Fordem's iO
Automatic transmission fluid change.
The internet abounds with horror stories of people who changed (or flushed) the fluid on neglected, high mileage automatic transmissions only to have the transmission fail shortly after - although I've had no problems worth mentioning with my transmission, it is a used vehicle with 130K+ kilometers and no maintenance history to speak of, the transmission fluid was black & oily, rather than the clear pink that's normal for a transmission running Dexron II, so after much soul searching, I plucked up my courage and purchased 8 quarts of Valvoline Dex/Merc ATF (the manual calls for DexronII, which is no longer available), I chose not to go with the Valvoline Maxlife Dex/Merc as some of the horror stories attribute the problems too the use of synthetic fluids.
Following the procedure outlined in the service manual, I disconnected the specified line between the transmission & the cooler in the bottom of the radiator (turns out this is the "return" line from the cooler) and directed it into a bucket and started the engine, allowing it to idle and pump the old fluid out until it started to splutter - which took around 50 seconds (the manual says no longer than a minute), the next step is to drain the pan (nothing came out) - I then poured the old fluid into an empty gallon container (both for storage and to measure the volume) and found that I had drained roughly 3 quarts, so I added 3 quarts of new fluid, rather than the 4 called for in the manual.
The next step is to start the engine and again run for a minute or until the fluid flow stops which ever is first, this time the flow stopped at around 55 seconds, and the old fluid was noticeable lighter, both in consistency & color and I again had around 3 quarts for a total of 6 quarts of old fluid drained, so I added 3 more quarts of new fluid, and repeated the drain procedure one more time, but limited it to 30 seconds, as I only had 2 quarts of fresh fluid remaining.
Next step was to reconnect the hose and top up the transmission, which was done, followed by a short drive (around 5 miles or so) to bring the transmission & fluid up to operating temperature & recheck - the fluid on the dipstick is now clear & pink as it should be, and the transmission appears to shift pretty much as before, all four forward gears plus torque converter lockup (and of course reverse), so, so far, so good - I'll be keeping an eye on it over the next few weeks/months & hopefully it continues to function as well as it does now.
I'll be doing fluid changes on the transfer case and front & rear differentials in the not too distant future.
Two updates - one quite belated :(
Since I had ATF fluid left over, I decided I would flush & replace the power steering fluid - a fairly simple process, starting with removing the air filter assembly, in order to get working room to remove the supply & return hoses from the reservoir, which can then be unbolted & lifted out.
Oh - it helps to jack the car and place the front on stands and maybe remove the sheet metal under cover - if you have one.
The reservoir was washed with fuel, blown out with compressed air, and left to dry - the return line was removed from the rack replaced by a length of hose leading to a bucket, and the steering slowly cycled from lock to lock (with the engine off) to expel the old fluid. A funnel was place in the supply line and fresh fluid added until the color of the fluid coming out changed, at which point the reservoir was replaced, the lines reconnected, and the reservoir filled with fresh fluid. The system was cycled lock to lock a few more times whilst topping up to get it filled and then the engine started followed by a few more cycles to blled entrapped air.
Mitsubishi cautions against using the engine whilst bleeding the system (they say to disconnect the coil packs and crank) as "air will be broken up and absorbed into the fluid" - I opted to fill the system completely before starting the engine and had no problems.
The second update concerns oil consumption, lifter noise, and a very puzzling misfire.
When I was offered the vehicle, I was told that it had issues (the price was very attractive and I had an urgent need - so I took it), and these three were amongst the issues that it came with.
Oil consumption was quite erratic, sometimes frighteningly high, other times negligible, some days it would smoke, some days it wouldn't, lifter noise was also intermittent & erratic, usually present for a couple of seconds at start up and sometimes quite audible during operation, other times, not noticeable, and there was a puzzling misfire that occured only ot start up - there was a distinct, perhaps single miss fire after which the engine would settle down and run quite smoothly.
I theorized that there may have been an injector leaking and the fuel accumulating in the combustion chamber (this is a GDI engine), evidence to support this theory include plugs that are always sooty (which may also be nothing more than a quirk of stratified charge engines) and the fact that the exhaust always smells like it's running rich - to the point that my youngest daughter commented on it, saying the exhaust smells funny, and that was long before I acquired the car (it was a fleet vehicle and she often came home from school in it). Evidence contradicting this theory is the fuel consumption, which is reasonable around town, and excellent on longer trips. I've been tempted to use an injector cleaning additive in the fuel but haven't gotten a round tuit yet.
I've been using a conventional 10w40 oil, even though Mitsubishi feels a 10w30 is adequate for our climate, and this was because I had noticed (on my other vehicles) a correlation between the oil pressure and the diurnal temperatures, as mentioned previously I've also used an engine flush in an attempt to deal with lifters, with questionable success, as the noise soon came back.
One of the things done in an attempt to reduce the oil consumption was a PCV valve replacement, which seemed to have little or no effect - there was no reduction in the consumption and the engine would still ocassionally just idle with a constant stream of oil smoke issuing gently from the exhaust.
Shortly after the last flush & oil change (with the 10w40) I started to topup (replacing oil consumed) with a 15w40 conventional "all fleet" oil, rated for use in both diesel & gasolene engines, as a result of research done into the lubrication requirements of the GDI engines, which are in some ways similar to those of diesels because of the direct injection.
Over a three month period, I seem to be seeing reduced oil consumption, reduced smoke emissions and yesterday I noticed that both the lifter clatter and the mis fire at start up were absent, same thing this morning. I don't know how long it's been that way, but I'll be observing it a little more closely, and the next oil change it will get a complete fill of the 15w40 all fleet.
I doubt that any changes can be attributed to the "heavier" oil weight as I'm in a climate where the temperature rarely drops below the high 70's, I feel it has more to do a higher level of detergents in the oil, as is required for diesel engines, and I'm now wondering in the start misfire is/was caused by one of more lifters leaking down and so not opening the valves as/when they should until the oil pressure comes up.
I may also switch the other vehicles to the all fleet oil.
Flashing neutral light
I don't know how many of you will ever see this one 
it's an automatic transmission only problem.
The transmission controller on the iO uses the neutral light as a "check transmission light" - there are two possible flash rates, a 1Hz flash & a 2Hz flash - the 2Hz flash (2 flashes per sec) is an over temp indication, and the 1Hz flash (1 flash per sec) is an indication that a fault code has been set in the transmission control unit.
Earlier this afternoon I noticed the engine on the iO seemed to be revving quite high, as if it was not in top gear, and cycling the OD on/off button (over drive) confirmed this - if it's in top gear, releasing the OD button will kick it down to third, and engaging the button will allow it to upshift - I brough the car to a complete stop and moved off and watched it shift L, 2, 3, 4 & lockup, as per normal and decided I was imagining things - until much later down when my daughter called to report the neutral light was flashing - she was just about a mile away, so I told her to bring the car, and gave her the Grand Vitara to use instead.
Of course when I got into the car and started it, no flashing light - so I drove it around the neighbourhood and confirmed that I was not getting top gear and sure enough, the neutral light started flashing again - I've pulled the codes and got a 32, output shaft speed sensor open circuit - I'm guessing one of the splices in the harness broke, but I was in no mood to go "bear hug" the transmission whilst it was at operating temperature - there are quite a few connectors to unplug so that you can get the harness into a position where you can unwrap it and work on it.
Maybe tomorrow when I see what my work load looks like - fortunately I have another vehicle I can use.
I was able to take a look.
Despite having a fairly busy day, I was able to get the iO up on the ramps so I could reach the sensor - it's in a real PITA position, and fortunately, it reads good with a test meter - I think I would have to drop the transmission (or cut a hole in the tunnel) if I had to change it - getting to the harness where I suspect the break is (it was repaired before) is also quite challenging, the entire interior has to be gutted and the carpet removed, so I doubt that will happen before the weekend (as a matter of fact, the last time I worked on it, it took me half of Saturday & most of Sunday.
If I recall correctly that particular connection is the shortest and may have been under some tension, and at the time repair was done I was unable to source the requires size of split loom to properly protect the harmess - a situation which has since been remedied, I have split loom in several sizes on the shelf.
Fixed !!!
My baby's back on the road.
Because of the location of the loom, getting access to it is the challenge - the transmission controller is under the console alongside the handbrake and the loom runs under the driver's seat where it connects to the 4WD display controller & the main wiring loom and then through a gasketed port in the floor, so getting access to it requires stripping it about half the interior so that you can get the carpet up.
Anyway - turns out the loom broke at the exact place it had been spliced before, which I had already suspected, but not for the reason I had suspected - the old splice was corroded - water had leaked in through the layers of tape & heatshrink tube. I redid the splice. but this time I used marine grade heatshrink (which I did not have access to when I first spliced it), that supposedly protects against water & oil contamination.
Given the location of the spliced loom (under the vehicle & exposed to the elements) I suspect I may have recurring corrosion issues, so at some point I will make the time to redo all the splices with the marine grade heatshrink - but in the mean time I think I should stay out of water crossings.
NEW STOCK SPRINGS ARE HERE
After many false starts, I finally have in my possession a set of new stock front springs - I picked them up about an hour ago, haven't paid for them yet - will do so tomorrow - the local KYB reseller should have the struts to match these, but before I pick those up, I plan on fitting these with the existing struts to see how much of a change in the ride height & camber results.
Tomorrow promises to be busy work wise, so I won't get the chance to pull a strut before Friday - I need to get strut boots and possibly the upper mounts as well - maybe by weekend I'll have the new springs in place.
springs
That's great - it's obviously been quite a mission getting the parts there.
So have I got this right - yours is an early car and presumably has the lower spring pan, the springs you've got are also early (longer type), and the changes you're looking for are just correction to effects of sagging springs with no plan to lift?
Are the KYBs that you plan to pick up the early or the late / higher pan type to get 25mm of lift?
Probably the early "low pan" ones.
Yes - my car is an early (98) Pajero iO with the longer springs & low pan struts - and I'm not looking for any lift, but rather to correct what I think is sagging springs and the resulting negative camber.
The original idea was to put the new springs in with the existing struts and see what impact they have on the ride height & camber and then make a decision - but I'm currently "mulling" the effects of worn struts on new springs - in theory, worn struts cause the springs to flex more and wear faster, and the reverse is also true sagging springs flex more and cause new struts to wear faster.
Funds are tight (when are they not?) so new struts are at least two weeks away - and I know the KYB guy has the early struts - he did say the late ones would be available by end of the month (September) but he's also said that in June, July & August - I may end up taking what's available.
Truth is even though I'm not interested in a lift, I would love the additional clearance of the higher spring pans so that larger tires remain an option.
Lift
I understand you're not really wanting lift, but the 25mm you'd get with the later struts sets the io at a height that looks more 'right' to my eye, especially with bigger tyres fitted, without giving much away to streetability. If you went that way you might find a set of used springs off some other vehicle to lift the rear without spacers. Mine were from a '90s Mazda Astina 'BA' model which you may not have there, but I think there were a couple of other donor options mentioned by Daniel (Sem Locao) that you might have in your corner of the world.
Keep us posted anyway - it'll be interesting to see what you get just by fitting new springs.
Oil change #3
I did another oil & filter change today - the third since I acquired the iO, and the first without spilling oil on the driveway.
Usually, for an oil & filter change, I put the front on the car on ramps, slide under and work from below - this procedure does not work well on the iO, because the drain plug is near the front of the oil pan, and the "nose up" angle caused by the ramps traps some of the old oil in the pan. The iO has enough ground clearance that I can work comfortably without the ramps, but, I can no longer use the bucket & trash can liner drain receptacle, so I have a new Blitz oil drain pan, and this is where things become interesting.
With the bucket & trash can liner, I never really got to see the old oil - just knot the top & dispose, but with the Blitz pan, I have to pour it off into a container for disposal, and whatever residue is left is clearly visible. When I emptied the pan there was a VERY heavy layer or film behind - I'd estimate at least 1/8" thick and mind you - this is oil from an engine that has had an engine oil flush treatment on it's two previous oil changes, so I would have assumed that the first flush would have removed most of what ever sludge there might have been, and the second flush would have gotten what ever remained, and bear in mind also, that no flush treatment was used on this drain. The oil that was drained would have started as an initial fill of roughly 3.5 litres of Valvoline Premium conventional 10w40 motor oil, with what ever oil was consumed over the past 5,000km (3~4 litres) being replenished with Valvoline All Fleet 15w40 oil.
Topping up the oil consumed with the All Fleet 15w40 (which is rated for both gasolene & diesel engines) started as an experiment after I discovered that some of the oil companies blended oils specifically for GDI engines, which although they burn gasolene, have a number of quirks normally associated with diesels, for example, because both engines inject the fuel directly into the chamber, there tends to be a non-homogenous or stratified charge, and higher levels of soot than would be associated with a conventional gasolene engine - given the unavailability of the GDI specific oils locally, and the similar requirements of the GDI & diesel engines, I decided to give the All Fleet a try and have been quite pleased with the results - for example, there has been a significant drop in oil consumption.
What I saw today makes me even more sceptical about synthetic oils and extended oil change intervals - this was a 5,000 km oil change, no way would I have wanted what I saw coming out of my engine in there for another 5,000 or 10,000 km.
Front suspension fixed - finally ...
New struts (KYB 334442 - the only thing I could get) and OEM coils have been fitted, along with new dust boots/bump rubbers, and unfortunately the same old strut mounts (I could not find replacements).
At a glance the droop and negative camber problems that have plagued me for so long, seem to be gone - I have removed the camber bolts that I had fitted, and by eye, there is no visible tilt to the front wheels, neither negative nor positive (before the replacement work, it was visibly negative both with & without the camber bolts).
Before ride height measurements were LF-665, RF-647, LR-690, RR-680 - these measurements from the lower rim to the guard above
After ride height measurements are LF-670, RF-660, LR-682, RR-684 - curiously enough the driver's side front is still lower than the passenger side, and yes, I did fit the longer spring on that side - I'm considering swapping them side~side - but I will drive it for a week or so and see what, if any settling occurs. I've also been told about a guy who will fabricate a spacer to fit between the strut mount and the body, so that is also an option. Alignment will be done after the settling & whatever ride height correction measures I may take (if any) and we'll see if the camber is within spec, or if I have to refit the camber bolts to get it correct (I'm keeping my fingers crossed).
The ride is, of course, much improved, the vehicle is more settled, more stable, less like what my eldest girl calls a "land boat" - in fact, all "land boat-iness" is gone (in my opinion - she hasn't driven it yet and no Claude, this is not the 19 year old, she's the youngest, my eldest girl is 31, married and more adept with a 4WD in the dirt than I am - the youngest doesn't get off school for another week and a half, and when she gets home she will opt for the Grand Vitara, her excuse being the iO has an automatic transmission).
One of the things I was curious about is if there would be a visible difference between the new & old springs - with leaf springs, I believe it's usually possible to look at the unloaded springs and see that they have lost their "curve", well, with coil springs you can't - I had the old coils paired off with the new coils, side by side, and there was no visible difference, apart from the dirt - there was however, a noticeable difference in the "feel" - if you grabbed a couple of adjacent turns of the coil in your hands & squeezed, the old driver's side coil was softer than it's replacement, but there did not seem to be any difference in feel between the old & new passenger side coils.
Coincidentally, I also found 215/70R16 tires in an all terrain pattern - Dunlop GrandTrek AT3s - $32,364 each (about USD $160) - not a bad price (I paid $34,336 each for the 235/60R16 AT3s that are on my Grand Vitara), but out of my reach right now (I need a full set of five), unless I can tap the Mrs. for a loan (or an early Christmas pressie) - I'll probably pick up a set for the eldest girl, we've been looking for tires for her daily drive (a Nissan Xtrail) - couple of months back, we were looking at GoodYear Assurance and she informed the sales chappy that his tires were too "girly" for her.
new strut
We are going to miss your "camber problem" ...lol...maybe not !!!
Seriously, I am glad that it is all good. New suspension does give a good feeling when you drive for the first few time, it feels like a much better handling car...and it is !
For the A/T, when I had the BFG, they were a bit more expensive to buy, but they lasted twice as long as my previous Yokohama, yes the grip is not as good, but if you don't go cornering like mad you won't feel any difference, and the A/T is a much better tyre off road.
Happy camber!!!
I think I'm happy with the front suspension now.
There's been no significant settling over the past few days, and crude camber checks suggest that the vehicle is within spec as is - as the first step, I "eyeballed" it with the help of a 24" level, and more scientically, I used a digital angle gauge (normally used to set the blade angle of a table saw) and got - 0.2* on one side and - 0.3* on the other - spec is - 0.5* +/- 0.5*, so anywhere from 0* to -1.0* is within spec. I'll get it aligned some time during the week to confirm.
Whilst installing the new tires on my daughter's car, I discovered that the place had one of the.latest Hunter "HawkEye" alignment racks, and was quite surprised to find that the Pajero iO was listed on it - most of the other alignment shops have older Hunter systems (some of them bordering on obsolete), so I'll give them a shot and see if they know their stuff.
I have a new problem though - flashing front wheel lights on the SuperSelect display when in 2WD - it seems to be caused by a defective switch on the transfer case, but I'm not 100% certain. In this case, the front freewheel disconnect is connected when it should not be - the actuator is spring loaded to the connected position and engine vacuum pulls it to the disconnected position when in 2WD - from a design standpoint, this is the better approach, as a failure leaves the 4WD operable, albiet with slightly increased drag. In contrast, a failure of my Grand Vitara's freewheel disconnect will leave me without 4WD.
Backprobing the switch I should see +12V (nominal) when in 4WD (which I do) and then dropping to 0V in 2WD (which I don't), trouble is, if I ground the lead, it should disconnect the freewheel and that is not happening - using a hand vacuum pump I can engage & disengage the system, so there may also be a vacuum related problem.
Camber IS within spec.
I had the alignment done today - the before readings showed the camber and toe to be within tolerance but the caster on the left front was marginally out (no more than 10 seconds), as was a number of the measurements on the rear end, which are not adjustable.
Although within spec, the toe was tweaked to "center it" within the tolerance, and the rest, will be left as is.
My front diff problem seems to have sorted itself out.
I noticed this morning that the front wheel lights were no longer flashing, so I shifted into 4H, they came on as they should and went back out when I selected 2H, as they should - so I shifted back & forth a few more times for good measure, and every time the lights did what they should, and I could hear (and feel) the "clunk" as the drive engaged & disengaged - a disengage will actually produce a double thump, the first when the transfer case disengages, leaving the lights flashing, and a second when the front freewheel disconnects a second or two later.
So far, so good.
New rear upper link bushes are in.
After much searching I was able to locate the front bushes for the rear upper radius arms on ebay.uk, took a little over a week to get them here, and for the rear bushes on the same arm I used cutdown Land Rover bushes - easy to do because these are a plain rubber bush with a push in inner sleeve, not an elastomeric bonded one. For reasons known only to Mitsubishi, the pivot bolts for the rear go in from the inside and have to pass between the coils of the spring - as a result you'll end up jacking the axle up & down to get clearance after pulling out the bolt, and this allows the axle to shift fore & aft making it very difficult to line everything up when reassembling - the left side took about 30 minutes to reassemble, the right side, which has the panhard rod, took over two hours - I ended up having to use a ratchet strap looped around the axle and the lower arm body mount to pull the axle forward so I could get the pivot bolts in place.
Hello Fordem, It seems that
Hello Fordem, It seems that this forum is coming to an end if the most illustrious member bows out.
However, this car, despite the end of its production, is likely to be present for many more years.
Good road to you Fordem and good wind as we say here.
I don't see myself as the "most illustrious" member
but it does look like I'm the last of the "old gang" here.
Folks like Claude, who I think was the first with an air locker, and I think Bob did a lot of work on the transfer case reduction, piggybacking off of someone else's work, maybe in Greece - much of what I did was piggybacking, collecting the details from the other members and sorting out to build the suspension data threads.
Hi Fordem I know its been
Hi Fordem
I know its been awhile since you did this(fabbed the shifter box part bushing...) but do you have a diagram you used, or something of the like? I am now experiencing the exact same thing and in my mind before seeing this I was thinking similar cause, the stick moves, but completely with out guidance and moves a little on its own...thanks in advance
Sorry
No diagrams or dimensions - it was more of what we call a "try a thing" repair
This is what the bush looks like ...
That image was taken from here - mind you I have no idea if that part will fit an iO (although it might), I'm just using the auction for the image.
Remove the transfer shift lever assembly (three bolts hold it in place) and drive the "cross pin" out so you can get the sheet metal cover off the lever - the cover is rounded at the top and what I did was find a polyurethane shock bush just too large to fit into the cover and sanded it down until it was a snug fit (it needs to rotate within the cover as you move the lever so not too snug) step two was to sand out the hole in the bush to fit the lever and step three to drill the hole for the cross pin. The polyurethane flexes so it does not need to be dimensionally precise.
When it's time to reassemble make two paper gaskets, one goes below the shifter gate and the other above it, and there is a bolt on the right side just below the opening that you'll need to remove to get the lever back in - a bolt that holds a spring that springloads the lever to the 2H/4H side.
It sounds more difficult than it is, any half competent backyard mechanic (that's what I am ) can do this - and it shouldn't take more than an hour to an hour & a half - oh - I stuck a bolt through the center of the bush, chucked it in an electric drill and turned at low rpm whilst holding coarse sandpaper around the bush - a simple home made lathe.
Edit
I just looked a little closer at the auction - it is for a "super select" shift lever and it does list dimensions, so you can disassemble your shifter and measure the cover inside and shift lever diameter - my memory is not that good, but it might work, if you wanna throw $45 at it.
I'm not sure how to add a
I'm not sure how to add a picture here, but yep, the bushing is in pieces. Virtually disintegrated. The problem I'm having is finding a decent replacement, I'm going to keep looking tomorrow. This is a very third world country. The only option I'm finding is rubber. Where does that polyurethane busing originate from, I mean where exactly in the vehicle, which part it's associated with. I'm sorry if you've already said this info. Thank you!
Rear suspension creak/moan? Shocks??
Among the issues that have plagued this vehicle from the day I got it was noisy suspension - lots of rattles, thumps, along with the occasional moan or groan - most these have been sorted along the way - at this point I have replaced front springs (OEM Mitsubishi), front stuts (KYB) and rear shocks (Monroe Adventure series), along with the occasional rubber bush.
I'm now left with one noise (which I suspect was not originally there) - this noise is either only present at low speed or only audible at low sound levels - a subtle difference maybe. Anyway - if the car is moving slowly, doesn't matter forward or backward, and the rear suspension cycles a soft moan or creak can be heard.
It's almost always there briefly as you pull away from rest, if you pull away gently, although it may be that it's there on a brisk start but is either so brief that it goes unnoticed or maybe it's drowned out be exhaust noise, tire noise, etc - it's present if you roll slowly along an undulating surface, like grass at the edge of the road, anything that forces the rear suspension to move up & down slowly produces it.
Previously, there has been another knocking sound from the rear suapension on move off that led me to take a closer look at the rear end, leading to the discovery of worn/torn bushes on the upper radius arms and these were thought to be the source of the creak as it could be reproduced by putting a wrench on the lug nuts and rocking the vehicle back & forth, but replacement of those bushes has not eliminated the creak.
Over the last few days I have removed all four radius arms plus the panhard rod (not at the same time) and inspected every bush in the rear end - they are all either new or in good condition and so I turned my attention to the shocks - BINGO! - removing the shock from the vehicle and manually compressing it produces the creak and both of them do it.
Some internet searching has suggested the shocks might be defective - these are less than a year old and apart from the noise seem fine, no sign of any leakage, take some effort to compress and there is enough gas pressure inside to force the rod out when they are removed from the vehicle; I have seen suggestions that lubricating the seal with silicone might help - it's impossible to get to the rod because of the steel top cap, but I have squirted silicone spray lube in there; and there were also suggestions that the noise could be caused by the oil flowing through the valving.
These Monroe's are apparently "triple valved' or have three stage valving - the first for low piston speed (motorways) medium speed (standard or dirt roads) and high speed (off road tracks).
I guess I may have to live with the creak - good thing it's not too intrusive.
Differential & transfer case fluids changed.
I was kind of bored this afternoon - pulled out the compressor, checked & adjusted tire pressures - I need to get the right front tire on the GV dismounted and the rim cleaned, it leaks slowly somewhere - checked fluid levels, topped up the iO engine oil (it burns a little - OK - a lot) - I was on my back on the creeper, eyeballing the underside and I decided to check the drive train fluid levels. Been meaning to change the fluids for a while now, but, since Simpson Oil bought the Exxon/Mobil distribution network, it's been difficult to get Mobil1 oils, so I sort of never got a round toit.
Anyway - popped the transfer case filler loose and that was low, popped the rear axle filler loose, and that too was low - I didn't feel like topping them up without knowing what was already in there, so I asked my son to go pickup some gear oil for me - 5 qts Valvoline 75w90 full synthetic, and whilst he was about it, see if the guys would swap a bottle of 75w140 that they had given me in error. He came back with 6 qts of Mobil1 75w90 full synthetic - yes he knows it's my preference, and he's like that.
So - I drained the rear diff - came out dark, with a fair bit of "fuzz" on the drain plug magnet, and then refilled with fresh lube - moved on to the transfer case, drained & refilled that, and then the front axle (which was also low) - the front axle has two sections, the diff and the free wheel - I did the diff - but, the fill plug for the free wheel faces forward and is no more than an inch away from the cross member, making it impossible to get a socket on it, and I don't have a large enough open end wrench - I think it's a 24mm, I have up to 22, so during the week I'll pick up a 23 & 24 to round out the collection, and finish the job next weekend.
I usually pour the used oil into the empty bottles for disposal - got maybe 3½ quarts, put in a little over 5, and the manual lists the freewheel as taking 0.1 litre.
hey just wanna say thanks for
hey just wanna say thanks for the help with that bushing part. all was re-installed now it shifts smoothly throughout. Nothing actually happens though haha. I have light on dash blinking but no actual mechanical things happening...on to figuring that part out...
thanks again
Assuming the lever was reinstalled correctly ...
You're welcome - and assuming the lever is correctly installed, something must happen when it is moved - even with the bushing missing you should have been able to select between 2H & 4H, because the bottom of the lever directly engages the shift rail. Mind you, it is entirely possible to select 4H at the transfer case but not have the front freewheel engaged, which would result in no power transmitted to the front wheels.
Start a new thread in the "Engine & Drivline" forum and we can work out the details - worst case scenario you have something broken in the transfer case, however the problem is more likely to be something simple, like a defective switch.
Actually I probably won't
Actually I probably won't start a new thread. Because thanks to a local mechanic(who asked for $8 pay), whom I turned to when it got more complicated, it works awesome now. He even made sure all was greased/lubed. The only thing left with this issue is while the shifter and the driveline works in unison, the dash lights don't represent properly what is actually happening. I have a friend here who is going to help with this, and it's not crucial.
Now to lurk suspension related threads, as we are heading into the hills here where there's lots of streams, small rivers to cross...
thanks again.
Here in Guyana, the old people have a saying ...
Don't trouble trouble - I'm sure where you are, the old folks have something similar - let sleeping dogs lie - if it ain't broke, don't fix it - and so on.
My iO was in an accident before I bought it, it was T boned and the driver's door got pushed in - the body work guy did a pretty good job at straightening it, and it's hard to tell unless you go looking.
But - you knew there was a but - right? But - the driver's door no longer seals properly, and it whistles around the top edge of the window if you have the windows closed and the a/c on. The top hinge is bent, so I asked the body work guy about fixing it and he suggested I bend the window frame rather than fix the hinge. I tried bending the frame, which didn't work, so I set out to take the hinge off and straighten it.
Yeah - don't trouble trouble.
I ended up having to remove the front fender - which means removing the grille, the headlight, and so on. You can remove the hinge without removing the fender but getting it back on and getting the door aligned is another matter altogether. Straightening the hinge moves the top of the door inwards - as expected - it also moves the top of the door backwards, which I did not bargain on - so the door no longer closes - I had to slacken both hinges, put a jack under the trailing edge of the door, jack it up and tighten the hinges.
It closes beautifully now - but the back door no longer opens - the driver's door is maybe 2mm further back - of course I did not discover this until I have the fender etc. back on, so I have to take it all apart again.
Whilst taking it apart I discovered corrosion under the battery stand - so I took that out to clean & paint - but the evap canister is mounted underneath that - so I had to take that out also.
DON'T TROUBLE TROUBLE.
Ahh well - I'm waiting on the anti-corrosive paint to dry - I'll have to take the top hinge back out and grind the mount holes oval so I can shift the door foward a millimeter or two, I'll have it back togther tomorrow and hopefully it won't whistle.
Well - after a very wet day.
I can confirm the top of the door seals properly - there's no whistle - the bottom of the door, which is where the bulk of the impact was is another story, I don't think that will ever seal, but as long as I don't stop in deep water I should be OK - at least - that's one more irritating noise I'm no longer hearing.
Been a while since I have updated this...
Let's see what's been done since the last post.
I found & fixed a leaking cam cover gasket that was contributing significantly to my oil consumption - most of the nuts holding the cam covers were barely finger tight.
I did another oil & filter change - nothing very exciting.
And the real reason for this update - I think I've got my not working "low fuel light" sorted.
When I got the car the low fuel light never came on - I ran it out of gas twice in one day "testing" - and tracked it down to a defective thermistor on the gauge sender for what Mitsubishi calls the "main" tank. Of course, the thermistors aren't sold separately, you have to buy the entire gauge sender, so I re-wired the system to use only the low fuel sensor on the sub tank gauge sender, which meant I had a low fuel warning from a quarter tank, which of course, I would then ignore for the next hundred kms or so - making the warning somewhat redundant.
Well - a gentleman on these forums dropped me a note to say he had a used gauge sender he would mail to me if I was interested - of course I was - so, about a month later I had a second gauge sender from which I was able to take the thermistor and fit it to my sender - and today - I saw the light come on briefly at just about 1/8 tank, not really low yet, and I believe it'll come on & go off a few times before it stays on - main thing is - it seems to be coming on as it should.
And to that forum member - I say THANK YOU SIR!!!
Update - low fuel light eventually came on & stayed on - well, so my son said, he was driving at the time - so he filled up, took 42 litres.
Work progresses slowly...
I need to get some new pics to post - after several months of fiddling & fettling -my iO now has Hella 500s on the front, a switch panel has been made for the dash (I tried to get my hands on the original panel & switches, but it didn't happen), wiring harness made and installed, and on the roof, cross bars, a Rage Black Widow cargo basket, and Quickfist shovel holders next "project" is probably an LED camp light to mount on the back of the basket.
Intake cleaned, EGR blocked???
I spent the last three evenings disassembling & cleaning the intake manifold & throttle body and most of today reassembling - it was a bit of an experiment - and the process included pouring "pyroil engine flush" in through the plug holes and hoping that it would dissolve any crud around the ring area, freeing any sticking rings - the final step of course was an oil & filter change to remove the engine flush and whatever contaminants it had dislodged..
The throttle body was removed & cleaned, the intake was removed disassembled and thoroughly cleaned - purpleblaster degreaser is an amazing product - it's a biodegradable waterbased degreaser that seems to eat soot & carbon, at least I was able to rinse a lot of stuff out with very little scrubbing, so I decided to use it in the intake ports - first rotating the engine to make sure the valves were closed and then spraying the degreaser into the ports before attacking them with a combination of a bottle brush and an old toothbrush and finally swabbing them out with "shop towels" to remove the muck and liquid degreaser.
Whilst I had the intake out I took the opportunity to replace all the coolant hoses associated with the throttle body (there are four, and two of them are completely inaccessible without significant dissassembly), and that actually accounted for most of the time spent today.
The first "post reassembly" step was to crank the engine over with the plugs out and the crank sensor unplugged (this disables both injection & ignition) so that any liquid or debris remaining in the combustion chambers was expelled via the plug holes, and then the plug holes were swabbed out with a shop towel and plugs & coils installed.
I was expecting some difficulty in getting it started, but not as much as I experienced - repeated cranking only produced intermittent & weak firing and I eventually gave up and pulled the plugs, which were oil fouled - I suppose that was to be expected - a set of good used plugs were installed, and with a little coaxing & cranking she fired up, belching clouds of smoke, and a fair bit of misfiring - which I had anticipated.
Once she settled down, I switched off, restarted (fired on the first try) and then switched off again and added the remaining covers and what have you before taking a test drive - down to the service station to fill the tank - she seems to have more power (confirmed by my son) and there seems to be no lifter noise.
During the next week she will get a cooling system flush, fresh coolant & new plugs and I will monitor both the oil & fuel consumption.
I did note a fair bit of oil in the intake ports, which can only be coming through the PCV system - I did remove the cam covers and clean the separators - I may consider adding a catch tank - and I found something very strange in the throttle body - a circular sleeve, most likely stainless steel, seems to have been added, completely closing the EGR ports - there was a heavy carbon build up in the port where it connects to the EGR, but even though I removed a large quantity of carbon, I could not get flow into the throttle body ports - not that I really wanted to - it had been my intention to cut a stainless steel blanking plate, which I did not bother to do.
engine cleaning
That was a busy day....
I would be careful with trying to clean the carbon around the piston ring. The ring wear out with use and the carbon deposit behind them accumulate. By removing the carbon, the gap (between the cylinder wall and the groove in the piston) that was filled with the ring and the carbon become only filled by the ring. This might create problem later on.
It looks like these engine get dirty quickly, and from your past posting, you are mainly driving short distance. This might add to the problem.
Well done, a few hours work and a few HP back....
Happy io
I knew the risks before I started...
I've been "weighing" my options for a while, and trying to decide if I should just pull the engine & do a proper rebuild - possibly bore oversize if I can find pistons (this is the real challenge), or resleeve & re-ring, along with a valve job & new valve seals - I believe the crank to be in good condition (based on oil pressure readings), so that would just need new bearings (which shouldn't be too difficult to locate).
The reason I've been dithering is that apart from erratic oil consumption the car generally runs well - some of that oil consumption is leaks - one was the cam cover gasket that has just been replaced, and another was the timing cover seal, which continues to leak, even though it was replaced earlier this year - I have since acquired a genuine Mitsubishi seal, and should have within the next few weeks, a "speedy sleeve" which can be used to fix the crank sealing surface if it turns out to be scored, so I'm going to be having another go at sorting that leak soon.
One of the things I did note yesterday was a lack of smoke from the tail pipe, which I am going to continue to watch for - after my test drive I disconnected the battery for 30 seconds and then ran the vehicle through the GDI "relearn process" - I deliberately omitted this step before the test drive as I was more interested in running the engine up through the gears to get it up to temp, blow out debris, etc.
The relearn process involves idling the engine for three ten minute periods under specific conditions and having done it on a number of previous occasions (every time that battery has been removed), I am aware that it will usually generate a fair cloud of smoke during the last two periods, and this did not happen yesterday, which I took to be a good sign.
More details as I continue to observe.
At the end of the week ...
with the car being used daily by my son, he has reported more power & better fuel consumption (I have no numbers yet), but what I have noticed is that the oil consumption seems to have improved - I've been checking it every day, and the level, if it has dropped at all, has not done so noticeably (with daily usage it would normally go through about 0.25 litre in five days), and I was coming in behind him, and did not see the perhaps normal "tell tale" wisp of blue smoke from the tail pipe.
The timing cover seal still has a minor leak - it was replaced a few months back when the timing belt was done, but has continued to leak - I have a genuine Mitsubishi replacement and within the next week or so, I am expecting a "readi-sleeve" repair seal to fix the crank surface if that turns out to be scored.
So glad of this outcome
I am so happy you have had a good outcome so far,
my MPI engine uses oil erraticly - i run 10/40 full synthetic oil in it and I noticed clear oil loss since switching to synthetic (BUT engine runs much better)
I have had a leaking cam cover but not a huge volume, I also have a black ring around the last 10mm of the OUTSIDE of the tailpipe, not sure if this is soot or oil debris..
I ran some "upper cylinder cleaner" spray and this increased the compression and performance noticably. I normally only loose large amounts of oil with hard driving i.e. motorway at 110km/h+ and 5000rpm+ for extended periods i.e. overtaking road trains or 3rd gear fast mountain driving.
my engine is now over 250,000kms and I am going to source a new bottom end (2.0L blocks are cheap and plentiful with about 50,000kms)
I expect my engine will run until 320,000kms without much change (I do 1000km/week) so about 2years/18months left - will prepare the new bottom end(hopefully no honing required) and build to suit a larger camshaft profile.
In what way?
In what way does the engine run better with the synthetic oil?
I'm running a conventional 15W40 "all fleet" oil, suitable for use in both gasolene & diesel engines - primarily because the GDI engine, which, like the diesel, injects fuel directly into the combustion chamber, also has several other diesel like characteristics - soot is an issue and so is fuel dilution - the all fleet oils have higher levels of detergents than other gasolene engine oils and are better able to hold soot in suspension.
I don't run synthetic engine oils in any of my vehicles (I do however run a full synthetic in the transmission, transfer case & differentials, where the oil change interval is longer) - I did run my own tests with both full synthetic & synthetic blends in the engine a few years back, and, at least on that vehicle, saw no reason to pay the additional costs because my preference is to change the oil more frequently to get rid of the suspended contaminants.
On a slightly different note - I recently came across an iO for sale locally - 1.8 MPI engine and 5 speed transmission - which is a combination I have been looking for - unfortunately the asking price is unreasonable given the condition - cracked windscreen, body rot in the rear quarters, and close to 190,000 kms on the odometer.
If the price was reasonable, I would consider buying it, rebuilding the engine and then doing a "power train" swap - as that would give me the combination I prefer.
service intervals and MPI lifters
I run synthetic only for 2 reasons:
- 15,000 between oil changes
I drive about 1000kms a week, i would typically change a mineral oil every 5000kms based on the driving I do.
- less sludge in lifters.
Synthetic definitly improves lifter rattle here in Australia - all the mitsi v6 engines benifit from it as do the 4G blocks
More maintainance stuff...
Let's see, for the year, I've fitted new strut mounts, that got rid of some of the bump & thump in the front end, I managed to locate genuine Mitsubishi sway bar rubbers and fitted those, along with new sway bar end links, new rear upper bushes to replace the cut down Land Rover bushes (they actually worked quite well) and much more recently, new rack ends & boots.
On the "modfication" side of things - a small 18W LED flood bar has been mounted at the rear of the roof rack - and partially wired - it's going to do double duty as a reverse light and a camp light - I really have to get some pictures up.
Lift planning...
Although my initial plans for this vehicle did not include a lift, I have been mulling the idea for some time, and the stumbling block has always been the "non-availability" of the KYB 334405 struts at a reasonable price - what that really translates to is that I could not find them, either locally, or in the US, and sourcing out of Australia would involve exorbitant shipping costs.
Yesterday, whilst waiting on the counter guy at a local auto parts place to fetch an air filter from the back of the store, I was "browsing" through their shelves & stumbled across a pair of the KYBs, which I will probably pick up during the coming week, and put on my shelf, so it's there when I'm ready.
The Mazda springs have also been hard to locate - I don't think I have seen more than one of those Astina's around - but I am considering a spacer over the existing rear springs.
Droop measurements indicate the existing rear shocks have more than enough travel for a 20~30mm lift - to match that provided by the struts - however, I'm not that comfortable reducing the droop at the front - I know many of you guys have done it with no problems, I do have the original Mitsubishi struts that came off when I fitted new springs a few years back, so I'll be taking those to the machine shop, see if I can get strut extenders made.
Lift plans have been put on hold ...
One of the problems this car had when I purchased it was what I thought was a leaking crank front seal, traces of oil down the front of the pan with that tell tale "radial" pattern - so I had the seal replaced, along with the cam seals, the timing belt, and tensioner & idler pulleys. The engine continued to leak down the front of the pan, and I assumed it was the same seal leaking - the new seal was then replaced with a genuine Mitsubishi seal, and the leak continued, which I theorised was probably due to a "groove" in the crank, so for my next attempt I went with a slightly thicker seal (7mm rather than 6), the idea being that the lip of the new seal would not fall in the same place as the old one.
When we pulled the timing components off it became apparent that the seal was probably not leaking and this was confirmed when we removed the seal itself - there was no oil on the sealing surface - it looks like the leak is coming from the oil pump O-ring.
To get to the O-ring, the pump has to come out, for the pump to come out, the oil pan has to come off, for the oil pan to come off, the cross member has to come off - but wait - isn't the cross member what supports the engine?
It looks like it'll be easier to pull the engine, bolt it to a stand, and work on it there - and whilst it's out, pull the head, "de-coke" the intake ports & replace the valve seals - I may stop just short of a complete rebuild - I'm not certain if I can find pistons & rings, although when the head is off, I plan to have the bores "miked" to determine condition, and see what I can find, if they are available, we'll either bore oversize or hone & re-ring as appropriate.
Any way - the "lift money" has been reassigned, so no lift until later - on the bright side, I have been slowly acquiring parts for some time, so I actually have much of what I will need, in fact all except the parts that need to be "sized" based upon wear - pistons & rings and main & rod bearings.
Ever heard that synthetic oils cause older engines to leak?
The theory is that the higher detergent properties of the synthetics cleans out the muck & grunge, allowing the smaller, more uniform, supposedly more slippery molecules to escape - maybe this is the end result of using the higher detergent diesel oil ;)
A year ago, when I removed the intake & cleaned it and poured solvent into the chambers hoping to free possibly stuck oil rings I was prepared to tear the engine down, so the attempt gave me another year of service - last year though, I had one more vehicle at my disposal, my son has since had an unfortunate mishap with that one (again) so, we're kind of tight on transportation, at least until after the Christmas season - here in the Caribbean, folks tend to come home for Christmas, and I will once again enjoy having all of my children around me, but this time my first grandchild will also be here (he's just three months old)
Syndicate
Oil pressure gauge is now "plumbed in"
I finally got around to finishing the oil pressure gauge installation this afternoon - 1/8" BSPT male fitting into the block, approximately 9" of 1/8" copper hard line running back to a brass tee which is tye-wrapped to the automatic transmission oil cooler line bracket (which is bolted to the side of the engine block), the oil pressure switch is on the stem of the tee, and then from the tee to the gauge with a 1/8" nylon line.
The copper hardline is necessary to maintain an electrical ground between the oil pressure switch and the engine block, if copper is used all the way to the gauge, flex or vibration loops are required to allow for engine movement, but the nylon line that was used has enough flex - ordinarily I would avoid nylon, but because of the available routes for the line, there's no way to run copper all the way. An electrical gauge would have been much easier, but they don't seem to be available in the 1.5" size I prefer.
Indicated pressure of roughly 19 psi at a warm idle - a little lower than I'm accustomed to seeing on my Suzukis (all of my other cars have oil pressure gauges), which give me 25~30 psi at a warm idle, depending on how hot the day is, and 60~100 psi depending on engine rpms - service manual calls for 29 kpa or more at a warm idle, which is an unbelievably low 4.3 psi (if I saw that on my gauge I'd be pulling over and switching off), and 294~686 kpa at 3500 rpm warm, 43.65 ~99.5 psi, so well within spec and it would seem my bearings are in good shape.