Gen 3 2002 Montero head gasket

[spacecowboy7777]

Cooling system building pressure and blowing out the overflow. Exhaust gasses coming into it. It changed the color of the test fluid almost immediately. Going to tackle this myself. So far, I'm ordering:

Aisin timing belt kit
Aisin tensioner
front crank shaft oil seal
2 x camshaft seals
2 x rear heater hose Tee joints
2 x large coolant pipe o-rings
2 x coolant crossover pipes
cylinder head cover gaskets
mitsubishi timing belt tensioner tool

Mahle head gasket kit

Anything I'm missing? I'd appreciate any helpful information. I do plan on taking the heads to a machine shop to make sure they're not warped. I had a shop supposedly "rebuild" the heads like 4 years ago, maybe 30,000 miles ago, but obviously I don't trust their work now. New radiator at the time too along with lifters, etc.

 

[Michael Brown]

Others may have some insight as well.
I did my timing ~6 years ago, so it has been awhile.

I used RockAuto and PartSouq for these parts.
Denso is usually OEM for sensors, but PartSouq carries a lot of OEM parts.
Most people recommended OEM for Cam/Crank sensors to swap while you're in there.

I think it was Fel-Pro that has gasket issues, but can't remember.
I used Mahle or OEM the last time I did it.

Get the small o-ring for the pipe that goes into the back of the water pump, if you haven't already.
It is shared with other models like the EVO 2.0L, so they are readily available.

Watch some videos on the Mitsubishi/Chrysler V6 Timing belt job. Key part is that the water pump is part of the system.
Leave its bolts loose while you setup the timing belt and set timing marks. Tighten them once everything is good.

Also grab some cheap poster board paper. Draw a general layout of the drive belt and timing belt systems.
Poke holes in them for where bolts go. They were all different lengths IIRC. This made it easier when I put everything back together.

 

[spacecowboy7777]

Others may have some insight as well.
I did my timing ~6 years ago, so it has been awhile.

I used RockAuto and PartSouq for these parts.
Denso is usually OEM for sensors, but PartSouq carries a lot of OEM parts.
Most people recommended OEM for Cam/Crank sensors to swap while you're in there.

I think it was Fel-Pro that has gasket issues, but can't remember.
I used Mahle or OEM the last time I did it.

Get the small o-ring for the pipe that goes into the back of the water pump, if you haven't already.
It is shared with other models like the EVO 2.0L, so they are readily available.

Watch some videos on the Mitsubishi/Chrysler V6 Timing belt job. Key part is that the water pump is part of the system.
Leave its bolts loose while you setup the timing belt and set timing marks. Tighten them once everything is good.

Also grab some cheap poster board paper. Draw a general layout of the drive belt and timing belt systems.
Poke holes in them for where bolts go. They were all different lengths IIRC. This made it easier when I put everything back together.

Thank you! Ended up going with a mahle kit. I’m in deep now

 

[Michael Brown]

Good luck, hope it all goes well!

If you get stuck, refer to the FSM. Youtube also helps, but sometimes you need to search Pajero to get more info from the Aussie owners.

 

[spacecowboy7777]

We're back together! Heads machined, new seals everywhere, timing belt, one exhaust manifold that had a bad crack. Overall, it wasn't too bad of a job.

Notes:
- Getting the gaskets installed between the crossover coolant pipe and the heads was a total pain in the butt. Just took time and patience. I did it with the valve covers off, just so I could get a little more room to see back there while I was climbed on top of the engine bay.
- Timing belt was surprisingly easy. Montana Montero has an incredible video that explained the important steps and all the tools that are needed. Really helpful.
- Prepared the cylinder block by scraping the old gasket off with a razer, then cleaning with brake clean, then using a granite flat stone from amazon with 400, then 600, then 1000 grit sand paper to make sure it was a totally flat and clean surface.
- I used the copper head gasket sealant spray from permetex on both sides of the Mahle MLS gasket.
- I got the entire timing kit from luso overland and a Mahle head gasket kit from rock auto. Also got new head bolts from rock auto, though I don't think they were necessary.
- valve covers took some special work in an effort to make the old ones seal. If I had more of a budget, I would have gotten new ones, but I didn't even know if I was going to be able to pull this off, so if I had to bring it to a pro, I wanted to save as much money as possible.
- Wiring was pretty straight forward. Make sure to take pictures of all sides of the engine for the vacuum lines. but for the most part, all the plugs can only plug into where they are supposed to go. One thing: THERE IS A JUMPER HARNESS from the cam sensor to the main harness. I did not know this. I unplugged the cam sensor, then unplugged the main harness, and the jumper harness fell to the ground and I did not realize. I spent half a day trying to figure out why my plugs weren't matching up. I finally looked in the grass below my engine bay and found the jumper harness that I dropped. This was a total pain the butt. But, once I had that jumper harness, all the plugs matched up perfectly.
- for many of the gaskets that were buried I did use a very thin coat of either RTV or hylomar blue, depending on the location. I know, ya'll will say "it calls for a dry surface with just a gasket" but on a vehicle with this many miles and less than perfect sealing surfaces, I'm doing everything I can to prevent leaks.

 

[spacecowboy7777]

 

[spacecowboy7777]

Also, I did the heater "T" connections under the car on the passenger side of the tranny. There are two of them right next to each other. One of mine completely disintegrated while I was pulling it out. The other only had one crack. Glad I got two to replace these ones, just for peace of mind. It was a messy job though, with coolant getting all over my hands and arms.

 

[spacecowboy7777]

 

[spacecowboy7777]

Of course I did an oil change after a few minutes run time and a new air filter. Will probably do an oil change with an oil filter in a few hundred miles. I know that brake clean, penetrating fluid, and gasket debris all fell into the engine in some amount. First start had massive lifter clacking for probably 3-5 seconds before oil fully circulated in the head. Then minor lifter clicking for a few minutes as the air must've been bleeding from the lifters, but now it's perfectly smooth and quiet. I'm only about 80 miles of driving in. I keep thinking I messed something up, so I keep checking the fluid reservoir and oil but so far, ever thing looks good. As of now the truck runs perfectly. Smoother than ever. I'm stoked.