How about this one? Should I buy?

[kfet]

Just testdrove a 93 petrol manual wagon. It looks VERY clean and tidy and only has 165k on the clock! Tires at least 50% and neat looking alloys. Has AC but few other options apart from a funky waterheater under the bonnet (to provide shower water!). Engine bay looks like on a new car.

Runs very nicely and appears to have heaps of power, brakes and steering seemed fine. Only thing I noticed was that the shift stick moved a little when I released/pushed down the accelerator, which made me think that the engine mounts could be worn...? It moved maybe 2 cms at most but it was noticable. Is this normal or are the engine mounts stuffed? If they are, is it a big/expensive operation to rectify this?

The car does not have a recent service record but the new car look could indicate that the kms are genuine. Price is a cheerful 4200 with rego till january08.

Should I go for it? Anything specific that I should/must check for this model?

Appreciate (quick) feedback as I expect it'll get sold quick...

Thanks, Kristian

[cutting it]

Really need photo's to judge... but sounds ok, if it's a V6 model. The movement could be engine or gearbox mounts or both and also the gear stick could worn at the base.. if your habdy, not hard to fix.

But watch for the blue smoke from the exhaust.. now that could be "money" out the door. The thing to remember is that your not far from the 200000km mark where most things start to happen... IE money out the door, but if you can do repairs yourself of are prepared to learn then thats ok.

wouldn't buy it if it's a 4cly job myself..but thats only because i prefer a V6

Ray

[Yonnee]

Is it a GLX or GLS?
For a 'top of the range' GLS with that few K's, it seems a bit too cheap unless the owner has a legit reason for a quick sale.

The driveline in these things is supposed to be good for 500,000k if kept regularly maintained. Also be aware that Mitsubishi know how to surgically remove money from your bank account for spare parts, but there is a reasonable range of non-gen available.

Mine's a '91 NH and has done 320K's and is only now just starting to emit a puff of blue smoke on start-up. And seeing as it took 5 hours to do the rocker cover gaskets recently, the valve stem seals can wait a bit longer!

Ask the owner if it's had it computer replaced. There's and old saying that it's not "if", but "when" It'll need to be replaced.

[kfet]

Hi and thanks for the replies,

Yes, it's a GLS. Forgot to mention that the windscreen is cracked, he knocked off a few hundred for that... And the rear shocks don't seem too effective.

Regarding the gear lever movements it must be said that i'm not used to 4wds. I had a feel on the stick of my colleague's 98 Delica and it had pretty much the same motions. Guess I shouldn't expect the feel of a bmw gear stick on these cars....

Seller has bought a tarago for his growing family so guess that's sort of legitimate enough. Have arranged to pick it up tonight.

Thanks for the help, will get back in here when "things start to happen"..

[nj swb]

The transfer case has a mount on an arm out to one side. It's two concentric rings with a rubber web between them, and the web fails pretty easily. I imagine that's why the stick moves side to side.

Shift quality isn't the best - the gearbox is a little truck like. Some models have synchro issues with 2nd, other models on 3rd. Some people find the right oil makes a world of difference; I don't have a huge problem, but oil doesn't appear to make any difference for me.

[kfet]

Hi again,

yes, it does have a slight synchro issue on the second (goes away as it warms up though) and yes it's more truck like than i expected. But hey, it has some acceleration if you want it to! Another issue is that it sometimes jumps out of third after a downshift (e.g. down a hill into a light crossing before turning and then accelerating again). I imagine it could be linked to the motions of the transmission assembly.

Another thing i discovered is that none of the upper rear lights are operational, only the bumper ones... Discovered it when it was really dark and i had no reversing lights! Then i started looking at other cars and saw another pajero with only the bumper lights on and even a patrol, although the upper brake lights were working... Will give the seller a ring about this!

Thanks for the suggestions, will check that rubber web!

[nj swb]

The tail lights thing is an ADR issue on many vehicles with the spare tyre mounted on the rear door. Reverse lights should be working, but the body height tail/brake/indicators don't. Some people install globes themselves, but they're not "standard".

[Yonnee]

In an NH, the upper red lenses on the body work taillights are "fog" lamps. The switch above your factory cruise control switch activates these, but only when your other lights are on.

I've modified mine. I found the fog light and the brake light wires under the sill trim at the drivers door, cut the fog light wire and spliced it into the brake lights. Now I have five brake light globes to check, but at least you'll see me!!

But nj_swb is right, the reverse lights should still work.

Yonnee.

[kfet]

The transfer case has a mount on an arm out to one side. It's two concentric rings with a rubber web between them, and the web fails pretty easily. I imagine that's why the stick moves side to side.

> Had a good look underneath the car and found a circular (steel ring with rubber centre and bolt through) mount where the rubber was completely gone, i.e. the bolt is moving freely around inside that ring. It's out to the passenger side from what i think is the gearbox (the rearmost box anyway - this is my first 4wd ). Is this the one you are referring to?
Anyway, it definitely needs replacement and would explain at least some of the clanking noise that can be heard at slow speed. Can anyone recommend a good place for such parts in Sydney? Or are they only available through mitsubishi?

Shift quality isn't the best - the gearbox is a little truck like. Some models have synchro issues with 2nd, other models on 3rd. Some people find the right oil makes a world of difference; I don't have a huge problem, but oil doesn't appear to make any difference for me.

> Both my second gear synchro problem and the 3rd that slips out appears to go away when the gearbox warms up, which could indicate that a thinner oil would help...? Which oils are people getting good results with? And what about those teflon based gear oil additives? Any good?

Had a look at the rearlights, everything seems ok in there, so guess it's the sender unit on the gearbox causing problems... Will get a repair manual so i can locate it!

Thanks again

[Yonnee]

> Can anyone recommend a good place for such parts in Sydney? Or are they only available through mitsubishi?

MITSUBISHI = EXPENSIVE

First try autObarn / Repco / Bursons / Supercrap first and check if Mackay or Kelpro make one for it, otherwise it's genuine only.

> Which oils are people getting good results with? And what about those teflon based gear oil additives? Any good?

No good shutting the gate after the horse has bolted. The additives will help prolong the life of your drivetrain if used early in the life of the vehicle, they won't help already worn components.

As for oils, I only use and recommend Penrite.

Hope this helps.

Yonnee.

[6G74]

No good shutting the gate after the horse has bolted. The additives will help prolong the life of your drivetrain if used early in the life of the vehicle, they won't help already worn components.

On one hand i agree, the other i dont. Its not a solution but more a temporory patch up, if you plan on keeping the car, your only postponing the enevitable - the downside here is you just bought the car...

I never had much joy with different oils in my car, in the end i rebuilt the gear box. All the same i have heard good reports about Redline oil, mixtures of auto fluid and normal gear oil in an effort to thin it down, and some ppl running straight auto fluid in the box.

The third gear thing i think may be a little more serious... the teeth for each gear have a tapper on them, this tapper is effectively wat holds the syncronizer sleeve onto the gear, with age, use and grinding gears, this tapper wears, eventually resulting in the box jumping outta gears. Hopefully im wrong aye?

[Terryo]

kfet,
Don't worry about the gearbox mount unless the rubber is worn through and is metal on metal.
The thin rubber webbing which breaks away pretty easily is only there to help with shipping and fitting the part, to temperarily keep the part together. If you see a new one you will see that the rubber webing between the two parts will not last for any lenght of time and will quickly fall apart once fitted and in use.

Terry

[kfet]

Hi,

Got the gearbox mount now but not fitted yet. Yes it doesn't look like it will be doing too much to restrict motion... But the old one is truly gone! No rubber left, just metal to metal. I hope this is what's causing this annoying clicking metallic noise when driving at slow speed....

[kfet]

By the way, I changed the gear oil, using valvoline 75w90 and nulon teflon additive. It helped quite a lot, but then seeing all the metal dust in the old oil it's quite understandable! I might change it again in a few weeks as i imagine there would have been a bit of that grinding dust left behind after draining...

But i still have the feeling that the dropping out of third issue is due partly to the motions of the gear box when letting out the accelerator when approaching a roundabout etc. It will typically only happen once or twice at most on my 30k way to work. Seems to go away as it warms up. I have developed a habit of keeping my hand on the stick and applying a forward pressure in the mentioned situations. When it happens it does feel like it gets pulled out of gear from the movement of the transmission....