Greetings fellow Montero owners. I am returning to this forum after a long absence. I have had a few posts in the last year or so, but used to be a regular poster on this board.

Here is my Montero story:

I was finishing up college back in 2002 and I started dating a girl who drove a Æ92 RS with 180k on the odometer. At the time I donÆt think I had ever been in a Montero. I was impressed by the fit and finish of her vehicle and how well it drove even with 180k. I was hooked. Within a few weeks of getting into her Montero that day I sold my Bronco II and bought a Æ95 LS with 106k on the odometer.

While I loved my Æ95 LS I suffered through an expensive list of repairs from the get go: head gasket (lots of sweet sweet smoke pouring out as I spent an afternoon driving offroad, plus some oil in my coolant), valve guides (smoke on start up), and then the t-belt change per the recommended maintenance schedule. These all hurt pretty bad as I was on a college budget. I also wouldÆve rather had a Æ95 SR, but it was out of my price range.
Over the next couple of years I put on 35k miles with no major problems, once I was past the head gasket, valve guides and t-belt change. I added KYB gas-a-justs and 31x10.5x15 BFG A/Ts on stock rims. My vehicle was almost flawless. I drove it that thing all over Texas. I drove from Austin to Moab, ran Steel Bender, then drove straight back to Austin. It was perfect. I could cruise comfortably on the highway and also do some mild trails in Moab. I eventually towed a U-haul from Texas to Colorado where I live now. Coming from Texas with a U-haul I expected to have some problems towing up to the Eisenhower Tunnel and over Vail Pass but again the Montero handled it with ease. The first winter here the Montero tamed all the snow storms without a hiccup. The worst thing that happened was that on a night where the temp was negative five degrees the plastic cover on the change holder next to the cigarette light snapped because it became so brittle. Earlier that year I took the Montero over the passes between Telluride and Silverton and she laughed at the high altitude and steep descents.

On a cold Sunday in January of Æ05 my beloved Montero left my stranded on the side of the road. I spent a few days and $1400 to have a mechanic in Aspen (where I was when I broke down) tell me I had bent valves due to the t-belt shredding. I told him the t-belt couldnÆt have been the issue because I had had it replaced around 115k. He did some research and told me that it looked like the bearings in a pulley had seized up and he didnÆt think whoever changed the t-belt changed the pulley, which I now think is the t-belt tensioner.

Anyone who has experienced the task of finding a new engine for the Montero knows they are expensive. Even though I was out of college I was still on a college budget. A few weeks later I had $1300 cash in my hand as I watched a guy tow my Montero away. He was a shade tree mechanic and was going to rebuild the engine in his spare time and give the Montero to his girlfriend. I was sad to see her go but was glad to get at least some money for it.

Since then IÆve owned 4 different vehicles, all the while wanting another Montero but afraid of having the engine grenade on me again. I had two Accords, a 91 4Runner with 310k miles and a Æ99 Silverado, my current vehicle. The 4Runner was cool, but compared to the Montero the interior was too small.

My girlfriend (different girl) laughs every time I buy a car and then sell it six months later. She blurted out one day ôWhy donÆt you just get another Montero and stop going through cars?ö

Greater advice has never been spoken by one of my girls.

Last Sunday I bought a vehicle on eBay, sight unseen. Five days later I hopped on a plane and flew to San Francisco to pick up my new vehicle, hoping the actual condition of the vehicle matched the sellerÆs description. I was not disappointed. I gave him his cash, took the signed title, got in the vehicle, and hit I-80 East. I spent the night sleeping in the parking lot of Wal-Mart in Elko, NV. The next day I continued to drive and made it back to my place in Colorado around 5pm.

It was a long drive, but to me it was worth it. I became the proud new owner of a Æ98 Montero with 92500 miles.


This is the Montero IÆve always wanted but could never afford, or so I thought. As it turns out, I bought it for $95 less than I paid for my Æ95 back in Æ02. Strange.

This Montero is sweet. Rear locker, heated leather seats, 10 disc player, headlight washers, blah blah blah. By a stroke of luck the original window sticker was in the glove box and in 1998 when it was for sale the vehicle had a price of $38,746 dollars. ThatÆs nuts. I got it for roughly 1/6 of that. It is almost a blessing that more people donÆt know how awesome these vehicles are. If they did, the prices would most certainly be higher.

The point of this long, rambling post is this:

At this moment, I want to do whatever maintenance I can do to make sure my engine doesnÆt bend valves or self destruct. IÆm still a little bitter about my Æ95.

IÆve read all the posts about the 90k maintenance and what to do. IÆve PMÆd Scottie2113 and he responded. He has a lot of good insight to offer and steered me in the right direction. Thanks Scott!. I am looking for any additional advice.

More specifically, I want to know what foreseeable malfunctions will lead to a busted engine. I can deal with leaking rear cam plugs and leaking valve cover gaskets, but I canÆt deal with another pulley seizing up or something like that. I think IÆd probably have to check into an institution if the same thing happened again.

In addition, the closest Mitsubishi dealer to me is about 200 miles away in Denver. I want to make one trip to Denver to have the important engine work done by Mitsu with Mitsu parts, and then have the smaller stuff done locally. Diff/t-case fluids I can easily do myself.

So, if anyone can help me identify the engine destroying maintenance related items below, I would very much appreciate it.


Service: 90,000 mile

-Replace Timing Belt and Timing Belt Tensioner
-I think someone mentioned something about a tensioner spring. Is this in addition to the timing belt tensioner or is the replaced as a piece of the new tensioner? This is something I will have done at the Mitsu dealer in Denver.

-Replace Thermostat and Water Pump. Mitsu Dealer in Denver.

-Replace all coolant hoses to include heater and throttle body heater hoses. Local mechanic.

-Replace all belts (replace idler pulleys)
-Is this only the serpentine belt?
-Is the idler pulley the main pulley the serpentine belt rotates around? If this pulley seizes up is the engine toast?
-Are there multiple idler pulleys?
-Is this a difficult job that should have a Mitsu mechanic like the t-belt?
-Should these pulleys have new bolts installed or is it OK to reuse old bolts?
-IÆd hate to have my engine blow up because a bolt that cost fifty cents snapped.

-Fan support bearing? Someone mentioned this in another post. Is this another bearing that will cause the engine to break if the bearing seizes up? I donÆt even know what this is.

-Replace crank seal, cam seals, and rear cam plugs. Might as well have it done while they are in there?

-Replace valve cover gaskets.

-Replace Fuel Filter. Local mechanic or myself.

-Replace Spark Plugs with Platinum Mitsubishi Plugs. Mitsu dealer.

-Replace Spark Plug Ignition Wires with Mitsubishi Wires. Mitsu dealer.

-Clean Throttle Body. Local mechanic or myself.

-Clean Power Steering Fluid Screen and replace fluid. Local mechanic down the road.

-Bleed Brake System and replace fluid. Local mechanice down the road.

-Flush Fuel Injectors. Me, with bottle of fuel injector cleaner from NAPA.

-Flush Radiator and replace coolant & radiator cap. Drain and fill in my driveway.

-Flush Transmission and replace with Mitsu Transmission Fluid. Mitsu dealer.

-Service Evaporative Charcoal Canister. ?

-Service emissions controls. ?

-Replace EGR Pipe & PCV Valve. If I remember correctly this is really easy.

-Check Entire Exhaust System for leaks. Me or local mechanic.


So is there anything else that will bend a valve if it fails other than the t-belt tensioner? Will an idler pulley malfunction ruin the engine?

This is a pic of my old '95 in Moab





These are a couple of pics of my new '98



All I plan on doing to the new one is tinting the front windows and losing the running boards.

Any thoughts, advice, comments appreciated <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

I think you have it covered but don't spend more on PM than you spent on the truck <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

nice looking '98. my brother has a '99 montero and my dad has a '99 montero as well, not to mention I have two 97 monteros on top of that, so if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask me <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Sounds like the idler bearing froze on your LS. Both the idler bearing and the tensioner bearing should be replaced when doing the timing belt/water pump job in my opinion. The first thing I do when getting a new V6 (any year) montero is tear apart the front of the engine and replace the timing belt,tensioner,bearings and front main seal. Inspect the cam seals for leaks and replace if necessary. Ive used aftermarket bearings and T-belts with success but
would recommend you stick with the OEM front seal. As long as you maintain the timming belt and its components the engine should be fine..I have 185K on my 95 SR engine with just 2 t-belt changes and one tune up (I'm due) with no problems. Oh and ensure that whoever does your T-belt gets the proper torque on the crankshaft bolt..be sure to specificly tell him this even if it annoys him.

My budget know only allows for the major maintenance to be done at this point.

Here is the list of parts I am going to order this week for the t-belt job.

All parts are coming from DiscountMitsubishiParts.com

Timing belt $64.70
Tensioner $80.02
Tensioner pulley $29.10
Idler pulley $27.22
Water pump $129.76
Cam seal (2@$7.42) $14.84
Crank seal $6.78

Total parts $352.42


I understand the importance of torquing the crank bolt to the proper spec but noticed nobody mentioned replacing the crank pulley.

Is the crank pulley immune from failure?

I can tell you that if it gets installed with a broken key, and the mechanic RTVs it in place, that sucker will be SHOT. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> Am I right "drunk boy"? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> I went ahead and spent the extra cash for OEM parts.