I’m getting an older mini from my brother in law and it’s a gray market machine all writing in Japanese which at this point in my life is slightly difficult to decipher. I think it’s an IHI but can’t find any pictures that match up too well. Definitely some similarities in the body and very close to some of the IHI buckets. The only issue it has is running hot and so I will need to work on it. Probably the rad, pump, or harmonic balancer? Just wanted to see if anyone here is an expert in gray marker machines lol and can maybe help ID the brand so I can match up some parts.
Can't help you with the identification but FYI there are apps around that will translate Japanese to English from a photo.
My first thoughts were Hitachi or maybe Doosan. Grey market stuff is usually so oddball its hard to match it up with anything common in the local region.
Insert "BRILLAINT" meme here lol, guess I could try that on the ol googlie. Looks like a bunch of symbols to me so it will have to be able to translate visually.
So it may not match up to the machines we see, gotcha. Could be a mixture or like a prototype then. I forgot to add that it does run an Isuzu engine.
Grey market stuff really seems to be hit or miss. Hitachi does tend to use Isuzu engines in the majority of their excavators but I'm not sure about their older minis.
This IHI is the closest one that i have found. That swing boom and cab is similar in setup
There should be a metal tag on the body, just next to the lower boom pin. Post a picture of it, even if it's in japanese it might help.
Try searching IHI 55 UX
wow lots of similarities witht the IHI 55. Although I think this one is a much smaller machine...probably a 25 or 30. I think that settles it that it's a gray market IHI.
Update: I bought the machine this past weekend so I wanted to update this post. I hate when someone never updates a thread. It’s an IHI 28UX. My brother in law thinks it’s a gray market machine but I’m not sure because there are lots of English everywhere. The grease points label is about the only Japanese only writing I’ve seen. Things such as alternator label, breather, misc parts mostly have either English or both English and Japanese. Engine: Isuzu 3KC1 pumping out a whopping 24 hp maybe according only one thing I have found but may not be too reliable. Weight of machine according to google is 6128. Pros: Big cylinders…by today’s standards those cylinders would be much smaller. He said it has so much digging and lifting power. 3370 hrs. If true would be nice. Underside is clean. No leaks expect one cylinder has small residue. Undercarriage looks good but I haven’t tested the rollers. Cons: A little slop in the bucket. Possible slop in the main boom but I’ll have to test that more. Doesn’t start easily so I’m going through the electrical gremlins. Go plugs fine but no power going to them even though the light indicates they are on. Runs hot. Has to lift hood and watch the temp light. Working on that. Cleaned out the system, all well. I think air is circulating back around to through the radiator. Copper rad runs water through it quickly. High capacity hose won’t even cause back pressure. I think adding some light sheet metal around the rad to make air flow in one direction only will help or solve the issue. I’ll probably be asking more questions as I learn about these machines. Thanks for the input to my original post.
Anyone know what the orange emergency-stop looking control does? Is that supposed to be an engine kill switch? Anyone know if these aged machines have timer style glow plug systems? One youtuber i watched has a bit newer IHI and he had to replace the relay and the timer switch on his. Not sure what i'll get into or be looking at when I open the panel.
Your orange button is probably an emergency boom down control.
As for running hot, sometimes changing the engine oil is beneficial.
Hi Cs tracker, I send you Service Manual for ISUZU Engine 3KC1. The ISUZU 3KC1 is 930cc . Application for IHI18 or IHI15 . For IHI-28 application Engine 3LD1 - 1530 cc - 3KC1 Engine is small for IHI28 - Regards
Wow, thank you for sending that! Just what I need.
Got'er done...fresh oil
Got some wires hooked back up. Figured out that orange button is a horn. Go figure.
Ends up it may not have been running hot after all. Installed a manual temperature sensor and gauge combo since there are two water jacket sensors and the temp light comes on at 160 degrees and with a new 190 degree tstat it does climb quickly to 190 and stays there! I did remove and flush out the rad and the hood is off so that could have some effect but I believe the temp light/sensor combo is measuring incorrectly and setting it off at 160. With the new gauge I feel confident it’s at 190 because you can smell an engine when it gets too hot plus it’s showing exactly what the tstat is.