03 Limited hitting end of road? Talk me out of it.

[Monty03]

SO I've only had my Montero for about 3 years and I absolutely love the rig. I got it with 110k miles and I've racked up about 75k in the time I've owned it. Yes I've driven quite a lot, but the truck has taken me places I've never thought to go with another car or whatever. Since I've owned it I've done the main things, New Tires, Front pads, Timing belt kit with plugs and water pump, I had a cooling issue so I fixed some cooling hoses and a few odd and end things that I fixed myself like a new subwoofer, head unit, temp gauge, and a faulty 4wd solenoid thing *forget what it's called by the air box* I have a Roof Tent for it that I just love too. Anyways, I'm looking like I will have to soon put some more money into the car by the looks of some:

- Wheel hub bearing assembly (think only driver side)
- Shocks (not really needed I don't think but at 178k miles I think they are original)
- And I have a CEL for a O2 sensor code after the CAT so it's hopefully just an O2 or could be worse a blown CAT

I currently live on Oahu in Hawaii and I will be here for still another 3 years. The car is paid off so I do not really want to get another vehicle but I'm just nervous as to what I'll have to put into it after this in the future. Engine seems to be still solid only burning about 1qt of oil ever 1600 miles or so. It is kind of banged up to as I've ran into a few things here and there and I've been bumped into a few times in parking lots which I don't really mind.

Should I continue to ride it out and just see where it takes me with the repairs. Any suggestions would be cool! Thanks

 

[Doing_Dirt]

I would hold on to it. Nothing like buying another persons problems. At least you know 3 years of history and can figure out what else needs to be done. I don't know how smog works on the island, but in California a vehicle that passes emissions is worth keeping. (Most of the time)

 

[offthepath]

So around $500 total? Maybe a bit more and 5 hours of work? Um, yeah keep it.

Used cars need work, just the way it is unless you're consistently rotating newer vehicles every year or two.

I have never understood why people will complain about dropping money on a used, paid off car, but then spend 10-30 times that amount on a new car, or another used car that will need work at some point too. Often the work required is less than one months payment and will take a DIYer less than a day to complete. New cars truly are the demise of the middle class, avoid them at all costs.......

About the only situation I can see getting a newer used car (2 years old minimum) is for people that cannot work on vehicles themselves. If you are having a shop do everything on a 10 year old, 200k mile vehicle, I could see how the labor costs may quickly out weigh the cost of buying a newer vehicle.

 

[Monty03]

Yeah I think I could probably do the suspension myself with the right tools and some of the forum stuff I found on here to Step by step. The Hub bearing looks a little more daunting although I've seen a replacement step by step too. And I'm sure with a proper lift which I could probably source I could do the O2 Sensor. I'm hoping to just have this thing for at least 2 more years to 3 max I think it will go well into the 200k mile range no issue. Motor still pulls well and so forth.

Edit: Yea for what I was quoted the Labor is what kills me and drives me crazy.

 

[coffeegoat]

I don't think the o2 sensor is different than the 2001, and if so, no lift needed. I just replaced all 4 of mine on a piece of cardboard. It was unpleasant, but probably only a couple hours of work and 150 bucks. Suspension is also not bad, can't vouch for the wheel bearing, but that's probably the cheapest to get done at a shop.

 

[offthepath]

Honestly, if money is tight and the shocks seem fine just skip them.

The o2 sensor can be done in the driveway with a floor jack to get a little more room under the truck. Use a good o2 sensor. I had all kinds of o2 codes with gereric sensors. I upgraded to Denso (I think) and all the issues were solved.

Wheel bearings will go pretty quick with basic hand tools. Although if you don't want to mess with it and know a good independent mechanic, I bet they would only charge you 250 max in labor. This is a quick job for a good wrench.

Also, not sure how Hawaii is for parts but I look at rockauto.com for any planned maintance when I can order stuff ahead of time. Much, much cheaper.

Hang in there.

 

[Monty03]

Yeah money is not really an issue just hate the feeling of tossing labor away. I have a good jack so I can def do the O2 sensors myself and see if that alleviates the problem of the CEL. I think if I dedicated a day to the wheel bearing I could do it as I'm pretty good at following directions. I just hate that OH ******** feeling if something breaks or goes wrong then I'm out a vehicle and I rely on it for work M-F. The one thing that sucks about HI is that it's hard to get parts. I'll def check out that site though as it's not a huge issue right now. I've been driving around with the bearing issue for about a month and it's whatever besides a little steering wheel vibration and wooo wooo woo noise. yeah Suspension isn't like completely dead just not sure when they were replaced last or if they are in fact the original.

With the purchase price of the car plus the things I've put into it maint wise I'm in about $9500. I for sure wont get that on any trade or private sale. It's pretty much my island adventure mobile so like I mentioned I don't get pissed if someone hits it with their shopping cart, or I take it off road and it gets a bit scratched up. I'll prob just deal with the issue one thing at a time and make her last as I mentioned the motor feels great and with the recent timing belt done less than 10k miles ago I should be solid for another 80-100k miles.

 

[vintageracer]

My daughter's daily driver is a 2001 Chevy 1500 HD Crew Cab with 360K+ miles. Still the original 6.0 LS engine and 1 4L80 transmission rebuild. Drive that truck anywhere!

Do the required maintenance on your truck and continue to drive it. How many miles can you put on that truck on an island in the next 3 years anyway? Besides it's not about the number of miles on a vehicle it's all about the maintenance and care of that vehicle.

 

[Inyo_man]

All of your issues sound like they can be handled in your garage.
As others have stated, 02 sensors and shocks are straight forward.
The wheel bearings on the Gen. III are a sealed unit, so they are fairly easy to swap out. When I replaced mine, I just pulled the steering knuckles and brought it to the machine shop where they pressed 'em out. The new ones don't need to be pressed in, they simply bolt in the knuckle.

 

[Monty03]

Yeah I know what y’all mean. To work and back isn’t crazy then the weekend beach trip I put on about 400 miles in 10 days or a tank of fuel. I think I just was in price shock when I saw the initial estimate bill. I’ll do some more research and see about doing some of the work myself. I might be even able to get access to a lift too which would make things way better. Yeah and I kind of have an attachment to the vehicle cause it’s just no others like it on the road. Hard to part with it.

 

[Doing_Dirt]

Yeah I know what y’all mean. To work and back isn’t crazy then the weekend beach trip I put on about 400 miles in 10 days or a tank of fuel. I think I just was in price shock when I saw the initial estimate bill. I’ll do some more research and see about doing some of the work myself. I might be even able to get access to a lift too which would make things way better. Yeah and I kind of have an attachment to the vehicle cause it’s just no others like it on the road. Hard to part with it.

Can you do Uber or Lyft for commuting while your rig sits on jack stands? This way you can take your time with repairs. Nothing like tearing it down again because you forgot a bolt or something.

 

[Monty03]

Yeah I have buddies who can help me out. I have a 4 day weekend coming up in sept. Friday and Monday off. Sounds like a great weeeked to tackle it myself. I did the research. Found a DIY for the hub and O2 seem straight. I’ll worry about struts and rears shock later down the road. I’m motivated to make it work myself.

 

[Doing_Dirt]

Yeah I have buddies who can help me out. I have a 4 day weekend coming up in sept. Friday and Monday off. Sounds like a great weeeked to tackle it myself. I did the research. Found a DIY for the hub and O2 seem straight. I’ll worry about struts and rears shock later down the road. I’m motivated to make it work myself.

Thats good. I like to think of mine like a well rounded high school truck for my son. (4 more years) Something I can pass down to him with memories. Something I know is safe.

 

[mudraider]

$9500 on a vehicle like that, that you've had 3 years? Still sounds CHEAP, especially with it being on an island. Do the work yourself, the gratification is so worth it. Especially if you've got help to work on it.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Monty03]

$9500 on a vehicle like that, that you've had 3 years? Still sounds CHEAP, especially with it being on an island. Do the work yourself, the gratification is so worth it. Especially if you've got help to work on it.

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Oh yeah I’ve alreadt decided. After I calculated what I can save in labor it’s a no brainer. If it can at least last me till I leave here as I think I mentioned 2021 spring then I think it will be worth it.