Breathing life back into a high milage SR

[IncorpoRatedX]

Jesus. I live at 700 feet...

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Yeah, whenever guys talk about running big tires with stock gears I have to look at where they live, you just can't get by with that up here as easily.

 

[SoCalMonty]

Yeah, whenever guys talk about running big tires with stock gears I have to look at where they live, you just can't get by with that up here as easily.

Some of the trails I like are 6000-7500 feet. 33's with the stock 4.63's is enough to completely tap out the V6 at those altitudes, especially with a weekend's worth of gear in the truck. I remember on Sherman Peak, I had the gas pedal to the floor trying to get over a moderate obstacle in 4-Lo and the tires simply weren't turning at all. I had traction, but no power to turn the tires!

 

[IncorpoRatedX]

Some of the trails I like are 6000-7500 feet. 33's with the stock 4.63's is enough to completely tap out the V6 at those altitudes, especially with a weekend's worth of gear in the truck. I remember on Sherman Peak, I had the gas pedal to the floor trying to get over a moderate obstacle in 4-Lo and the tires simply weren't turning at all. I had traction, but no power to turn the tires!

is your powertrain completely stock? What grade fuel do you run?

 

[SoCalMonty]

Yes, all stock save for a couple extra coolers. I run 89. The engine makes all the power it should; but rock obstacles (the type where you're having to get yourself up out of a depression) + 7200 ft + 6000lb truck is a lot for the ~120 hp/tq it's producing at lower (crawling) rpm's and 7000 feet.

On flat ground, I'm often impressed by the power for a heavy 18 year old SUV...put it in PWR and let the tach wind out and it really opens up. I've only done it a couple of times because I usually drive like a little old lady. But when I first got the truck I was curious and I drag raced a friend in an early FJ Cruiser from a couple red lights and stayed in front each time, so long as I got the drop on the light. lol.

 

[Toasty]

Yeah, whenever guys talk about running big tires with stock gears I have to look at where they live, you just can't get by with that up here as easily.

Some of the trails I like are 6000-7500 feet. 33's with the stock 4.63's is enough to completely tap out the V6 at those altitudes, especially with a weekend's worth of gear in the truck. I remember on Sherman Peak, I had the gas pedal to the floor trying to get over a moderate obstacle in 4-Lo and the tires simply weren't turning at all. I had traction, but no power to turn the tires!

Yeah, we ran Dusy Ershim in a stock geared Montero ('94 SR 3.5 DOHC) on 35's and loaded down to the bumpstops (12 day's worth of gear). We definately needed a little deeper low range going up Thompson hill which is around 10,000ft elevation, It was rough and i wouldn't do it again like that. But we built that truck to do the Sierra Challenge in 6 weeks, ran out of time for regearing.

 

[IncorpoRatedX]

You're short changing yourself on 89, there's no way you're getting full timing advance (and thus not full power) in high altitude and running lower grade fuel. I would suggest giving 91 or 93 a go and backing the screw plug out of the bottom of the MAF to let more air in un-metered, works great. Low RPM's is where the timing advance will really fill a void.

 

[IncorpoRatedX]

update: newer style non variable intake shipped yesterday, should be here in a few days. pulled the front bumper off last night for some modifications, since the body lift the headlights hit the bull bar, gonna need to fix that. Have to remove all the mud flaps and do a little trimming for the 37's to be more comfortable, then it's a little bit of exhaust work and I can pull it out of the shop. vroom vroom.

here's a vid of the initial start up, the accessory idler pulley's were a little squeaky.

http://instagram.com/p/ifIsXVHRSX/

Not sure if that will work?

 

[SoCalMonty]

You're short changing yourself on 89, there's no way you're getting full timing advance (and thus not full power) in high altitude and running lower grade fuel. I would suggest giving 91 or 93 a go and backing the screw plug out of the bottom of the MAF to let more air in un-metered, works great. Low RPM's is where the timing advance will really fill a void.

91 is the highest we get here...plus, I have to deal with CA smog so I can't screw with the a/f mixture. While I might be missing a few degrees of timing, I doubt it's significant at such low RPM (between idle and 2500). Usually the timing advance is only significant in the upper RPMs.

I know at peak RPM in another vehicle I have, going from 91 to 106 octane was good for 8 degrees of advance at peak RPM...and that's with an aftermarket ECU. So 89 to 91 at low RPM on a factory ECU probably isn't worth a whole lot.

My Volvo wagon was a 94 and I was able to use the Torque app and an OBD2 reader to pull/view data...but it looks like the OBD2 port on the 95 Montero doesn't have any functionality... I can't get Torque to communicate with the Montero's ECU.

 

[off-roader]

OBDII wasn't a standard until 96 and that's when Mitsu implemented it. Your 95 still uses proprietary Mitsu diagnostics. I.e. You need a multimeter (preferably analog) to read the engine codes for a check engine light. Other than that, you'll need a. Mitsu compatible pre-OBDII diagnostic tool to read what's going on with your engine.

also, although it probably won't be practical for everyday use, you can get higher octane gas but it's far from prevelant. Check your performance car forums to find out what local gas stations sell higher octane fuel. Alternatively your local racetrack will have higher octane fuels.

 

[IncorpoRatedX]

You will see better advance all around on factory ECU, you'll need to clear its parameters though as the coding is not set for octane reset at each start, once it adjusts and limits advance off the knock sensor read, it will stay there. This is how it works in all mitsu's with variable ignition timing. I bought a galant vr4 years back and it had been run on 87 octane. I have a Mitsubishi logger so I hooked it up and found a very low max advance, drove the car until the gas light came on, fueled up with 93, reset the ECU and within 20 miles had full timing advance under full boost and the car was a COMPLETELY different animal off the line at part throttle and strong as hell to red line at WOT, advance makes a big difference for low end power. But don't take my word for it. A few octane jumps won't cost very much in the long run. Give it a try. Backing the screw out of the MAF won't be known to the smog nazi's

 

[IncorpoRatedX]

The front bumper is temporary, but now that the bull bar is off it, I think I prefer it without. Pulled it out of the garage under it's own power, still need to do a little more trimming for full lock steering.

 

[All-Terrain]

You will see better advance all around on factory ECU, you'll need to clear its parameters though as the coding is not set for octane reset at each start, once it adjusts and limits advance off the knock sensor read, it will stay there. This is how it works in all mitsu's with variable ignition timing. I bought a galant vr4 years back and it had been run on 87 octane. I have a Mitsubishi logger so I hooked it up and found a very low max advance, drove the car until the gas light came on, fueled up with 93, reset the ECU and within 20 miles had full timing advance under full boost and the car was a COMPLETELY different animal off the line at part throttle and strong as hell to red line at WOT, advance makes a big difference for low end power. But don't take my word for it. A few octane jumps won't cost very much in the long run. Give it a try. Backing the screw out of the MAF won't be known to the smog nazi's

Is this true for a '97? If so, how do you reset the ECU? I run 93 Octane but not sure what the previous owner ran.

 

[IncorpoRatedX]

Is this true for a '97? If so, how do you reset the ECU? I run 93 Octane but not sure what the previous owner ran.

is the 97 a 3.5 DOHC? If so, then yes. Just yank off the passenger side foot well cover and unplug the ecu for a few minutes.

 

[IncorpoRatedX]

I think the dark lower half looks pretty good, what about you guys? Maybe a white roof to go with it.