Hey all,

I'm the proud new owner of a 1995 Montero SR with only 31,000 miles on it! Drives and feels like a new vehicle, I love it. It's my first truck as well as my first Japanese vehicle and I can't believe the build quality, I hope she'll last me a long time.

That being said it was sitting at a relatives storage yard for many many years, abandoned. I already changed the brake fluid, oil, tranny fluid. I put on new brake pads and got new tires (originals were all dry rotted). So what should I do next? Even though the mileage is low it's 16 years old so I'm thinking I should be proactive. Problem is that I'm a full-time student and cash is tight so I have to spend carefully. What should I do next in priority order?

 

Welcome, Liston, to the forums. You won't have to explain your enthusiasm for Monteros around here (especially for a 1995).

Sounds like you're living everyone's dream: discovering a classic car or Fender guitar stashed away and forgotten and now being brought back to life. 31,000 miles - I hate you, you know.

Anyway, to business. Sounds like you're off to a good start, but you didn't mention changing the coolant. That's important, because it's not just mileage, but time, that breaks most fluids down. Also, you should check the condition of the fluid in the transfer case (next to the tranny where both propeller shafts connect) as well as both front and back differentials. You can siphon some out the filler hole or at least stick a finger in there to make sure they're topped up and also how new they look. But after sitting so long, just changing them both is the safer bet, as long as your student budget allows this.

There are fittings on the propeller shafts for grease; lubricate these with new grease to prevent premature wear on your needle bearings which can cause vibration and shudder at highway speeds.

I'd check all fuses and electrical connections for tightness and cleanliness; deposits can develop over time that can cause all sorts of electrical headaches, including the dreaded intermittent short. Next, give all your vacuum lines the once-over; hang out here long enough and see for yourself how much trouble can be caused by one little leaky vacuum connection.

I'd also run some Sea Foam or Marvel Mystery Oil through your gas so your injectors get cleared of any built-up deposits. Sea Foam can actually be poured directly into your running engine through the brake booster vacuum connection to directly clean your intake system. There are plenty of YouTube vids of this, some better than others, as is the case of most everything on YouTube.

There is a diagnostic coupling under the dash on the driver's side where you can hook up a muitmeter to get any error codes from your beast's electronic brain. If you've got a muitmeter handy, repost and I'll give you details on how to do that. It will tell you where to look if there are any problems under the hood.

Most of these things don't cost much if anything to check, but can prevent larger problems from cropping up down the road, which was the whole point of your post, wasn't it?

But don't worry too much. Enjoy your ride and maybe your problems will be few and far between...