Gen 1 Questions (possibly getting one)

[Dartmouthbrian]

So I posted this on another forum and if you're there and saw it, sorry!

Hello all: I've posted here a couple of times over the last month and got some awesome advice.

I have found a truck that Im pretty much in love with. It's a 91 LS in the two tone color. It's $2500

Here's what I'm facing.

1. Clicking in the engine. It's intermittent while warming up and just sitting. HOWEVER when driving the ticking gets faster and slows down when the truck is slowing down. Im assuming valves, but I thought I'd ask.

Thoughts on this?

2. There is rust bubbling on the passenger side lower corner on the windshield. Also a spot bubbling out of the windshield rubber near the middle. For me having owned Land Rovers, this can be more work than you want.

Thoughts on windshield rust?


3. There are some older water stains on the ceiling trailing from the sunroof, which doesnt open however you can hear the motor running. The deal looks like it is dry rotting.

Thoughts on this?

4. Rear passenger window will roll down, but won't role up (this literally happened when I was looking at it). I took the panel off while looking at it, check the connections and switch. Also did this from the driver door switch since it wouldnt roll up from there either.

Ideas?

 

[Jay Ayala]

Cool find. Responding in the order you mentioned above.

1. Ticking noise. I think your right about the ticking. It may in fact be the hydraulic lash adjusters. It isn't too difficult of a job to replace them and not too expensive either. But be weary of a knock as opposed to a ticking sound. You can service them or replace them entirely. I'm more inclined to replace them after having gone to the trouble of servicing mine. You might as well do the valve seals at the same time. Check this thread. Hydraulic lash adjusters:

2. Rusty spots on your windshield panel. I've never had the misfortune of dealing with rust on any Montero or raider that I've owned. You will definitely want to address that. What is involved? I have no idea.

3. In regards to the sunroof, I just fixed mine today. I was surprised at how easy of a fix this was on my 1997. I had the same situation. You could hear the motor wanting to work but the glass wouldn't budge. I removed the glass panel assembly by removing the four corner bracket mounts accessible from the rear passenger seats. Once that was done I lifted the glass panel assembly up and forward. Then I cleaned and lubed the four corner brackets in the sunroof guide slots. Clean and Lube, clean and lube. I also used silicone spray on the guide cable that actually pushes and pulls the sunroof open and closed. I mounted the glass back on and fixed the moonroof.

4. Power window switches. The contact points on those switches need to be cleaned with a miniature sheet of fine grit sand paper. Those switches in particular are exposed to a lot of humidity and get corroded much quicker than most other switches in the truck. Once all of the corrosion has been cleaned off, use dielectric grease to lube them up and protect from humidity reclaiming the switch.

All in all, I would say that the rust is the unknown here.


1989 Dodge Raider 3.0L
1997 Mitsubishi Montero 3.5L

 

[Dartmouthbrian]

Thanks for the advice Jay. Much appreciated.

The guy says the ticking noise has been going on since 1992 when he bought it with only 10k miles on it. Still noise in the engine always concern me and since I've never owned a Montero and only Land Rovers, well.... I won't go there hahaha (engine noises in a LR are costly).

Cheers!

 

[ultrakill]

If the ticking gets louder and seems to be in line with RPMs then yeah it must be the hydraulic lash adjusters. I went too long in between oil changes (even changing at 2,000-3,000 mi intervals) and have had it come and go a few times. It can be an indication of oil quality as well as oil quantity, as the first time I heard it I was very low on oil (when the car was new to me and was burning a bit of oil).

That said, I have run this thing with oil not showing up on dipstick and every time I start the car it fires up without hesitation. The build quality of these trucks is amazing to me.

 

[Martinjmpr]

The 3.0 was notorious for having failing valve guides that cause excessive oil burning. I had mine done at about 140k. Cost was around $1400 and that was in 1998.