quick update.

bypass switch works! I ended up putting in an on/off switch w/ an LED instead of a pushbutton switch.

With the switch in the off position (solenoid circuit through the P/N switch) the truck does not start - just clicks.

With the switch in the on position ( P/N switch bypassed), the truck starts like a champ.

No complaints from the computer

I'll report back after a few weeks of driving.

 

This problem has been quite the saga!!

After a few months of having the bypass switch, the starting gremlins came back!

So, I finally gave up and took it to the Mitsubishi dealership to fix. They replaced the park-neutral switch, the ignition switch, and for a while the truck was OK. but about 6 months after that, the starting problems came back! So I took it to an independent mechanic, and he found that the solenoid wire was at about 8V, and that if he put in a remote starter (essentially a direct wire from a battery with a switch), the car would start right up.

OK, so I finally gave in to a solution that has been tried here on the board, I installed a starter relay. I did this just a month back, so I'm not going to say this is *the* solution until I see solid starting through the summer.

I did however want to share how the installation of the relay was done - it is really clean. There is an unused relay location in the fuse box in the engine bay marked as "IC Fan". It is possible to take aftermarket female blade connectors and install them into the stock fuse box. Using the headlight relay as a model for setting up the connections, I routed two wires from the fuse box to the starter - one from the starter solenoid wire (originally connected to solenoid) to the fuse box, and one from the fusebox back to the solenoid. After that it is easy, power from the alternator fusible link, and ground to a nearby bolt. Then I bought a high quality headlight relay and plugged it right in. The Montero is now starting up really strong! but the question remains - will this fix last the summer? Stay tuned...

 

When the starter is hot try tapping on it with a hammer.. It sounds to me as if the armature in the starter over heated at some point in time and DEsoldiered it self. Time for a new starter or if your handy with a mini torch you can resoldier the armature. Test the armature with your Volt Meter and ohm it out to make sure you have ALL contacts working and let us know on the forum... Thanks for posting...

 

I tried multiple starters - but the problem seemed to persist. Latest update is that with the relay the Montero has not missed a single start, and it starts strong regardless of whether the engine is cold or hot with current ~80F weather. Note that previously, before the relay install, starts in cold weather but with a hot engine were not reliable. Now I just need to wait for the 100F+ weather to confirm the problem is gone for good... bring it on!

 

update...

Fix confirmed! The Montero has started reliably throughout the summer, there were days with temperatures as high as 109, and it started fine even when the engine was hot.