1987 mitsubishi wagon

just picked her up, 12 valve 6 bolt 4g64. i think it's an LS model i wish i could find out how many were imported because this is the only "wagon" i have seen most were the "van"...
already is set up for shore power so that's one less thing i need to do, i will redo the gasket on it though.

it supposedly knocks, so i will be happy if that's an excuse for a 16v head and Frankenstein rods and new pistons

on to the nasty, rusty, rare, mitsu porn
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no that's not how the seats supposed to be it just makes dealing with the battery easy
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crunch?
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wheels i can't find anything on the interwebz about.... i only found one other set in Finland and he had no details


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first problem already diagnosed, the battery is on a trickle charger since it was sitting at 11.2volts

thats pretty cool. ive never seen one of these before. good luck with it and i cant wait to see what you end up doing with it.

There all over the place. It should be pretty easy to find parts for it. There was 2 of them in my yard the other day. The Vietnamese love them.

it seems CA is the only place they sold well. here even the toyota is seldom seen.
i found a CA registration from 1989 inside the service manual so my assumption is this one is from CA. and i decoded the VIN, it's not a LS just a optioned up base model

it seems most of the parts interchange with some other mitsu, toyota or isuzu, i may have to source some things from canada(JDM delia)

didn't do much today other than inspect the plugs(very bad) and think about the plan, i'm thinking i want to stay with a 12v/8v because of the cruise control. but there is more then enough room for a turbo so i just need to run some tests and get it started to see if/how i want to rebuild it.
inside i'm going a side folding bed, 110v inverter, my boston g5, SE60's, kenwood KDC-X993 and an aux battery. plus whatever i feel like belongs, the plan is a camper style van that can double as a cargo van.


and since there's little info on the internet. it uses a group 51 battery. and this example came with 205/75r14 tires from the factory compared to tire racks claimed 205/70r14

I think there was a turbo van either on the first website, or maybe hotrodcoffeeshop. Or was it a na 4g63?

I have seen a few Aussies do DOHC Turbo set ups and one Guy over on zerog was doing a DOHC head on a US model. I tried searching on the old site and didn't find anything ... new plugs, positive terminal and gas and bang it started... it has to be close to WOT to start, idles at 1500 in park. the noise sounds to fast to be just 1 rod knocking or a bad lifter. I'm thinking it may be something else, hard to tell with the clutch fan making all it's own noise. Here's a shatty video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-hyw...e_gdata_player

Which old site were you talking about? The one that did the swap was Aussie. Lol.

mightyram50 known as archives, there's more stuff on youtube about swapped vans then any if the forums, maybe because there's no 2wd gas van/l300/express forum... aussies are crazy when it comes to vans i saw one express on youtube with a chevy v8 running in the 9's.

any guesses on the noise? with screwdriver as a stethoscope method the valve cover, head and upper block all sounded the same to me... another thing i noticed was the alternator pulley was skin burning hot after running for less then a minute but none of the other pulleys were

Mightyd50.com had a lot more info on swaps. Had enough build breads that I put my first motor in on strictly looking at the threads. No questions needed as none were gonna be answered. Lol. Started the swap when the virus first hit that board. That could have been where I saw that swap. :s

i had totally forgot about mightyd50, i recall lurking on there but my memory is bad..

on a side note, this IE on xbox 360 works decent, a little slower then my droid.. i think the van needs an oil cooled xbox 360 and a 19" tv... i really need to get a custom built alternator....

It sounds like an exhaust on the video. Or some other horrid thing.

My 1991 D-50 did the exact same thing when I had mistaken a collapsed old lifer as one of my good ones when I was putting new (well, from a different truck) lifters in, I would check that first and see if that is your issue, I mean mine was way hardcore, just like that, I could hear it over the radio at full blast, I bet the only thing pushing the valve open was the rocker arm because the lifter had crunched so bad. Easy fix takes about 1 1/2 hours from start to finish, because you have to remove alot of intake plumbing to take the valve cover off. Grab a haynes book for it or at least for the ram 50 / mighty max and it will have a procedure to check the lifters. If the lifters are good I would start looking at the bottom end on the engine. Hopefully it doesn't end up like this!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsWi7...eature=related

thanks for the thoughts, i think i will check for a exhaust leak... i need to drain the oil and check for anything bad. valve cover doesn't look fun to pull off, it seems like half the wiring harness is on top of the valve cover. i think i have a cymler manual for "80's mitsubishis" but doesn't have the van or wagon in it, but the 87 galant had the same motor...

Actually in my truck the wiring harness was just wire tied together across the valve cover and it was actually really easy to move all of it, the only things i had to take off was the idle speed solenoid and the distributor harness. Mighty Maxes actually didn't run fuel injection until 1990.

that's reileving to know.. i just finished research on the lifters, they are the same as ones from a 1.8l 1g DSM which is pretty common around here... it's 43 degrees out right now still i think i will go look for an exhaust leak

manifold is cracked right where the center runners(?) meet and the gasket at the conection to the downpipe(?) is shot, i couldn't tell if it was also leaking where it meets the head...
i decided to take it for a drive around the block and the speedo doesn't work(dammit), it feels quicker then a air cooled VW but slower then i think it should be but then again it's an automatic and all the 4g64's and g63b's i've driven weighed less and were manual..... i think the alternator may just be so getting hot becuase it's trying so hard to charge that bad battery...
oil will be drained and examined tomorrow after i stick my ear up to the intake and exhaust to see if i can hear the valvetrain making noise

The cracked manifold will give you that ticking sound - you need to fix the exhaust manifold before you replace lifters, although it wouldn't hurt. You could also pull the lifters and clean them in diesel fuel or charcoal lighter fluid if they are not shot.

alright, drained and changed the oil, nothing in it... put my ear over the oil fill hole, nothing... pulled off the upper timing belt cover to see if the tensioner was causing it, nope... then rut ro shaggy, the alternator starts grinding. i know bad alternator bearings can cause knocking.. i started poking around with a broom stick(which i learned is way better then a screwdriver) and i hear the knock/tick/evil noise equally in the block, head and exhaust manifold, then alot of LOUD noise when on the alternator.

is it possible that it's just the alternator causing the knock? it's only putting out 13.6v at idle and not enough amps to keep the motor going without the jump box... anyways tomorrow after i make sure i can get a replacement belt i will be cutting the belt, best case i figured it out worst case i wasted 10 minutes and what would be a spare belt

if i can clean my drain pan and get some of those ramps i might drop the oil pan to check for play. something makes me think if it was a lifter i would be able to hear it through the oil fill hole so i think it has to be bottom end, piston-head contact, piston slap(never seen it on a 4 stroke or this rhythmic but the internet said it's happens) or not part of the engine

also the downpipe is leaking and rattles. so that and the manifold's not making it easy to stick with the "diagnose first buy parts second" strategy


BTW the noise speeds up with the motor

Cheap automotive stethoscope. Isolates noise better so yer not being pounded by 10 other noisy things.

Just an idea. Is how I found exactly WHICH lash adjuster was sticking, and on what side. Very nice and easy.

If it's an automatic then it could be a flex plate. They can sound just like a rod. But it's at the rear of the engine. Let it run and go under.

i don't think it's the flex plate because the noise doesn't change when it's in gear.
cut the alternator belt, sadly wasn't the cause of the knocking. i tried using a medical stethoscope but the motor died(probally fuel related, i only put about a gallon in it) in the middle of poking around, but the noise was constant over the valve cover... ran a compression test:
1: 140
2: 140
3: 130
4: 135
that chilton(not cymler like i thought earlier) is pretty useless when it comes to specs other than torque specs. i assume they are all within spec of each other but these numbers are higher then what i've seen other people posting, just healthy or carbon build up?

I haven't made much progress because it was too cold for me to work on without my fingers freezing and i was distracted by more important investments(bang!)...anyways i bought a palm setup with .MMCD, works great on the 91 MM but with this 87 ecu it cannot communicate.....
Finally pulled the valve cover.... some of the rockers have a lot more play then others, all of them except the ones the cam has pressure on are at least a little loose. I will be looking for used hlas locally

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Hby...e_gdata_player

That would be the lifters that were mentioned. The ends of the lifters tend to wear off so that's where you get the gap.

Nice turbo old van that is i really like old version vans because so strong body of that turbo that is which is show us that all the other parts are damaged but body is left...Nice chassis engine...

yes i'm quite slow due to lazieness, distractions and because of the political climate "investments".....

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intake far timing belt right....
all 4 exhaust and the #4 intake were all collapsed

well....
alright so i go to torque down the rocker assembly, with my father's "powerbuilt" torque wrench, i set it to what i assume is 14lbs, i'm tightening them down in the right order it's taking more force then 14lbs i'm thinking hmmm, maybe my arms are just that worn out, SNAP, like a moron i think "this is a weird sounding torque wrench" go to torque the next one SNAP.. "shit that's the bolts snapping!!!!!" go to test the torque wrench on some lugnuts, cranked the adjuster all the way down i couldn't get it to give....

morals of the story:
don't trust other peoples tools
buy quality tools
think about what you're doing and listen to yourself


so now i'm going to o'reilly on the motorbike....

new bolts are on the way, ez out and a drill got the old ones out. they were soft, i'm not sure if it's because they were stretched or old but they made the Phillips heads honda uses look strong.... i'm working on getting the filings out using a magnet and rags the nooks and cranny are hard to get, so i am going to run a oil filter and drain plug magnet and change it every 2 (running) hours until i feel it's 100% just because i know there has to be some hiding under the cam and in the valve springs
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Put 7's in next time.

Those almost looked like bullets when I took a quick look at them, lol

like some hollow base wad cutters. those were the original 7s but i tried to reuse them and they were already stretched a little. i am going to borrow a good torque wrench this time too.

got it all together and it won't start... :thumbdown:
it doesn't have spark, i can't find any loose connections and it had good spark last time i ran it 3 months ago. i can't find the main fuse box on this thing either...
any ideas?

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alright so i got it all running not long after my last post but it was still knocking just as bad i then came to the realization...
oil level light
no shavings in oil
5 collapsed lifters
...
i think i have a oil problem... probably the oil pump or a clog before the oil pump

after that realization i got a little :(
i am going to do an oil pressure test soon to try and confirm my hypothesis

if that is the problem i may just buy a 1993 MM for the family then steal the 6bolt 8v out of the 91 MM for the van

It's finally time. I have a new timing belt, oil pump and balance shaft delete kit. and money to get a rebuild kit, water pump and timing belt tensioner.
I'm undecided whether I am putting new pistons in, re-ringing the current pistons or leaving them as-is. 130-140 compression is at the lower end of where I want it but one of these years I will do a proper build, this is just low end rebuild to get it on the road. I will be balancing the piston-rod assemblies.

also I've put reflectix up in the rear windows, and started working my way around the exterior with acetone to get what I assume is tree sap off. once i finish that I will start taking care of the rust.

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nic wagon

Thank you

Today I did some cleaning rearranged everything and moved in the desk I got for free.
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I was going to cut it shorter but thought I should try it before cutting it.

I'm waiting on a keyboard from tigerdirect before I put the desktop back in, I need to email them and see what's up, it's been 3 weeks.....

Minimoto returns, way to keep the thread alive. Glad your van is working too!! Tell us your not living in that van now??

maybe his cat is...

Let's put it this way, I joined a forum dedicated to dwelling in vans and other vehicles :)

seriously it all started sometime in 2013, I was sitting around BSing with my family, I said somethng along the lines of "one of these days I will be living in a van down by the river," then I started thinking about it that night like "I could live in my van couldn't I?" yada yada yada then last winter I made up my mind. so I've been living in, or rather out of my van for 9 months and I'm liking it.

I blame Chris Farley!!

hahahaha remember now Chris is no longer with us though. I would of put a hot tub in that baby. :lmao:



I did live in my truck for 2 weeks and with 2 cats. Went through bad times when younger, but pulled through it well.Oh man it just came to me where I saw your van before. Like the Delica forum or something like that. I read your post there and it just came back to my memory.

Yeah, I know a bunch of people who were forced to live in trucks or SUVs, it seems most of them didn't like it at all, one said he didn't mind living in his explorer for a month but was happy to move back in to a real house. I don't need much to be happy or atleast content, hell I am planning to see how long I can go with just a tent and a pack full of food and water in the spring.
I forgot I was on delica.ca too. the van-wagon section on there is quite inactive but that's to be expected. I think I stopped going on there because I was getting too jealous of all the 4wd diesel l300s.

Bought a HF 1 ton hoist, and got started preparing the motor to be pulled. Also got a roof box which made it a lot roomier inside since 2 dogs have moved in with me.

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6-20
I am definitely behind schedule of where I wanted to be, radiators out, exhaust side is completely clear, fluids drained, Timing covers are off, timing belt is off, heads unbolted but won't come off, I have disconnected a lot of the hoses from the chassis to intake manifold, AC compressor is out of the way.
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Under the lower timing cover I found some bits of belt which sparked my curiosity and I finally noticed the balance shaft belt was stripped. and the "front" shaft is hard to turn and clanks if i turn it fast enough with a ratchet, while easy to turn the rear B/S also clanks when turned fast enough. I am glad I bought the B/S delete kit now.
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Random afternoon update even though I just did one earlier today.
Head is off, because of my unpro camera skills you can't see the biggest difference between the 87-88 vans G64B and the 89-90 van and MM/D50 4G64, jet valves, supposedly cause turbulence in the combustion chamber boosting MPG and power? I don't know about that but they are cool looking and I haven't heard of them causing cracked heads like in the G54B.

What's left before I pull the motor the obvious stuff, starter, ground cable and some coolant lines from the trans that are bolted to the block.
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Hoist didn't reach far enough, so I had to improvise http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps3100874a.jpg http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...pscd113391.jpg http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps58cc8b65.jpg I have to wait until Monday for an impact wrench to get the flywheel bolts off and flex plate got bent, that will be fun to straighten. So I just started pulling what's left and degreasing. http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...psf2765b0a.jpg

Flywheel bolts gave me more crap, 5 came off no problem with an air impact, 1 nope, stripped the head a little, Wound up drilling the head off....
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First thing that jumped out at me when I popped the oil pan off was a destroyed bearing, looked around and it was for the "rear" balance shaft, the oil shaft.
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The front balance shaft was seized.
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Oil pump ate chunks but nowhere near as bad as I thought.
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Rod journals for the most part are okay, 1 or 2 spots I can feel a problem with my finger nail. the mains are much worse, I can feel the scratches with my finger nail but not the pad of my finger.
I am hoping I only need a polish
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Flywheel bolts for this thing are not standard 6 bolt DSM, I had to order ones for a Toyota 3SGTE m12 with a UHL of 1"
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I have noticed what I've been calling the flex plate is actually the starter plate, and flywheel = flex plate. Shows just how much I know about automatics.

So after a week of dealing with flaky people and shops that don't answer their phones I have accomplished nothing but receiving a big shipment of parts.
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OEM Mitsu:
BS delete spacer
oil filter
brake rotors
front case plug seal

Aftermarket:
Gates upper and lower radiator hoses and thermostat
ARP flywheel bolts 203-2801
exhaust gasket
magnetic drain plug
fuel filter and crush washers

Also I'm playing with trying to bring the group 51 starting battery and a group 27 marine battery(from a TT) back to life. I am trying to do it without draining the acid but I did pick up a bag of epsom salt at the dollar shore just as a last resort.

4G6x guys, check out the front case plug, not a "castle nut" like is typically found on 4G63 and 4G64s.
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I would assume it's original to the van's G64B since all the other parts were OEM inside.

Epson salts to revive a lead acid battery - how does that work?

First time I'm trying it, supposed to be an old used car salesman trick to get junk batteries to work good enough. The epson salt is supposed to help knock the crap off the plates. My starting battery has been holding 12.7v just fine without any tricks but that marine battery would only hold 10.4 as I received it, I poured off some acid and replaced it with epsom salt-water, ran it on the charger a few times then I just dumped out most of what was in it and filled it with distilled water. it's already looking better. if it rests at 11.5v or higher I will go ahead and buy new acid. If it doesn't I only lost $1 for the mag sulfate and the battery is still worth the same core/scrap.

Finally got someone to pick up the block, crank, piston-rod combos and BS bearings, he will be dropping it by a machine shop when it's convenient for him...

Okay the marine battery couldn't be saved... well I didn’t want to take the gamble on buying new acid when it's just a chap marine battery. the van's starting battery seems to be okay, won't know until I can put the load of the starter on it.

Dropped the crank off at a machine shop today he said a few days if it polishes out nice and if it needs turned it will be cash and more time, as I expected.


new stuffs:
New to me 30a solar charge controller
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porta-potti, not sure if I am keeping this, as it's big and according to people wh have had the a pain to deal with but I have a tendency of using buckets for storage(not good in an emergency when your poo bucket is full of other stuff.) and I know I won't be storing stuff in this thing.
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coleman 1850w generator, probably just sell this, if I am going to carry a generator it will be something like a 1000w yamaha
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Inverter I've had for years, dug it out and it has no problem powering my LED TV or laptop, sweet.
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New toys, bicycle to replace motorcycle, Specialized single speed 26" hybrid, really light and has disc brakes. I am out of shape though...
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Char broil X200 grill2go
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Buddy heater, working as a TV stand at the moment. I haven't felt the need for a heater in my van here in Colorado but I figure if I spend winter in the dakotas or MT where temps actually dip below zero without BS like "wind chill" factored in this thing might make it a lot easier.
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Anyway nothing is going quite as planned.
Crank was polished found a guy locally who did it for $30 and turn around time of 2 or 3 days, still in factory specs I order a re-ring kit after asking the seller if the rings are cast or chrome. re-ring kit arrives and they are NPR 300 series rings, meaning the top ring is chrome so I can't install without honing. I am against honing unless the motor bore was out of spec. My deadline is tight so I say screw it and put it back together with the old rings.
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Get the motor in the van all assembled, get everything hooked up, easy peasy.
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No spark, FML, I had this same problem last time I tore into it, last time it was just a loose connector. So I wiggled and cleaned all the connections relating to the coil and dizzy. A mechanic came and cleaned the cap and rotor recommending I order new ones. So I did along with new plug wires that I had forgot to order. Should be here Monday.

So as we sit. no spark, needle on the tach isn't moving. There's voltage from the coil to the dizzy but nothing coming out of the dizzy. I have not checked the fuses yet as it is a PITA without being able to open the drivers side door but will check them soon.
To make matters worse mice have been inside my dash and ate paperwork in my glovebox so there's a possibility that this is a symptom of that. I have never been able to find my ECU but there's a chance it's somewhere under the dash where they could have got to it's harness.

Ignition Control Module (ICM)http://www.rockauto.com/info/remotec...43d50534b1.jpg(found inside distributor) usually fries when key is left in "on" position & vehicle is not running...causes symptoms you describe. spark detectable from coil & not from distributor. rockauto.com

ECU is in the passenger side B pillar down in the void.

Thanks guys.
Wasn't able to disassemble the dizzy to install a new ICM, just replacing the cap, rotor and wires didn't give me spark so I said screw it, ordered a whole new dizzy and a coil too just in case.
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Those parts should be here tomorrow or Tuesday, my schedule dictates that this van has to be road trip worthy in 2 weeks(yeah right) so money is of little concern at the moment because if it's not I may have to pay to store it.
Anyway...
Was able to get some crap set up on the ladder rack though.
Bike mount, Delta locking QR fork mount, BH1002N
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bumper jacks: going to use U bolts and wing nuts not the hose clamps holding them now
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Still plenty of room for solar and my snowboard has to go somewhere up there

I got rid of the genny and thermoelectric cooler and got a little coleman extreme cooler.

Distributor came with the wrong connector, a female just like the harness... that was quickly rectified, as was the coil coming with the wrong bracket.

Still no spark or tach, I'm seeking professional help, which may be challenging to find someone who knows these vans so I will settle for any shade tree mechanic who can tell me what jet valves are and do`. If anybody on Colorado's western slope wants to help PM me, I don't have much $$$ but will make it work even if I have to borrow cash from family. I also have a little welder I don't mind losing.
I'll also try my hand at pulling codes with a light tomorrow.

Chances of this thing being ready for the Oregon trip are dropping off by the minute...

It's throwing a code 15 motor position sensor(part of distributor) meaning there's an issue with it getting power, sending signal or I got bad distributor. Time to start testing wires.
the 4 Wires going to it are red, yellow, black and white
On the truck these wires are for
Black - Ground - is grounded
Yellow - Crank trigger - tested 0v in run, <3v while cranking also found out my soldering didn't stick very good on this one.
White - Cam trigger tested - 0v in run, <2.2v while cranking
Red - Power tested - ~12v in run

if you can plug in the old distributor and turn it by hand with the key on you should hear the injectors clicking,that would let you know the computer is seeing rpm and that maybe the problem is at the coil or the harness going to the coil

Thanks, I will try that and see what happens.

Okay spinning the (new)distributor by hand makes the injectors go. So the ECU is getting signal from it. So trigger wire for the coil is the next thing to check I think... I have blue and black with a white line for the coil. If I don't figure this out tomorrow it's gong to a shop or to storage

Oh my goodness. What happened! I just read this whole threat anxiously because im about to drive out to the 90 MM I just bought and I want to get it started today.

Well, laziness to be honest
I got back from vacation to find one of my hood bolts was stripped and wouldn't come off, by the time I dug out my drill there was a bunch of crap on top of my hood. So here I sit, been spending a lot of time trying to make money and even more time trying to learn photography. I was going to finally pull the hood off and get to work on it today but by the time I even though about it most of the day was gone. Maybe in the morning or Monday I will quit being lazy.

I just saw your for sale post. If the new owner decides they dont want it, I'd be interested in it. My wife keeps trying to take over my 90.