1995 Montero SR Build

[Bones]

Oh and just an FYI... for all the nay sayers who though it was unnecessary to pull the motor... we are so glad we did.

Here are some of the issues that we found that could have potentially been trip enders.

1. Head Gasket
2. Leaking coolant crossover pipes- several bad o-rings.
3. Oil cap ring INSIDE the valve cover (layin between a couple of cams/ springs)
4. Cracked water heater hoses
5. Majority of bolts out of torque spec, very loose. All bolts were re-torqued back to FSM spec.
6. And...??? I'm missing something...

Yup, you forgot the original problem: #6: extremely leaking valve seals.
#7: Loose driver's main motor mount bolt......(not good)
#8: Missing bolts between the transmission and the engine (not detrimental, but, well........)
#9: Tons of other little misc. things pointing to the fact that someone had been into the engine before.................which makes you worry about: a) why were they in there?, and b) what did they do incorrectly while they were there?

Good news is that we corrected everything that was out of spec or of questionable repair. You'll have many trouble free miles ahead, AND you'll know EXACTLY what you have going on under the hood.

[LaOutbackTrail]

Yeah, that stuff too....

[off-roader]

Only the headgasket would be trip ending. The rest are 'potentially' trip ending although I'd have also preferred to fix them all if I could. Good job!

[LaOutbackTrail]

Only the headgasket would be trip ending. The rest are 'potentially' trip ending although I'd have also preferred to fix them all if I could. Good job!

Well, now that I know about the crossover pipes, If I see a fair amount of leakage, I'll know where to check. Otherwise, before this experience, I would have assumed maybe a head cracked, leaking coolant. If you haven't seen these pipes, let me know I'll try to get a show you what I'm talking about. They're under the plenum and across the back of the motor. In my opinion, not something to dig into in the field= trip ender. But yes, the majority of the list are just that "potentials".

[off-roader]

Well, now that I know about the crossover pipes, If I see a fair amount of leakage, I'll know where to check. Otherwise, before this experience, I would have assumed maybe a head cracked, leaking coolant. If you haven't seen these pipes, let me know I'll try to get a show you what I'm talking about.

If you have pics please post them as I'm sure many will have no idea what part you're talking about.

[GrassCat]

Crossover pipe.jpg

[LaOutbackTrail]

Crossover pipe.jpg

Tiny pic there bud...

[GrassCat]

Yeah,
when I copied ASA it included both of my monitors and I could not delete the post as you where to quick to respond.

Crossover pipe.jpg

[LaOutbackTrail]

Sorry about that. I get the instant email alert.

To be more specific:
3.5LOHC CoolingPipes.JPG
The O-rings highlighted in the diagram were broken and or missing from the pipe. The ones remaining were brittle and crumbled in hand, think of a pretzel. Each were leaking, and likely not spewing coolant because of the subsequent oxidized build up around each junction. These pipes are what feed the water passages in each cylinder head!

[mrwizard]

Your SR, even with the challenges you've had with it, is inspiring. Thanks.