I have a 99 montero sport ltd. recently the alarm has formed a mind of its own, arming itself, going off for no apparent reason, etc.
Another problem I have is that the front end seems to wander around (track to the road surface) , I checked the ball joints and tie rods they seem to be ok. Also it seems to ride rough, I changed all 4 shocks and it rode nicer with the bad factory shocks. So if anyone has any suggestions to any of these problems (especially the alarm) please let me know....other than these I really enjoy my
sport !!

 

As for the alarm, have you replaced the battery recently or had any Battery issues? I assume this is the factory alarm? Was any work done where they may have put something in that would rub an existing wiring loom? In mine I developed a weird lighting issue where only my highbeams were on when in the normal possition and my low beams were on in the low beam position. Turns out a compressor I installed about a year prior was rubbing against the stock wiring harness and wore through enough to ground out a connection and cause my problem.

Might be a similar thing happeneing.

FWIW, I haven't heard of too many electrical issues with mitsu's due to cheasy factory wiring.

Could also be that your alarm itself has decided to go bye bye...[]

Regarding the wander on the road, have you had it aligned recently but a decent alignment shop? They can usually tell you if it's an alignment issue or something else like a worn component or simply lousy tires.


As for the shocks, what did you replace the OE shocks with? Which shocks did you buy from the factory? I know with the 95SR Montero's for example, the OE shocks are made by KYB and only sold through Mitsu and they're the best shocks for standard use.

For Off road use where you want superior control w/out excessive rebound a stiffer monotube design is what you want but you will loose the plush ride you get with the OE shocks.

HTH.

 

Just got her back from the shop for the alarm, water was getting inside the plastic on the rear hatch and filling up to the key, thus setting off the alarm...easy fix. And I'm sure my neighbors are happy thats done !!!
Next we're off to the tire shop to check the alignment ( tires are new ), and I'm definately going to try the KYB shocks...sorry Gabriel
So thanks Off Roader for the helpful tips, appreciate it! Later

 

It's a common event for the rear tailgate garnish to fill up with water due to leakage BUT- the key portion of that garnish does NOT get affected as it is NOT part of the tailgate garnish. Even if by some chance the key were to be affected- it would NOT cause the alarm to arm or disarm itself on it's own as they are different circuits. The factory alarm for the 99 is NOT hardwired into the electrical system. I'd look somewhere else for your solution to this matter as it is just a matter of time before the alarm rings again. When the alarm decides to arm or disarm- it it a "one time" arming- or does it do it repeatedly causing the doorlocks to cycle a few times?

Joel, CA

 

Thanx Joel for the reply...I did a little investigation work of my own today and found that the oem horn was replaced with a horn mounted to the firewall passenger side and an aftermarket siren for the alarm. There was a sticker on the wire where the siren was plugged in with the date(6-26-98), could the alarm be a dealer installed option (on a Limited?). Where they had cut the wire for the horn there were two wires capped and taped off, when i got through all of the electrical tape it was wet and corroded inside the caps, so I cleaned,dried and properly sealed the two wires. I dont know why the guy I took it to didnt see that!! ( time for a different electrical guy). He disconnected the alarm so I dont know if the wiring there is the culprit. Question(s), how many horns where on the factory setup, also it seems that the ecu was replaced on 5-5 -99, there was a dealer mod. sticker under the hood. To the best of my knowledge the vehicle was built in 6-98, was there a recall on the ecu or why would it have been replaced so early? last question there was a dealer code on the mod. sticker, by calling a mitsu dealer could he tell me what dealership did the ecu work and would that dealership still have records from 99? Thanks All for the help so far....you guys are way better than the local mechanics[8D]. I just purchased this vehicle last June, so I'm new to the Mitsu community, but look forward to many more miles with my sport .... already looking at emu lift and some bigger tires........Later

 

There are 2 horns- both located under the bumper cover just behind the bumper mounted turnsignal lights. The factory alarm for the 98's can be installed after purchase at the dealer. It's a matter of disconnecting a few wires and plugging it in. With that being said, the siren for the factory alarm is located righ near the airfilter box. If you're have something different, you do NOT have the factory alarm. Even dealer installed alarm systems can still be aftermarket units that are sublet to alarm shops after the sale of the vehicle.
As far as an ECU replacement. There is NO recall involving the replacement of an ECU. However, there was a TSB that required the replacement of the ECU should a certain DTC show up (a very rare occurance). If you PM me with your VIN , i can tell you exactly what kind of warranty work you've had done up to this point. Good Luck!

Joel, CA