99 Gen 2.5 // Crankshaft issues

[mk75]

Hey everyone ...

So I need some help .. So over the past year I have replaced the crank position sensor 3 times as of today. First 2 times we think the sensing blade was chewing away at the sensor.. The sencond time we replaced crankshaft position sensor only because everything else in that assembly looked ok. So this 3rd and final time I thought ******.. I still have a constant tick.. I just lost power all together coming home one day. Thank goodness I was on a hill.

So after very carefully looking things over I went ahead and replaced the following. This Montero has now sheered the pin the last 2 times. Everything has been tightened tight to spec this 3rd time . After all this there is stillsome woble in the Harmonic balancer after getting it all together and things are all nice and tight all the way around. Also the tick is still there . The tick lowers after some time but really never goes away even after replacing all that you see below.



" ALL NEW " Replaced with Genuine Mitsubishi Parts

Crankshaft Sprocket
Crankshaft Position Sensor " 3rd time "
Crankshaft sensing blade
Crankshaft spacer
Crankshaft oil seal
Crankshaft Pulley
Crank Bolt " I added some additional locktite"
Crankshaft pulley washer Damper
Damper Puller

So my thinking is the crank itself is bent or off ever so slightly ?? So my only option is to tow it off to Mitsubishi and pay to have them take a look and tell me what I think I already know. Recently had a top end rebuild at 165,000 miles if that makes a differnce. Would most of you come to the same conculsion thinking the crank itself is bent ? I'm open to hearing it's something else ...

I'm sure someone on here has seen this before? Most I could find was a service bulletin about the crank bolt coming loose. Do I see a purchase of a new engine .. ??

Please Help ...
Mk75

 

[MITSUYAGER9]

I have been a mechanic for many years, including in the Air Force. And I have never seen a bent crankshaft, broken but not bent. If it is bent my first thought would be a hydrolocked cylinder at one time from water (common in offroading from too deep a water hole) but the connecting rod would bend first. If the crank shaft is moving then I would suspect worn journal bearings but this most commonly happens on manual drivetrains. My suggestion would be to take the accessory belts off and try to move the crank shaft pulley by hand or with a pry bar.

 

[SoCalMonty]

Yeah, like Yager said, it's exceedingly rare to bend the crank. It's possible it's come out of balance and/or the bearings are worn, but extremely unlikely.

I would try to figure out how far out of round the eccentric travel is. Use a bad crank sensor and some washers. At what point on the crank sensor is the pickup making contact...1mm up? 2mm up? Hopefully this is something you can replicate spinning the crank by hand. However, it sounds like it's intermittent if it "occasionally" takes out crank angle sensors. If it were *BENT*, then every time you crank the engine it would make contact with the sensor.

What a pesky problem...that's a tough one to pinpoint given all the parts you've already thrown at it.

MK75...take your post and leave it on the Mitsu section of 4x4Wire.com (http://www.4x4wire.com/forums/postlist.php?Cat=0&Board=UBB69). Crank pulley bolt issues/failures are common on these trucks, and I'm wondering if your issue might be somehow related. There are a number of knowledgeable guys over there, so hopefully someone can shed some light on the problem for you. Let us know how it goes!

 

[mk75]

Thanks for the knowledge..

Hello All,

I'm having issues with 4x4wire login .. Hopefully I will get email soon to fix login issue. So its good to hear that someone thinks its slim chance the crank itself is bent. So the ? is drag it to the dealer.. However the closest dealer in my area just took over the Mitsubishi brand from a dealership that went bye bye. The new dealership " service" that is dealing with mitsu in my area more or less told me that they were not prepared for my ?s and that there Master Tech was up in Washington state learning Mitsu . So I really am at a loss in the Portland area. I could tow it to Vancouver , Wa . However my insurance wont tow me that far. If anyone that can tell me of a local Portland shop that has real experience with these gen 2.5's please do ..

Thanks ,
Mk75

 

[mk75]

Greetings Everyone,

So we got the thing all torn down once again to the crank snout. I have included pictures. As you can see I think I'm right in saying that the crank snout had teeth at one point in time. Am I wrong .. Looks to me like the crankshaft sprocket should just slide right on.

When I look at the FSM for that year the exploded view does not really show the crank snout well. So the thought now is that when everything is tight. Everything forward of the crank snout pushes everything else off. Causing the wobble in the harmonic balancer.

So when my mobile mechanic's showed up yesterday . They tightened everything up .. Not any better .. 2. Tear down to the crank snout you can see that there are no teeth anymore for the Crankshaft sprocket to slide on to. It really leads me to believe that after the top end rebuild things were not tighted properly by the mechanic that did the rebuild. Leading to the crankshaft position sensor going out mutiple times by way of the Crankshaft position blade. Also I know that it would take sometime to chew the crankshaft position sensor off with the crankshaft sensor blade.

When I bought this rig last year I knew I would have to drop some money to make it great again. When I bought the truck it had 155,000 miles. Leaked a little oil . I knew I would more than likely have to do the valve cover gaskets and invest a few other things maybe a couple new oem o2 sensors since I was getting codes. Just normal wear and tear for a truck this old I thought.



APR 2012

However when I called the professional's they imformed me when I first got this Montero . That valve covers were installed wrong by the previous owner during the last timing belt change, crank pully was installed wrong. That sheered a pin. Also there was crankshaft oil seal failure causing part of the oil leak. " ALL REPLACED"



Fast forward to



Sept 2, 2012

Crankshaft Position Sensor / failed " Chewed up on one side " replaced



Nov 22, 2012


Crankshaft Position Sensor / failed " Chewed up on one side "replaced



My local mechanic takes some responsibilty for the crank snout being the way it is.. Should have caught that when they resurfaced the heads during the top end rebuild I had done. Things have been on an off that area so many times I dont know what to really think. Everyone I speak with about this throws the shop I hired under the bus on this one.



So now that you can see this via the PIC .. What are my options ? So let me guess my options for the montero are now ? I have called around having issue finding short block or even a re-manufactured motor.. Everyone tell me what you think ...

Cheers,
MK75

 

[mk75]

99 Gen 2.5 Crank Issues ... Short Block and Gaskets ????

Greetings Expo Crowd,

So I found out the crank is suppose to be smooth. After really looking at things and realizing that the crankshaft sproket was wobbling and when everything was tightened down and caused those up and down lines . It caused everything to be off from the crank snout forward to harmonic balancer..

This one issue I have thrown lots of money at for almost a year. I did a top end rebuild not to long ago. Just wish that my mechanic that I paid to do the top end rebuild was more familiar with these rigs .. I feel that he should have caught the issue with the cranksnout when they resurfaced the heads. Live and learn right.

So now because of those lines I cant put a feeler gauge and really figure out if the crank is still true. So now I have to source a crankshaft , short block and gaskets ,etc ..

This is proving to be a bit of challenge. Mitsubishi is not releasing any remanufactured engines according to my local Mitsubishi Dealer and the 10 other dealers I called. So if anyone has a resource for sourcing what I'm looking for in the US please PM me or post info here.

Also if anyone lives in the PDX area and wrench's on there own Montero I would like to speak to you and pick your brain.

 

[shmabs]

I dealth with a similar issue on a g16 suzuki motor. My problem ended up being the woodruff key that is used to locate the crankshaft pulley, I can partially see it in one of the pictures. But it would never hurt to make sure the fit is tight to the crankshaft pulley and the groove in the crankshaft is in good shape too. If either one of those were chewed up, your crankshaft pulley might be allowed to wobble on the crank snout.

Mike