Mapper's gen 2.5

[mapper]

I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a Montero to add to my vehicle quiver and see how I like it. I already have too many cars so I needed to find a screaming deal. Was browsing late last night and the perfect car came up. Woke up bright and early this morning :coffeedrink: and I plead my case to the owner. After some hanging out talking cars and him showing me all the work he has done...I brought it home a bit after noon today. :wings:

It's well used (170k) and rough on the edges but has a lot of potential. Immediately the valve guides (as they all do), timing belt, and whatever seal it is that leaks onto the alternator needs to be done. The brake discs are warped and there is some looseness in the steering, exaggerated by the warped brakes. Has newer tires on but sadly they are 235 75 15s? Will work until I get the more important stuff sorted.

However, I drove it home 45minutes today and she cruised smooth as butter up to 85 mph. Almost everything works as it should. Exceptions are: cd changer as head unit has been swapped, driver's electric seat, and a horn that sticks on (fuse removed).

Transfer case and lockers all work like they should. Still has the adjustable shocks and they ride nice enough to use medium on the freeway, though high is better. Soft is nice for bombing around town.

Anyway, more to come on this as I find time...but we all know you want pics :sombrero:

Yep, she's white:

Interior is pretty clean for 170k aside from the always lousy leather. Wish I could have heated cloth seats...has an orange sticker :snorkel:

one bigger dent in fender but otherwise just scrapes and stone chips


Had a lot of excitement since I found the car as it was exactly the color I wanted at a great price. Had a lot of other work to do today so now I'm one tired doggy so that will be all for now...but there will plenty of questions to come.

:luxhello:

 

[SoCalMonty]

Congrats!!!

 

[eurosonic]

welcome on board

 

[jeep-N-montero]

I hope you didn't pay more than $2k for her. And why the heck did some gen 2.5's have adjustable shocks and others did not? My 98 has the standard shocks with the winter package.

 

[mapper]

Thanks guys. Glad to be joining you here. Not entirely sure the Montero is right for me, I really like my AWD Astro for trips with GF and our dogs, but sometimes I long for low range and wanted to give one a try.

Paid well below $2k...finding them near that price wouldn't have taken as long as I waited. She needs love and the previous owner was very vehicle literate and aware of the refurbishing costs. The bones are good, I'm sure you'll be seeing it at some point.

So many that I looked at would be needing much of the same work in the very near future. Will be nice getting so much licked right at the beginning and having new parts on her.

 

[jlocster]

Gen 2.5. White. :drool:

Congrats on a nice find and welcome!

 

[Clem]

Welcome

Looks like you got a great deal Mapper...White monty's are the best (but I'm bias, :sombrero...I'm not sure on the why of it, but it seems to me that the Gen 2.5's with chrome wheels also have the adjustable shocks. I don't know if that is the same for the 94-96/7?'s.

My family had a 2wd Astro and I remember it getting around 25 mpg on the highway (not sure of the AWD models). In the monty I get right around the EPA estimated 19 mpg on the highway (18.7 mpg last trip including dirt road time). Should make for some great trips with the GF and dog :smiley_drive:

Clem

 

[jeep-N-montero]

If I can break away from school and other things sometime I will show you how easy it is to remove the running boards and mud flaps all in one piece, or you can drive up here. I did mine in about 30-40 minutes.

 

[Forceinducted]

Nice pick up! Always love these body style especially the color, white! Nice combo! Congrats on your purchase!

 

[mapper]

Yeah, I like white here in UT because I have 2 husky mix dogs and my GF has a dog from mountains of Tibet, I/they need all the sun protection possible in summer. Silver would have been ok too, but white is just classic. I have two other white cars. The last car I bought was dark blue...thought I would like it but it is hot and always dirty looking in this dusty environment.

Took some time to look more closely at cam seals tonight. Though a little tricky in my unheated, detached, well-ventilated garage, as it is currently 16 degrees outside. In any case it seems the bulk of the oil leak is just from the valve cover gaskets. The bolts I was able to access were all just finger tight. I'll have to find the spec for those and see if I can get any results by snugging things up.

Pulled one plug that could access quickly, passenger side front plug. It looked pretty old though not oily at all, which I was expecting given the valve guide issues. Gap on it was about 0.065, which seems excessive but, again, I'll have to check the specs.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

When I did my plugs a few weeks ago the electrodes were completely worn down, after doing the plugs and wires along with the valve cover gaskets it runs like new again. Only wish I had known about the problems I would have had with emissions after replacing the battery and having the computer reset itself. Make sure you get the emissions done BEFORE you start working on it so you have a year to go through the drive cycle.

 

[SoCalMonty]

That's the same with any/all OBDII cars. The drive cycles are all pretty much the same.

 

[mapper]

Good point Jeep-n. I'm not planning on driving this thing straight away but I should probably get to registering it because I'll likely disconnect the battery. I almost disconnected the battery last night as a matter of general practice but didn't because I wanted to do some detailed interior measurements...and wanted dome lights to work. Interestingly I have not actually registered a vehicle in Utah yet so I'll have to figure out the process. Do I get inspections/emissions before going to DMV or after? If I suspect it might fail emissions due to valve guide seals is the inspection process just a waste of money?

Got to figure these things out. Sadly I'm not really sure the monty is going to work for me. The cargo area is just a lot smaller than I anticipated for a "full-sized" SUV. As stated before, my trips usually involve 2 adults and 3 dogs (2 large, one medium). Seems like a Landcruiser might be more up my alley as far as sleeping situations are concerned, though I'm less excited about the reported fuel economy/highway speed limitations of those which is why I leaned toward Monty. We've been spoiled by the interior of my Astro.

All 3 dogs, my interior space hogs

White Husky mix (maybe Lab) Harley aka "Turbo" because he doesn't like to run

Moose, aka "Mooser" so I don't scare people by yelling "moose" after him in the woods. A Malamute, husky mix, or mini Mal. Don't know, he's adopted like the others.

 

[SoCalMonty]

The Montero is classified as a mid-size SUV. Full size is Suburban territory.

Do you have the 3rd row seats? And do you use the 2nd row for people or just the dogs? I removed the 2nd and 3rd row seats to have cargo room while camping and to have room for my dog. I only typically have 1 human passenger, and if I ever need to cart more people around, I either use my station wagon or I can take 5 minutes and put in one of the 3rd row seats.

With them removed, there's room for me to inflate my airbed in the back and stretch out all the way when camping (I'm 6'1"). And more than enough room for cargo.

 

[mapper]

Yeah, everyone calls it full size I looked at them plenty...I was maybe just being too optimistic with myself. When I pulled it into my garage and saw how easily it fit, then started really putting the numbers together it was looking grim. I'll definitely have to remove all the seats and make a platform with gear storage underneath. The above average height is very nice for making a platform that can also be used for sitting up. Most mid-sized SUVs fail in that department. Issue will be sleeping surface area. I can put one, maaaaybe two, dog(s) up in front seats but otherwise they'll be sharing the platform. I was hoping for enough length to leave at least some floor space available for the dogs. None of these dogs are known for sticking around so it is best to keep them inside...and I like to travel to bear country too, so I'm very nervous about tying them out.

On the flip side, for solo trips, the monty would be perfect. I'd do a platform up one side for myself to sleep and leave one 3rd row seat in place for "lounging". Dogs would use the floor space. In this regard it might be a good replacement for my Volvo XC but giving that car up might be tough. I'm a single guy and currently have 4 cars...that is about 1 or 2 too many.

At any rate I got it cheap enough that I could unload it easy enough if needed, question at this point is how much I "invest" in repairs and modifications.