Hi to all of you.I drive a 2003 Montero SportXLS and I think that it's time for the timig belt to be replaced (it's got 65k) .I went to the dealership and purchased both the belt and the hydraulic tensioner and now I am ready to get to work. I want to make sure,since I am not a mechanic by trade,that I do not mess things up, so I was wondering if any of you has some sort of a booklet or a step by step instructions thing that would guide me all throughout the process(this would be my 1st time changing a timing belt,so I'ma bit nervous).I wanted to buy the repair manual but at a price of $250 I got a bit hesitant. I can't affore to take the truck to a mechanic,it's about $700-800 to get the job done and with school and everything else that kind of money is way out of our budget. Last month I have replaced the spark plugs and the wires all by myself (for the 1st time) and it went smooth,no probs at all. Besides the timing belt I would also want to fluch the transmission,but when I went to the dealer to get the fluid and the filter,they told me that the filter is made out of plastic and can be washed, cleaned and reused.Never heard of such a thing before so if you do know anything on this matter,please let me know. For the diffs, I want to replace the lubricant but it's kind of hard for me to say if the rear one has LSD or not. There is some marking on it,it says L16 or so,but that's about it.Is there any way I could determine whether this truck has LSD or not(it's got a 3.5l engine,and it's 4WD) since they say it is very important that I use a certain type of oil for the models with LSD and a different one for the ones without.At the dealers they wouldn't tell me much since I guess they would like to do the whole thing themselves and make a whole lot of money off of me(which would be okay if we weren't on such a tight budget).They have also sold me some oil for both the diff and the transfer case but it's all GL5 and I know that the manual says to use GL4 for the diff if that's what it needs.I asked about it and they told me that their mechanics use GL5 for both since it superseeds the GL4 so I should be ok...I have a hard time believing them,so please tell me what to do.
That's about it,thank you much for all your input,looking forward to hearing back from you soon.

 

use GL5 in the differentials, and GL4 in the transfer case.
no exceptions.

 

Smart move going to the dealer for the fluid. As for the filter, I'm not sure about your sport but my Montero has a filter that is simply cleaned and reused so it's definitely a reality, just not 100% sure about your rig.

Does your sport have a differential lock switch? If so, then it has a differential locker not an LSD which means it need standard gear oil. Also in addition to possibly having plates on the diff, you may have a plate in your door jamb that denotes a limited slip.

Last but not least you can always do the wheel turn check to see if it's an LSD.
1) Chock both front tires.
2) Lift up both rear wheels (using a floor jack on rear pumpkin)
3) Make sure emergency brake is off (handle down)
4) Turn tire on one side while watching wheel on other side. If both tires turn in same direction then LSD. If in opposite directions, then open diff.

Yeah, dealerships can be jerks. I'm not 100% sure what' required by your xcase and diff;s but I can almost be certain it will be standard gear oil (90 wt / 90 weight) and if you have an LSD, then add to the 90 wt a bottle of LSD additive. I've heard of lubricant's being called GL4/5 but I've always simply asked for 90wt gear oil and LSD additive.

HTH

 

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