Alright everyone, IÆm desperately needing help. HereÆs my background. Got my first Montero back in Æ05. It was a Æ95 LS, and I loved it. IÆm a disabled vet and Feb of Æ07 we got 13ö of snow and it did GREAT. Esp since I canÆt shovel a lot bc of my lower back injury I didnÆt have do any shoveling since my Montero treated the big drifts and all like it was just a dusting. Unfortunately my ex took it later that year. I hurriedly bought a Jeep while I searched for another Æ95 Montero. I live in Lafayette, IN and drove all the way down to Louisville, KY 3 months later to get the one I have now. ItÆs an SR and gorgeous and looks brand new and I absolutely love it. It had almost 220K on it when I got it and didnÆt fret about having to replace the water pump or brake pads or starter or spark plugs. Its always burned oil on start up and take off. When I replace the spark plugs we discovered that there were no gaskets to keep the oil from getting into whatever itÆs called where the spark plugs go. We put gaskets on. However, first of Nov it started knocking. I added oil, but as the day progressed the knocking got louder until it just died on me. I was told by a buddy that I probably threw a rod and the cheapest and easiest way to fix it is to get a new engine. This has proven problematic as he also said the only engine that will go in it is a Æ94-Æ96 3.5 montero engine. IÆve only found brand new ones for 3K. IÆm a disabled vet and the VA definitely doesnÆt give me enough to make that kind of a purchase.
I will add that my nieceÆs husband did some work on it and I ended up having to have it towed to a mechanic and dishing out $400 for them to figure out what he did wrong. It was the wrong firing order and everything. HeÆs also the one who did my timing when I replace the water pump. Could it be anything other than a thrown rod? My gf of 4 years is insisting I just get a new vehicle but I absolutely love my Montero. Please, someone help me. By the way, I am also a female so when you answer, please donÆt expect me to be some guy who was taught stuff by his dad. Although I am quite a good fixer, I have no clue about thrown rods and stuff. ThereÆs so much I want to do to the truck (lift it, get bigger tires) but having it running is the first priority.

Welcome to the 'Wire'. I'd start with a compression or leak down test. Both are done by turning the engine by hand and I believe both can be done even with the damage you may have encountered.

I'm sure others who are far more knowledgeable will chime in shortly with more suggestions...

What a story, Montero aside. GL with everything (genuinely)...

When you say died, give us some more info to go with that. Will it crank and not run? Won't crank at all? Cranks and sounds like all hell is breaking loose?

Once on my 95 LS I miswired for firing order. It absolutely would not run anything close to proper and it didn't take me long to admit I must have missed something.

If the timing belt is off a tooth, that will mess things up as far as running right. Can't recall if the 3.5 DOHC will let you be one off and not damage things like valves. The fact that you said belt was recently done is suspect. If you don't change these right, it's easy to do it wrong and have it slip a tooth later as the belt stretches.

Thank you for the suggestion. I had to look up what the leak down test was lol. Sounds like an easier starting point than pulling the engine and either rebuilding it or replacing it if it's not needed. Now to find where to get the stuff to do the leak down test and compression test. This could be fun

ItÆll crank and start but quickly dies. And yes, it sounds like all hell is breaking loose. Loud banging in the motor somewhere. As far as the belt, it was all done last winter so IÆm not sure how long it would take for it to finally take a crap on me if the timing was off. Granted, the truck was down about 2 months this summer bc of the whole problem with the spark plugs.

Sorry to read about your troubles. I can certainly relate in regards to engine troubles. That being said, it is really hard to diagnose major engine related problems through the web, but from what you are describing, it sounds exactly like what happened to me. I've got almost $5K into new heads and a rebuilt short block and miscellaneous other parts to get my Montero back on the road, and I haven't even dropped the engine back in yet.

First, it could be that the timing belt let loose, and this being an interference engine (meaning the valves will hit the pistons if the engine isn't timed correctly) you may have bent valves, but since you stated the knocking started a couple of months ago that is least likely.

If I had to make a semi-educated guess, your crank and/or rod bearings were becoming suspect and finally let loose. Based on what I've spent so far, if you can find a replacement engine in the junkyard to replace yours with, that is the least expensive option available to you, depending on if you have the resources and assistance to do so. Expect to spend at least $1500 on a junkyard engine.

I've got $1600 into my short block alone, but the crankshaft was trashed, and number 4 piston was coming apart, so that is an extreme situation. New Heads are $300 each, so this can get expensive really quick.

Of course this is all a guess. If you have someone that can help with wrenching duties, first thing I would check is the timing belt, and then I'd pull the oil pan and the main webbing and inspect the bearings for wear.

Problematic belt stretch would have happened before now. You sure the plug wires are on right at this point? If you have a mechanic whom you trust, you can pull a service manual if needed from the link in my signature.

I read several of the posts about yours back after you got it. What a headache! The knocking started a couple days before it died, not a couple of months. I may have mistakenly put monthsàmaybe I need to read what I posted to see if I said it incorrectly.
I have been checking the junkyards and the auto scrapyards around here and in neighboring states. Finding another 3.5 motor to go in is not panning any results. If I had my old Montero that had the 3.0 motor IÆd have another one in it by now since I could use a couple Dodge motors in its place. I havenÆt even found anything close around here so IÆm looking at maybe trying to figure out if it could be something else. The first purchase I made after getting my Montero was the service manual so that I could do a lot of the maintenance myself. If itÆs a bent rod, or thrown rod, how could I find that out? Will there be any signs in the oil or oil pan?

The only way you'll find out the condition of the rods and bearings is to tear into the engine unfortunately. Based on my experience, the main and rod bearings were the final tell tale that I needed to rebuild the engine, and as you read, that was after a whole lot of jacking around chasing other problems. It isn't easy to drop the oil pan and main web while the engine is in the truck, but it can be done.

If the knocking only started a couple of days before it died, then I would check the timing belt first. On the drivers side of the engine there is an inspection cover that can be removed without taking much off the engine. There should be four 10mm bolts to remove, and you can pull the cover up and off. Check the condition and tension of the belt. It should be pretty tight, like a fan belt. That will at least give us something to go by. If everything looks alright, then you'll have to dig deeper to see if your timing is off or not. If you determine the timing is on, then it's time to start digging deeper.

I second this notion.

Oh BTW, I am a disabled veteran myself. Army of course, what about you?