1995 Montero SR Build

[Bones]

Oh and just an FYI... for all the nay sayers who though it was unnecessary to pull the motor... we are so glad we did.

Here are some of the issues that we found that could have potentially been trip enders.

1. Head Gasket
2. Leaking coolant crossover pipes- several bad o-rings.
3. Oil cap ring INSIDE the valve cover (layin between a couple of cams/ springs)
4. Cracked water heater hoses
5. Majority of bolts out of torque spec, very loose. All bolts were re-torqued back to FSM spec.
6. And...??? I'm missing something...

Yup, you forgot the original problem: #6: extremely leaking valve seals.
#7: Loose driver's main motor mount bolt......(not good)
#8: Missing bolts between the transmission and the engine (not detrimental, but, well........)
#9: Tons of other little misc. things pointing to the fact that someone had been into the engine before.................which makes you worry about: a) why were they in there?, and b) what did they do incorrectly while they were there?

Good news is that we corrected everything that was out of spec or of questionable repair. You'll have many trouble free miles ahead, AND you'll know EXACTLY what you have going on under the hood.

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Yeah, that stuff too.... :Wow1:

 

[off-roader]

Only the headgasket would be trip ending. The rest are 'potentially' trip ending although I'd have also preferred to fix them all if I could. Good job!

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Only the headgasket would be trip ending. The rest are 'potentially' trip ending although I'd have also preferred to fix them all if I could. Good job!

Well, now that I know about the crossover pipes, If I see a fair amount of leakage, I'll know where to check. Otherwise, before this experience, I would have assumed maybe a head cracked, leaking coolant. If you haven't seen these pipes, let me know I'll try to get a show you what I'm talking about. They're under the plenum and across the back of the motor. In my opinion, not something to dig into in the field= trip ender. But yes, the majority of the list are just that "potentials".

 

[off-roader]

Well, now that I know about the crossover pipes, If I see a fair amount of leakage, I'll know where to check. Otherwise, before this experience, I would have assumed maybe a head cracked, leaking coolant. If you haven't seen these pipes, let me know I'll try to get a show you what I'm talking about.

If you have pics please post them as I'm sure many will have no idea what part you're talking about.

 

[GrassCat]

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

View attachment 107820

Tiny pic there bud...

 

[GrassCat]

Yeah,
when I copied ASA it included both of my monitors and I could not delete the post as you where to quick to respond.

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Sorry about that. I get the instant email alert. :sombrero:

To be more specific:

The O-rings highlighted in the diagram were broken and or missing from the pipe. The ones remaining were brittle and crumbled in hand, think of a pretzel. Each were leaking, and likely not spewing coolant because of the subsequent oxidized build up around each junction. These pipes are what feed the water passages in each cylinder head!

 

[mrwizard]

Your SR, even with the challenges you've had with it, is inspiring. Thanks.

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Your SR, even with the challenges you've had with it, is inspiring. Thanks.

Thanks. It's been fun. Can't wait to start exploring in the truck!

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Hey guys, just an FYI!

Chilton's manual 50500 1983-1995 Mitsubishi Pickups and Montero.

I wrote in the correct sequence.

 

[off-roader]

You know you can download the factory service manual for free right? See Mitsubishilinks.com and use that POS for fire starter/kindling instead unless you're trying to discover their many errors...

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Dude, see my other post.

YES, I know about the digital FSM, but I also have a printed version. The FSM IS NOT CLEAR about firing sequence, and the daggum Chiltons has a big *** diagram showing it plain as day. Trust me we're pretty pissed about it as it caused too much undue stress. The Chilton was a secondary reference only, that i paid $3 for.

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

So, after a couple of bone head moves the truck is purring nicely after a full rebuild.

Bone head move 1) whoops no plug in radiator.
Bone head move 2) plug wires in the wrong spot. Misfire.
Bone head move 3) vacuum lines crossed. No brakes and high idle. Switched and she's good to go!

1 and 3 were errors in haste. Everything else was by the book, using the FSM's torque specs and details. There wasn't a clear answer in the FSM regarding the firing sequence (that we found anyways) so resorting to the Chilton's manual, we used the plain as day firing sequence. R-O-N-G!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sheesh! After pondering scenarios, we decided to check the sequence again. Uncle google was our friend so we found several analogous diagrams and gave it a shot. Try two was better but still missing and not full power and then switched the wires again as we weren't certain what the current order was. Sure enough full power and not missing...and high idle! And..... still no brakes.

After scratching our asses for a bit we had a look and the vacuum lines coming from the intake plenum, and thought maybe two were backwards. Sure enough we switched them and a purring she went!

But, the crossed vacuum lines caused one major issue... too much crank case pressure causing the brand new rear main seal to leak. We're hoping that it didn't force the seal out of its seat, as that will cause another day of work that we DO NOT want to do. I'm hoping and praying that its now fixed as now that the vac hoses are right and not over pressuring the case. We'll see.

Before I can start driving the truck more, I'll need to check all of the fluid levels one more time. By the way we did the transmission flush as well with brand new Mitsu ATF, aka RED GOLD!

We're all excited to have the family adventure wagon in top running order and ready to take its inaugural voyage soon!