Thinking about picking up a two door Montero...some questions.

[RandomCA]

Hi,

I'm thinking about picking up a two-door 1st Gen Montero. It's a 4 cylinder automatic. It recently spun a road, and the owners has had it fixed (receipt for $1400). He's also planning to replace the carb and then sell.

What particular to this vehicle should I check when I go look?

What sort of gas mileage could I reasonably expect (would like ideally to also use this a good amount for just driving about)?

Can the 4 cylinder engine be decently reliable if fluids/preventative measures are kept up?

How is the auto transmission on these things?

Any other weak spots?

I'll gladly read anything else about this style Montero.

Thanks.

 

[haven]

Don't overlook the Dodge Raider, a re-badged version of the
Montero 2 door, sold from 1987 through 1990.

 

[off-roader]

Overheating can happen and if it does, you risk warping/cracking your heads. Very common in the 2.6 engines. Carb is a Mikuni and very tightly controlled via a number of vacuum lines. Make sure they are in good working order. A normal carb tech WILL LIKELY NOT be able to repair one unless theyve worked on it. Most haven't and will easily give up due to it's complex design.

That said, a mikuni in working order will work very well.

Power is ok but bear in mind, it's a 3k lbs truck being pushed by a 4 cylinder. i.e. most likely you'll think it's under powered. Before you draw that conclussion be sure your carburator secondary valves open or it will be very under powered.

Also be sure the radiator is Very Clean or have it rodded. If you don't you'll overheat the engine and need to rebuild it with likely new heads (as I alluded to above).

Other than that, there are plenty of power options available. First and most common is swapping in the turbo setup from a late model Starion or Conquest.

Next to that, you can also swap in a 4.3 v6 chevy.

Lots of possibilities for upgrades but like I said, it's a reasonably good setup in stock form so long as you're not comparing it to a v8 tahoe, v6 blazer, or v6 4runner/pathfinder and you're just a bit anal about making sure it doesn't overheat.

HTH.