Mitsubishi L200 new cylinder head And finally moved it on.

[AMC Rebel]

When I posted something about Jap wheels over on the Blue they Bowdlerised it to J*P.

[Joey spud]

I had to goggle that word.

 

Ever since i have had the truck the 4x4 system has never worked or so i thought...

When you shift the lever to 4 high or 4 low a green light on the dash should come on solid but my green light just flashed at me.

 

The system uses small vacuum pipes and solenoids to power an actuator connected to the front diff that then engages the front axle for 4wd and after crawling all under it checking the pipes and the reservior canister for leaks i then checked the feeds to the control solenoids and it all seemed fine.

 

If i unbolted the actuator from the axle and pushed its rod forward the green 4wd light would come on correctly and as i had a front wheel off the ground i was able to confirm that the axle was now engaged as the wheel would no longer spin freely.

So i bolted the actuator back and lowered it to the floor started it up and tried it again and as before the light was just flashing but in an eureka moment i pulled forward with the light flashing and there was a faint clunk from the axle and the green light stopped flashing and 4wd was now working.

Turns out i had been a twat for months just assuming if i moved the lever to 4wd it would instantly engage when in the real world obviously you had to be moving to allow the front diff to lock.

 

In my defence the 4X4 system on my Subaru is a big mechanical lever connected straight to the transaxle.

 

Feeling a happy camper now knowing that the 4X4 system worked i had a quick look around for any nasties that might need doing for the MOT thats when i started picking at the front panel...

 

 

I pulled the bumper off snapping most of its fixing bolts in the process and found some hidden grot behind it.

 

 

 

 

n/s and o/s horribleness by the front body to chassis mounts.

 

The funny thing is it has reminded me of my old Ford Ranger that had some real serious rust at the front body to chassis mounts and i recall welding that up in November 2011 and using Landrover S111 engine mounts rarther than get the correct mounts from the US.

It was all going well untill the weather changed.

 

[Lukas]

The front body wounts are a well known rust-spot on the first two generations Pajero and on the L200. 

 

There are a lot of panels meeting, with a lot of possible rot-spots. But it´s not so hard to weld them. It had been done on my 

Pajero V6 two years ago and with some rust-rpotection-fluid added twice a year, it stays fine.

 

In which condition is the chassis? They tend to rust from the inside out quite happily. I spend the last 2 weeks cleaning and

protectiong the inside of the chassis on my Galloper. 

[Joey spud]

Started plating up the grotty front panel earlier and got one side done with the power turned up high for max penetration and considering the wind was blowing the shielding gas about it went ok

 

 

Was about to start the n/s but it had got a bit overcast and my solar powered helmet stopped working (and it was sodding cold too).

 

Try again tomorrow.

[twosmoke300]

Looks like someone's been shopping at Milners

[Joey spud]

Don't know about elsewhere but it's turned bitter cold in my bit of north Kent with a biting wind coming off the thames estuary and her indoors then informed me she needs to pick up a mega large sofa and can she use the Mitsi so i had to get up early and go outside and continue the front panel patching.

 

The n/s wasn't as bad as the o/s so i just trimmed out the frilly bits with a cutting disc and plated over the top as required,not pretty but nice and solid and unseen behind the bumper.

 

 

Tbh this grotty panel isn't really structural in any way its just a box attatched to the front panel to aid the securing of the fans and bumper.

 

Seeing as this is Autoshite i dug around the shed and found some Kurust and splashed it about and to be fair once it had fully dried it looked like it had done its job well and the previous bare metal had gone black.

 

So following on from the Kurust i painted on some Bondaprimer that i've had for years and has always given me fair results.

 

 

Again left it to dry and hit it with a big can of stonechip which made it look like a tidy repair.

 

 

Now maybe this is where i should have stopped but no in the shed there was an open can of clear waxoyl so that was literally splashed all over the repair and the driveway / passing animals etc.

 

 

Then i bolted the oil cooler and air con fan back on before it started raining so i called it a day.

[Joey spud]

Well while i have photo bucket fired up i may as well record my tale of woe.

 

Despite having just 105k on its clock and paper work claiming it has had a new engine in the past this truck has an annoying habit of pressurising its cooling system which forces coolant past the new genuine rad cap and filling the over flow tank.

Eventually the overflow tank then overflows and gobs coolant down the inner wing the up shot of this is the radiator level drops and the engine starts to overheat if you don't keep topping it up every few days.

 

So with thoughts of selling the Mitsi i decided to bite the bullet and pull the head off to see if there was a gasket problem or worse.

The engine runs lovely it just cant stop pressurising.

 

 

 

 

These are nice and simple to work on and a lazy couple of hours saw the head off.

The gasket looked fine and the head was flat and true as best i could tell so i dropped it off at the local engine shop down on the Marina where Danny pressure tested it over night before calling me back in the morning and saying it ''was fucked like they always are''.

 

Cracked on cylinder no2.

 

I paid my £60 and took it back home to use as a door stop.

On that there internet for around £165 you can buy new bare head castings for these engines so i ordered one up and in under 24 hours a head sized box arrived.

I opened it up and instead of a bare casting inside was a complete new head (result).

 

 

I had fresh head bolts and gaskets already so swapped over the injectors and glow plugs as needed.

 

 

A good thing about L200's is the tail gates are the perfect height to double up as a work bench.

 

The head gasket i removed was a metal and asbestos type one but the replacement was an ''upgraded'' multi layered metal effort.

I have never trusted these all metal ones they just don't look right somehow.

 

 

 

 

 

It all went back together fine and i didn't have (m)any bits left over,it has now done about 150 miles and so far so good.

I want to sell it but i am paranoid it will go tits up as soon as it leaves my sight so i am going to keep it for a couple of months and put some miles on it to ensure its definately cured.

 

 

One good thing to come out of doing the head was i was able to get to the front cross member and give it a good prime,stonechip and waxing.

[Spottedlaurel]

£165 seems remarkably good value.

[Joey spud]

I agree i think it maybe down to the large number of these engines around the world needing parts.

If you make enough of something production costs will be more sensible or maybe now they are getting thinner on the ground the manufacturer is selling them off cheap to save getting stuck with them.

 

Or they are made of sub standard metals and poorly machined.

 

My engine man said he has fitted loads of these new castings to the 8 and 16v Mitsi engined trucks and also Mazda/Ford Ranger units with little bother.

 

Milner 4x4 a big jap parts retailer sell the same head casting for £220.

[Asimo]

I wonder what the Mitsubishi UK list price is?

[DodgeRover]

At that price you might as well replace the head at the same time as the gasket as a matter of course.

[Joey spud]

At that price you might as well replace the head at the same time as the gasket as a matter of course.

 

Yeah if i had thought about it beforehand i could have saved the £60 crack testing fee and put it towards the cost of a new casting.

[Joey spud]

Update for any followers of Jap 4x4 (not that old but a bit shonky) stuff.

 

Right after the new cylinder head fitment i had hoped that it would now hold it's coolant and behave giving me confidence to move on to another fool,but alas no.

 

The coolant was staying more of less at the correct level in the over flow tank but in hot weather if i drove it at anything over 55mph for a few mins the temp gauge would rise to three quarters and the system would pressurise up.

Not impressed at all.

 

It had to be a circulation problem and decided / guessed that the original 14 yr old radiator was the likely culprit so i pulled it out and had a closer look.

When i looked down thru the cap orafice the visible core seemed very clean but the rad seemed bloody heavy for its size and materials used in its construction so i uncrimped the tanks to see inside it.

 

It was nice and clear at the top where the cap sits.

 

Ah this is more like it.

The bottom of the core was furred up big time,so i ordered up a new radiator off the 'Bay from a place that delivered it in under 24 hours for £53 all in.

 

New rad is a also much lighter than the old one too.

 

I was 90% sure this would sort it out and went for a spin out on the hottest day of the year and the man from Delmonte he says Yeah...

The gauge doesn't dare think about moving past half way now even when it's at maximun velocity (81 mph).

 

I think i better get it sold pronto.

[Joey spud]

I had parked this thread up when photobucket fucked over the internet and deleted all the images only to find they are now showing again.

So in the spirit of keeping stuff tidy here is a final update for any Japanese 4x4 botherers on here.

Yes the new head and rad did cure the overheating problems so I should of sold there and then but I like driving it yes it's a bit slow and noisy,the handling is really wayward but it is fun to pilot and was rather good in last year's three days of proper snow.

After the 2017 head surgery it has been 100% reliable but with the mot due in January I decided to treat it to a couple of days (5) of cleaning off the underside and it's chassis and applying the the best part of a gallon of waxoyl to it's nether regions.

 

There can't be a more hateful job than chipping/scraping away at scabby chassis box sections but once done and treated it did look good.

[Joey spud]

With the waxing taking me longer than I anticipated the mot had ran out on the 17th but I booked it in for tomorrow morning with the plan of giving it a seriously big clean up and then trying to sell it on to the dubious community that like cheap 4x4's.

So I was quite surprised when a trader knocked on my door this frosty morning and wanted to buy it exactly as it stood.
He wasn't worried about the lack of mot and after crawling under it and driving it offered me just enough for me to say "yep it's yours".

I am not a salesman and hate dealing with people haggling and dicking about so this guy turning up out of the blue has shocked me somewhat.



Bye bye Mitsi i am going to miss you Buddy.