Gen 2.5 "stop all the leaks" project starts today. Holly ********......

[VenturaMontero]

I am a very long time lurker here on EP and I would first like to thank ALL of you who have put so much time into this forum; it has been extremely informative! THANK YOU.

About 4 months ago i purchased a one owner California owned 98 GEN 2.5 in fantastic shape. especially for having 160K. It has very few of the "common" issues as all running gear and auxiliary parts run perfect.

The exceptions: Rear cam seals both leak a bit and my alternator(s) have/keep failing for what I believe is oil saturation from the valve cover gasket(?) leaking. I recently noticed the alternator failed, replaced it and it failed a month later, common issue as I understand.

I have watched and read a huge amount on the: Cam seals, valve cover gasket, plug seals, wires and so on and how to replace them. I felt confident until I pulled the plastic cover off the top of the engine.

That being said, I understand mechanics and electrical pretty well since it is my profession and hobby. However what I saw was a bit overwhelming and I am now hesitant to start this project on my daily driver. I have an ok idea of the flow of the repair and yes I know there are many threads on the topic. I guess what I am looking for is any first hand advise, tricks, sticking points and so on. It MUST be less complicated then it appears......right? I have searched, but have not found a manual or a description of the step by step process, any direction on this? Thank you all very much for reading to this point! I hope to hear back from all you guys as I love this Monte and want it back out on the trails asap. Have a great weekend!

 

[off-roader]

Based on what I've read and done, if you take your time, diligently take lots of pics, label everything, use ziplock bags for loose items and label them then photograph where they go, it will be fine when it comes time to reassembling things.

 

[nckwltn]

first off, you'll want to visit http://www.mitsubishilinks.com/, many answers you seek are found within.


Second, if you're into mechanical and electrical, I don't think you'll have any problems. I haven't done the rear seals, but I did buy a montero last year that needed a head gasket job. After never having done a head gasket job before, it came out great, a year+ after the work, I finished a 3k mile trip up into utah, wyoming, colorado. while I'm not a mechanic, nor do I do electrical work... I am mechanically inclined.

I have to think the rear seals are easier than a head gasket.

just take a fair amount of digital pictures so you can figure out where everything goes. You might also want to think about replacing the spark plugs when you have the intake pulled off... it is a bit of a chore to get to them, so you don't want to have to do it again anytime soon.


Also think about replacing the intake plenum seals. Check out the FSM on the link above, I think that will give you a better idea of what your in for.

 

[mapper]

It really is much less complicated than it looks. Once you get the wiring mess peeled away (label/mark installation of that stuff, but thankfully most connectors are specific so you can't really reconnect anything wrong). I took off my intake manifold piece by piece labeling bolts and bolt holes with a Sharpie. Probably got the thing off in 2-3 hrs total (working 20 mins here/there over the course of a few days). When I put it back on I was very careful but managed to get it on in about 1.5 hours. If I did it again I think I could have the intake off, plugs changed and intake back on in a relaxed 2 hours...with a couple short breaks.