I am brand new to Mitsubishi's but not new to working on cars.
Son given a 97 Montero with 210K miles. Sat for 3 years. Original owner car in good shape it seems. Have a few problems i need help with but one thread and one problem at a time...

Main issue now is it will not crank. Turn the key and all lights do their thing. I hear relay's doing their thing but no crank. Sometimes i get a solenoid clickity-click but usually nothing.

Told by PO that a new starter was installed 3 months ago when he brought the car out of storage for what sounds like the same symptoms. (About 100 miles ago!)
For us the car started and ran fine originally for about 5 days. Then progressively over a few days the it would not start every once in a while. Now it will not start at all. (I doubt the starter was the problem right now...)

Observations.

- All dash lights seem fine. Doing their thing.
- Relays seem to be doing their thing in the dash and under the hood.
- Battery is new and has 12.7V.
- I did toss the charger on it just in case to check. Disconnected battery and cleaned terminals. They were fine but now the alarm is not happy...)
- When it ran the charging gauge indicated it was charging. Drove just fine.
- Rebuilt ignition switch after reading about how they can pit.
- Ours was pitted. I Filed it flat and cleaned all contacts. Worked at first but quickly did no.
- Replaced the ignition switch just in case. No joy.
- Checked cables at starter and they seem tight. Very dirty down there with a nice clean starter.

Wondering right now if this is a ground issue at the starter since the issue was progressive and it is dirty down there. On my old VW's that is a common no-crank thing.
Of course now to compound the alarm is going off. I am trying to push the red dash LED when i try to start but my understanding it that will not re-set until the car actually starts...

I am a DIY with most of the right tools. I would appreciate some guidance please.

FWIW the other main issues are:
- Emissions will not set. Computer does not want to throw an error or set "all OK". OBD reader in the orange with all emissions test pending. I need that to clear to transfer title. Cleaned the MAS, have new 02 sensor in the waiting once it starts again.
- Some blue smoke out the tail pipe. In reading this may be the valve stem seals??? Could also be a bad piston ring. Either way need to watch the oil.
- Gas gauge does not read. Pretty sure that is the sender. Easy to replace.
- Nice rust hole in roof. (Easy fix)
- 17 year old who suddenly has interest in a car. Patience to teach him...

Thank you.

 

More info.

If i cross the solenoid wire at the start with the starter motor lug the engine cranks strong. This says it is not the starter or ground to the starter.
I measure no voltage when you try to start at the solenoid wire (to ground) suggesting an issue up-stream.
Checked the 40A starter fuse. OK
When i try to start car the dash lights dim a little and there is a click of a relay behind the dash somehere. (Could not find it)
Shifted to neutral (pressing brake peddle) to bypass the transmission switch. No change.

Looked at wire diagram. Not much to starting circuit. Could this be some other sensor or wire?

Thank you.

 

Hello fellow Montero owner......I have 3 of these beasts, and have posted alot of "how-to" information on this site.

I had the same problem with a prior 94 Montero.......turn the ignition key, and sometimes it would start, but most of the time it would not. There is a "Park-Neutral Safety Switch" that sits on top the tranny. If you get the Monty up on good jack stands, you can wedge your arms up into the crevice and remove/replace this safety switch. On one of my prior posts, I showed pictures of the internal workings of this switch, and how they can go bad. I replaced that switch, and I believe it helped for awhile,but the No crank/No start issue came right back. I ended up installing a push button switch on the dash that goes straight to a relay that I mounted under the hood, and from there it sends the "start signal" to the starter solenoid. Just like in your case, you are doing the same thing, but you have not yet installed the push-button switch. This should solve your problem.

Check my prior posts on a "1994 Montero LS", and you should be able to find it. If not, let me know and I will post the link straight to it.

 

Thank you @1960StudebakerHawk . Found and read that thread. Sure sounds like we have the same issue. Like the bypass idea. Give me some hope.

does you Montero have a security system? Mine does and it is activated. According to the manual that also disables the starter. Pushing the re-set button does not disable the alarm so i may have a problem to solve before i solve the real problem.

What i did to though is with the ignition switch to the on position i jumpered the starter and the car fired up and idled fine. Tells me the engine is OK and the starter works. My issue seems to be between the ignition switch and the solenid and the alarm is in the middle.

 

Glad the info. was useful for you. Both my brother and I both have the bypass starter button rigged up in our Monty's now.....if you flip the normal key switch, and the starter does not crank, just push the starter button, and all is good. There must be something common in these Monty's, a common failure point, to cause this issue. I still do not know the exact cause, but who cares when you have the starter button.

On the right side of the dash, kinda below the normal key switch, are a couple rectangular "knock-outs" in the lower dash. I used one of these spots.

Alarm....my brother has the 99 Monty which is identical to yours. He also had issues with the darn alarm, and it would sometimes go off for no reason. He disabled it, took it out of the ignition loop, getting rid of one gremlin. Installed a base-ball bat in the rear seat to replace the alarm.

 

So the Montero is cranking and driving for the moment. I am not totally sure why but to help those in the future...

I think the primary culprit was the ignition module. At the end of the day that is all i really changed/fixed. The rest of the the mess was IMO secondary.

I did find my module had putting on the ignition circuit. I did fix that. I did test with a new ignition module too but in the end fixed mine. I did confirm the rest of the engine worked by doing a bypass and simply jumping the Ignition wire at the starter to the starter post. I also did disconnect and clean all my battery parts.

I think the battery work compounded things as that set off the security system. I am too new to Montero's to know that also stopped the starter and did not know how to clear it. As soon as i cleared that all was well and the car started. (I had already rebuilt the ignition module at that point)

Soo... It is one of two things at this point. The ignition module was going bad or i have an electrical gremlin that will come back. Driving the car for now to find out. If it does come back i will do a voltage drop test on the battery and ground circuits. If that looks good then i will blame it on the security system wiring. Either way at that point i will be looking at some sort of permanent bypass.

FYIW the new starter motor is a Bosch. The engine is oily but not part of the problem.

Now i am moving on to emissions. Need to transfer title and therefor pass smog. Learning about the exemption for this but also worried about the oil burning not helping it pass Smog...

The fun continues.

 

mj.......Good to hear it is running.

Im not sure what "putting" is in your statement below:
"I did find my module had putting on the ignition circuit."
Im thinking someone spilled bananna pudding on your ignition circuit board, or something like that? Darn mechanics eating pudding while they work.....go figure.

Just wondering how you rebuilt the "Ignition Module". I think you mean the "Ignition Control Module", the one that sits on top the engine, and has a large connector and a smaller connector plugging into it. You must be an electronics wizzard to pull that apart and fix it.

At least you know the procedure of installing the push-button starter switch. You may want to pick up the parts just to have them handy "just in case". We have had 2 out of 4 Monteros have this failure problem, and the push button starter always works.

 

"putting" The California way of saying pitting... Or i just did not proof read my post...

It rebuilt the ignition switch. The electrical contact block on the back side of the key/steering wheel assy. It actually comes apart pretty easy. Just be mindful of the spring loaded ball bearings. I did not grab any images but it had a deep pit on the ignition contact pad. (one of many contact pads in there) Think of a golf divot. Since material was missing i used a pointed punch on the back side to drive copper into that void. Then sanded it flat and wala...

Once i get it past smog and registered into my name i will think about adding money to fix the other things including a start bypass. That list is:
- Fuel sender
- Passenger tail light
- Drives door window regulator
- Fix the rust hole in the roof.
- Valve stem seals
- I am sure ball joints and tie rods are soon after that

So much fun in the future once we get past smog... (No vintage plate option in Cali...)

 

Ohhhhh.....OK, now I follow you completely. Sounds very similar to the contacts in that darn Park/Neutral Saftey switch which I also took apart to "investigate". I think I posted pictures on one of my prior "94 Monty Crank/No Start" posts.

Sounds pretty darn creative how you drove in a new piece of copper to "freshen-up" the bananna pudding spot. Too bad you did not have pics to post.

Fuel Sender: I may have done another post with pics on that also. I think my brother found an after market one, but he had to "modify" it to make it work. But I believe the price on the OEM pumps were around $1,000!!!!! So, the $75 aftermarket modified version made sense.

Another suggestion, which is pretty cheap: We have added front Hub Lock-Out kits so that we can twist it to the "off" position so that the CVC spindles are not constantly rotating, causing wear on the seals. Its not that hard to get out and manually engage the front hubs before engaging the 4x4 inside. I think the kits were only about $60.

As ole Arnold Swartz would say, "Get OUT!" "Its time to GET OUT of CallyFornie". If not, they are gonna "terminate" you. Ha haaaa