NL top end rebuild

[paul77]

Hi guys.

My 1997 NL SOHC seems to be leaking at the vaulve stem seals. At the moment it burns a little more than 1L of oil / 1000km....

The mechanic quoted me 2.5k to recondition the heads and put in my already purchased timing belt and waterpump kit while he is at it.

What do you think about the price? Who has had this done? any nasty surprises?


Appart from that the car is in great condition.

Cheers

[JTM]

Timing belt and water pump fitted will cost you around 5-700, so the rest is not viable for me. Have a crack yourself.

[erad]

I think the price is too high, but then again, I am a tight assed old fart who hates spending money, especially on cars. From what I recall, $2000 is too much money to do the timing belt and water pump etc,. I got the time to do them down to about 5 hours. At $120 per hour (way over the top), I reckon $600 labour. You already have the parts. Incidentally you should do the camshaft seals whilst you are at it as well.

I tihnk your mechanic is quoting you to remove the heads and do the job properly. You can do the valve stem seals in-situ. Obviously you don't get to inspct the valve seats then, but it saves you heaps of time. Apparently they remove the spark plugs and shove a length of fine rope or cord down the hole. They then crank the engine over until the piston in that cylinder is jammed against the wad of rope. Then they tap the valve spring crowns to loosen the collets and then remove the valve springs. Replace the seal, then reassemble valve spring. Quick and easy. That is what I have read, and I cannot see why it cannot be done.

[paul77]

For timing belt and water pump 2k is obviously too much. He is going to take the heads of and do the vaulve stem seals. I have read about the rope method. But with 24 vaulves the risk of stuffing it up somewhere is too high for me. I'd need a tool to compress the springs and the old seals don't exactly come off easily either. So i'd rather have someone else do it who has a proper workshop and not just a driveway and a tool box

So I am just wondering if 2.5k is too much for what they will do. Who has been through this? What did it cost you?

[JTM]

Bottom line its too much for me, I've done plenty of work in the driveway with a toolbox without heaps of knowledge, go slowly and save yourself $1500.

[Ian Sharpe]

Gee that oil consumption is very high. Even when my NL valve stems were shot, it never used that much oil. You may find you also have other problems causing high oil useage & even if you spend the dollars on the stems you may still have high oil useage. Could become very expensive, how many ks have you got on it?

[paul77]

Yes it is very high..

I think I'm ok paying the 2.5k if it's fixed then. But yeah, if the whole thing is worn I end up paying for nothing.. According to the odometer it has only done 260tkm.

Would it be possible to tell with a compression test whether it is more than just VSS? I mean: is there a certain point when you know it is also piston rings or something?

Any professionals here?

[Ian Sharpe]

yeah i'd be getting a compression test done. Problem is you are going to have to pull off the intake to get to the plugs, bugger of a job.

Just to be sure , check underneath to see if there are any major oil leaks, but I;m sure you would have noticed by now if there was.

[aussieguy]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/MITSUBISHI-PAJERO-V6-3-5L-6G74-RECONDITIONED-EXCHANGE-ENGINE/162528548592

Go to Toowoomba and get the whole motor reco for not much more.

[Ian Sharpe]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/MITSUBISH...E/162528548592

Go to Toowoomba and get the whole motor reco for not much more.

thats a damn good price, in fact almost too good to be true sort of thing. Funny how it says $2200 near the end but $2800 buy it now?

If you want to keep the NL , this is a good option but youd have to get it fitted , if you cant do it yourself which would add more cost.

[JTM]

Or you could pay $1000 and do the 380 conversion and you'll have 100km on it, spend another $1000 for new parts and you have a new truck with more power and better fuel economy. I'm doing it ATM as I did a bottom end in my NL.

[Ian Sharpe]

Or you could pay $1000 and do the 380 conversion and you'll have 100km on it, spend another $1000 for new parts and you have a new truck with more power and better fuel economy. I'm doing it ATM as I did a bottom end in my NL.

I dont think that is an option for the OP as it would be outrageously exspensive if you couldnt do it all yourself. I think his best option would be to get a compression test done & go from there, but 1l of oil/ 1000ks is very high oil consumtion & too high IMO to be just valve stem seals.

[paul77]

@JTM: Do you mean $1000 more? Or where do you get 3.8L engines (reconditioned) for $1000?

Are they really better on fuel? Around town I use 15L on 33" wheels with a roof rack. Overland it goes down to 13L. I think that is great for a 2.2T truck on petrol..?

I could do it myself (have done recons before) but I would really prefer not to. I need it for work and it would be such a hassle.. It always needs longer than planned.. If you break a tiny clip that then needs to come from god knows where.. and takes for ever.

I guess I'll see if I can get a compression test done and go from there. Thanks everyone.

[JTM]

Get the compression test for sure first , and yeah Ian it would be costly to have it done by someone, but I and many others on here have done it by ourselves (I'm not finished yet), but I'll get away with 2k all Up once done.

Paul it's the Magna 380 engine, you can pick them up for cheap with no Kms on them, there's plenty of build threads on them here, but I think it's a DIY job because of the money you'd be charged at a mechanics. I'm just going slowly, but I'll have mine out by the weekend and all changed over by Monday.

[Kaldek]

If you're sure the oil consumption is just valve stem seals (and there's heaps of YouTube videos on how to determine whether oil consumption is valve stems or piston rings or otherwise), you can do this work with the head on the car.

There are videos on Youtube for this, but you need:

- About 8 feet of Nylon rope, narrow enough to fit in the spark plug holes
- A magnetic valve keeper remover/installer (Lisle 36200 is the tool you need I believe)
- New valve stem seals
- Arguably a stem seal removal tool (or spark plug pliers - something with a rubber/plasic coated grip that can reach around the stem seal)
- Replacement rocker cover gaskets (and spark plug gaskets if your engine is the 6G74)

You basically remove all the spark plugs, remove the cam followers (rockers), lower the cylinder you're working on to Bottom Dead Centre, and install about 6 feet of rope into the spark plug hole, then slowly raise the piston up by hand (using a socket on the crank pulley) until it stops.

Then you just whack the valve spring retainer with the magnetic remover tool and remove the keepers, retainer, and spring. After that you have access to the stem seal and can remove it and replace. To re-install the valve retainer and keepers you use the other piece of the removal tool to install them again by whacking the tool with a hammer while it's sitting over the reatiner.

Repeat for each cylinder, and done.