Hi there --

I'm a NEW 2002 Montero LTD owner, new to this forum, very grateful for and excited to join this forum/community of enthusiasts and owners ...
Hope to give as much as I'll take Anyway, here're some questions for any experts re this model, would love your advice and guidance.

BACKGROUND: I recently purchased this used Monty, good condition, good mileage, etc.
My mechanic will be replacing its timing belt and checking on any leaks very soon, crossing fingers no major issues - so far, it seems good.

My intention is 80% dry and wet paved roads/freeway, 10% backroads (during camping, etc), 10% snow (during winter expeditions).

I don't plan to go deep into off-roading (for now), so I don't plan to lift this ride.

QUESTIONS:
1) I wanna get new tires (KO2s). The 275/70/R16s will give me a wider stance/look, which I love --
BUT if I opt for the 285/75/R16s, will these tires "stick out" too much/too wide?
I'd like the tire width to be flush with the car -- I think the stock 265s could be wider.
I'm just trying to decide between the 275/70R16s vs. 285/75/R16s.

AND if I go with the 285/75/R16s, would I need to lift for clearance? Do I need to modify my Monty for this?

ALSO -- would any of these choices "mess up" my speedometer reading accuracy?
And which is worse for my gas-mileage?

2) So I've been getting the oft-dreaded orange C/D blinking light!
When I'm about 15 miles into my ride, the two 2H green lights go off, and the orange C/D center light blinks.
(When I shut the engine off/on, it seems to reset.)

Oddly, this seems to occur mostly when I'm doing a freeway route.
For ex, when I do city streets and then hop on the freeway 15 minutes into my drive, this doesn't seem to happen.
What's the deal?!

I took my Monty to my mechanic the other day, and he says there are NO CODES for malfunction for engine or transmission, so he says things seem to be fine per the car's computer.
When I go online, there are dozens of suggestions related to the transfer case, bad or dirty sensors, etc.

BUT there is one article online (I'll try to update w/ link later) that says this blinking light is actually saying the car is doing what it's supposed to do --
meaning, when it blinks, the car is telling me that 4x4 isn't avail under the circumstances, etc, and this isn't a "malfunction" warning!
Should I be concerned?
It's annoying as hell when it comes up, but maybe it's not necessarily a "check engine" light, so maybe I'll just have to change my emotional perspective?

Thx, y'all! I appreciate you. And I'm absolutely certain I'll have more questions about other issues, but this is it for now.

(OH, which brand of window rain guards have been tried-and-tested, not random Amazon cheapies!)

=
goWest

 

Welcome to the forum goWest. Congrats on the new to you Montero. As far as tires go, there are many dofferent opinions. Slightly larger than OEM tire size definitely does improve the look of the vehicle. I have a 2001 Montero Limited and run 265/75R16 tires on it for many years. No issues with clearances or rubbing. I do however have Old Man Emu 2" lift installed, so it may not be a perfect comparison to your situation. Speedometer is off by about 3 mph, but that is not here nor there. Didn't see any change in gas mileage or power with the tire size change.

Orange C/D light is an annoying problem. Can be difficult and tiresome to diagnose. Most frequently it's caused by a mismatch in what computer tells transmission/transfer case to do and what it reads back as far as various sensor data reports. You have to go through Mitsubishi FSM to attempt to diagnose this. It's a fairly involved process. But it's doable.

 

Thank you so much for this info, I appreciate your insight, not just on this thread but throughout the forum!

Another question, off-topic, I noticed on another website it said the 2002 Monteiro had the “Limited,” and the “Lmited four-wheel-drive.” I bought mine used, I know it’s Limited because it says it on the car body, but the VIN isn’t telling me any more additional information.

Do you know if my car is full-time four-wheel-drive with Super Select? I had initially assumed that all Limited were “full-time,” but this other website and its description of the 2002 lineup I has confused me!

 

No, the full-size Montero's in the US are part time 4WD. If you have the selector in 2H, you're driving in 2 (rear) wheel drive mode only. When you place it in 4H, it will be in 4 wheel drive. 4 Low is for pulling tree stumps. .

I don't believe Super Select was ever offered in the full size Montero in the US, doing a search, I see it available in the Australia market, and for full size Montero's it added the option of locking the center diff.

 

Look at the transfer case shifter on the central console. You should have four positions:
"2H" - 2-wheel drive
"4H" - All-time 4 wheel drive/All wheel drive (umlocked center differential)
"4HCL" - 4 wheel drive (locked center differential)
"4LLC" - 4 wheel drive Low Range
Kind of like the photo below

 

I actually solved the orange C/D light issue, it was a bad solenoid, which fixed it after replacement! Thank you!

 

@goWest I am curious with what you decided to do.
I just recently purchase a Monty and the previous owner had 18's on it and I am looking at new wheels or a lift because of rubbing.
But I have had trouble finding spacers and not sure I want to do a full lift right now.