Hello fellow Mitsubishi enthusiasts, I recently purchased a 2001 Montero Sport. The previous owner was the only owner of the vehicle and seemed to take pretty good care of it (had all maint records). He replaced timing belt and one of the cylinder heads a few years back along with some other routine stuff (alternator, battery, belts, brakes, o2 sensors, etc). Relatively low miles (136k) and a clean title (no accidents, etc). I am pretty confident in my purchase and hope the vehicle holds up for a few more years for me.

The seller dropped the price to allow for repairs of leaky valve covers and worn front wheel bearings, which I had repaired.

A few other quirks I have noticed:

Water sloshing sound under dashboard - radiator is full and overflow tank is partially full. no leaks on floorboards from A/C and A/C drain (passenger side of firewall with hose attached) doesn't seem to be clogged.

Code 0401 - EGR. Not at the top of my list, but will investigate this at some point. Maybe just clean the EGR valve?

Steering - sometimes wanders on uneven road surfaces. Idler arm need replaced? or something else? How difficult is it to replace these components?

Thanks in advance.

 

The water sloshing noise is due to an air bubble in the cooling system. You probably also don't have any heat blowing out of the ducts until the engine rpm increases.

Where the upper radiator hose connects, there is a screw with a tag on it. Remove this screw and fill the system to the top. This is the high point.

 

I have done that a couple times now. It's definitely full. I also added some coolant to the overflow container as well. Do I need to turn on the heat or anything? I'm in Florida so it won't be very often that I need to turn the heat on.

 

To get rid of the sloshing sound I started my 2002 montero sport and had it on a hill so the vent point was raised. I had the heat running and the engine was warm so that the thermostat was open. Vented the radiator cap then added fluid to the radiator till it came out the vent then put the bolt and radiator cap back on.

 

Make sure the heater control is turned to HOT when you are filling and purging the cooling system. Otherwise air can get trapped in the heater core and continue to cause problems. Also, is your radiator cap in good condition? If it is of unknown age - replace it. It needs to work properly in order to let coolant flow to and from the expansion tank when engine is hot or cools off. Use only Mitsubishi cap from the dealer. I've tried several aftermarket ones and none worked (even though they were a supposed "match" for my engine).

 

Thanks for the advice. After a couple of days the sloshing seems to have gone away. I will cycle the heat as well just to be sure.

Anyone ever try cleaning the EGR valve to cure the check engine light? On a previous vehicle I cleaned the EGR with carb cleaner and removed a bunch of carbon build-up and that fixed the check engine light so I'm hoping the same for this one.

Any input on pitman arm and idler arm? How difficult are they to remove? Any tips/advice? I'm kind of expecting the worst so I'm planning to buy a long 1/2 drive breaker bar and a pitman puller to do the job.

 

Cleaning EGR will only work if the code is due to the EGR passages being plugged with carbon. First check if the EGR valve operates (intact diaphragm) and that your vacuum hoses are good and the relay function. If all those items are OK, then see if there is EGR tube is obstructed.

 

P0401 is the code I am getting - Insufficient EGR Flow.

I will take a look at it when I get a chance. Thanks for the advice.

 

The way EGR flow is measured is by comparing MAF and MAP readings compared to the signals being sent to the EGR solenoid. If PCM not picking up significant variation in MAP readings when EGR solenoid signal is sent - that sets off the EGR flow code. Like I said, more often than not, the code is due to solenoid not working or vacuum hose leading to solenoid or EGR valve is bad.