Outstanding post, and great work. I understand that you can't recreate the leak, but how about that discoloration in the area of the head gaskets — was that looking OK? After all your work I'd like to make certain that you haven't overlooked anything

Looks like serv_446 may have called it right about the hose (BTW, you need to come out of your shell...maybe a bigger picture would do it...haha).

And great advice: Get those special tools beforehand so you won't have to get creative in your driveway when the sun's going down and you're not even halfway done and your wife's wondering why you're not ready for supper because your two hour job's now run a tad longer than you'd thought. Not that this has ever happened to me...

And if you're going to tackle a "big job" like jer01mont has, grab an extra set of hands, two more eyes, and one more brain. After all, someone's gotta help you drink all that beer when the job's done.

Good luck, and keep us posted.....

 

The discoloration in the area of the headgaskets are just from the photos. I wiped it and it looked fine. I really hope it was the gaskets from the thermostat housing that was the problem, I added extra sealant on it to be on the safe side. I just hope it might not be the pipe that is damaged although it didn't look like it. My 2001 montero has been pretty reliable and trouble free until this happened and I gotta say the engineer who designed this engine is insane because it is hard trying to service this truck. No wonder the dealer and other shops charge an arm and a leg to work on this. You have to literally take everything apart just to get to the belt and pump and everything else. Anyhow, it rained a bit today, so I had to cut short my progress. Will try to finish everything tomorrow.

Sorry about the pics, I've been using my camera phone for it, I'll try taking better angles next time.

 

That's actually great news, because removing the heads to replace the gaskets would involve a whole other level of pain. Let's hope you got what it was.

You mentioned something I've often felt: Why do they design cars that are so %$#@* difficult to service? A conspiracy theorist would say it's to keep people like you and me from working on them ourselves; while the answer simply might be that the folks who design cars aren't ever in the same building as the folks who have to work on them, so any feedback they get on redesigning only focuses on fixing things that have a direct bearing on operation and none on convenience. Who knows? Makes for an interesting discussion, though...

Had a Nissan Stanza Wagon that my mechanic hated to work on since there was absolutely no clearance in the engine compartment and, for example, you had to remove the rear motor mount and raise the engine just to service the starter. I tried changing the timing belt on it myself, and since it was transverse-mounted, everything was right up against the right fender, leaving no room to do much of anything. What a pain.

I've often said that the folks who design these things ought to have a panel of shadetree mechanics in the designing phase with veto power over anything that looks insane from a servicing standpoint, but of course I cut my mechanical teeth in the era of the VW wagon and the MGB where everything was right in front of you and you could pull an entire engine yourself in a matter of a half hour's time — and that's working slowly.

Ahhhh, the good old days

 

You got a point there mothman52, they probably do design it that way just so one would think twice before working on their cars and have the dealer service it so they can get their built in cash flow.

4th Update: Finally, I finished putting everything back together again and my "monty" started up right away but then started having temperature (coolant) issues, bled the air out of the cooling system and kept adding more coolant and was good after that. Let the engine idle for a few minutes and never got any more coolant leaks. So that fixed my problem which was probably the o-ring and thermostat housing gasket. I test drove it for a few miles and the center locking differential light flashed again, I guess I'm gonna have to order some new switches for the transfer case later. After driving for about a half hour more some new problems showed up. The "service engine soon" light came on and when I got it back home and used and obd2 scanner, pulled the codes P0173 (Fuel Trim Malfunction Bank 2) and P0170 (Fuel Trim Malfunction Bank 1), just can't get any breaks.

So again tomorrow I will disconnect the battery and try to disconnect and reconnect all the connectors and hoses I worked on again (Wiggle Test), to eliminate and make sure that that is not the problem and move on from there. Although, I have this uneasy feeling that I would likely spend more money on sensor parts later on. Will update again later!

 

Awwww...dang! I was hoping that you were out of the woods, bro. But you wouldn't have been happy with no more codes to chase down, now would you? Gives you something to do with your days off.

This from the friendly folks at OBD-Codes.com:

It should be stated right off the bat that the most common problem associated with this code is the MAF sensor or air mass meter. This is especially the case with Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen and other European cars. At time of writing, you don't normally see this code with American-made cars, and minimally with Asian, and, to be honest, I have no idea why. It appears to me that the PCM (powertrain control module) logic used by some European car manufacturers to set a P0173 (or P0173) fault code simply isn't used by American vehicle manufacturers. It is more common to see P0171, 0174, 0172, 0175 codes set with regard to fuel trim malfunctions on American cars...... So, simply put, if you have a P0173, your PCM noticed that the fuel trims reached their rich correction limit. Basically it's adding fuel to try to compensate for a lean condition, real or perceived.

Your wiggle test should help; maybe the car gods will smile on you and you only forgot to tighten some little hose on the induction side during your intense rebuild phase. Maybe get some MAF cleaner and give that a try; could some WD40 or the like have found its way in there at some point?

Congrats on what you've done so far. At least you shouldn't have to worry about the thermostat for awhile.

 

5th Update: And so right before I did re-checked my intake manifold connections, I was letting my "monty" idle for a bit and that's when it started to rough idle. I connected the obd scanner and pulled the same codes (P0173 & P0170) along with new misfire codes. I then re-checked my wiring and hose connections more worried than ever and lo and behold, I found the problem, the car gods did smile on me. You were right on the money again mothman52 because I missed a little vacuum hose located behind the upper manifold right after the EGR valve. That was a relief! Those are serious odds there man, so far all you've suggested pan out. If you are a betting man you could make some serious money there.

My "monty" started smoothly right back up after that. No more check "service engine soon" light and it drove better than ever. As I have mentioned before though , I have had some blinking LED center differential lock lights flashed on me before and of course, it was back. The same grinding noise happened as I slow down to a full stop. And so thanks for the help with the coolant leak and trouble codes advice. I guess I will start a new thread later on trouble shooting the transfer case problem which I'll also probably end up buying those switches for that I have read about on other threads here. Also ended up borrowing a van for my long drive (thanks to a very nice sister-in-law) because I am not sure if I will that noise were just because of the switches or not. Can't risk making things worst.

Will post again under a new thread for it next week. I need a break before it's time to get dirty again.

 

Glad it was something simple and you can move on to other threads, other problems.

As for being right, wasn't it Teddy Roosevelt who said, "I'd rather be lucky than right?" As for your "new" problem could be faulty switches but also check out a vacuum leak or faulty solenoid in your free-wheeling clutch assembly. (You have greased your propeller shafts periodically, haven't you?)

 

Hey jer01mont, I'm just about to start on my 2002 LTD, pretty much got all my parts and docs together. A couple questions if you don't mind? 1) My so-called 'water pump *kit*' didn't come with gaskets. What do I need? I'm seeing the main gasket and two orings, anything else I should get? 2) any suggestions on how to make/get the special tools you refer to?

TIA

 

I would try to get those gaskets first before you start. You need two gaskets for the water pump one that goes on the block and 2nd that is sandwiched bet the pump itself and the housing. that gaskets that came with the kit I bought were not metal so I added a permatech gray sealant on both which is what I used also on the O-rings I re-installed for the themostat. I would like to say re-use the old gaskets for the pump but add the sealant but that is too risky considering the amount of work the all the parts you need to remove just to get to the timing belt and water pump. The timing belt kit I got came with both gaskets as well as the belt and two tensioners. As for the tools I used a bench vise to push back the auto tensioner and lock it with a small nail and most important is the yoke holder which you will need to hold the damper pulley so you can tighten it. I just cranked the engine with one wrench braced against the ground to loosen it but to tighten the pulley I used one of those chain belt tools but it would have been a lot easier with the yoke holder. I also borrowed a compressor because I couldn't have loosened some of the bolts by hand. Check out the link mothman52 posted here and it shows the whole engine and tools you need for the job. This really helped me so Good Luck with your project!

http://www.pajero4x4.ru/piii/GR00003800-11B.pdf

 

the weep hole for the water pump on the v-6 is at the bottom back of the water pump when the seal goes bad it fills the the block valley you need a new water pump you wont see the leask until you remove the pump