Gen III 6G75 Engine Interchangability

[DSouth]

This may be a bit of stretch, but my 2003 Monty has spun a rod bearing and now has a horrible knock. It is not long for this world and I'm looking at options for used engines. According to wikipedia the 6G75 engine was used in:

2003–present Mitsubishi Pajero (aka Montero/Shogun)(Not available in China now)
2004–2011 Mitsubishi Endeavor
2004–2009 Mitsubishi Galant
2005–2008 Mitsubishi 380
2006–2012 Mitsubishi Eclipse

Both me and my mechanic did a search for low mileage engines specifically from a wreaked Gen III Monty, but they are few and far between and generally high-mileage. However......looking at used engines from an Endeavor shows a wealth of low mileage examples.....so that got me thinking. Maybe I can get a low milage Endevour engine and treat it basically as a used long-block and swap over my running gear and be on my way.

But, I don't know if Mitsu used a different cam, or other internals in the 6g75 engines depending on application. It would make some sense for them to do so, but does anyone know if they did or have a history of doing so?

As I said this is probably a long-shot that anyone has checked or knows this, but I figured I'd ask. Also, if you happen to know of a good engine rebuilder in the Southern California (orange county or not far) area let me know?

 

[Toasty]

The others are transverse so there will be work involved (bosses and brackets) but they are the same motors, It's been done with 3.0's from Diamante which are transverse. so I wouldn't be so scared. The Eclipse is very different however, would be a killer swap if you had the electrical knowledge.

 

[DSouth]

True. This would also be a transverse to longitudinal swap as well.... The prices are so much cheaper for one of these used engines that I'm wondering if it may be worth it just in parts to use to rebuild my engine, crank, cams etc.

Unfortunately, I don't have the space to do a rebuild myself right now. Does anyone know of a trust worthy Mitsu engine builder in SoCal?

 

[Toasty]

Find someone who builds 3000GT race motors.

 

[KyleT]

The paj 6g75 has piston cooling jets which no others do iirc.

I believe on one of the Aussie forums someone was swapping mivec 3.8's into these and second gens.

I think the endeavor blocks are the same except some bosses need to be drilled and tapped. Not 100% though.

 

[Offroadmuch]

Rigo at South Coast Mitsunishi on Harbor Blvd. in Costa Mesa is the service writer and has a 2003 Montero which he just rebuilt the motor on. He builds performance engines for Mitsu's. It will cost some money but he can help you.

 

[DSouth]

Does anyone have a line on a decent used 6G75 Montero engine? I'm looking around any so far I haven't found many that are low mileage, and I'm worried about the prospect of buying a used high-mileage engine only to have another major internal issue. I'd love to keep my Monty, but if repairing it is going to be so hard and expensive I may as well just go to a Toyota or something else.

 

[normal_dave]

Just an LTL shipment away...El Paso, TX (from car-part.com)

They show an '03 3.8L with 33K miles, price not listed. Click on this link, then use the drop down boxes to search for 2003, Montero, engine,...
http://www.andreautosalvage.com/

 

[DSouth]

Sounds great, but I've never gotten anything from anyone on car-part.com. Any advice on how to determine if an item/vendor is good or bad? I'm assuming that if the car had front-end damage that might not be an engine that I'd want to use?

 

[normal_dave]

Don't fear car-part.com, its just an online listing service for commercial wrecking yards. Technology, when used correctly is awesome! My last trip to the yard, came as a direct result of that service, and I scored a factory hitch/wiring, console with perfect armrest, battery tray and hold down, coolant overflow bottle, along with a ton of misc. parts, none of which my local yards had.

In the old days they used the "hotline" which was a network of radio communication systems among the regional junkyards that announced "looking for a radiator for a '66 Corvair" (hah!) and the yard that had one (for example) would answer back.

You could research the local town and get reviews, or call a local parts store or body shop and get a referral. As far as shipping it to you, LTL means less than truckload or single pallet shipment on a commercial truck carrier, should be less than $ 300 or so, depending on your freight shopping abilities.

Hit in the front probably wouldn't be an issue with the engine itself, you might use the best parts of both engines, yours being a known entity.

 

[DSouth]

Right, I didn't know if they had some kind of user-rating system... I've bought junkyard parts before, but always in person and never a whole engine. I'm mostly interested in ways to double check that the engine is what I need and is a good part from potentially very far away. Is it naive to think that I could pull my engine, get that 33k engine, drop it in put some fresh oil, coolant etc in it and go? I mean should I plan on taking the heads and pan off and inspect them both?

Is car's VIN on engine anywhere or is there a way to cross reference the VIN from an engine ID on these? On some makers I know it is.

 

[normal_dave]

Certainly risk in out-of-town transactions. As far as swapping in a good junkyard motor, I've done it 3 times in the past 10 years or so, and every one proved successful, and I didn't disassemble the new engines at all. I was able to personally inspect the vehicles they came from ahead of time, and determined the age and condition to be accurate. I typically kept all of my vehicle's electrical and good parts using the 'long block' and any newer parts from the donor car motor.

With the Montero's relative rarity, I've learned to expand my scope of search to get what I need. Same for the seller, it is the age-old issue of matching the seller with the item to sell to the customer that actually wants it. Maybe there is not be much of a need for a 3.8L Montero engine in/around El Paso? However, there is a need for a 3.8L Montero in Orange County, and apparently none to choose from locally.

I'm not saying buy a motor from these guys sight unseen, but with due diligence on your part, and no resources local to you, why not? If you trust your local mechanic, get him involved, get the VIN from the seller, run a Carfax, verify age/mileage, and accident date, compare to the time in inventory at the junkyard. Get the seller to send detailed pictures. Better yet, hire a local El Paso ASE certified mechanic via online, to go the to yard, and inspect the vehicle and motor on your behalf. If it checks out good, well worth $ 100 or so, if not, you've saved yourself lots of headache and money, except your inspection fee of course.

All of this may be irrelevant, they may want too much for the engine, won't or can't ship it, etc. you could possibly setup a 1/2 advance 1/2 on delivery for example.

I agree, the VIN is probably stamped on the block at least in partial somewhere.

BTW, noticed a yelp review for El Paso junkyard from a guy who now apparently lives in Long Beach, CA. Maybe you ask him what he thought...
http://www.yelp.com/biz/andre-auto-salvage-el-paso

I guess I'm always looking for an adventure, and I've been fortunate in most of my dealings, but I take lots of time to snoop around and am willing to hire folks to help if I can't be there myself. It's just business, and if you work with and hire professionals, then that's what you will usually get, professional service. If it all works out, then you've got a neat story to tell.

Good Luck either way.

 

[DSouth]

Anybody know if the XLS engine is the same as the Limited engine in the 2003+ models? I'm 99% certain they are, but thought I'd ask here.

 

[KyleT]

Yes. All the 3.8l Monty engines are the same.


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[DSouth]

I decided to get a second opinion to my self diagnosis of a spun rod bearing, so I took it to Anaheim Mitsubishi. I'm not normally a fan of service at dealers, but I was pleasantly surprised. They determined that the knocking was in the top end, and most likely in the combustion chamber of #6. They scoped it and could see some minor damage to the piston and decided to just let it idle. Whatever was in there made its way out and she's purring like a kitten yet again. No rebuild or replacement engine for now. Just wanted to close on this thread and share a cautionary tale of self diagnosis and the importance of getting good second opinions.