Thinking of buying a 1996 Mitsubishi Mighty Max

[JaCoBy11437]

Hello, new to the forum. Im considering buying a 1996 Mighty Max. its a manual 5 speed, i believe it has the 4g64 in it? I have a few pictures i will post. hes asking 1950. Do yall think this is reasonable? It appears to be a very clean little truck. I have heard nothing but positive things aboutb these little trucks and their engine/drivetrain. Is there anything specific i should look into when i get there? Thanks again

[geezer101]

First up, hi and welcome to mightyram. Other than the busted indicator lens and the worn edge of the bench seat, the truck looks fairly clean. Ask about when the timing belt was replaced and have a whiff of the oil. Take it for a drive and listen for valvetrain noise and take note if there are any rough idle issues or difficulty starting. $1950 is in the ball park but you always try to beat the seller down. The primary issue that kills this model of Mitsubishi is a faulty ECU (a common fault that can be rectified with the replacement of a few capacitors - not always easy to diagnose but the dead caps can usually be spotted when cracking open the ECU case)

[JaCoBy11437]

Ok, so i went and took a look at it today. It was even cleaner than i expected. But there were a few dents in the tailgate and bedcorners nothing major. other than that and the fact that he had a personal mechanic tearing the engine apart to diagnose a noice coming from the engine accessories. I never got to hear it as he was already working on it when i got there. But i guess it could be a tentioner or belt or timing belt. He had the timing belt cover off and it didnt look to be in bad shape though i know that doesnt particularly mean anything. But i guess if that is what the noice was it will be new if i decide to get it. Though without hearing it run, and not getting to drive it im not making a ndecision as of yet. Here are a few pics i took a few minutes ago.1806518066180671806818069180701807118072I will defenetely check the oil and give it a more detailed look over next time i check it out. There was absolutely no rust anywhere on the truck. Could you tell me more about the faulty ECU issue? Ive never heard about this before.

[geezer101]

Here's a link to the repair thread but there are a number of different side effects from a faulty ECU - everything from simply not running to running rough or lack of power...

http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin/showthread.php/3275-Repair-and-Rebuild-Mitsubishi-ECMs-and-ECU-s

[Jeff V.]

But i guess if that is what the noice was it will be new if i decide to get it. Though without hearing it run, and not getting to drive it im not making a ndecision as of yet.

I'd be really cautious about this. The noise could be something minor, or it could be the beginnings of something terrible like a rod knock. It's the kind of thing where they could toss a band-aid on it (say, really thick oil to mask the noise) just long enough to sell it. It's a clean truck, so hopefully it's nothing major. If they claim to have fixed it, I'd ask to see receipts for parts.