What did you do to your Mitsubishi today?

[Inyo_man]

So after a recent trip that took me through Beef Basin, Bobby's Hole and over Elephant Hill, I decided that I was fed up with the level of dust intrusion. I adjusted all doors and siliconed the seals when I took ownership, so the first suspect(s) were the flow through vents at the rear corners. A little Pajero research, indicated this was indeed a problem with the early production NM's(I have an '01), in addition to the lack of a cabin air filter added to later production.

Long story short, cut into the blower housing and installed a panel of furnace filter media, as a proof of concept, and also because $50 for a Cabin Filter from Australia, seems a wee steep. Decided to do the same thing to the rear flapper vents and to see why I was accumulating "sand painting" levels of particulate.

The housing:View attachment 339682

Simply cut a panel of filter media to fit, closed the flap, and taped it shut. The cabin filter from an NL will likely occupy this role, as soon as some more $$ occupies my wallet. I am in the process of sourcing this filter domestically, so stay posted for filtration efficiency info and pricing for what may become a group buy for anyone interested.

So on to the rear, which I presumed to be the real culprit, based upon dust accumulation on the interior grills near the Pass. A/C and subwoofer. Removed the left side first, and, though filthy, the flappers were intact and functional.

The same couldn't be said for the the right side. It wasn't fully inserted, and the lower portion of the frame had been bent, all allowing massive flow by when the interior was in a negative pressure, such as having the sunroof venting, windows open, etc. Two-stroke guys know that a reed cage that doesn't allow the petals to close is no bueno...same case here:View attachment 339686

As a recovering OCD that has recently taken "perfection is the enemy of good enough" to heart, and after contemplating some plastic welding, I decided simply to duct tape the malfunctioning reed cage. We seldom carry passengers, and the 3rd row has long since been removed, so why not. Additionally, as it adds more restriction to passive positive flow, I figured it would further help creating a positive cabin pressure.View attachment 339687

View from Exterior:View attachment 339696
Note that one side of the media has a smoother mesh "face".


I placed filter media both on the interior and exterior. The media I used was very fibrous, and even the smooth side, had individual fibers sticking up enough to prevent the flaps sitting fully closed. A quick trim and everything sealed well. Be certain the flaps lay flush, or you just added filter media for your "open all the time rear vents".

The exterior:View attachment 339688

In position:View attachment 339689

So how does it work? Awesome! Drove an extremely dusty road, located by a local gravel operation back and forth in several states of A/C On/Off, Recirc On/Off, Sunroof, Venting, etc. Windows open creates dust, barely, and even with the roof vented, and driving through my own dust cloud...NO DUST. I may ultimately replace the filter with some material from Unifilter or something similar, but for now, dust free and loving it!

Total time: 1.5 hours, including the road blast. WIN.

Well done!
Did the same thing to my rig years ago.
(Next time I'm visiting my brother's property in West. Oz. I'll bring back a couple of extra cabin air filters...)

 

[Sabre]

Excellent! My cabin air filter is a project I keep forgetting about...until we hit the desert! Hadn't even thought about those rear flaps. Thanks for putting this up!

 

[Red_Diamonds]

After having the Montero for 6 montage...I finally registered it in my name.

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[PacS14]

Finally got around to cleaning the tracks of my sunroof and removing all the old gunk ed up grease that made it so slow. I'm loving my Montero more with every repair.

 

[Monterado]

Finally got around to cleaning the tracks of my sunroof and removing all the old gunk ed up grease that made it so slow. I'm loving my Montero more with every repair.

Is there a good resource describing how to do this? Or, do you mind sharing your methods and steps? Mine needs it badly as well.

 

[PacS14]

Is there a good resource describing how to do this? Or, do you mind sharing your methods and steps? Mine needs it badly as well.

My sunroof use to open really slow, and then I had to help it close. If yours open do so, then step on the rear sit and you will see the tracks. I used silicone lubricant from a spray bottle and worked it open and close cleaning with a rag every time. If yours only hums remove the cover of the sunroof control and use an Allen wrench to open it and do the procedure i just told you.you could always use some brake cleaner or something similar i opted for not doing so. I was once recommended to use silicone lubricant on sunroof tracks vs any other lubricant, don't know how true this is i just keep doing it.

 

[BOPOH]

Drove it around the neighborhood, really sad that I have to replace bunch of parts. After buying FJ I truelly believe Monty is a tank unlike FJ even though Toyota fans swear by it. All I did to Monty 33" tires and that's it, FJ needs suspension, BMC, trailing arms and protection, diffs can explode, cv axles leak with lift and so on. So I guess I gotta start fixing Monty, better investment

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[Monterado]

New lightbar and started to build out a box and sleeping platform for the rear.

I tried to replace the lower hinge on my liftgate because the hinge pin has sheared, but I could NOT figure out how to get the hinge out of the door once i had all the bolts out. I have read where other folks have done it and they make it sound relatively simple. Oh well.

 

[bikerjosh]

New lightbar and started to build out a box and sleeping platform for the rear.

I tried to replace the lower hinge on my liftgate because the hinge pin has sheared, but I could NOT figure out how to get the hinge out of the door once i had all the bolts out. I have read where other folks have done it and they make it sound relatively simple. Oh well.

Is the light bar in the opening of the grill, or in front of it? Wondering if it will come in contact with the skid plate off road? Does it bounce any light off the bumper if set back? Very clean looking-J

 

[BOPOH]

Is the light bar in the opening of the grill, or in front of it? Wondering if it will come in contact with the skid plate off road? Does it bounce any light off the bumper if set back? Very clean looking-J

that light bar will be destroyed while off roading. that area take all the impact of water, mud and occasional rocks - at least that's the case with mine

 

[MarkGramlich]

Took the Paj on a drive to Hemlock Falls Trail (N 34.847733, W 083.596700).

 

[Monterado]

I notched out the plastic grill and hung it in the opening between the skid and the bottom of the bumper. There's about 1/2" to 3/4" space on either side (top/bottom) of the light. It sits just a tad proud of the bumper so reflection off of the skid and bumper is minimal. It may get beat to hell in this location, but I'll give it a shot for now.

 

[cornfarmer]

Put in a new PCV valve, changed my oil to 10w30 and added Lucas stabilizer. Going to see if that slows down the oil consumption before looking into the valve stem seals.

So after doing this, my oil consumption seems to have gone way, way down. Previously it was drinking 3/4ths to a full quart every tank of gas, now it's barely registering any less on the dipstick. Will continue to monitor. I am hopeful.

Oh and I installed a new antenna.

[homer]
antenna goes up, antenna goes down.
antenna goes up, antenna goes down.
antenna goes up, antenna goes down.
[/homer]

 

[Toasty]

Working on my new front axle assembly, it's funny i sold all of my old setup on my montero to solid axle swap and do a crazy build on it only to go back and rebuild the IFS again. After driving and wheeling my SAS'd Mighty Max i just can't do that to my Montero because it changes the vehicle so much and may not be worth it. I bought the GX to be the new Montero and the Montero was going to be the new Mighty Max in order of builds but the below statement really matches with my recent experience and that the Montero is a way better investment of my time and money.

Drove it around the neighborhood, really sad that I have to replace bunch of parts. After buying FJ I truelly believe Monty is a tank unlike FJ even though Toyota fans swear by it. All I did to Monty 33" tires and that's it, FJ needs suspension, BMC, trailing arms and protection, diffs can explode, cv axles leak with lift and so on. So I guess I gotta start fixing Monty, better investment

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WOW! someone agrees with me finally! I bought a GX-470 and it's just astounding how frail this vehicle is compared to the Montero, you get on the Toyota forums and they're so quick to claim how much you're going to love the superiority of the J-120 compared to the "wimpy" Montero. Then the reality kicks in when you start asking questions and you realize that the Toyota guys are much like the Jeep guys in the fact that their trucks are under built but it's ok because $3,000 dollars thrown at it's IFS will make it almost as good as the Montero and another $2000 thrown at the rear will bring it close to Montero status. Now that that is done, shoot another $1500 into the suspension as a whole and you can run 34" tires but don't get too nutty because you'll blow up the diff...

Months later, now that your truck is falling apart from wheeling it super modified cut off all IFS and solid axle swap.

When i trade my GX for a Gen 3 i am totally going to do a write up on the experience, I am the kind of dude who can admit when i've made a mistake and this is one of them. I should have listened to Pete and bought the Gen 3.

 

[PA_JERO]

I would strongly consider against the Gen 3. Biggest pile of steamy garbage. It looks cute though.