New member, 2001 montero limited.

[armostunt]

Hello. Two weeks ago I got my 2001 montero limited, it has 148000 miles on it, but kept real clean. I love it. I love the outdoors, The nature. I was looking to get a 4runner 4x4 so I can take the family outdoors and be one with the earth. The car dealer I went to told me he had a montero for sell. At first I was unsure about the montero cuz I never seen it off road. Then I did a quick google search and changed my mind. So I got it. I want to lift it with ome down the line so I can have a lil better ground clearance. We love this suv, my wife likes it a lot. We have a 5 month old baby girl, and the extra space is needed.

I got a lil problem today when we went to the lake about 60 miles away from home the car was showing a high temp then going down to normal then going high. Driving about 70-75 max. Outside temp was 80f. I had a load but not that heavy. What can this be ? Water pump, thermostat. Anyone know or have any idea test I can do.

Also next week I got a appointment at the Mitsubishi dealer to change the tranny oil. I don't know if it ever was changed. It shifts fine with no problem, but I want to change it just for my sake. What do you guys think is that a good idea? Cuz I heard before when you don't change the tranny oil for a long time and then you change it you start to have problems. Any thoughts on this. Thanks in advance I hope some body can help me out on this two problems I got. Thanks again in advance.

 

[scrubber3]

Good idea to change the TRANSMISSION fluid. The temperature getting high then dropping and getting high again can be indicative of a few things. Did it get hot when you were stationary? Did the temp lower when you were cruising at highway speeds? Normally this indicates the cooling fan is ineffective. If it is electric, then a new motor is in order. If its mechanical, a new fan clutch is typically needed. The condition of the fan, coolant level, water pump age, etc need to be accounted for as well.

 

[off-roader]

Good idea to change the TRANSMISSION fluid. The temperature getting high then dropping and getting high again can be indicative of a few things. Did it get hot when you were stationary? Did the temp lower when you were cruising at highway speeds? Normally this indicates the cooling fan is ineffective. If it is electric, then a new motor is in order. If its mechanical, a new fan clutch is typically needed. The condition of the fan, coolant level, water pump age, etc need to be accounted for as well.

When I had those symptoms, it was due to a cooling system that needed to be overhauled. Essentially the system overheated allowing coolant to overflow into and out of the overflow tank. Once the fluid was lost, the temps would cycle as fluid was pumped into and out of the radiator/engine. Temps would rise when insufficient coolant/water was in the engine.

That said, I'd start by checking your fluid condition & levels.

If the coolant is a dirty brown color and you've never replaced it, this would be a good time to have it drained and flushed. The fluid is not good for the environment so don't just let it drain into your yard. You should collect it and bring it to a recycling center or have a shop do this work.

If low top off. Since you may have a bubble in your system I recommend raising the front end (I'd use a couple of ramps) then letting the engine come up to temp to open the thermostat. The thermostat will open allowing coolant into the engine to push the hot coolant out and cool the engine back down.

Letting the engine cooling system cycle at an angle like this should in essence 'burp' your cooling system to get any air out. If the coolant level in the radiator does not come back up above the fins, you need to refill it with fresh fluid. Keep the engine running and wait for the thermostat to re-open and coolant/water to flow through the radiator again. Repeat this process until you no longer have to add fluid to top off the radiator and reservoir.

Once the fluid is full, put your radiator cap back on and drive it for an hour or so constantly checking your temps. If temps rise, stop the rig, turn off the engine & let it cool down. Once cool enough, remove the radiator cap and check the fluid level. If it has again dropped it may be due to an air bubble you didn't get out while 'burping' it. For now, refill it and again go for a test drive checking and re-filling as needed. If you have to do this more than a couple of times you may have a leak in your cooling system (radiator cap, reservoir, coolant line, or head gasket leak) or you didn't 'burp' it correctly. (Continue checking the fluids daily for the next week or so. This is important because sometimes the leak is very slow and if you don't catch it, you may end up with worse problems like a blown head gasket.)

If you still have a cooling problem at this point it could be something worse like a leak in the cooling system, a faulty component, or a clogged radiator or worse a blown head gasket (will show signs pretty quickly like within an hour or 2 of driving. If the radiator is clogged the best fix is to have it rodded. 'Rodding' a radiator entails removing the top and bottom sections (the tanks) and putting a metal dowel rod through the main radiator core passages. This removes most of the calcium deposits that come with age and not using distilled water when refilling the radiator.

Replacing the radiator is only recommended as a last option since it's costly and can easily be repaired by either rodding or recoring. Additionally if you tow or do a lot of 4 wheeling at slow speeds then adding a 3rd row to the core is recommended as the tanks can handle an additional core for greater cooling.

 

[armostunt]

The temp would go up when driving at high way speed but would also drop at high way speed. When going up a slight hill on the freeway it would go high then go down when going down the hill. The coolant level is good I checked the radiator and the side tank had plenty of coolant in it. The fan looks good. Is there a Ez way I can check and pinpoint the exact problem.

 

[off-roader]

My guess is... this sounds like either the water pump is not working or you have insufficient cooling from the radiator if the fluid levels aren't changing and you're getting those symptoms.

Alternatively it could be the transmission (auto tranny right?) overheating when being put to task but you never mentioned an AT temp light so probably not.

I'd check the condition of your fluid (not just level) and radiator (does it need to be rodded??). How many miles on your rig??

 

[armostunt]

No the at temp has not been on.
The coolant level is good and the condition looks good. It has 148000 miles.

 

[armostunt]

Oh and this just happend. When I first got the truck, I put the ac on high just to see if it would get hot and it was fine.

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

If low top off. Since you may have a bubble in your system I recommend raising the front end (I'd use a couple of ramps) then letting the engine come up to temp to open the thermostat. The thermostat will open allowing coolant into the engine to push the hot coolant out and cool the engine back down.

Letting the engine cooling system cycle at an angle like this should in essence 'burp' your cooling system to get any air out. If the coolant level in the radiator does not come back up above the fins, you need to refill it with fresh fluid. Keep the engine running and wait for the thermostat to re-open and coolant/water to flow through the radiator again. Repeat this process until you no longer have to add fluid to top off the radiator and reservoir.

I'm not certain about the 2001 but my 3.5 L has a small "burp" valve where the upper radiator hose connects to the engine (or close by). Its just a 10 or 12mm bolt that you remove and add coolant until all air is purged from the system. Not a bad idea to purge it once, let it run and then sit, wait a few minutes and purge again.

 

[off-roader]

I'm not certain about the 2001 but my 3.5 L has a small "burp" valve where the upper radiator hose connects to the engine (or close by). Its just a 10 or 12mm bolt that you remove and add coolant until all air is purged from the system. Not a bad idea to purge it once, let it run and then sit, wait a few minutes and purge again.

Lucky! No such luck on the earlier montero's in my experience...

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Lucky! No such luck on the earlier montero's in my experience...

I'd imagine your truck will have it... :ylsmoke:

 

[off-roader]

I'd imagine your truck will have it... :ylsmoke:

Can you check on your 95? I don't have immediate access to my 96 until later this evening. When we flushed mine, I don't recall there being one although there is a spigot at the bottom to help drain it faster.

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Can you check on your 95? I don't have immediate access to my 96 until later this evening. When we flushed mine, I don't recall there being one although there is a spigot at the bottom to help drain it faster.

Took some pics on my phone when we were pulling the motor. This is the best pic I have.

 

[Monterorider]

Sound like you VCU fan clutch is going barring any other major engine issues.

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Sound like you VCU fan clutch is going barring any other major engine issues.

If so, there are some "bush" fixes to do.... but I won't explain that here...

 

[armostunt]

How can I check to see if it's fan clutch. If this is the problem, how hard is it to change it and how much you think the part will cost