NOTE: Before contemplating doing this job yourself please read our post regarding Crankshaft Pulley Issues and our post on the Crankshaft Locking Tool. The majority of the problems seem to be related to late 90’s models, however it is better to be sure than sorry.
Today we are going to have a look at what is involved in replacing the timing belt on a Mitsubishi Pajero 3.0 V6. The following information is also applicable to the Magna/Verada variants, however the position of the engine mounts makes them a bit more difficult. The job itself is not difficult, however before attempting it make sure that you are comfortable with all the outlined steps and have the needed tools or access to them. If you are not completely confident that you can handle such a job please leave it to a qualified mechanic, as any mix-ups have the potential to cause expensive engine damage. Have I put you off yet? I hope not but please read and understand ALL of the steps outlined here before contemplating doing this repair! Print it out and have it close by if need be.
It is my opinion that anytime a timing belt is replaced that runs the waterpump (as in this case) that the waterpump be replaced as well. 9 times out of 10 disturbing the waterpump when changing the belt will result in it leaking and your back to square one again. Same goes for the timing belt tensioner, 100,000km of use takes its toll on anything and while it is apart it would be crazy not to replace these. If it does fail down the track a bit you will have to do the job again – arrgg! Parts suppliers will sell you a kit which has the timing belt, tensioner and crank and camshaft seals nescesary to do the job right the first time.
Parts/Tools Required.
Timing Belt Kit
Waterpump with two gaskets. One for the pump itself and one for the backing plate behind the pump and o ring for metal pipe (should all be included in the kit)
Replacement coolant if necessary
Socket set ranging from 10mm to 22mm
Ring/Open end spanners from 10mm to 17mm
Set of screwdrivers
Container for catching the coolant. Great time to replace it if it hasn’t been changed for a while
Impact Gun or 1/2 inch drive breaker bar for loosening harmonic balancer bolt
Impact Gun or Torque Wrench for re-tightening balancer bolt and camshaft bolts
Small bottle of Loctite thread lock
Wire brush or wheel
Razor blades and emery paper or air sander
Gasket Sealant (not silicone, non-hardening compound is best for this job)
Anti-sieze compound (optional)
Cleaning solution and brush for cleaning behind the timing covers
Rags for clean-up
Plenty of time and no interuptions!
Lets get started! This whole job can be done with the radiator in place, however it does make the job easier and is not difficult to remove so I recommend removing it first. Plus it gives you a chance to inspect it for any potential problems. I also recommend putting bolts and nuts with their respective part as you pull it down, saves a lot of hassle when putting it all back together.
O.K. the first thing is to drain the coolant from the radiator. In their infinite wisdom Mitsubishi put a drain cock in the bottom left side of the radiator. You would be surprised how many manufacturers don’t do this! Even if you are not going to use the coolant again, use the container to catch it and dispose of it properly.
Now we can remove both the bottom and top radiator hoses at the engine end. The hose to the overflow bottle, coming from the radiator neck can be removed as well.
There are two ways you can do the next step, you can either remove the four 10mm bolts holding the fan and pulley on and remove the fan first or remove the clipped-in bottom section of the fan cowling attached to the radiator which gives enough clearance to remove the radiator with the fan still attached. Both methods work ok so do what you think is easier.
Next step is to remove the bolts and nuts holding the radiator in. There is two 12mm bolts on the left side and two 12mm nuts on welded in studs on the right side. Support the radiator when un-doing the last two and lift the radiator out once all bolts and nuts are removed. Be careful as radiators are not the lightest things!
The next job is to remove the A/C and power steering belts. The A/C belt is a piece of cake, just loosen the 17mm nut on the tensioner a couple of turns and then wind the 13mm headed bolt down until the belt is loose enough to remove. The power steering is a little different. There are two holes in the pulley and these have to rotated into a position where you can get a 14mm socket onto the two bolts holding it in place. The botton one just needs to be lossened a little and back the top one off a couple of turns enabling the pump to be pushed toward the engine, loosening the belt as it moves in. A large flat blade screwdriver is handy for levering the pump back into position when re-assembling.
If you have left the engine fan in place you will now need to undo the four 10mm bolts holding it on. Once this is done remove the fan, pulley and belt.
Now you will be left with a bracket with the main belt tensioner pulley and idler pulley on it. This has to be removed the gain access to the timing belt covers. A combination of 12 and 14mm bolts are used.
The next part is probably the most difficult (well it is for me with 6 fractured vertebrae in my back!). The A/C compressor needs to be undone from it’s mounting bracket. 4 bolts, usually 17mm but sometimes they can be odd sizes need to be removed and the compressor pulled back as far as it will go without damaging the hoses. Once the compressor is removed there is two 13mm bolts at the front and two 17mm bolts at the side of the bracket to be removed. The rearward bolt has the engine earth attached to it and this must go back on when re-assembling.
Next step is to remove the two top timing belt covers. Little half moon looking things secured by two 10mm bolts.
The next step is to loosen the harmonic balancer bolt, but not remove it completely so we can set the valve timing first. If you have access to a air compressor and impact gun then great, but if you don’t, I have a way of un-doing it although it is definately not a ‘text book’ approach and I don’t recommend this way at all but it does work. Take your 22mm 1/2inch drive socket and breaker bar (or long ratchet without the ratcheting mechanism, ask your parts supplier if you are not sure what it is), attach the socket and sit it on the balancer bolt and rotate the engine until the breaker bar contacts the chassis rail on the passengers side of the car. Make sure everyone is a safe distance away, go to the drivers side and make sure the vehicle is in nuetral or park for autos and turn the ignition key for a few seconds. The cranshaft will turn and the socket and breaker bar will hit on the chassis rail and loosen the bolt. You may need to do it a few times before it comes loose. As I said I don’t recommend this approach and I will strongly deny ever writting this paragraph if I have to!
Once the harmonic balancer bolt is loose we can go about setting the valve timing. What we need is the timing mark on the balancer to line up with the TDC (top dead centre) mark on the timing belt cover and the indentations on the camshaft pulleys to line up with their respective marks that are just behind them on the cylinder heads. If you find that the balancer mark lines up but you don’t see any marks on the camshaft pulleys then you need to rotate the crankshaft 180 degrees and all should be good.
Once the timing marks are sorted we can remove the balancer bolt and balancer itself. To do this you may need to gently pry the balancer from two sides using a ‘rocking’ motion. Small movements each side in succession. Generally speaking they come off easily.
Now we can remove the bottom section of the timing belt cover. If you intend to replace the camshaft seals (recommended) now is the time to loosen the 17mm bolts securing the pulleys. If you have an impact gun use that, if not a sharp hit with the palm of your hand on the ratchet should do the trick. Make sure to re-align the timing marks if the engine rotates at all when doing this.
At this stage I always remove one battery terminal so when the timing belt is off the engine cannot be accidently turned over with the starter. Turn your back for five minutes and you never know what can happen!
Once you are satisfied the timing marks are lined up and the battery is disconnected it is time to loosen the 12mm bolt in the centre of the tensioner. One turn is all that is required. Now you can either push the tensioner back yourself or gently lever it back with a suitable screwdriver ( being careful what you are levering against ) and re-tighten the 12mm bolt to hold the tensioner back.
Remove the timing belt. Ya! Not too hard eh.
To replace the camshaft seals, remove the camshaft pulleys, noting which side goes where and gently prize the old seals out taking note of how far in they are and being careful not to mark the surface of the camshaft where the seal runs. Fit the new seals using a socket that is the same diameter as the outside diameter of the new seal. It is a good idea to run a film of oil around the inside surface of the seal before fitting so it doesn’t run dry on start-up.
Refit the camshaft pulleys using Loctite thread lock on the threads of the bolts. If you don’t have a impact gun, do the bolts up hand tight and then get a big piece of paper and write on it “tighten cam bolts” and stick it under one windscreen wiper. We have to wait until we fit the timing belt to tighten them up without a impact gun and you do not want to forget to do this believe me!
If you do have a impact gun to do the camshaft pulley bolts up get someone to hold the pulley from turning while tightening the bolt as valve damage can occur if the camshaft turns too far.
The crankshaft seal is a bit easier to do. First remove the metal disc that is in front of the gear and using a puller if you have it remove the crankshaft gear. If you don’t have a puller two flat blade screwdrivers can be used on either side of the gear however you have to be very careful as the housing behing is alloy and very easily damaged and the ‘lip’ on the back of the crankshaft gear is very easily broken off. Extreme care to be exercised here. Once you have the gear off it is a matter of carefully prizing out the old seal and fitting the new one as stated above for the camshaft seals. Refit the crankshaft gear making sure it is all the way back.
Replacing the waterpump at this stage is very easy and highly recommended. From memory there is five 12mm bolts on the pump itself and two 12mm bolts on a bracket on the top of the pump that bolts to the cylinder head. The spring and timing belt tensioner will have to be removed also. Once these are removed a gentle pull on it should be all that is needed to remove it.
The waterpump then needs to be seperated from the backing plate. This is done by removing all the 10mm bolts in the pump and a phillips head screw that comes in from the back of the pump. Once this is done it is time to remove all the old gasket from the backing plate and engine block.
There is also a metal pipe which runs into the back of the waterpump backing plate that has an ‘o’ ring seal. That seal needs to be replaced and should be included in the waterpump kit. If not take the time to track a new one down because it is sure to leak if not replaced.
It is essential that all gasket surfaces be as clean as possible. I use a single sided razor blade and some fine grit emery paper if I can’t use my air sander. You do not want to be doing this job twice so make sure everything is as clean as possible. The bolts that secure the waterpump to the block and backing plate will more than likely have corrosion on them so take the time to clean them up with a wire brush or wheel and a smear of anti-sieze compound on them will make life easier if they have to come out again at any stage. Any oil or contaminates should be cleaned from the block and timing belt covers as well.
Re-assembly is the reverse of what I’ve written with the following notes;
Do not over-tighten bolts. Because we are mainly dealing with 10 and 12mm bolts they don’t have to be tightened with all the strength you’ve got!
If you don’t have access to a impact gun the camshaft bolts need to be tightened to a torque of 60Nm or 45ft/lb. This can be done after the new belt is fitted and once both are tight you can throw away your paper reminder on the windscreen!
The harmonic balancer must be tightened to a torque of 177-186Nm. You will need to remove the starter motor and lock the flywheel from turning with a large screwdriver or such to tighten this bolt. Please read the “Pajero Crankshaft Pulley Issues” post for more information on tightening the pulley bolt. The metal ‘disc’ must be installed between the crankshaft gear and the harmonic balancer as it stops the belt from running off the pulleys. If you are not sure which way it came off look for the crankshaft gear marks. I have seen many crankshafts ruined in these engines because the harmonic balancer bolt was not tightened correctly and worked it’s way loose and ruined the snout of the crankshaft.
I suggest using Loctite on both the camshaft pulley and harmonic balancer bolts.
Once you have the new belt in place let the spring on the tensioner take up the slack and tighten the 12mm bolt. Then temporarily fit the balancer bolt and rotate the crankshaft 360 degrees. Re-check timing marks and if you find that it is out at all release the tensioner once again and line it all up. Sometimes it still takes me a couple of goes and I’ve been doing it for ten years!
Use gasket sealant on all gaskets. Even though they are new, better to do the job once and once only.
Be patient and work carefully and all should be good! If you get stuck or have any questions I can be contacted at http://www.autofix.com.au/. Best of luck!
Take care and please be safe on the roads.
Craig
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Posted on: February 18th, 2007
66 Users Responded in " Timing Belt Replacement – Mitsubishi 3.0 V6 "
Hi there,
Quick question concerning removal of the seals: the two front camshaft seals and the front crankshaft seal. You say to carefully pry out these seals. What specific tools do you use to accomplish this?
(If I score any of those shafts, it’ll mean bad news for the new seal. Chrysler has special tools for removal, but none of them is listed in the shop service manual for the 3.0 engine (whereas tools to remove the seals from the 2.4L and the 3.3L and 3.8L engines ARE shown in the manual. Go figure.)
What I use to remove the seals is simply a small flat blade screwdriver with the end bent up to hook into the back of the seal. I have used this method for ten years with no dramas. Exercise caution of course! Very odd they don’t list a tool for the 3.0, perhaps a call to your local Chrysler dealer may clear this up. Best of luck!
With the new timing belt in place when I go to tightin
the belt with the tension pulley my timing marks will move
because I am pushing the belt as I tighten it. How precise
do these marks have to be. Is there a reason why the belt moves when tightning which causes the marks to be off.
Thanks
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
This is very common and sometimes takes a few fitting attempts before getting it right. The easiest way I have found is to set the timing marks and start at the crankshaft pulley and tightly fit the belt to the passengers side camshaft pulley, tightly around the waterpump and then tightly around the r/h camshaft pulley. You should then have enough slack in the belt to fit the tensioner and not disturb the timing marks. As I said it may take a couple of go’s to get it right and if possible another set of hands to hold the belt in place as you go helps a lot. Once you think you have the belt fitted correctly turn the engine clockwise two revolutions and re-check the timing marks.
The timing marks need to be pretty much spot-on, a few millimetres either way is not an issue, but having the belt one tooth out on either camshaft pulleys will affect it’s performance.
I have attached a picture to help explain the method. (please excuse my graphic skills, I am definitely no artiste!)
If you still have problems please email me again and I will do my best to help you. Best of luck!
I am changing a timing belt on a mitsubishi diamante 3.5 V8.The timing marks were not lined up and when I took the belt off the camshaft sprung to one side.What would be the best way to reaign all of the marks.
thanks
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
Are you able to see where the marks line-up? If so it is just a matter of turning the camshafts to where they need to go with a socket and ratchet on the camshaft pulley bolts. Having an assistant hold the camshaft in place while fitting the belt makes life a lot easier.
If for instance the cambelt has broken and the marks are completely misaligned you need to first turn the crankshaft away from top dead centre e.g. one quarter of a turn either way from where the marks line up so that the valves don’t touch the tops of the pistons when lining the camshafts up. Once the camshaft marks are right move the crankshaft back to top dead centre. The crankshaft can be moved by re-fitting the balancer bolt and using a socket and ratchet and turning in a clockwise direction.
I hope this answers your question but if you have any other issues please don’t hesitate to reply.
Thank you for all you have done to answer all of my questions.
Thanks Again
Jeff Kaczynski
Hey I have a 3lt v6 leaking coolant from behind the harminic balancer guessing it is a water pump issue timing belt was replaced 50 thous ks ago (at 200,000)just wondering if it will have to be done again to fix any water pump issues not confident to do it myself but just trying to get an idea whats involved Thanks scott
Hi Scott,
The waterleak will more than likely be from the waterpump and yes, unfortunately the timing belt has to be removed to replace the pump.
Even though the belt was done 50,000km’s ago I would suggest having it replaced as well. Coolant can have a detrimental affect on the belt and also you won’t have to worry about it for another 100,000km.
It’s a shame that the waterpump couldn’t have lasted another 50,000km!
Hi there
I have a Mitsubishi Nimbus and I was reading your replacement method. I wonder if it isn’t a lot different to mine because I notice the water pump is on the outside of the timing belt section and my engine is sideways too. Would you by any chance have a replacement method for my my car’s timing belt?
Thanks
Johnny
OK I THINK I STUFFED UP AS THIS WAS MY FIRST AND LAST TIME DOING THIS I HAVE A 3.0 PAJERO WHICH THE WATER PUMP STUFFED UP TOOK EVERYTHING APART TO GET TO THE WATER PUMP I MARKED WHERE THE TIMMING WAS WHEN I REPLACED IT THE MARKS DIDNT LINE UP I SAW WHERE THE TIMMING WAS NEVER MOVED IT ONCE I PUT EVERTHING BACK ON INCLUDING THE TIMMING BELT ECT WHEN TRYED TO START IT UP IT WOULDENT TOOK IT TO A MECHANIC $350 TO DO THE JOB TO GET IT GOING AGAIN HE RANG TODAY TOLD ME SOME CRAP ABOUT THE VALVES HE TOLD ME WHEN I TRYED TO START IT LIKE 30SEC TRYING TO START IT HE TOLD ME I BURNT THE VALVES OUT IS THIS TRUE OR CRAP AS HE TRYING TO GET MORE MONEY
Hey Kris,
What the mechanic is probably talking about is the valves being bent not burnt out. If he is telling you they are burnt out he’s telling you porky’s but bending valves by cranking an engine when the cam and crankshaft timing is not correct is possible.
Hi
This is just the info I have been looking for. Will put it into practice shortly
Thanks.
hey craig ive just put a new water pump in and new timing belt it might be out by 1 tooth and ive put a new thormo stat in and the hoses r good and theres no blockige in the radator it over heats wen i rev out or going a fast speed and it cools down wen i put it in lower gears or nutral its just got me fucked 4 2 months now i dont no whats going on any thoughts?
Hi Brant,
The symptoms you describe point towards either a thermostat not opening or more likely a blocked or at least partially blocked radiator.
Have you had the radiator professionally cleaned at any stage? If some of the cooling tubes are blocked up with crap the radiator can loose it’s ability to dissipate enough heat particularly when the engine is loaded up.
A simple way to test the thermostat is to take it out and place it in a pot of boiling water and see if it opens or not.
I am assuming that this problem was evident before you replaced the waterpump, timing belt and thermostat, is that correct?
‘Hey Craig, I have similar problems, my timing belt went due to the tensioner not being replaced in my TF 1997 Magna. We are currently under the impression that we will need a recon engine because of pistons or something (obviously i’m not a mechanic!) however I have stumbled accross this forum and thought I would ask exactly how we will know if the engine is cactus?
Many thanks
Hi Chris,
There is a likely hood that the tops of the pistons have come into contact with the valves and bent the valve stems causing them to either remain open or not seal against their seat.
Unfortunately the only way to diagnose this is to fit another timing belt (with all the usual timing marks correctly aligned) and attempt to start the engine or carry out a compression test.
Although this will more than likely cost a few hours in labour and the price of a new timing belt I personally would recommend you have this done before condeming the engine to the scrap heap.
I have come across the odd occasion where this has happened and for whatever reason the valves have been untouched although this is very rare.
Also if the valves have been bent and are not too severely damaged, which you won’t really know until the cylinder heads are removed from the engine, it may be possible to overhaul both cylinder heads and leave the bottom end alone. Unfortunately either scenario is not going to be cheap but if you can get away with reconditioning the cylinder heads instead of a full engine exchange the bill should be slightly less.
I hope this has shed some light on it for you and if there is anything else I can help with please don’t hesitate to shoot us an email.
Hi there, thanks for information on replacing the timing belt. I have a 1999 3.5 litre Pajero. I was wondering if there were any major differences to the 3 litre engine, when it comes to changing the timing belt/water pump etc. Mine is just about due!!!
Hi I notice you named a hand full of mitsubishi makes and models except the mitsubishi Galant..im assuming that this 3.0L V6 your wrenching is the same family V6?..I have not replaced a timing belt before..but with the info you have provided i fell a little bit more confident..Also I notice that you really didnt mention about any specilty tools? Do you think I need any do to the fact that this is a front wheel drive? if so which 1 do i need.if every thing gos right this job should only take maybe 2 to 4 hours?..ok thank you
Hi Dave,
I’ve done a plenty of Magnas, Veradas and Pajeros over the years but I can’t say I’ve done a single V6 Galant timing belt! From the info I have here the model of Galant that has the V6 is from 1993 to 1996 and the engine has a capacity of 2.0 litres. Does this sound right for your vehicle?
If this is right I will look into a bit further and see if I can get the correct procedure for your engine as I am not sure if the setup is the same as the 6G72 3.0 V6.
my waterpump froze and my belt skipped time is it possiable the engine now has more damage from this?
Hi Randy,
It is possible for the valves to come in contact with the tops of the pistons if the camshaft timing has been altered by a substantial amount when the waterpump froze. This does not always happen though, a number of factors come in to play such as engine rpm at the time of the belt slipping, the amount of clearance between the valves and pistons etc etc.
The only sure-fire way of knowing if any damage has been done is to fit a new waterpump and timing belt and do a compression test of each cylinder.
hi there
i have a mitsubishi magna th 2000 estate (wagon) model.. back in october 2008 i had the cambelt/tensioner replaced (200,000kms) by rac auto sevices(western autralia)
heard a funny noise on friday from the cambelt area so i removed the cambelt cover to have a look!!! to my suprise the cambelt is loose as hell and not even sitting on the pulley correctly, its definateley jumped a few teeth too..its only done 6,oookms since the belt was replaced!!!!!!
i cant risk taking to the garage case the belt comes off completley (how my wife drove up the freeway 30 km in one piece im suprised!!!!!)
but be sure im gonna be in the garage at 8am tommorow morning with the warranty paperwork!!!!!!
just hope there,s no engine damage and they replace the belt again and not just tighten it up….
next time its going to a main dealer not thee cowboys!!!
wish me luck !!!!!
Hi Martin,
Sorry to hear of your dramas, let’s hope they get it right the second time around and that there hasn’t been any contact between the valves and the piston top’s.
Please let us know how you get on.
Hi Craig
Can you tel me if the V6 in my 2004 Colt pickup is the same as described in your above article?I kow it is a 24valve 3000i and reading the above article I had a closeup look at my engine and picked up a few similarities that you mentioned.Surely Mitsubishi did not produce a lot of different V6 engine’s?
Hi Oosie,
I cannot be 100% sure about you’re vehicles engine type, there isn’t a great deal of detailed information available on this vehicle, but I do believe that you have the later 24 valve version of the engine that the article was written about.
The ‘principles’ are definately the same and you should notice a few similarities however from memory there is a few differences in how some things are bolted up and I believe the timing marks on the camshafts are also slightly different from those of the 12 valve engine.
You’re right, Mitsubishi produced less than a handful of different versions of this engine and I am confident that any differences in your engine from the one in the article will only be relatively minor. If you do decide to replace the belt yourself I’m only an email away if you strike trouble.
hi craig
went to the garage today 8am (lots of customers in there!!)explained that the car had only done 6,000km since cambelt replacement, and the belt is hanging off
without any hesitation they arranged a tow truck to pick it up from my house straight away…….
they said the reason for the belt coming loose was the (new)hydraulic tensioner failed!!!!
replaced under warranty and extremly quick…
8am at garage advised of problem..
12.30 midday car is fixed and ready for collection ???
lets hope this one lasts longer?? or was it dodgy installation????
Hi Martin,
That sounds like very good warranty service, for an industry that isn’t known for it’s after sales service! I have heard of the odd one or two hydraulic tensioners failing, particularly after a timing belt change so it is certainly possible.
Thier swift response to the problem makes me believe that they run their business well and with that in mind I think the chance of a dodgy installation is pretty low but I guess at the end of the day only the mechanic knows exactly what was done! Seriously though I think you can be confident in the car’s reliability once again.
Thanks for the update.
Hi Craig,
I recently purchased a Pajero NH 1994, 6G72 motor no running.
I was told that the timing belt had slipped whilst running. I read on another site that the 6G72 12V was a non-interference engine where if this happened there would be no contact between valves and piston heads…. is this true? I have taken the motor down to the valve springs (rockers off) and there is no visable sign of bent stems, but the motor will not start, but turns over with no unusual noises indicating contact, I will compression test the cyls to see if anything is abnormal, I also noticed that when lining up the belt on the left cam sprocket with the timing mark it is sprung loaded, (with a valve open) not like the right hand sprocket which sits nicely on the timing mark without force, this suggests something out of whack, but I have no idea what they did with the motor before I got it, but if the spark lead fittings were anything to go by (all over the place)who knows?
Hi Craig,
I have a dodge caravan 3.0L V6 with a mitshubisi engine, the timing belt was broken when I was driving it. I did some research about this engine and I found that this is not an inteference angine. Now that I have tried to replace the belt I can not aling the left camshaft sprocket because is spring loaded and it moves either to the left or to the righ. It does not sit on the aligment mark. The right camshaft sprocket align perfectly with the mark Is this normal or is there any problem with the valvetrain, lash adjuster, the rocker arm or the camshaft itself. Please help ASAP.
Hi Johnny,
The trouble you are having aligning the left hand camshaft sprocket to the timing marks is normal. This happens because a number of the valves on this side of the engine are either opening or closing when the timing is set correctly.
The only way I found to overcome this is to have a spare set of hands helping you by holding the camshaft in position with a spanner (17mm on the Pajero’s) while fitting the timing belt. Also it is very important that you rotate the engine two full turns of the crankshaft by hand after you have fitted the timing belt and re-check the timing marks. Because of this spring tension on the left hand camshaft it is very easy to set the belt a tooth or two out.
I have attached a portion of the workshop manual that confirms this problem you are having is quite normal, although a tad frustrating!
Was on the highway on cruise when my timing belt went. Had a new belt, tensioner, and starter replaced. Now the car is running even worse than before. When I first picked it back up the braked seemed a little messed up (took more force to stop). That is pretty much gone but I am still experiencing vibration at high speeds and rough driving/idle. Slight bucking at times as well. Please help!!
Hi JC,
From what you have described I believe that there is one of two things going on here.
The extra braking effort needed could indicate that the camshaft timing is not set correctly and the amount of vacuum that the engine is producing is less so the brake booster is not operating correctly. This could also explain the vibration and ‘bucking’ or miss-firing that you are getting.
The other possibility is that there has been some damage to the valves when the timing belt went and the engine is now low on compression.
Either way, a engine compression test and re-check of the valve timing is probably in order. There may also be a ignition timing issue which could be causing the bucking and vibration, however I don’t think that the brake issue is related to this.
I wish I could help you more but I think you need to speak with whoever replaced the belt and have them carry out a compression test and re-check the valve timing as it does sound like this is the cause of the problems.
Craig,
Thanks so much for the advice. Was planning on taking it back to be looked at anyway, but wanted to get a couple of opinions first. My car knowledge is somewhat limited and I’ve already put out a decent amount of money on this and don’t want to wind up getting ripped off. Either way, thanks again for your help, really appreciate it.
Hey Craig,
Posted the other day about my timing belt issue– thanks again for the advice. Didn’t even have a chance to get it looked at though because today I went to pull my car out of the driveway and heard a loud cracking/grinding noise when I went to back up. Just had it towed and they told me the drivers’ side spring went and now I need a shock/strut replaced. I find it a little strange that a week after I had all that work done, this happens. Did some research and the $600 quote they gave me seems a bit pricey. What do you think on this matter? Would really appreciate your help (again). Thanks…
Craig,
My timing belt broke while I was driving my 1994 Mits Mighty Max Pickup. Following your instructions I am being rather successful in replacing the belt, but my question is, how do I ensure that the crank is at TDC and not 180 degrees off?
Thanks,
Greg in Alaska
PS…I am also the proud owner of a 1963 Australian VW Bug!
Hi Greg,
As long as the crankshaft and block marks are lined up the crank will be fine. In essence the crankshaft cannot be 180 degrees out as it travels only one revolution per two revolutions of the camshafts, so it is the camshafts that dictate the valve and ignition timing position.
Does that make sense? I hope so, that is the easiest way I have found to explain it!
An Aussie VW Bug in Alaska! That’s great, is she in good condition?
Hi Craig,
Regarding my 1994 Mitsubishi Mighty Max, 4 cylinder, smallest engine (2.0 liter?):
The bearing inside the timing belt tensioner pulley self-destructed. There is a post on the tensioner bracket that the tensioner spring fits around. I’ve removed the bolt that secures the tensioner assembly but the tensioner won’t come off. Is the spring post holding the tensioner on? The end of the spring post is hollow but I don’t see the head of any fastener inside the hollow and the hollow inself does not appear to be machined/fitted for a hex wrench. How do I remove the spring post to get the tensioner off?
Hi Walter,
Without a ‘intimate’ knowledge of the Mitsubishi 4 cyl engine of that year I don’t have the answer for your dilemma, however if possible can you shoot a digital photo over of the offending belt tensioner and surrounding area?
In the meantime I’ll have a look around the net for a diagram or pic that might help us.
Hello again,
I got some good photos of the offender and its domain but I can’t figure out how to attach them to the comment/reply form on this page/site. However, I think I was able to answer my question: an internal hex fitting can be very subtle, especially on larger sizes and with the photos I was able to clearly see that the hollow in the post is indeed to be fit with a hex key/wrench (about 7mm). I was able to stick the camera down where I could not stick my head, face and eyes so until I took the photos I had relied on the sensitivity of my little finger on my right hand to feel the hollow -> and ‘er’s the gitter: the ‘flats’ of the hex are recessed and begin at about 1/8″ inside the hollow, so natch my finger could not feel them. So, we all learned something cool from this I hope. Use technology to see and feel where our eyes and fingers cannot. Thanks still to you Craig!
Hi Craig
My 3.0L V6 1989 Pajero is losing heaps of oil.I threw a harmonic balancer a few months back & noticed heaps of oil on the timing belt.I’m getting ready to change the timing belt & the three front oil seals. Does the rear crank seal fail at the same time as the front seals? Is there anywhere else oil could be leaking from? The water pump isn’t leaking yet but you recomend it gets changed?
Thanks
Hi Les,
Over the years I have found that Pajero’s very rarely leak oil from the rear crank seal, in fact from memory I cannot recall ever replacing one, however almost every Pajero that I have done a timing belt on has leaking cam/front crankshaft seals. This is not to say it can’t happen of course, but in my experiences it is very rare.
If there was oil on the timing belt and around the timing cover area I believe that you will solve the majority of your leaks by replacing the cam/crank seals, the only other possible areas that I can think of would be the tappet cover gaskets or the oil filter housing. Just personally I would be doing the cam/front crank seal, degreasing the engine and taking it from there.
The reason I suggest replacing the waterpump when doing the timing belt is that nine times out of ten the pump will start leaking after changing the belt and the entire job has to be done again. Not fun! I believe that the ‘taught’ new timing belt puts added pressure on the waterpump which leads to play in the bearing and the seals in the pump fail.
I have to say that I have been caught out by this on several occasions where the customer has wanted a ‘cheap’ job done, only to be back a week or so later with a leaking pump. I know it may not make a lot of sense seeing as though the pump is not leaking at present and it is merely a recommendation that you replace it at the same time, but after being caught out a number of times I believe it should be done to save having dramas further down the track.
Hope this helps and if there is anything else I can help you with please don’t hesitate to get in contact.
Regards,
Craig
hi, i am doing the heads, water pump and timing belt on my nh pajero. my problem is that while removing the crank pulley (using the bodgy screwdriver method..) i broke off about 3cm of the lip around the back of the pulley.. oops! they are fragile arent they?
does this make the pulley unusable, or can i file down the sharp bits and use it again?
Hi Laurie,
Yes, the buggers are fragile that’s for sure! I’m assuming that the portion that broke off is at the rear of where the fanbelt runs?
To be honest, I have made this mistake a number of times (you’d think I would have learnt the first time but being in a hurry etc etc) and as long as you remove any sharp edges with your file and providing the piece broke off around where the fanbelt runs I’m confident you will have no problems re-using the pulley.
I reckon there is at least three Pajero’s running around Brisbane with a piece taken out of the pulley and I haven’t had one come back yet, touch wood! Seriously though, I’m sure it will be fine.
wow! thanks for the quick response! i should confirm to you that i was talking about the timing belt pulley, not the fanbelt? also, id like to advise anyone using this method to wear safety glasses, as when the piece broke off it shot out rather quickly and hit me on the nose, a few inches further up and i would have lost an eye!
thanks again!
Oh ok, I misunderstood, I thought you were talking about the balancer not the timing belt pulley. Don’t stress though, same deal, as long as there are no sharp edges to catch the timing belt all should be good, I imagine it is only a small section that broke off? I have seen this done before on a Triton that we changed the timing belt on and there certainly wasn’t any evidence of it causing any problems.
Hope your nose didn’t fare too badly and you’re right, safety glasses are a good idea if using this method!
Hello
I have Pajero 2004 model, and it is 110,000 KM. I want to ask about the timing belt, when it is required to change? How much does it cost?
Ahmed,
The belt is due every 100,000km and price can vary a lot between different workshops. Have a ring around you’re local mechanical workshops to get an idea of price.
Craig
89 mitsubishi colt; how to remove the cranckshaft pully?
the bolts are off but there is not enough space to remove it.
The waterpump outlet had corroded through due to electrolisys as it is attached with the use of a rubber seal to a steel pipe!
Pipe is useless too of course. P.S.he pully fell out when I jacked up the car body, thus the problem is solved.
Timing belt seems ok but tensioner lip and bearing are worn thus I replaced it as well as the belt.
regards H.Bos.
I have been searching for a picture/reasonable diagram of the engine of a Mitsubishi Gallant with the different parts such as the Starter motor, the alternator and starter relays and such clearly marked, such that a person looking at the picture can find that specific part on a real car. The best description for where is the Starter Motor that have seen has been that: “it is close to the car’s engine”. That is not an answer! Everything in a car is “close” to the engine, depending on what close means. Where is the darn thing, Up, down, left, right, no one on the internet seems to have a single picture or diagram of where these things are located in and around the car’s engine.
Which model Galant Mark? If you can tell me that and the engine type we should be able to help you out.
Regards,
Craig
Hi Craig.
I just did a rebuild on my Pajero NH, Funny thing is my dis/cap to motor fires as 1-3-5 but the dis/cap says 1-5-3 and also for the other side it fires as 2-6-4. Is this correct or do i have a one off motor?
Hi,
Funnily enough I was discussing this exact thing with another reader just the other night. Someone had removed the leads on him while the heads were off and he had all sorts of dramas getting the thing to fire properly.
Long story short I remembered going through the same thing a few years back at the workshop and ended up working the firing order out from valve movement and it was different from the markings on the cap although I couldn’t remember exactly what the difference was.
I think that there must be a few NH’s getting around with distributors and/or caps from an earlier model (coil packs were introduced not long after the NH from memory) and this might be causing the confusion. Hard to explain otherwise!
Hey Chris,
I recently bought a Pajero that was not in the best of shapes but was running well just a small bit of smoke on start-up which I put down to bad valve stem seals. Anyway I decided to recon the heads, fix the valve stems seals, new head gasket and obviously a new timing belt, water pump and tensioner. Stripped the engine down taking the heads off which also required the removal of the distributor housing etc… got the reconed heads back from the shop all nicely cleaned and pressure tested and skimmed flat even new tappets . Put them back on careful to make sure everything was at TDC when putting it back. Re-attached the distributer housing and got the rotor pointing as close to where it said it should be in the manual, then put back the cam gears (tricky to hold the buggers still) then came the new timing belt and water pump installed like you have said in this blog (very useful). Turned over by hand a number of times and everything lines up, one cam is perhaps 1-2mm out if that but nowhere near a whole tooth. Also new plugs, leads distributor cap and rotor were installed. Went to start the car and it ran but very, very ruff – and had to mess with the idol screw to stop it from stalling… thought it was just ignition timing so took it to an auto elec and they said when they put the correct timing it won’t start??? He says to me he thinks it’s bad cam timing… but upon pulling apart again to inspect timing everything is lined up like before… So after that long story I’m wondering if you have any idea to why she won’t run smooth – inspecting the exhaust gases it’s spitting out heaps of fuel so running really rich, might be because I messed with the idle screw. Any help would be awesome!
Cheers,
Adam
Hi Adam,
From reading your question the first impressions I get is that the firing order is not correct. The fact that the engine won’t start when the ignition timing is set to specs makes me think that the ignition leads are not in the correct position on the distributor cap.
I see that you have replaced the distributor cap and leads and I imagine the distributor cap has cylinder number markings on it which you have followed? If you read the comment two above you will see that this may be the problem! For some reason there are some distributor caps getting around with markings that aren’t correct for some Pajero motors.
I don’t know if that is definately the problem but it is worth checking out and before we go any further can you tell me the year and model (NH etc) of your Pajero and I’ll check my tune up manual for firing order details.
Thanks for that Chris,
I will try looking at the old cap and the new cap and see if I have just copied the numbers on the new cap and therefore potentially put the leads on the wrong way… that will be a cheap fix…
I have an 1995 SWB Pajero (NJ) and just to make sure are the pistons numbered this way?
FIREWALL
5 2
3 4
1 6
RADIATOR
I would have hoped that was something the auto ele might have checked but i guess posibly not…
Cheers!
Adam,
I have a feeling that the right bank (passengers side) runs 2-4-6 from the front of the engine back but do you think I can find any credible info to confirm this? I’ve got three Mitsubishi factory workshop manuals with the V6 in them and all have the firing order (1-2-3-4-5-6, hard one to remember!) but not the configuration of the cylinder numbers. I will keep looking and let you know if I find anything.
Yeah my manual doesnt have the order either… you would think something like that is a bit important!
Looking on the web some more i think you are right and it goes like this:
Back
56
34
12
Front
Im just hoping when I get home tonight that is what i have stuffed up!
Would be nice if that is all it is wouldn’t it! Be sure to let us know what you find.
Thank you so much Craig!! While the distributor numbering was the same as the old cap the numbering on the exhaust manifold was wrong on the passenger side (incorrectly numbered front to back 6,4,2), so two cylinders were firing in the wrong order swapped them around and presto she runs smooth.
However the idol is not perfect and it seems to surge a bit like rev to 1100 then back down to 900 (so also a little on the high side) and it keeps doing this… do you think a proper tune is in order and that will fix that problem??
Thanks again for your help!
That’s great to hear Adam! Good stuff! In your first post you wrote that you had adjusted the idle speed screw up so it would keep running, silly question but I imagine you have moved that back to the original position yeah? Because these engines have electronic idle speed control it can take a while for everything to ‘normalise’ (couldn’t think of a better word!) and it may come good after some engine running time. If it is still ordinary in a few days or a week then a tune might be in order to set base idle speed, base ignition timing etc. See how it goes in the next couple of days would be my advice.
Hi, tha above info doesn’t actually say which order they fire in??? Please help…..can’t find this info anywhere
Hi,
Believe it or not the firing order for these engines is 1-2-3-4-5-6, with 1 being the right front cylinder (drivers side), no.2 left front (passengers side), 3 is the middle cylinder on the right side, 4 is the middle cylinder on the left side bank (passengers side) etc etc.
Do you have markings on the distributor cap for each lead/cylinder? Most of these do but if you don’t have these markings let me know and I’ll see if I can find a diagram.
Regards,
Craig
Hi Craig,
This may sound like a dumb question but the 6G72 in a 2000 Mitsubishi Delica would be the same?
P.S You have explained everything very well, thanks Nick
Hi Nick,
Cheers for the positive feedback and yes, as far as I am aware the Delica has the same engine. I believe that all 6G72’s are basically the same except for changes to the ignition system and a few small things like that.
Regards,
Craig
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