My stories end up running long... The short version. I live in LA, bought a 99 that needed a head gasket/timing belt/water pump job. Have run into a few hiccups along the way, but am happy to find a community of people that are into the Montero.


Long version below

--Intro & The Search--


May 2011: With a pending move my wife and I go from a 2 car (Jeep GC, Mazda 6) to a 1 vehicle couple.

June 2011: My wife and I (and 2 dogs) move from Ohio to Los Angeles after I took a job with a new company. Shortly after arriving in LA, I purchase a motorcycle and use it for commuting. I currently do around 1000 miles a month just for the commute.

July 2012: I have just returned from a weekly motorcycle trip to Colorado and my wife tells me we are expecting our first child in early April.

August-December 2012: As the reality of a child is starting to sink in, I begin to reevaluate our 1 car, 1 motorcycle setup. I go to work daily, and although I usually ride a motorcycle, there are times when I need a car. If my bike were to break down, I would then have to use the car. Similarly, my wife does some photography that can take her away for long days on a Saturday. If we were to just have one car, the other person staying home would not be able to go anywhere. I don't expect to be going too far with a newborn, but they don't stay new forever.

During this time I begin to do some calculations. Should we get something ultra fuel efficient and small? If its small, we might have trouble with our 2 dogs (Great Dane, and Golden Retriever), plus any people transport. This started putting me down the path of some kind of SUV. The kicker was that I didn't want to spend very much money. Based on my calculations, with anticipated miles per year, the gas milage didn't matter too much, because if I could buy at a low price, I could afford to spend a little more on gas.

My initial searches were surrounding the FJ60, I really like the classic look, but so does everyone else, because the resell value on a 20+ year old cruiser is a little silly. I also looked at Land Rover Discos, but didn't care for the first gen, and the 2nd gen was too expensive.

As it started to sink in that what I wanted just didn't line up with my budget. In combination with my new favorite TV show, Wheeler Dealers (think "Flip This House", but with cars), I began thinking that perhaps I should/could look for a little bit of a project car. Something that I can get for a good price, and wrench on a little.

Around the same time I noticed a Montero driving down the street and become quite interested. The more I looked into a Montero, the more I liked what I learned. The classic styling, the robust 4x4 capabilities, the reliability of the engine (with some maintenance), the size, even the mpgs are good for a vehicle of this size. I was quite puzzled that the Montero/Pajero sells so well everywhere in the world, but in America. However, for me, this was great because it helped keep the resell prices low.

October 2012: The company I worked for in Ohio goes out of business. No one gets paid on payday, and everyone's employment is terminated. Good thing I took a new job

November 2012: I began to focus on the Monteo, performing daily/weekly searches on craiglist/autotrader as well as forums. I test drove a 2000, and really liked the gen 2.5 styling, but without a project car, I figured I would have to focus on a gen 2 to fit my budget.


--Purchase & Pickup--


December 28, 2012: I happen to look on 4x4wire, and see a 1999 project car. I run some numbers for the work that probably needs to be done, and everything is looking positive. I email the seller and after a few rounds of emails, and phone call between LA and somewhere in the middle-east.

December 31, 2012: I wire over a down payment and make arrangements to pick up the car. The only catch is that I live in LA, and the car is in south east Arizona, a 530 mile one-way trip. Back in Ohio, I have friends who have all of the necessary items (big trucks & flatbed trailers) to make a 1000 mile round trip and do it for gas money, but in LA my network hasn't expanded far enough. Luckily during the previous weekend, the only guy I know who owns a truck that I would feel comfortable asking to help, volunteered his truck. After discussing with him his availability, it was looking like the next day (new years day) was going to be the best. Just before they close, we stop at a local 'haul it you self' rental facility, we pick up a double axle car hauler and set plans to meet up at 5am to setoff from LA.

January 1, 2013: 5:15am, Rick shows up and after a quick gas stop we are on the road. Neither of us have had much sleep the night before. Like the night before Christmas, I'm just too excited. Rick on the other hand had to work late and didn't get home until about 2am (it was new year's eve after all) We talk the entire way, keeping both of us wide awake which helps the 9 hour drive become quite uneventful. The most challenging part of the day is deciding where to breakfast and lunch. We roll into town around 2pm. After a quick once over, and a short drive around the block, I hand over some $, receive some papers. Rick and I load the Montero onto the trailer, compare some before and after measurements to find out how far the truck has dropped with the extra weight. Being quite satisfied around 3pm set out for the 9 hour return trip. We are both surprised at how well the Silverado 1500 is pulling the Montero. On paper, the towing numbers all add up, but still we are a little surprised. Again the return trip is quite uneventful, aside from Rick having to give up driving duties in the final 100 miles, we pull into my driveway at 12:30am, return the trailer and I slip into bed 21 hours after leaving.




--The Work--


January 2-4, 2013: I have to work (I do have a day job), and the weather is kind of crummy in LA so the Montero sits in front of my garage, but it gives me time to have some parts ordered up and delivered. Needless to say, the amount of work that needs to be done is way more than I have ever done on car engine. The most I've done in the past is valve cover gaskets, and on one car, I ended up dropping a razor blade down into the timing chain cover that I never did find. However, I'm a pretty sharp guy, and am mechanically inclined... so how hard can it be!?


January 5-6, 2013: I finally have time to dig in and get to the water pump, timing belt, and head gasket. A few hours into the project, I think to myself "I could actually finish up this weekend!". Little did I know what was to be ahead. As I pull things apart, I remove something, and put the bolts back into the holes they came from, this helped me when I put everything back together. Some items are a little bit of a pain (AC compresor, etc), but at the end of the weekend, I have everything pulled off (water pump, timing belt), except the heads. I don't have the 10mm hex to unbolt the heads. I also realize that I need a few more parts (head bolts, timing cover gaskets, and a few other gaskets that my head gasket kit didn't come with). No worries though, because the next 5 days I am traveling for work. After the weekend, I discover why the Montero over heated. The waterpump was completely seized up, the timing belt idler pulley fell apart as I pulled the accessory mount and timing covers. Loose bearings fell out onto the driveway as well as the actual ring that comes into contact with the belt. The tensioner pulley wasn't too far off. The seals were gone/melted and dry bearings were fully visible.

January 12-13, 2013: I don't have all the parts yet, but that isn't a problem, because I have a lot of surfaces to clean, and the heads to remove. I spend nearly the full weekend pulling the heads and cleaning everything up.

January 15, 2013: My final parts show up and around 6pm I start putting everything back together. First up, the heads. They go on easily, head bolts get the proper tightening sequence. I spend the next few hours trying to get the timing belt lined up just right. I got better as time went on. The 2 big problems were that the drivers side cam (cylinder 2, 4, 6) was on the mark with no spring resistance. This allows the cam cog to rotate a few degrees both ways. The other was the passenger cam (cylinder 1, 3, 5) would only line up with spring tension. It was a little tricky to get it set right on the mark, and give the timing belt enough tension so everything stayed where it should have be. After spending several hours on the timing belt, tensioner, I finish up around 12:00am (after all, I have a day job).

January 16, 2013: I realize that I'll soon need to be changing the oil and adding coolant, so I make a trip to the store and buy the necessary fluids, as well as spark plug anti seize compound and electrical grease. After a quick bite to eat, around 8pm, I start and spend the next few hours bolting on all of the accessory pumps, radiator. Leaving just the intake pieces. Just before midnight, I call it a night (after all, I have a day job).

January 17, 2013: Knowing that the finish line is close, I try to get an early start, and by 7pm I'm wielding wrenches again. Everything is going well, taking me a little time to get some of the bits back in place, but I've got plenty of time. My plan is to get everything bolted back together tonight. Tomorrow I will hit up a smog place and the DMV for registration. Save for some electrical harnesses, and the air box, I'm putting on the last part, the oil filler cap bracket... and... things... are... nOT... LINING.. UP!!!!! I could either attach the mounting bracket to the accessory mount, or the horizontal cooling pipe, but not both at the same time. The engine turns over by hand quite smoothly, all of the belts and pulleys seem to line up well. The bolt on accessory mount is solid as a rock. At 11pm, I come inside to do a bit of research. Knowing that I want to get smog and DMV done tomorrow.... I head back out at 12:00am and start to take the front of the engine apart. I get back down to the timing belt around 2:30 (stupid AC compressor). I leave the radiator in place, which makes things a little tighter, but quite doable. I get it all apart, and realize that I'm quickly forgetting where I set wrenches/sockets, and head to bed (After all, I have a day job). So basically in the last 2 days I've done the timing belt and water pump twice. If you need help with it in the future, I'm your guy.

January 18, 2013: Planning on getting smog and DMV done today, I am working from home. I spend the next few hours trying to figure out why things aren't lining up. I post a few things, and get some responses that confirm my suspicions. Something with the water pump is pushing out the accessory mount. This is then causing the top of the mount to be about a 1/4 of an inch too close to the radiator, or too far from the rest of the engine. I grind down the water pump an 8th of a inch where it comes into contact with the accessory mount, and I get a pretty good fit. I also attach the accessory mount, torquing the bolts in smaller increments, and not one bolt at a time. This wasn't the first time I had to trim down the water pump. It wouldn't fit onto the housing, so I had to actually file down about 3/16ths off the top.

I finish up EVERYTHING around 3pm... time for the first turn of they key. I pull the crank/cam shaft sensors so it won't fire up, and turn the key to help prime things. Reconnect the sensors and cross my fingers. I turn the key and after about 7-10 seconds, the beast is alive! Although, it does sound REALLY bad. My wife comments that it sounds like a diesel with all the clattering, but the white smoke I emitted 18 days earlier was gone. In fact, there was no visible smoke! I let it idle for a few more mins and take it out for a short test drive. Everything seemed to be running well, except for a pesky check engine light. Thinking that it is due to just having pulled heads/timing belt/drained coolant/changed oil/really rough running, I disconnect the battery to rest the computer. About 5 mins later, I reattach the battery and the CEL is gone. Another drive around the block, and I'm ready for a smog check.

I have a little trouble finding the smog place, and knowing they close in an hour (it's now 4pm) I'm happy to find the place. I pull into the parking lot, and walk inside. Turns out I didn't find the right place, so I go back out to the car, start it up, only to see the CEL glaring at me in the face. Knowing this is an instant fail, I drive down the street to PepBoys and get a code read. The code P0115, engine temperature sensor. As it turns out, I remembered the upper cooling tube got bumped and fell right onto the sensor. In the pepboys parking lot, I fiddle with the sensor clip and realize that the lead wasn't fully seated. I get it fully clipped in place and restart the car several times, but the check engine light doesn't go away. So I hang my tail between my legs and return home, without the smog. After running some test with a ohm meter, the results tell me the sensor is working properly, and getting the correct voltage. So I disconnect the battery again, the check engine light goes away, but it's well after closing time for the smog check. So for the first time in 4 days, I stop working around 6pm. Ready to hit up a smog place and DMV for registration.

January 19, 2013: Just after 8am I start the car and let it idle up to temp. Before I go to the smog station, I for a quick drive around the block to make sure everything is up to temp. I can smell a little oil burning smell, but I figure it's due to residual oil burning off from the previous busted head gasket. As I'm sitting in the smog shop, I'm talking to the owner operator, and mention the work I had just completed. He pokes around the engine bay, and compliments me on the work I had done. He was quite impressed that everything looked so well, and that everything sounded like it was running well. When I mentioned that I had done a head gasket because of an over heat, he hits the throttle from inside the engine bay. Now it wasn't visible in direct sunlight, but in the shade of the smog bay, puffs of smoke came from the tail pipe after hitting some throttle after idle. The owner asked me if I had done the valve seals, I replied with a "no". He told me that he sees a lot of Japanese engines with this problem and the issue is usually bad valve seals. The smoke is an instant fail on the smog test. He let me out the door without charging me (he will be my smog station for life).

I drive home with my head low. I start reading some great posts on doing valve seals on a single overhead cam, and learn that I don't need to pull the heads. So after another stop to the auto parts store for a spark-plug to air compressor converter, as well as valve spring compressor I get some lunch and start in on removing the air intake so I can get to the valve covers. I get the valve covers pulled and take off the rocker arms. After having the rocker arms pulled, I notice that one of the hydraulic lash adjusters (HLA) isn't sitting down in its housing like the others. As I pull the HLA out, and compare it to the another HLA I pulled out, I notice that they are quite different. As it turns out, the HLA fell apart and left some bits in its housing. As I go through all of the HLAs, I find 3 others that need to be replaced. The seal at the bottom of these lifters are loose.

I'm going to have to make some modifications to the spring compressor, and order some lifters. I also did a pseudo leak test and am happy that I am showing very little loss. I'll do a full leak test (albeit on a cold engine), and a compression test before putting it all back together. I will be traveling again all week long for work, and I will have some people in town from our European offices the following weekend.... so it will probably be a couple of weeks yet before I'll likely be able to finish everything up.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! I'm quite pleased with the Montero so far. The work hasn't been too difficult, just time consuming, and frustrating a times. I've obviously made a few noob moves along the way (not doing valve seals when the heads were removed for example), but I'm happy to have found a community of owners who are willing to quickly answer questions of all sorts. When I am fully finished, I would like to meet up with another owner in the area to have them give the Montero a once over. The reason is, I haven't driven many of them before, so someone who has more familiarity than I might be able to point out something that someone with no experience would easily miss.

Thanks for all the help/tips/advice!

(if you reply to this, please don't quote it)

Good wrenching. You're going to do just fine around here. Don't sweat the flack on your post on the wires. And if I havn't said it yet, welcome aboard...

Was this the super nice Monty the guy's wife smoked on the highway last month?

Good find. It sucks right now, but you're going to look back on these days with a sense of pride.

Welcome to the Wire. I'm on at least 50 different boards. The people here are exceptional. Second-to-none.

i can rent you the tool to do the vss if you need one or i could give a 1995 SR if you have small hands bad eye sight cant hear to good and have trouble speaking

Nice story. You're in the right place.

Good job. I wish you would have hit us up before the job for advice, but sometimes the best lessons learned are the ones we learn ourselves.

I've had good luck with the VLA's (lash adjusters) from spain off ebay if you have not already bought them. Replace all of them, not just the 3 bad ones.

Welcome and nice story, hope all goes well.Not saying its right but when I lived in a state where I had to have a inspection, I had to buy em. Good-luck. METALMOVER

It looks like I left off on Jan 19th.

--Valve Seals--

Jan 21-25: Due to a work trip, I am out of town all week. Because I had started working on the valve seals during the previous weekend, I'm ordering some parts to help the process go smooth once I am home and able to work. I order 10 keepers, 24 hydraulic lash adjusters, 6 spark plug tube gaskets (not sure why I waited so long to order those). Most importantly, someone on the board contacted me about a valve spring compressor tool that I rented. I can't imagine trying to do this job without the proper tool. This tool bolts down to the valve gasket bolt holes, and rocker arm bolt holes. It is a little fiddly to get into place, but makes it as easy as it can be to compress the springs and pull the keepers.

Jan 26 (saturday): USPS says the package with the special tool is "out for delivery", well come 11pm (after being out for delivery for 12+ hours, the package has not arrived. Basically I now have a wasted weekend, because without the tool, I can't do the work. I think the package was on the weekend delivery driver's USPS car. The weekend guy pulled up to our mailbox, put the normal mail in (without exiting the vehicle), they then took a look at how steep our driveway was, and the size of the package.... and then just drove off, because they didn't want to walk up the driveway. The driveway isn't long, it's just steep.

Jan 28: The tool is finally delivered, but I have some out of town business guests that I take out to dinner, I don't get home until after 8pm. I think I check out the tool and size it up, but I don't have any time to work.

Jan 29: I get home around 6pm, start working around 7 and am able to do the entire passenger side of the valve seals. I had previously done 4 valve seals in about 5 hours (with the wrong tools). With the right tool, I did 12 (re-did the first few) in about 4 hours.

Jan 30: We have a hospital tour for our up-coming bundle of joy, and I don't get home until 9. I setup the tool on the drivers side and do the top row of valves (all intake valves)

Jan 31: Again, I'm not able to start until about 9:30pm, I reposition the tool and finish up the exhaust valves. I finish up around 12:30 am and call it quits for the night.

Throughout the process of doing the valve seals, I was SHOCKED at how difficult the old valve seals were to remove. With the right tool, the keepers came out in just a few seconds, but pulling the seal would take several mins. Also, replacing the keepers was quite a challenge at times. I ended up losing 3 keepers. 2 of them shot out into the engine bay and I didn't find them. 1 of them fell into the top of the head on the passenger side and I couldn't find it. All of my oil returns were plugged, so it didn't fall down there. I used compressed air to pretty much clear the area of oil, directing a high pressure stream of air in all directions, but still not able to find it. Although I know it fell into the top of the head, but perhaps one of my blasts of air shot it out. I'm not sure.

Feb 1: I know all I have left is to prime all of the lash adjusters and put everything back together. I get home from work a little early and start around 4:30pm. The lash adjusters prime just as the FSM states they should. I use the tips of all of the rubber gloves I've been going through to keep the adjusters in place. It works well enough. I can't think of anything better (maybe rubber bands). Rockers all bolted down to the proper torque, valve covers on.

I'm thinking that right now would be a good time to do a compression test. So I get the compression testing tool I rented from autozone. I run the tester with a hose that doesn't have a check valve. So it's a little difficult to get a clear reading. I realize that the hose from Autozone has a check valve, so I proceed to test cylinder #1. As I'm screwing down the hose into the spark plug hole, I feel the hose threads come to a stop, but I then also feel the hose that I'm holding onto continue to spin. The compression test host is stuck in the spark plug hole. I can't back it out, I can't make it tighter. I test cylinder #1, and get a reading of 150psi on a cold engine. I'm finally able to use a long standard screwdriver to spin the end to a point where the hose will finally turn it. I don't test any of the other cylinders. It turns out the tester kit was missing a piece that would have allowed me to attach a socket and back the tip out. I move on to the lower plenum.

As I'm hitting the bolts around the backside of the lower plenum, I'm forcing my 12mm deep socket between a couple of coolant lines. The extension I'm using, has one of those locking collars where the socket won't release from the extension unless you slide the collar toward away from the socket. Well, as I'm pushing the socket down between the coolant lines, the lines slide the collar back and my 12mm falls down behind the engine or into the valley. I search for the socket with a flashlight, I get up into the engine bay, practically go prone across the top of the engine as I search for it, but It's gone, I can't find it. Stinks too, because this entire engine job can be done with just about 3 sockets 10mm, 12mm, and 14mm.

I continue with the upper plenum, vacuum lines connected, electrical connectors, and I'm finally ready to turn the engine over to start things up.


Engine turns over, starts up quicker than it did after the first start after head gasket change. One of the lash adjusters is ticking quite heavily. I let the engine idle for a few mins, do the 3k rpm for 15 second trick a few times and the ticking pretty much goes away. I have my wife goose the throttle while I check for smoke coming out of the exhaust. I see no smoke. Go for a quick drive around the block, everything is looking good. I call it quits for the night around 11:30pm.

Feb 2: The final major hurtle for me will be to pass smog check. I'm under the impression that without] a smog pass, I can't get the title transferred or the vehicle registered in CA. I check for smoke in the morning before heading off, and everything is running great. No noticeable ticking, engine is running like a top. I go to the smog station, have some small talk with the owner, first thing he does is check for the smoke after goosing the throttle at idle, and is impressed that it is gone. He compliments me for doing a good job on the work, and getting everything buttoned back up under the hood. He plugs in the ODB2 reader, and two of my "monitors" (as he called them) have not registered enough data for me to be able to pass the test. He suggests that I go for a drive, let it sit for 30 mins, then come back.

At this point, I have no license plates, no registration. I have a title signed over to me, as well as insurance. But because I believe I have to get smog before I can register I take the Montero for a 30-40 mile round trip drive down the freeway. I stop by the smog shop for a 2nd time. This time, only one of my monitors doesn't have enough data, but 1 of 3 without enough data isn't enough to fail me (in 2014 it will be). The tech pulls the Montero up onto the dyno, he goes through his barrage of tests and is reassuring me that everything looks good, and he expects me to pass.

After the computer crunches some numbers, the code comes back and I've failed. My hydrocarbons are too high in the 25mph test. I pass in the 15mph test by 1ppm with a measurement of 45 out of a max of 46. In the 25 mph test I score a 31 with a max of 29. The shop owner is quite surprised, as a score of 31ppm is quite good. He then goes on to quickly show me that another car 2007 model year scores a 33 and passes because the max for that car is 35. So the Montero, that is 8 model years older has a higher standard to follow. I don't quite understand.

Even though I did fail, I'm pretty confident that I can pass. From what I read, high levels of hydrocarbons are an indicator that unburnt fuel is exiting the exhaust. I think the Montero sat for a little while, because it did have some engine problems. So likely the gas in the tank for this test is a few months old. Additionally California has their special gas blends, I'm thinking that after running out the old gas, adding California gas, and maybe some type of fuel additive I'll be able to pass smog.

In California, you are required to register a vehicle 20 days after bringing it into the state. However, I am now at 31 days. So I call AAA of Souther California and find out what options I have. As it turns out, I can get a temporary registration without any vehicle inspection. The temp registration is good for 2 months. Had I known this was an option, I would have gone a few weeks ago and picked up a temporary registration. Now with this temp registration, I'm good to operate the vehicle on California roadways. This will make it much easier to burn out the old fuel! With the registration in hand, I head out (with wife and dogs) on a 100 mile round trip drive. I can tell there is something that needs to be tended to in the steering or front suspension. I can feel that some bushing or something isn't 100%. But other then that, it drives well, and about as much power as I expected.

Final things to do are drive it around, perhaps check the o2 sensors, as they may have been fouled up by the blown head gasket.

The End (almost)

There is never an end to these vehicles, short of killing them in a wreck, selling them to a wrecking yard, etc. Still, in the latter case, pieces of them continue on...just like at the Montero Ranch.

As to your high ppm numbers, several gents here recommend use of Seafoam products. You can read up on them using Search to find related posts.

Cheers,
Russell