.
Wednesday started very much like this:
I dont have a second set of hands, so what I did was scrounge through my coffee can of bolts and found the longest ones I could that had the correct pitch. The way the gasket was packaged, it wants to curl up any time you take your hands off of it. With enough long bolts in place, I was able to force it flat and then finish the install with the correct bolts.
Easy money.
I did a quick leak check from underneath while the engine was running and I decided that what I was seeing coming out was within "acceptable limits" and called it good. In about 15 minutes of running, two drops hit my driveway, and with my head under there I could see exactly where it was coming from. The crankshaft seal on the oil pump was letting a little by, and it was being flung off by the crank pulley as it was turning. Two drips wasn't anything I was going to spend another day correcting, so I gave the truck a wash and decided she was ready for Thursday (today).
Today, I take off. Loaded to the axle with donations:
99% of those are for Pastor Kovacs, but earlier in the week I did get in touch with Ira, who is still doing art therapy with the Ukrainian children. She moved positions and is now working with 30 kids. The school she is with is expecting to host as many as 40 total 
. I'm glad I checked with her, because she said she could use some supplies. We still had 50,000huf in our "Ira" account so I went to two local paper stores and bought everything on the shelves when it came to the items she needed (staplers, rulers, colored papers, binders, etc)
We're a small town, so "everything on the shelf" isn't always much. Hence why I went to a second store As we got chatting, she sent me some pictures of the art they were making with the previous donations:
I like these. I'm hoping what we brought will help her make more.
Anyhoo, my schedule today is pretty loose. I'm able to get the kids off to school early and it's looking like I'll be in Budapest by 10. I wont meet with Ira until noon, so there's plenty of time to play with, and from there I just need to be back at work by 1430. Easy money, right?
Well, almost. I'm bouncing down the road and this time I'm seeing none of the signs of an oil leak. I had a spot in mind where I'd stop and double check the leak at before I got on the big M-way, but it was clogged up with delivery vehicles so I decided not to stop. Once on the M-way, I was being my usual speedy self and was passing two semis when the next opportunity to stop appeared. Needless to say, I didn't stop there either. BUT I could tell that I was leaking a bit. No one was behaving unusual behind me, so I didn't think it was that bad, but I did think I definitely needed to stop for a quantity check before I got too much further.
The next gas station was an easy off, and it had a rest area I could pull into:
Oof!
When I checked what was left in the engine, I measured 2-liters low.
Double oof.
I bought three liters of 10w-40 at the gas station and topped everything back up. If this had been any earlier, I probably would have turned around but this was at the "one hour in" mark, and I decided that 2-liters in an hour was a neat enough drop rate that I could stop often enough to top up. Besides, I've driven worse for much longer 
And so it goes. I stop at the 45-minute mark (just outside of Budapest). 2-liters low.
Yikes!
That's gotten a bit faster, hasn't it... This time I fill up with 20w-50 
In Budapest now, and I'm running WAY behind. It's 11am when I get to Pastor Kovacs's place and he's in a hurry as well. We unload in record speed and he literally leaves me with the keys to the place and runs off
He did assure me that he hadn't run out of our previous donations. Just the baby stuff, and the food. The clothes move slower so they get stored elsewhere. Either way, we just happened to have LOTs of baby stuff, and food in this run so that worked out perfectly.
When I was done unloading, my truck was done puking all over his driveway, but I didn't see a measurable loss on the dipstick. Hmm... That 20w-50 must be doing the trick
Off to Ira's and she's running behind as well. She had an appointment at the immigration office at 8am, and by 12:00 it still wasn't done. No worries, I message her over the phone. I couldn't stay for a visit anyways.
She gives me directions to the new school's classroom and they are busy with the kids. It was super cool to see them in action. I didn't want to disturb them, so I dropped off our box in their supply/kitchen area and ducked out. Back in the schools parking garage, the truck is still bleedin. One more quart down.
Back on the road, I'm not going to make it to work on time. I call the boss, no problem, but I still gotta stop every so often and top her up. By the time I'm within 30km of backroads from my house, the leak rate is pretty intuitive. I don't even bother checking. Just stop, and dump another quart in (15w-40 now, as the last gas station didn't have 20w-50).
When we get back home, I pat her dash and tell her "good job". She can rest for a bit, and I'll take her back apart on Tuesday. Here's how she looked:
Conclusion:
The gasket set I bought locally, was some off-brand I've never heard of. Furthermore, it was for a Volkswagen Van that just happened to share the same engine as I have in the truck. There are differences between a car and a truck 22RE engine, but when you're this remote these are the chances you just have to take sometimes. I'll get the correct stuff on order and start replacing things with quality OEM components. For now, I'm relatively certain I have the new seals I need on hand. The reason is, I had an oil pump leak once on my previous Toyota truck. It dumped oil everywhere then too. It's a $5 part that ends up causing you $500 in headaches, so I always like to have one on hand in case I need it. One weekend of work, a million dollars worth of good.
Saturday is the party, and I want to have the truck on display (cleaned first) with some of the donations we've already received. After that, the youngest Hungarling has an appointment in Budapest on Monday, but after THAT I'll tear back into the truck.
I think we're good though. Everyone should have sufficient inventory to get them through the week
Just remember the "Four-R's" of 4-Runnin:
1) Run it
2) Ruin it
3) Rench it
4) Repeat
Besides, there are positives to having such major oil leaks:
1) when you're dumping 2-liters an hour, you never need to change your oil!
2) if it's covered in oil, it probably isn't covered in rust.
Good times.
VikkiDp said:Since yesterday morning we have "fun" again - i woke up from the sounds of explosions somewhere near. it was about 6am.
In the evening air-alarm sirens were working more five hours - it doesn't add relaxation
But... live goes on no matter what!!!
Even with my truck under the wrench, we still have two more vehicles available. If you ever decide you need out, we can still come and get you.
Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:VikkiDp said:Since yesterday morning we have "fun" again - i woke up from the sounds of explosions somewhere near. it was about 6am.
In the evening air-alarm sirens were working more five hours - it doesn't add relaxation
But... live goes on no matter what!!!
Even with my truck under the wrench, we still have two more vehicles available. If you ever decide you need out, we can still come and get you.
This offer of help delights me. I pray for both of you each day. I am sorry that I cannot donate more to the cause just yet. Keep it up, Bill.
VikkiDp said:I have the one good news! Ukraine have the first win in Eurovision songs contest 2022! So waiting the other one!!!
After event our winners presented official video and i want to share it with you.
When i'm watching it i'm always crying, because these aren't decorations in this video - these are really locations!!!
i can't believe that it's happening in 2022, i can't believe it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8Z51no1TD0
That was an incredible video. June 18th really can't get here soon enough, and I wish we could bring more supplies more often.
I've been watching my various trackers and can see that Lviv has been taking a few hits as well. Rumor has it, that Russia is trying to target the western supply chains. It won't work. We're still coming.
In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :
Wowee. What an adventure. And what a mess!
I can save you some time in your quest for an OEM oil pan gasket. There isn't one. Toyota used a sealant between the pan and the block. So your engine has been apart and someone had installed an aftermarket gasket, because people naturally assume that oil pans get gaskets.
If you do have to pull the pan again - and I'm hoping you don't - you might try sealant this time. Toyota's part number is 00295-00103 and they call it FIPG, or Form-In-Place Gasket. There's also a Permatex line called The Right Stuff which has a lot of fans. Not sure whether that will be available to you at your FLAPS. The front crankshaft seal is 90311-45006 and the oil pump o-ring is 15188-38030. Let me know if you need any help sourcing those or anything else. And it might help if you emailed me your VIN or chassis number in case we need to dig up something that's not obvious.
If the PCV valve can't vent excess crankcase pressure, it'll go out through a seal. Is your crankcase breather system clear? I've seen a terrible rear main seal leak almost completely cured by replacing a kinked PCV hose. Many hours of cursing were avoided...
In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :
Re: Long bolts and pan gaskets
I use dental floss, tied loosely through the bolt holes to hold stubborn gaskets in place. You can usually slip a bolt into place and then pull the floss out before you tighten everything down.
Woody (Forum Supportum) said:In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :
Re: Long bolts and pan gaskets
I use dental floss, tied loosely through the bolt holes to hold stubborn gaskets in place. You can usually slip a bolt into place and then pull the floss out before you tighten everything down.
That is GENIUS! 100% yoinking that idea, thank you
DarkMonohue said:In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :
Wowee. What an adventure. And what a mess!
I can save you some time in your quest for an OEM oil pan gasket. There isn't one. Toyota used a sealant between the pan and the block. So your engine has been apart and someone had installed an aftermarket gasket, because people naturally assume that oil pans get gaskets.
If you do have to pull the pan again - and I'm hoping you don't - you might try sealant this time. Toyota's part number is 00295-00103 and they call it FIPG, or Form-In-Place Gasket. There's also a Permatex line called The Right Stuff which has a lot of fans. Not sure whether that will be available to you at your FLAPS. The front crankshaft seal is 90311-45006 and the oil pump o-ring is 15188-38030. Let me know if you need any help sourcing those or anything else. And it might help if you emailed me your VIN or chassis number in case we need to dig up something that's not obvious.
If the PCV valve can't vent excess crankcase pressure, it'll go out through a seal. Is your crankcase breather system clear? I've seen a terrible rear main seal leak almost completely cured by replacing a kinked PCV hose. Many hours of cursing were avoided...
I was going to send you a message in a moment about the gasket set. OEM from Toyota really is the bees knees, and if you can get them I can ask around for APO usage. Driving around with a question mark holding my oil in doesn't seem to be working 
FIPG is awesome stuff as well, but my chassis number is a bit of an odd-ball. I'll e-mail it to ya, but the truck was purchased new in Switzerland, so the VIN doesn't usually translate well in US systems (or European systems, or any system).
Funny enough, I did check the PCV system on the side of the road when I had the valve cover off. 100% free of obstructions.
Thanks man!
In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :
Ohhh, man, i'm so upset about the truck and so glad what all the needs have delivered.
Kid's pictures - i like it too!!!
Guys, you're doing such good things together - that's really awesome!!!
VikkiDp said:In reply to GaryC83 :
did you make it? that's cool!!!
I did, yes. Thank you. Theyre clocks. I'll have details of what all is going on up here in a few days. But the short is I'm making these and have offered them in a limited number for sale, and the funds of such are going right to Bill and Aid over there. I'm selling them for $130, $100 of which is a donation and $30 covers the cost of material. I'm donating all the labor in doing them.. in order to raise funds for what's going on. It's a heck of a great cause and the least I can do.
Hope you are staying safe over there!!
And Bill, you have another donation for #03 that's been sent out. Thanks again...for ALL you are doing.
Edit. And #4.
Edit: and 5.
tuna55 said:Keep posting updates, Vikki. Your country has fought hard against incredible odds. I am ever hopeful that the tide is turning against the Russian war machine and you will prevail, but we really want to know that you are safe through it all!
Agreed. I keep one eye on the situation (or whatever YouTube algorithm thinks I want to see) throughout the day, and there has been what looks like encouraging progress. We are all behind you.
З днем вишиванки! Слава Україні.
GaryC83 said:And Bill, you have another donation for #03 that's been sent out. Thanks again...for ALL you are doing.
Edit. And #4.
Edit: and 5.
Got em, got em, and got em!
I sent your first transfer to Kisgorbo last night, and just fired off the new ones today in one bunch. Well done, sir!
VikkiDp said:In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :
Ohhh, man, i'm so upset about the truck and so glad what all the needs have delivered.
Kid's pictures - i like it too!!!
Guys, you're doing such good things together - that's really awesome!!!
Thank you, but don't worry. She's got lots of life left in her.
I dug through my parts bin today and found a small handful of seals that I thought might work:
The oil pump o-ring is pretty unique, so that was easy enough, but the number stamped on the seal that I thought was "most likely to succeed" didn't match up with anything I could find online, I snagged some specs and measured for myself:
Ladies and gentlemen, we are back in business! I'll stab that thing in there early next week.
Even though the truck is at a standstill while parts get installed, the stuff we dropped off yesterday is apparently still on the move.
Going back a bit, Russia has been lashing out at what they perceive to be "western supply chains" all month. Lviv has been hit more than a couple times, and for the first time in the war Transcarpathia was hit.
To a lot of people here, those missiles might as well have fallen inside of Hungary itself. Many MANY people here have families that live in that area.
Apparently Pastor Kovacs got word, because he's opting to send a chunk of what we delivered yesterday to the area for relief aid. Here are the pictures he sent:
Now I'm REALLY glad we made that delivery.
One last update before the weekend, and I'll let you guys go.
Last night on the way home, I merged into the right lane to take my exit and I saw this truck:
"Russian warship, go f#@k yourself"
DarkMonohue said:Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:...if you were waiting for a "needs funds or wont fire" this might be it.
That's as good a reminder as any. Funds inbound.
Whelp, the party was a complete flop.
It turns out 3 people held competing events that weekend (In a town with under 200 english speakers), all of them would have been 100% more than welcome to barbecue at my place without any expectations/obligations, but all of them chose to completely avoid me and Mrs. Hungary instead... (we found out on accident, really). Here's our setup from Saturday morning/afternoon:
We had food, we had multiple coolers full of beer, music, activities... we even bought markers incase people wanted to do something silly like write/sign/draw on the boxes we would deliver.
In the end 6 (yes, "six") people showed up. 4 of them brought something (well, car fulls actually. Those four people REALLY delivered) and two people wandered in because their kids are friends with our kids and came over to check on them. If there was a silver lining in all of it, it's that I have (well, "had" at this point) two coolers FULL of beer all to myself. Mrs. Hungary and I kicked back a bit early on Sunday and did a pretty good job of emptying 'em after we cleaned up. It made for a good gripe session.
I think we knew something like that was going to happen. Normally our yearly gulyas party is met with a bit of excitement, and we get a lot of interest from people who reach out to see what they can bring. This year was pretty silent (obviously). If we fill that pot, we know we can feed 70-people and have lots of leftovers. I think Mrs. Hungary and I estimate we can feed about a hundred or so adults from that thing. This year I filled it under half way (just to be safe) and it was still WAY too much.
On the bright side, the wishlist we linked got LOTS of attention and LOTs of deliveries came in (The wishlist was posted here, and my brother posted it on an "invite only" video game forum). You guys (and the other forum) are quite literally carrying this next delivery, so thank you! If it wasn't for you we probably wouldnt be anywhere near filling a single vehicle.
Here's how the donations looked when we tallied it all up:
The atrocious turnout did have some neat side-effects though: Our friend Susanne (who was in attendance) was more irritated than we were, I think. She's decided to throw in over 700,000huf ($2000usd) towards medical supplies this week. Katie (also attended) has also received some large donations and will throw those in with our lot. Aaaaaand we did get a decent handful of people who contacted us afterwards who wanted to throw in some cash as well. So it all works out in the end? Who would have thunk a failed cookout would be exactly what was needed to bring huge donations?
It's a weird result, but I'll take it
We're still trying to recover from all the mess, so I'll post our weekly budget tomorrow.
Cheers guys.
In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :
Sorry to hear the turnout wasn't the best, but the results in the end can't be complained about. And hey, coolers full of beer are never a bad thing. Glad to hear things are rolling along - got a few more folks wanting clocks as well (haven't even publicly advertised anything. Yet...) so, as soon as those payments roll in they will be headed your way as well.
I'm trying to keep things under control with these, as its not my day job and I don't want to be 50 orders deep with people screaming for clocks... so I'm trying to keep it as orderly as I can, but I fully intend to keep the process going for you guys.
Again, can not thank you enough for all you are doing Bill. It's hugely appreciated, by more people than you can ever imagine.
GaryC83 said:In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :
Sorry to hear the turnout wasn't the best, but the results in the end can't be complained about. And hey, coolers full of beer are never a bad thing. Glad to hear things are rolling along - got a few more folks wanting clocks as well (haven't even publicly advertised anything. Yet...) so, as soon as those payments roll in they will be headed your way as well.
I'm trying to keep things under control with these, as its not my day job and I don't want to be 50 orders deep with people screaming for clocks... so I'm trying to keep it as orderly as I can, but I fully intend to keep the process going for you guys.
Again, can not thank you enough for all you are doing Bill. It's hugely appreciated, by more people than you can ever imagine.
Absolutely amazing, and 100% hear you about not wanting to let things get out of control. It's a lot to take on in addition to what used to be "normal life" and like you said, it's hugely appreciated by more people than you could ever imagine.
I've got the talleys up for the new week, here they are:
We just sent 50,000huf worth of donations to Ira last week, our monthly transfer to Kisgorbo is slated to go out tomorrow, and of course we're adding in GaryC83's clock money, but otherwise our funding is sitting pretty. I am a bit overdue to visit our local shelter here in Papa but that is a bit intentional. When I was there last time, I was rather impressed with how far we've been able to advance the facilities. The basic structure (barracks like) hasn't changed but the capabilities have. Every family has a private room, and aside from setting up the kitchen, we also have clothes washing facilities, a TV room/common area, and plenty of inside and outside toys (with not many children lately). We're going to continue to space out our visits, as this place is largely "self sufficient" and every family has one stable working member and evaluate accordingly as we look forward.
It has been too long since we visited the Student Shelter in Budapest though (Vitae Shelter), so we are trying to plan another trip in that direction. I haven't had a look at their needs list lately, but I can imagine it's getting kinda long by now. I expect that while we may begin to see some families returning to Ukraine, the students may be stuck here a bit longer as they wait for the schools and housing in the area to reopen.
Our stuffie and soccer ball deliveries are still pretty well stocked. Our plan was to drop a fair share of those off with Ira's children, but as the visit was a little "crash bang" due to the truck and immigration issues we weren't able to make it happen. We still have them in the truck and still plan on delivering to her kids when we're finally able to meet up in person.
Oh! And we also received two flat-rate boxes of firefighting gloves and hoods! Those will be taken into Ukraine on our next run and sent via the post office to VikkiDp in an effort to keep the firefighters in the area in some PPE. No pictures though, as Mrs. Hungary still has them in her car
I know it's not over, but next week begins a new one so I wanted to say "thanks for an incredible month everyone". Next month is going to be a busy one for me as I have lots of work travel and a vacation scheduled, but we've still got a lot of good things happening. Thanks for making this possible.
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