Montero Build

[datrupr]

OK, here is the educated guess. The noise is coming from one of the tensioner pulleys. I spoke with a couple of mechanics and this seems to be the consensus. I also spoke with the dealer and the pulleys usually don't move in and out with the car is on, and you should not be able to turn them at all when the engine is off. It seems that Mitsubishi is very proud of this particular pulley, as the only place you can get one at a reasonable price is the dealer, and my local dealer does have them in stock. They are $197 though. But after a little finagleing I got him to drop the price by $50. I also got the upper pulley that I think may be suspect too, but that one is only $28. If this is not the problem the dealer will take the parts back for a full refund. I'm going to pick up the parts this afternoon and change them out this evening. I'll let you know if it is a success. Thanks for all the input everyone, you have all been a huge help and hopefully saved me a lot of money.

 

[datrupr]

Well, the surgery was a success. The Monty is back to full health status. It was the tensioner pulley. Once I removed the old pulley it was nearly seized up. The upper idler pulley that I thought was maybe suspect was changed too but it was fine aside from a couple of chips on the edge of the pulley. I'll keep the old one for a spare if the need ever arises. This job too me all of 30 minutes to do it by myself. It looked daunting, but after the airbox was removed it was pretty easy to get to everything. The hardest pert was getting the belt back on while pulling on the tensioner pulley. It would have been easier with another set of hands. I'm just glad it is all working properly again. Thanks again to everyone for all your help with this.

 

[DavidG]

Great! Glad to hear you got it sorted out.

 

[Justice R]

Nice!

Good job with the repair.:wings:

 

[Vision Quest]

Awesome. I guess sometimes it pays not to be over dramatic. I tend to go way to deep when it's usually something simpler. I bet your glad you were able to do it yourself, and saved some dough too.:clapsmile

 

[datrupr]

It was still more than what I wanted to spend, I mean $150 for a pulley is rediculous, but the shops wanted a lot of money in labor. I'm not sure why, as I managed to get it done in about 30 minutes and I have very little machanical ability.

 

[tdesanto]

It was still more than what I wanted to spend, I mean $150 for a pulley is rediculous, but the shops wanted a lot of money in labor. I'm not sure why, as I managed to get it done in about 30 minutes and I have very little machanical ability.

I happened to look up the cost of the part throught the dealer I told you about earlier. If it was the serpentine tensioner, then it's only $117 at Southwest Mitsubishi.

I have yet to find a better dealer for both parts and customer service. And, if you end up having a local dealer do the work (difficult or time-consuming jobs), then at least you can use their pricing as a negotiating tool with your local dealer.

 

[datrupr]

Thanks, Tony. It is Mitsubishi part number MD367192. That was the culprit, and the only place that had it in stock was the dealer. Since I decided to tackle the project on my own and wanted the Montero ready for OvExpo I couldn't wait to have it shipped. But, $117 is even better than the $147 I paid for it. Oh, well, I may order another one to keep as a spare, but I'm not sure how common it is for these pulleys to fail.

 

[Fergie]

Very cool to see another Montero being built.

If I had not found the killer deal on my 80, I would have bought one of these.

I look forward to the possibility of hitting the trails with you when we are back in AZ.

 

[tdesanto]

Well, mine has just ticked over 83,000 miles and I'm hearing a grinding noise from one of the pulleys. It sounds like it's coming from the upper idler pulley, but since you said your auto-tensioner pulley went out, I went ahead and ordered both idler pulleys and the auto-tensioner as well. I'll keep the good ones as spares. If mine turns out to be the auto-tensioner, then I guess the mean time to failure is about 80K. If that's the case, then this should be recommended replacement along with the timing belt.

BTW, you'd mentioned difficulty in replacing these by yourself. Here's a quick guide from the service manual. You use a 1/2" breaker bar to rotate the auto-tensioner to relieve the tension on the belt, and then use a hex key/wrench to hold it in place while you do the work. Reverse when done.

 

[datrupr]

I replaced the upper idler pulley too, it was only $25 and the one that was on there hada few chips around the edges. I kept theold one as a back up. I had no problems replacing the tensioner pulley, I thought I was going to, but it turned out to be pretty easy. Get a 1/2" socket driver in the square hole on the top, pull towards the drivers side, and then pull the belt off the pulley. It was a bit of a challenge getting the belt back one with only two hands, one holding the socket releasing tension on the pulleu, and the other trying to get the belt seated properly on the pulley. Otherwise, it took about 30 mins and that was it. Pretty simpple.

 

[datrupr]

Oh, I didn't use the allen wrench to hold the pulley in place. That would make it easier.

LOL, thanks, Tony.

 

[datrupr]

Also, once the pulley starts making noise it does not take long for it to fail, get it changed out quickly. Mine did fail on me, but I was in the driveway with it idling, heard the pulley pop, the belt slipped and I scrambled to get in and turn it off. It was kinda funny as I was looking at it dumb-founded when it happened.

 

[toy_tek]

Oh, well, I may order another one to keep as a spare, but I'm not sure how common it is for these pulleys to fail.

I haven't seen your pulley, but a lot of times you can just get the bearing that is pressed into the center. See if you can get a part number from the bearing and you might be able to pick it up for a couple bucks (obviously not from the dealer), get it pressed in, then keep that for your spare.

 

[datrupr]

OK, this is weird, but the owners manual says to run 87 or higher octane in the truck, and the fuel door says that premium is "recommended". Having fun with it, I have now run 6 tanks; 3 87 and 3 91 and monitored them closely. Running 91 I have been averaging 16.7 MPG mixed driving (mostly highway though), and with 87 I have been averaging 18.2 MPG with the same mixed driving and there is no difference in engine performance. I think I'm going to stick with 87 as it is producing better results for less money. On a side note, the trip to Prescott I averaged 14.3 on a mixed tank of 87 and 91. But, we were loaded with gear, driving up the hills, did about 40 or so miles in 4wd and drove from Chino Valley to the camp with the tires at 20psi.

Oh, and I have a bit of a heavy foot.