I would have to agree...I like my chances better with a timing chain any day.The trend seems to be leaning toward chains in general...kinda like the old days?...when we had the big V8's... I've had 4 Lancers...only 2 with higher mileage...my 03 had almost 300,000 km...and I did the belt once...and my 09 ..with the chain..I put 210,000 km on it with nothing but regular maintenance.


From what I understand, talking with various Mitsu techs...these cars don't really break...as long as you keep up some decent maintenance.


I have a 2015 Outlander SE AWC...2.4 with the chain. I drive about 40,000 km per year and plan on keeping it at least 4 or 5 years worry free. I think Mitsu is the best brand out there for value...with the excellent warranty you cant go wrong.

 

We have 6 Mitsui's in the family and they all have been stellar with minimal repairs.

 

Clint - which ones, if any, have timing chains ?

 

The 6b31 did start out as a non-interference engine...they removed the divot in 2010 to increase compression.

Replacing it yourself is quite a job, but makes it only cost very little.

 

Hoping someone sees this old thread bump...I'm coming up on a timing belt change on a 2013 XLS V6 and I'm wondering if the "crankshaft wrench" (MD998716) is absolutely necessary or if there's a way to turn the crankshaft using another method to align the timing marks. This is really the only question I have about the job...the rest I can figure out provided I can get the crankshaft pulley off!

 

No. Tool is not necessary

 

Perfect. So you can get a regular socket on it or what's the deal?

 

Not sure of what that tool is. The only tool i use is a generic 2 pronged tool that goes into 2 holes on some harmonic balancers. This holds it steady whilst you torque the bolt up. Normally i undo them by jamming a breaker bar up against the chassis rail and crank the starter. Some people will not like that way, but i have done it many times over the last 30 years of working in the trade and never had a problem

 

Right, I'm with you. You're talking about removing the crank pulley, but what I'm wondering about is the special socket to turn the crank to get the timing marks aligned.

 

Follow up - I completed the timing belt job over the past few days. I ended up renting a huge impact wrench to get the crank bolt loose and just reinstalled the bolt and washer to turn the crank by hand to line up timing marks. Not a terrible job, and the service manual is pretty bang on. I ended up making a pulley holder with some 1/4" steel bar and 1/2" bolts...I bent the bolts a bit trying to loosen the crank bolt with a breaker bar/pipe, but it worked just fine to torque it down in the end. A big c-clamp worked just fine to compress the tensioner to bleed it.

At just under 168k km my old timing belt looks pretty mint, but it has stretched a sliiiiight bit compared to the new one.