I'd love your feedback on this 96 SR

[Whitey]

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/ctd/1421588315.html


What are your inital responses on this truck? I haven't seen it in person yet. CARFAX show one owner and it came to this dealer from an auction. It failed smog in 97...I'll just post it up if i'm allowed.

[rattle&thump]

It does have a rear locker! So that's a plus... I'd probably want to see service history, ie timing belts, a/t fluid change, etc.

Looks pretty nice in the pics...

[Whitey]

It's at a dealership so there's probably a snowballs chance in hell the truck has any service history.

Mileage red flag:
http://www.carfax.com/viewEmailReport.do?a=chBrvSLIoYGlsYY%2BE2xyha6zoKX uTBlRXpIeFQEFvKaqiBvP4td3KtbDgDaCTSi3&language=EN

[a.mus.ed]

I'm a little put off about it failing smog the year after it was built.

[Whitey]

I'm a little put off about it failing smog the year after it was built.

My bad, it was in 05.

[GrassCat]

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/ctd/1421588315.html


What are your inital responses on this truck? I haven't seen it in person yet. CARFAX show one owner and it came to this dealer from an auction. It failed smog in 97...I'll just post it up if i'm allowed.

Don't buy it. I bought my 1998 for less money than that.

[78Bronco]

Don't buy it. I bought my 1998 for less money than that.

He's asking $3300, doesn't mean that you couldn't offer $2800. The fact that's a 1 owner could be why it's listed higher.

Torsion bars look a little saggy in the front. Why does the carfax show a potential odometer rollback?

Make sure everything on the car works, parts are tight, etc. Check the steering for play. These little annoyances give you more control to talk him down. I doubt that these vehicles have a high demand in the used market so you will be in control. Don't be afarid to walk away as he grovels.

[winkosmosis]

The odo rollback looks like someone entered the mileage wrong. The other recorded mileages look consistent.

[Roadlesstraveled]

If I were you I don't think I would hesitate a bit on purchasing this unit. Certainly look it over and under. My 95 runs strong and was clean like this on dealer lot. Fortunately, they didn't know what they had. All the other Monty's I've seen around here recently on lots have been pretty beat up. As these units age we will see more and more of that. I would buy it because I do all my own work on mine.

[Whitey]

I'll swing by with some cash and see what he says.

I think I've been spoiled owning my 4Runner because the internet support for Toyota is second to none. Any question/concern about a 4Runner is thoroughly covered on a number of forums. The Mitsubishi's have what? 4x4wire? If there are others out there I'd like to know.
This won't be my primary vehicle. I can't decide if i want to go a different route with this or spend the 3-5x more for a toyota 4runner/100/Sequoia.

[mtsport03]

Montero Sport Online has some info on full size Monteros. http://www.monterosportonline.com/

[78Bronco]

Not a lot of aftermarket support for these rigs but there is quite a few sites that you can collect information and advice besides 4x4wire. Try Outerlimits 4x4 or Pajero 4wd Club of Victoria. These trucks are quite popular in Europe and Australia but go by Pajero(Monty) or Challenger(Monty Sport).

[tdesanto]

x2 for Pajero 4wd Club of Victoria (http://www.pajeroclub.com.au/home/publicforum/).

Also, that's a good looking truck.

[off-roader]

Looks fine.

Yes, not alot of online sources however I believe it's a situation where Quantity cannot beat Quality in this case as most all of those sites have extensive information on maintenance & upgrades from mild to wild.

As for whether to buy this particular rig, it all depends on how solid it is.

Engine, Tranny, & Electrical are the key things that come to mind.

Valve Guide Seals / Engine
Pretty much all Mitsu v6 engines in their 4x4's suffer from Valve Guide Seal issues at some point. The worse it is, the sooner you'll have to have them replaced. To check the condition, allow the rig to idle for 3-5 minutes or so. Rev it (say 3000 rpm) and check for smoke out of the tailpipe. If it has a valve guide seal problem it will have oily black/dark blue-gray smoke out the tailpipe. If it's white, or lt gray, run away.. that's likely a head gasket problem.

Belts/Waterpump
Hopefully the belts & associated hardware (water pump, tensioners, etc.) have all been replaced in the last 60k. If not, factor in $700+ for that.

Transmission
Tranny and xcase are pretty bullet proof but check for very slopping shifts after the engine & tranny are warm (run away if you encounter this).

Transfer case / hubs / Transfer case locker/rear differential locker
Also check for 4wd operation. Put in 4Hi. Drive forward. The front wheels should light up. Put in 4Hi Lock, and dive forward. The xcase lock light should light up.

Put in 4Lo Lock and depress the rear differential locker switch. The rear differential should light up (orange IIRC) indicating a locked rear diff.

Usually there are no issues with these items.

Now, turn the rear locker switch off & put it back into 2wd and continue driving forward (less than 45mph) and the front diff light should shut off as will the diff lock light and xcase lock light. If the front lights continue to flash it may be the vacuum line is broken or the sensors are dirty or need to be replaced.

Interior
As for the interior, if it's an SR, then it should have leather. Unfortunately the leather will likely be very worn on the driver seat and worn to some degree on the other seats. In mine, the driver seat was toast while the passenger seat was nearly new and the rear seats (both middle and 3rd row) were pretty much mint.

HTH.

[Whitey]

Helluva post off-roader. Thanks for your insight.
Tdesanto, do you live in Dallas proper? I just moved to south Arlington.

[tdesanto]

Helluva post off-roader. Thanks for your insight.
Tdesanto, do you live in Dallas proper? I just moved to south Arlington.

I used to. I moved to Plano about 5 years ago. I work in Addison/ North Dallas.

[off-roader]

No problem. I'm far from a Montero expert but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.:wings:

Seriously I've been involved with mitsu 4x4's online since the old days with vmag's forums even getting one of their photographers to ride with us on a trip to Moab and getting my pictures.

That said, I'm not a mechanic but am learning as I go along.

Oh and there is a way to change the valve guide seals w/out removing your heads (rope or LP air trick). Others who are more knowledgeable would be better suited to explain the minutia.

[OneTime]

Im following this post too. I have a sale of my LC that should go through this weekend. The sale is to a guy who I think is on this site who just sold a built up 4Runner and needs a bigger rig to hual all is kids. Sounds like he has plans to build the LC and put it to good use as an Expo rig. Iam looking at this rig to replace it http://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/ctd/1427990602.html

The local dealer quoated me about 1300 to replace the t-belt, water pump and a tune up. Im looking at it tomorrow. Sure hope its clean! Hopefully i just need to change out the LC wheels on it.

[Whitey]

I like that one better...and now I know they have a Toyota bolt pattern. This thread is getting heavy with Montero knowledge.

[Whitey]

Here's a little update for anyone's who's interested.
I checked out the truck and it definately had some shortcomings.
The sunroof was fubar'd.
It pulled right.
SOFT brakes.
Smashed rearview mirror.
Some of the buttons were broken.
Popped out of 4H Lc...

These were just a few things I noticed and the guy absolutely would not move on the price. Actually, he walked away from me. So that's that I guess.

[OneTime]

Dang. I hope my deal goes better. Keep looking. I miss out on a few before I found the one Im hopefully buying thurs.

[DavidG]

I like that one better...and now I know they have a Toyota bolt pattern. This thread is getting heavy with Montero knowledge.

Same 6-lug bolt pattern but the factory Toyota wheels have a center bore about 2mm smaller than the Mitsu. Not a big deal though. I used a few grinding wheels on a die grinder and clearenced a set of FJ Cruiser steelies to fit my 97 SR. Alloys would be a chore, I think. If you are interested in running clearanced Toyota wheels make sure whoever balances them has a set of lug-centric adaptors for the balancing machine as the center bore, post grind, will no longer be perfectly round. Good luck!