autotrends1986
New member
Hello all, looking for a little repair direction on a 1990 Montero I picked up a couple of falls back. I've been a long time lurker on this site, always interested in overland vehicles. I've owned an Xterra, Grand Cherokee, Wranglers, etc for daily drivers. But now I have an awd car that I use as a daily driver and I'm looking into making an overland vehicle for vacations that would involve a lot of highway miles with some light offroad use for camping etc.
Which is where the Montero comes in, this is how I ended up choosing a Montero. Skip to the next paragraph is you're not interested in knowing, lol, but if you stumbled upon this post leaning towards picking up an older Montero you might be interested. I run a small carlot with my father so I go to a lot of dealer auctions. I started piling up overland candidates this time last year and at one point last November I had a First Gen Xterra, 3rd Gen 4Runner, this Montero, a 5 Speed Cherokee. (along with my Wrangler and Samurai which I still own) I also checked out a few 90's model Land Rovers I found at the auctions and finally decided on the Montero. I REALLY like that it was bar far the most rare to see on the roads, at least around here. The interior seems way more spacious than the X or the 4Runner. Drove it in some big snows last winter was amazed at how well it did.
WHICH BRINGS ME TO MY QUESTIONS: This Montero has the 3.0 V6 (with a 5 speed Manual, which was another big factor on my decision), but the head gasket is SHOT. I'm talking giant clouds of steam. I want to do the repairs myself but I've never seen a good review of a DIY headgasket walk through on this engine. I'm not afraid to tackle the job and I have the time to do it WHILE I'm at work. I also visit u-pull junkyards often, but from what I understand you need modifications to make the 3.0 from a dynasty or caravan work? I can get junkyard parts or order parts online and do all the labor myself but I want to make sure I have a good DIY handy or more information before i tear into the thing.
My main goal is to keep the repairs CHEAP. I've only got $700 total in the thing right now, the interior is in great shape, the 5 speed feels great, and the 4wd works flawlessly. Motor sounds good, just lots of steam out the pipe lol.
My longterm plans are I'd like to restore this thing's head gasket and body to it's former glory and pull either my Suzuki Samurai or Wrangler Sahara out west to play around and camp. I'd also like to be able to sleep IN or ON top of the Montero itself, but I'll make those plans when I get her road worthy again.
Thanks for any help pointing out posts I might have missed or any advice you have for me! I'm sure the number one thing would be to buy a manual on the vehicle, but what I've often found is a good diy in these forums is a thousand times better than a manual from auto zone, but i can go that route if I've got to.
Thanks again!
Which is where the Montero comes in, this is how I ended up choosing a Montero. Skip to the next paragraph is you're not interested in knowing, lol, but if you stumbled upon this post leaning towards picking up an older Montero you might be interested. I run a small carlot with my father so I go to a lot of dealer auctions. I started piling up overland candidates this time last year and at one point last November I had a First Gen Xterra, 3rd Gen 4Runner, this Montero, a 5 Speed Cherokee. (along with my Wrangler and Samurai which I still own) I also checked out a few 90's model Land Rovers I found at the auctions and finally decided on the Montero. I REALLY like that it was bar far the most rare to see on the roads, at least around here. The interior seems way more spacious than the X or the 4Runner. Drove it in some big snows last winter was amazed at how well it did.
WHICH BRINGS ME TO MY QUESTIONS: This Montero has the 3.0 V6 (with a 5 speed Manual, which was another big factor on my decision), but the head gasket is SHOT. I'm talking giant clouds of steam. I want to do the repairs myself but I've never seen a good review of a DIY headgasket walk through on this engine. I'm not afraid to tackle the job and I have the time to do it WHILE I'm at work. I also visit u-pull junkyards often, but from what I understand you need modifications to make the 3.0 from a dynasty or caravan work? I can get junkyard parts or order parts online and do all the labor myself but I want to make sure I have a good DIY handy or more information before i tear into the thing.
My main goal is to keep the repairs CHEAP. I've only got $700 total in the thing right now, the interior is in great shape, the 5 speed feels great, and the 4wd works flawlessly. Motor sounds good, just lots of steam out the pipe lol.
My longterm plans are I'd like to restore this thing's head gasket and body to it's former glory and pull either my Suzuki Samurai or Wrangler Sahara out west to play around and camp. I'd also like to be able to sleep IN or ON top of the Montero itself, but I'll make those plans when I get her road worthy again.
Thanks for any help pointing out posts I might have missed or any advice you have for me! I'm sure the number one thing would be to buy a manual on the vehicle, but what I've often found is a good diy in these forums is a thousand times better than a manual from auto zone, but i can go that route if I've got to.
Thanks again!
