New Owner of a Gen III Montero

[steevo_102]

Greetings to all, I'm new to the forum and can proudly say I'm a new owner to a 3rd Montero. I've been wanting one for some time now but was waiting on finding the right one. Before purchasing, I've done extensive research on getting to know the background of the car, specs, and common issues,buyers guides, etc. I love all gen Montero's but zeroed in on a gen 3 2003+ thanks to a forum discussion here comparing all their strengths and weaknesses. The 3rd gen fit my needs and wants more than the rest, so I picked up this 2006 Montero Limited. I was drawn mostly to the color and the fact it was an 2003+.



It ended up having so much wrong with it but was able to negotiate on price that me and the seller agreed upon, I then drove it back to Phoenix AZ from Fresno CA.




I trekked across the desert hoping the car would keep itself together until I made it home and it did so flawlessly. I was excited to be in the car the entire way, it was my first time being in one and finally seeing it up close.



When I got it home, the first order of business is insurance and registration but the CEL was on for running lean, I narrowed it down to a bad seal in the manifold that actuates the butterfly valves, I guess it's a common issue. So I pulled off the manifold and found this...



Idk how the car ran like this for 590 miles but I'm ecstatic it did so without a fuss. It looks like it already ate the 2 screws holding the butterfly flap in...so that I wouldn't encounter this problem ever again, I pulled the whole butterfly assembly (except the actuator and damper in front of the manifold, I didn't want it to throw another CEL).



Changed the seal, removed the butterflies, slapped it back together and it ran stronger. It needed an O2 sensor as well as I got a code for it, changed it and drove it to clear the I/M readiness tests. Along the way I fixed all the little nick-knacks that was wrong with it. Trunk not opening, rear door latches seized, sunroof motor fell out of place, fuel gauge reading incorrectly, a bunch of lights not working, super dirty interior, cracked windshield, etc.

I had an idea in my head how I wanted the car to look before I got it so I bought PROWLR 9" LED driving lights from backwoodsadventuremods.com before I bought the Montero lol. I got them on sale for a good price. American made in house from AK with lifetime warranty, excellent packaging. I think they're pretty new with little to no reviews but I thought I'd give them a try. I'll report back once they're completely hooked up.

 

[steevo_102]

Dismounted the front bumper, put new fog lights in, band-aid the cracks in the bumper, painted the grille, and mounted the driving lights.



I had to use a Dremmel on the grille because of how big the base of the mounts on the aux lights were. A pre-facelift grille would've worked better since it doesn't protrude like the facelifted grille but I chose to hack this one up instead. I messed up on the passenger side.


Got the driver side pretty clean.


The lights mounted on the car



Next up were wheels and tires, the tires I drove in on were almost as bald as Mr. Clean. Stockers are 17" but I wanted 16's so I chose to buy wheels and tires instead of just replacing tires for the 17's. Life has an interesting way of working itself out sometimes, I wanted the SCS SR8 wheels not only because of the look but because of how light they are, they're 21 lbs each! One of the lighter wheels on the market. I ended up finding the only used set on OfferUp with tires (in the brand & size I wanted) for a good price, 16x8 -12 offset w/ 285/75/16 BF Goodrich All-Terrain. Only a year and a half old tires with plenty of tread left, I think I scored for 500 bucks.



I bought hardened Steel lug nuts and hubcentric rings that fit perfectly. The front wheels rubbed pretty bad at full lock, I just had to remove the inner fender trim at the rear of the wheel arch where the running boards are and bend back the metal tab a bit. I had to trim the front of the inner fenders and pull/ bend the metal brackets holding the bottom of the front bumper to get full clearance. No more rubbing.



At this point I noticed I'm doing everything backwards >_< I was supposed to do fluids and address the suspension and just routine maintenance, but I kept coming across deals on OfferUp, so next up was the roof basket I got for 200. It's a Rhino Rack roof cage, just what I wanted to have as a low profile rack. So I got it and mounted it up to the factory roof rails using square U-bolts. I also bought and installed WELL window visors.



Though I mounted the driving lights I never wired them up, so I decided to get that going. But how I had the wiring diagram drawn it has to be completed with the ditch light wiring since I wanted them to function on a dual light switch. I'm sure you can guess what came next.



I bought Cali Raised ditch lights because of the side shooters it features and Luso Overland brackets. After I got the lights and brackets I bought the dual switch and mounted in the center console. I was going for the OEM look and got dual instead of single just in case I decide to install more lights and mount another switch in the switch panel of the center console. Got it all wired up and working.

 

[steevo_102]

With the car almost being worthy of hitting the trails, I finally decided to lift it with new springs and struts. I decided on OME Emu 1.5" lift medium duty springs w/ KYB's instead of Bilsteins. I chose KYB not only for budget but also I didn't want the ride being too stiff, also this Rig will see mostly asphalt than dirt since I'll use it mostly for daily which another forum discussion recommended but I came to my own conclusion. Upon further research and other Montero owners testimony, the KYB's should be up to the task if I'm not doing rock crawling or constant off roading, they're not as robust as Bilstein and may not hold up to constant abuse. I kept that in mind when deciding on these.

Before and after pic:



After the install I went on a test drive, the ride felt GREAT! Much better than the soggy blown suspension that was on it before. It's firm, but not stiff, very complaint. However, I Immediately start to second guess my decision. Less than 24 hours and this is what I find...



I confirmed that it's not a brake line, the whole line is still covered in dirt with no sign of leakage, the very bottom of the strut was wet. RockAuto will be replacing it without charge. I'm hoping it's a defect rather than poor quality, time will tell.

That's all I got for now, I hope to be on the trails and camping real soon. Fluids and a skid plate will be done before going off roading. I'd hate to get stranded because a fuel line gets nicked.

 

[plh]

Nice color! (same as my old '05) These trucks are a dream on the highway. Our longest road trip was 3.6K round trip. When was the last timing belt, tensioner and water pump replacement?

 

[nwoods]

How did you fix the fuel sender issue?

 

[Inyo_man]

Welcome aboard!

I hope your Montero brings you many miles of adventure!

Cheers

 

[steevo_102]

Nice color! (same as my old '05) These trucks are a dream on the highway. Our longest road trip was 3.6K round trip. When was the last timing belt, tensioner and water pump replacement?

I love the color! It's one of the main factors that drew me to buying this one. 3.6k round trip? Where did you end up going? I'm nervous in any car to trek that long and far. As for the maintenance, the cylinder heads were rebuilt by the previous owner along with timing belt and water pump. I talked to the owner before the previous owner and he swapped a replacement 3.8 with 48k on it and had it rebuilt.

How did you fix the fuel sender issue?

I replaced the fuel sender underneath the carpet of the 2nd row seats, I don't think there are any aftermarket options, I had to get it directly thru Mitsubishi.

Welcome aboard!

I hope your Montero brings you many miles of adventure!

Cheers

Thank you. I'm looking forward to it!

 

[MontySquareo]

you live near Phoenix? somebody i want to get some local Montero owners together and go offroading, maybe up crown king.

 

[steevo_102]

you live near Phoenix? somebody i want to get some local Montero owners together and go offroading, maybe up crown king.

Yup, Im in Phoenix. East valley.

 

[Michael Brown]

Looks good. If you don't have one already, grab the FSMs from my signature. I usually keep both for the Gen 3 since they have slightly different pictures of some things.

For the fuel system, I know the pump and filter can be bought from RockAuto. I believe I got a Denso pump kit (probably OEM supplier since it had the same plug) and the BeckArnley filter.

RockAuto fills most of my spare parts, and I get OEM ones from PartSouq when I really need them.