In my 87 SWB the automatic would not go into overdrive so I pulled a OD soilinoid from a 1986 Mitsu van at a local yard. I cut and spliced the OD soleniod and the truck ran great for a couple of days until it would not start on the third day. Motor will not turn over and at first I thought I had a bad battery. When I turn the key on I can hear the OD soleniod clicking. Do I have a short or something else going on? It's as if your trying to start the car in drive no fire. Question is the OD soleniod out of the 80's vans compatable with a 87 SWB auto tranny; they look the same and what trucks and years can I swap the OD soleniods from? I had the same problem with my 88 SWB and changed out the OD soleniod from a 90 LWB Montero and its been great for months. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I think you may have 2 separate problems.Splicing an overdrive unit shouldn't cause a cranking problem.The O/D ckt is only energized after the engine is running & the thermo sw has closed(the engine has to be hot)Here is a link for down loadable service manual. Hope it helps. http://www.mitsubishilinks.com/

I am wondering if I pull the wire off the termo switch the engine will turn over. I will try that tonight. I had been driving the truck with the temp guage pegged at hot but I could tell the engine was not over heated. The previous owner had installed a after market gauge in the truck and used the location of the old thermo sensor for his new temp guage imput. I replaced the radaitor and reinstalled the the old termo sensor that was removed on the intake manifold next to the T-stat. The factory temp guage was pegged after doing this but the truck engine seems to be opperating normally. When I drove the truck I checked to make shure it wasn't running hot. I thought I had a temp guage that was bad and it was not grounded but maybe I have a bigger problem now. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" />

A. I think the 87 2.6 is wired different re the temp switch. It turns o/d (and iirc, a/c) off when the motor is too hot. The temp sw. is normally closed, and is the ground for the o/d solenoid, IIRC.

B. I think you have the temp gauge wired to the temp switch noted above, NOT to the temp sender. The temp switch is the smallest sith single connector of the various temp thingies on the intake, on or near the tstat neck. The medium single connector thingy is the gauge sender, and is a thermistor, and the two connector thingy is the coolant temp sensor for the carb computer. The gauge pegs dead hot when the sender wire is grounded (you may have fried the gauge bimetal by now), and if it's hooked to the temp switch, it will be grounded unless you overheat the motor.

C. Charge the battery and try to start the truck in N. You may have a bad neutral start switch.

If it's like mine(3.0)the sensor is the smaller 1 that points toward the radiator. Ground it & it should go in to O/D.It has only 1 connector on it.Check the single small wire that plugs onto the starter, if it's loose it has trouble cranking.

Stump, it's wired different. Yours kills o/d when cold for emissions, and his kills o/d on overheat. If he grounds it, it will go into o/d, but without the overheat protection. Been too long since I had a carby 2.6, but the sizes of the various sensors is right in my post.

Thanks for the correction Eddy.I'm kinda new to the Raider/montero.I was just going on what I've found out the hard way or w/ help from you guys. Was the 3.0 available before '89?

89 was first year.

It appears I have some problem with my starter because I tapped on it and the car started right up. I still have the clicking noise when I turn the key on and it sounds like its coming internally from the starter. What could that be? I pulled a starter from a 90 LWB yesterday at the junk yard it was out of a 3.0 and I have a 2.6 L is this starter compatible with my 2.6 I did not pay for it. Also I was going to pull the trans out of the 3.0 LWB and got about 85% done until I got to removing the top bolts on the bell housing and I hit the wall. How do get to the upper bell housing bolts on this truck with out pulling the motor or the top end of the engine off? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cyclops.gif" alt="" />

We usually use liberal amounts of lube (Breakfree, WD-40, etc.) and about 6 feet worth of extensions to come in from the rear of the trans.