Gen 3, which timing belt kit and immediate maintainance

[datsun72]

Hi Guys,

I found my dad another gen 3. He currently has a 2001 XLS with maybe 150k on it, it's starting to need some work. The "new" Montero is a 2002 Limited with 80K that looks to be not religiously maintained but drives excellent and got it at a great price. I noticed if the car sat overnight there is a loud rattle sound that goes away after 30 seconds. After searching online the majority of the suggestions was the timing belt hydraulic tensioner.

Currently I am looking at a few Timing belt kits. If you have any info or used these kits please let me know.

1. Contitech: Based on pictures they seem to be using a Aisin water pump, Mitsuboshi belt, Koyo tensioners unsure about the tensioner.
2. Gates: They seem to own Unitta which makes the OE belt, kit also comes with Koyo tensioners based on pictures.
3. Hydraulic tensioner: NTN, this seems to be very hard to find. I can't get a good picture of who makes the OE one. Dayco also has one but they are unsure who the part is. Might go OE with this

Parts brand to use:
1. Timing belt- Gates or Mitsubishi.
2. Pulleys - Gates or Koyo.
3. Tensioner - NTN or Mitsubishi.
4. cam / crank seals - Stone or Mitsubishi.
5. Water pump - Aisin.


Immediate maintenance
1. Oil change, use a engine oil flush made by liqui moly run the car for 15 minutes at idle and then drain. Put in some cheap new 10w-30 so I am sure all the oil flush is out then put in 5W-30 liqui moly. Also the drain plug is seized, any advice on removing this, using heat maybe?
2. full timing belt job.
3. Serpentine belts.
4. Flush every fluid: Coolant, Brake, Power Steering, all differentials, and Transmission(will use mitsu fluid only)
5. Steam clean entire interior.

Any suggestions would be great also a reputable mechanic near NYC would be great!

 

[Rambo Penguin]

You should be due for a new belt at 90,000. However with the age of that rig it wouldn’t surprise me if you needed it a bit earlier. Everyone will tell you only use the Mitsubishi tensioner (and I would agree with them). I installed the asian timing belt kit (got it from rock auto 10,000 miles ago and it’s run smooth so far). Cam seals I’d go Mitsubishi, they aren’t very expensive.

 

[plh]

You should be due for a new belt at 90,000. However with the age of that rig it wouldn’t surprise me if you needed it a bit earlier. Everyone will tell you only use the Mitsubishi tensioner (and I would agree with them). I installed the asian timing belt kit (got it from rock auto 10,000 miles ago and it’s run smooth so far). Cam seals I’d go Mitsubishi, they aren’t very expensive.

Agree...

Aisin kit will be:
Good gaskets (Gates kit gaskets are not as good)
Mitsuboshi Belt - spelled correctly... (OEM supplier to Toyota)
Aisin water pump - (OEM Supplier to Mitsubishi)
Koyo pulleys - (OEM Supplier to Mitsubishi)
no Hydraulic Tensioner

Buy the OEM Hydraulic Tensioner

Buy OEM Seals - Chrysler dealers may be a source as well - Cam / Crank seals are common to the 3.0l which was also sold in some Chrysler vehicles.

Buy OEM Crank Bolt

Buy OEM Crank Bolt Washer

 

[coffeegoat]

I've had good results on a frozen drain plug by getting the car up to operating temp, and then hit the plug with freeze spray (or an upside down can of canned air). The temperature mismatch causes the bolt to shrink a bit so it can be removed. If you leave a socket on the plug you can just spray inside the socket so it doesn't get on the oil pan, then put a ratchet on and crank.

My wife's Saab had the oil changed at Walmart once (before we were married and had standards for such things) and they apparently used an impact wrench to both tighten it and completely round the head off. We tried all kinds of stuff, but in the end we hammered on a star shaped socket, and did the temperature differential trick, it worked surprisingly well. You could also use heat, but don't forget it's full of oil.....

 

[ChrisCosta416]

Hi there, join the Montero group on Facebook. Myself and another member created a Gen3 parts guide with eveything you need including other maintenance you should do while under there

 

[datsun72]

Agree...

Aisin kit will be:
Good gaskets (Gates kit gaskets are not as good)
Mitsuboshi Belt - spelled correctly...
Aisin water pump
Koyo pulleys
no Hydraulic Tensioner

Buy the OEM Hydraulic Tensioner

Buy OEM Seals - Chrysler dealers may be a source as well - Cam / Crank seals are common to the 3.0l which was also sold in some Chrysler vehicles.

Do you know where the Mitsuboshi belt was made?

 

[datsun72]

I've had good results on a frozen drain plug by getting the car up to operating temp, and then hit the plug with freeze spray (or an upside down can of canned air). The temperature mismatch causes the bolt to shrink a bit so it can be removed. If you leave a socket on the plug you can just spray inside the socket so it doesn't get on the oil pan, then put a ratchet on and crank.

My wife's Saab had the oil changed at Walmart once (before we were married and had standards for such things) and they apparently used an impact wrench to both tighten it and completely round the head off. We tried all kinds of stuff, but in the end we hammered on a star shaped socket, and did the temperature differential trick, it worked surprisingly well. You could also use heat, but don't forget it's full of oil.....

thanks, I'll try this. I bought another drain plug and gaskets so if I round it off i'll just replace it.

 

[datsun72]

thanks everyone for the reply.

So far:

1. Gates belt.
2. OEM tensioner.
3. Koyo Pulleys.
4. OEM seals.
5. Aisin pump.



Anyone have an issue trying to get access to the crank seal? Does the gear slide out by hand or need to fit a gear puller in there?

 

[normal_dave]

Crank gear should slide off relatively easily. Watch the surface of the crank when pulling the old seal. Either use the right tool, (Lisle seal remover), or with extreme care, drill/insert small screw into the seal and pull carefully. (I will expound on this issue later, if I can successfully repair my careless "boo boo").

Pay attention to the crank position indicator "wheel" and spacer, take care with those two tiny locator pins, also get the upgraded crank bolt from Mitsubishi if not already done. The old one looks like a small dumbbell, the new one is shorter. I use a short piece of PVC pipe to drive the new seal in place.

Oh, if you going this far in, replace the front cam seals while you're at it. Don't be too aggressive on the re-install, if they go too deep, they will push through the head, and into the lifter valley, then it's a bad day.

 

[datsun72]

Crank gear should slide off relatively easily. Watch the surface of the crank when pulling the old seal. Either use the right tool, (Lisle seal remover), or with extreme care, drill/insert small screw into the seal and pull carefully. (I will expound on this issue later, if I can successfully repair my careless "boo boo").

Pay attention to the crank position indicator "wheel" and spacer, take care with those two tiny locator pins, also get the upgraded crank bolt from Mitsubishi if not already done. The old one looks like a small dumbbell, the new one is shorter. I use a short piece of PVC pipe to drive the new seal in place.

Oh, if you going this far in, replace the front cam seals while you're at it. Don't be too aggressive on the re-install, if they go too deep, they will push through the head, and into the lifter valley, then it's a bad day.

Thanks. Would you possibly have a list of what special tools you used. So far I need the crank holder, crank rotating tool, cam holder, small tensioner tool.

 

[Rambo Penguin]

My $0.02 would be not to touch the cam seals unless they are leaking. Sure, they are deep in there and convenient to get at if you already have everything off, but they are more complicated than the rest of the process and if you screw it up it could end up costing you later.

I just did my TB and WP 10,000 miles ago and I didn’t need any specialty tools aside from an impact gun to get the crank bolt off. However you will need something to hold the crank in order to re-torque the crank bolt upon install. Or just know what your adjustable impact will likely tighten it to.

This whole job took me 5 hours and it was my first time.

 

[normal_dave]

Seal removal tool. (You don't have to have it, but it does the job well).
Lisle seal remover

Crank/cam holding tool. I made a version of this one, but my flat bar was too thin, so I ended up opening the bell housing inspection cover, and wedging a screwdriver between the starter ring and the bell housing to hold the crank to get the bolt torque to 135 ft. lbs.
balance locking tool home made

As far as the belt tensioning, I cheat a bit, and use my snap ring pliers inserted into the two holes, and a small amount of twist pressure, until I'm satisfied with the release of the tensioner pin on the hydraulic tensioner. I think it was about 3 ft/lbs or so, and I've been fortunate to manually set this to my satisfaction.

I also take the shortcut, pull the engine computer fuse, put a block of wood on top of the drivers' frame rail, rotate the breaker bar/socket CW facing engine to the top of the block of wood, bump the starter, presto. (Some may not endorse this method, but until I build a proper holding tool, it works for now). 135 ft/lbs is a LOT.

I liked this write up, it is for the 3.0L V6, but most of it applies to our 3.5L. Best bet is the factory service manual, (I think Coffeegoat and/or Michael Brown have links and write-ups as well). You won't have to touch the A/C compressor.
Pajero 3.0L V6 Timing Belt service

 

[datsun72]

My $0.02 would be not to touch the cam seals unless they are leaking. Sure, they are deep in there and convenient to get at if you already have everything off, but they are more complicated than the rest of the process and if you screw it up it could end up costing you later.

I just did my TB and WP 10,000 miles ago and I didn’t need any specialty tools aside from an impact gun to get the crank bolt off. However you will need something to hold the crank in order to re-torque the crank bolt upon install. Or just know what your adjustable impact will likely tighten it to.

This whole job took me 5 hours and it was my first time.

While I kind of agree on this, the car is 17 years old the mileage is low but time is a factor. We already had 3 alternators go on the XLS for cam seal leak.

 

[coffeegoat]

My write up is for the gen 3 - 3.5L (2001 LMD) so it won't be the same, but it'll be close for most of it, you can find it in my signature. I've also got a parts/tools list with amazon/rock auto links, but again, i don't know how much is cross compatible with the 3.8, I believe someone on the facebook group did a 3.8L parts list.

 

[normal_dave]

The "new" Montero is a 2002 Limited with 80K that looks to be not religiously maintained but drives excellent and got it at a great price.

Ooops, did I miss something, I thought he was working on an '02 3.5L.