My "New" latest addition, MACRO

I have done it. Found it on Craiglist not too far from here. Paint has had better days, so do some other parts.
I missed out on a white MM earlier last year with a broken tranny but a good engine less then 100k miles ( My tranny was rebuild 20k miles ago but my engine needs work ). Then this bigger edition showed up for me. A Mighty Max extended cab ( Or MacroCab as the label indicated ). Now mostly refered to as "Macro" since I got 2 MMMs now.

Its a 1991 registered ( 1990 July build ) Mitsubishi Mighty Max MacroCab. 4G64 engine 5 speed manual with only 1 factory option ( to what I have found of them, my single cab had 3 options : AC, Digital clock and "fancy" rims ). The AC.
Its got 123k miles on it and aside from the timing issue engine sounds all right. Has the knocking of the valve adjusters like the single cab does but that is easy. Seafoam it, oil change and take them off like I did the single, if it persists. Replace adjusters. I may just do that anyway, not like they are 100 per piece. The adjusters are probably going to be the "cheapest" part to replace.

I bought it from a family that needed a larger car due to kids. He bought it from some kid what was going to "hot-rod" it. He ripped everything out of the rear of the cab and was going to put some fancy sound system in it. Meh, no seats or benches there anymore but it sure give space in there for when you need to take items with you that can not be in the bed. Its got an after markt alarm in it and yes. it has NO SPEAKER holes in the doors :D:D:D
The door panels got redone and not in a bad way either. I like how it looks, the work could have been done a little neater bit I like the idea. Probably going to do that to the single cab to.


Issues noted at time of purchase :

- some kind of timing issues. The shops he took it to all said timing belt. We shall see, the shops replaced almost everything electrical already. Engine runs but has almost no power. Drives and in due time ( on a flat road ) was able to make it to 55 but has only just over 0 for acceleration power at this time.

- front end allignment needs done. Toe end of the tire on the inside is gone past the steel. I hate this work on older cars because of the rust. Easy job if you know what to do though and all the bolts and nuts can be moved freely.

- The "Hot-Rod" kid hit something rather hard on the rear left and did not want it anymore when he put the dent in. It can be fixed, given tools, space and time are at hand. Someday in my life time maybe...

I picked it up early December last year with a college and it has been parked at work since. Boss does not quite know it yet, we have a car shop next door so it does not really stand out yet that there is yet an other car on the lot. But with the addition of the rented space there I have some options of pulling the truck indoors to work on it. Boss does not mind us techs doing that when we need ( or want ) to.
I am a little late posting this little truck and I have already done things with it.

Still, here are some pictures.

The "For Sale" Truck is from the car shop next door.
The ford van to the right is a company van in need of work and the car mechanic is to dang lazy to fix it. That is a whole different story not for this forum.
And center are both my Mighty Gals.
Front left is the new addition Macrocab
In the back on the right ish side is my single cab daily driver Mighty Max. Link to my introduction and what I so far have done to keep her going.
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...shi-Mighty-Max

Attachment 24351
Lots of flaking on the front, single has the same issue but not as bad yet.
Attachment 24352
The "nice" rework the fool did to the left side of the bed.
Attachment 24353
Cant miss a shot of a nice rear :D
Attachment 24354
The hood needs a paint job. I thought it was mostly dirt and part of it is. I do not seem to be able to "wash" it off with anything.
Attachment 24355

Well. I have an other post to update and shall post more, maybe even later today.

Bet the ECU is bad (explains no power but still runs in limp home mode). If you find the seafoam doesn't work as well as you'd like, try my engine flush technique. It normally silences everything but the worst HLA's and lifters. The paint is probably just dead and needs a wax. Won't be perfect but it was never going to be. The macro is great when you need the extra space for hauling stuff. Soooo... what is your vision with your new toy?

i love it. my hood has done the same thing, but its gray so it doesn't look that bad.

is that ANOTHER ram 50 in the background?

geezer101 Bet the ECU is bad (explains no power but still runs in limp home mode).

Big surprise, the car shop was right about the timing belt ( Probably only because they replaced almost everything else already that could cause it ).
B-belt failed and got stuck in the main timing belt causing that one to slip. Re-timed with the same belt ( Have not ordered a replacement yet ) and its running nicely again.


Salteen is that ANOTHER ram 50 in the background?

Almost :D
The black single cab is my daily driver 1992 Mighty Max
I know, they both black and both MINE. They both run and drive and both need some work. Like I don't have my hands full enough yet with my wife :grin:



So currently it stands

To pass inspection I need :

- Find out what the lights done come on ( Probably the switch )
- replace the 2 bad tires
- Put the timing covers and other components back on that I removed to get the cover off. Preferably after I do the timing belts.

Things I have to do to:

- Replace both inner and outer tierods
- replace idler and pit arms
- Do an oil flush/seafoam cleaning or borh ( Probably both )
- After the seafoam I will probably have to replace all the lower oil gaskets and seals. If the seafoam wont force me to do that, blended oil will.
- new filters. Air, oil, fuel. No other ones to my knowledge. aside from maybe clean the interior air filter
- Check the ECU condition
- Anything else? If so, I do not remember at this time. Shall find out when I am at work since its still parked there.

Really lucky these engines aren't interference design valvetrains or a blown or jumped belt would be disastrous. And being belt drive you don't have to strip a third of the engine to get to it. The hot rod kid probably panicked and thought something major had gone wrong with the engine - your gain, his loss. And you got it before he did anything really stupid to it and ruined a basically good macro.

Hahaha, yeah. Its a nice feature of the V8 editions.
Got the guy I bought it from in a nice panic when I told him I was going to drive it out anyway, even if it is ( and it was ) a timing belt issue. Worse case my buddy would have to tow me :D
I got taken to my destination, only issue was that I could not accelerate at all.

Here are some more pictures.
The engine bay after I re-timed and did a small test run. I know, no fan but at near freezing a short drive wont harm.
Here I also installed the larger altenator ( Think these are front he V6 models ) The grove is larger and it has 2 bolts for tension instead of one and it a little larger but fits just fine. I drove 10 ish miles with it on a bad battery so it works
Attachment 24362
Here an other engine shot
Attachment 24363
The interior was altered, painted all black and dark. Windows got a tint also. Needs some more fine tuning and such but I say it still looks nice.
Attachment 24364
The door panels have been taken out to install the auto lock/un-lock. The panels got done with a black cloth of sorts. The space from the window to the start of the solid part of the panel got cleaned up and left "blank". I say it looks nicer without the cover of fabric or other something material on there.
Attachment 24365

The last picture I may also do with my single cab. I like the doors better that way, maybe I will also add a item holder to the front of the door when I do that for ice scraper of other things that I used to have in the doors.

Wow, I only just now read my error in my last post, its not a V8. LOL
its an 8V or 8 valve.
The 16V IS an interference engine ( dual or single cam does not matter here )

Looks good :thumbup: Simple black door cards, sports wheel, dash recolour - a lot like the way I've decked out my Gen 1. I do believe it's electric thermofan time! If the ECU is solid you can have a crack at giving it a dynamic engine tune - easy to do and is free horsepower once you nail it. This truck would be nicer with sports buckets. It would make getting to your crap behind the seats a lot easier (maybe a storage box or some phat beats :grin:)

Ahh, I had some time the last few days to work some more on this little one.

Installed new timing belt and idler rollers. now makes a squeeking noise, have yet to find the location.

Found an oil leak ( and will probably find plenty more ), oil sensor exploded. Ordered and installed replacement already.
Also found 1 of the squeek causers. The idler roller for the main timing belt from the brand new kit has a bad bearing in it. Put the original ( old ) one back on and that is resolved. Listened to all other bearings that I could get to easy and it sounds like the oil pump bearing may also not last very long anymore.
Drove it home for the weekend and noticed I still have a lack of power.

2 things to check now. Timing and ECU.
I removed the ECU and unlike the repairs on the single cab, this one is clean. Also had a lot less damage from the leaking capacitors than the single cab does. Checked timing of the belt again just to make sure its good. All marks still align.

Well, time to check the actual timing of the spark. about the same as the single cab at around -8. The single cab EGR is out though so Macro should be earlier still. Changed to -15 ish, there is no more scale on the belt cover at this time so its a guess. Vrooooooom. Sounds like power is back. Took her for a spin ( literly ) with the weather and wet parking lot I was able to spin the rear with ease. Could not do that before the timing change. Did some road driving and fast accels. Seems -15 is not totally the sweet spot but sure is a lot better then before. Drove it home after again and this is when I noticed how bad both my rear tires and the roads are around here in Texas. Not even trying, I pulled up from a red light turned green and stood still. Slow clutch up and no throttle. Sad thing that the single cab also does that and she gots new tires.....
I am among the taller folks and the extra space of the macro sure is nice, 2-3 more clicks to push the bench back and movable back piece. Nice and comphy.

Think I am at least set for inspection this month and then switch over to Macro for a while. Single needs a lot of oil seals and gaskets replaced, along with a rather large list of other things.

Time to enjoy some time off from anything with the wifey for now. Hope you all have or had a good weekend

Here I am again.

Not had the time to do a whole lot on the Macro so far.

I have not gone in to change the tires yet but drove it up to inspection anyway. I wanted to know what would not pass aside from that before really working on it more. Things are a little difficult at this time with the pandemic.
Well, want to know something?

Passed inspection........
The inside of the rear tires is worn past the steel. Meh, I don't really care at this moment. What ever one I will be driving will get the good set of wheels. Just need them both to be able to hold air to move them around on the parking lot at work.
Time to get a hold of the insurance company and switch that over to the Macro for a while.

Question about these ECU's. I took this one out last time and the soldering job looks "clean" and no broken or missing parts that I could see on the ECU. The "Maintenance Needed" light comes on and will not go off. How do I find out what code is causing this?
The volt meter or test light way only seems to pull up codes that cause the "Check Engine" light to come on.

All right folks, you all be safe and healthy where ever you all may be.

There is a little switch under the instrument cluster. Where it is exactly - I dunno :shrug: but it's there (hopefully a member will post something if you can't find it in a specific thread/post) This thing is triggered by the odometer tripping it off and can be reset by flicking the slide over. This little light has been a source of confusion as it isn't connected to the ECU and only reminds the driver of the engine being due for a service. Not the end of the world, just the end of the oil life lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by geezer101

There is a little switch under the instrument cluster. Where it is exactly - I dunno :shrug: but it's there (hopefully a member will post something if you can't find it in a specific thread/post) This thing is triggered by the odometer tripping it off and can be reset by flicking the slide over. This little light has been a source of confusion as it isn't connected to the ECU and only reminds the driver of the engine being due for a service. Not the end of the world, just the end of the oil life lol.

---

In the Gen 2's (at least in my '87), the switch that Geezer is referring to in under the right-hand corner of the instrument cluster. Mine had a block off plate that you had to pop out, and then you could see the switch tucked behind it. Required a screw driver to flip it.

Ha, I read over your posts a few times but it made no sense at all at first....
After the light also came on on my "Single", I went hunting some more about the light. I was not very successful. At least not directly as to why or how the light even turns on. I was able to find a place on this forum ( somewhere ) that talks in more detail about the light and where to find this "reset switch"

Under the steering you have the hazard light switch to the left, on the right you have the same space for a switch just like it. The right side is covered by a blank cover though. Remove the cover and if you shine a light in it, you see a tiny little switch in the upper right ish corner rather far back in the space. You either move the switch to the left or right depending on what location you find it in.

So, now I have both "Single" and "Macro" running without any warning lights. I do think that the "hot rod" kid changed some of the cluster lights with LEDs......
damn they are blinding at night. Why does everyone like the rediculus ultra bright ( I am going to blind you ) lights.....
I will be pulling the Marco's cluster out and putting normal lights back in or if I go LEDs, at least something of the normal light brightness range.

Sure has been quite on here the last few weeks, probably due to the virus.
Hope you are all healthy out there.
Say hey sometimes :D ( I should probably read the forum more also :D )

Hmm. LED's are good but the dimmer on the cluster isn't working? The LED's are polarity sensitive so either hotrod put them in the wrong way or they've blown (which would be disturbing if the warning lights are all on long enough to cook them), or possibility #3 there's a fault with the instrument circuits (great...) Change the LED backlighting for coloured LED's and leave the warning lights white (just an opinion and something I've done myself). Regular blue or green instrument backlights will be a little more subdued and less fatiguing to look at (ice blue might as well be white). I really don't like BMW's red factory backlights (it's like the entire car is trying to tell you something is wrong lol)

LEDs are not compatible with with dimmer switches

https://www.autometer.com/led-lighting-dimmer.html I use this for LED dash conversion

The dimmer will work if you have a few of the incandescent bulbs left in the heater controls and lighter etc. The incandescents will still put enough of a load on the backlighting to compensate. I've replaced all of the instrument backlights in my Hung Dog and the dimmer function still operates normally.

Meh, LEDs....
These little pick-ups are from before those days and NEED good ole bulbs!
I was able to find the larger ones locally here at the store, no idea if the little ones can still be found. Have not had any luck with them yet. Currently the dash does not blind me anymore at night while still keeping everything noticable on there.
I happy.

I have an other interesting question for the board though.
As most of you probably know. I am the happy owner of 2 of these pick-ups. A black single cab and a black also Macro cab. with the exeption of the cab they are identical. They both had and still have different issues I still need to tend to.
Currently though there is one thing of an issue they have in common and on both I have done the same work.
I did both there timing belts ( JDN kit ) and on both I have replaced the whole distributor with ( Spectra Premium MT07 Distributor ).
This work is what got my single cab back on the road last year, the original distributor has a failing crank sensor. Somewhere along the line it even made the engine run backwards. I did over 10k miles on it after that so must not have caused too much harm.
Anyway though I not have the issue with both that I have to set the timing way off for the engine to have any power at all. both are not at roughly -15 where the specs say it is supposed to be between -3 and -7. I did a trial with a few settings on the Macro but anything away from that -15 give the feel that the engine is drowning in gas and has barely enough power to stutter along.

I must have missed something somewhere with either timing belt of distributor ( or both ).
Distributor is at 7:00 on TDC 1
I used the timing marks on all sprockets. Some manual talked about using the split between the engine and cab shaft cover but as both have a timing mark there is also talks not to do that in that case.
Timing marks are checked several times not and have not moved or anything.

Is there anyone either smarter then me ( that be easy ) or with more knowledge of the 4G64 engine?
My current thought is that I skilled a tooth somewhere on either cam or crank but I have checked them for there marks.

Any help shall be much appreciated in resolving my little mystery.

Reads like t/belt is 'off' by a tooth...simple checks first, recheck just for giggles :)
& not to be rude, is the firing order correct?

Credit to member finalfighter for the below info-

"you need to set your timing how i have it in these images. the pic with the distributor in it is how the rotor will sit when setup right. it will be ahead of post #1 by just a tad bit. set it like in the photo. the next cylinder to fire will be cylinder 3, then 4, then 2 and back to 1. good luck."
IMG_20200713_085342.jpg
IMG_20200713_085431.jpg
IMG_20200713_085304.jpg.

Figured lol check again. ( not mend to be rude or anything, just sounds typical of the Spectrum or TWC customer service. Have you checked the router, unplugger it, .... garbage that 99% of folks do before they even call in in the first place )
Anyway, there was my last rant for the year. Time to start fresh for 2021

Thanks for the pictures. Weather permitting I shall pull the fan shroud, fan and covers off again and post picks. I shall try to do with both MMMs.
My guess is also that the Tbelt is 1 tooth miss somewhere. Just need to find where.
Only way to do that.
You guessed it.

!!CHECK AGAIN!!

For now though, its still dark and raining and I also have no cover or garage so it shall have to wait just a little longer.

All rightly.
I hope you all have a good year pass over and made a nice looking light show int he sky. We sure did here!

!!!HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I have not pulled the covers from the Macro yet since I do need a running car that can take me places. Single is parked in the drive way only hauling when needed so I pulled the covers from that one first. I may have enough time to pull covers and put back together on the Macro over the weekend.

I gots pics but forum not permitting me to upload them.

Everything on the belt side lines out still. My distributor is off. initially I thought this is from me going -15 but comparing it with the pic you send the distributor may be 1 tooth off. I messed with this before. I did attempt to just pull it and put if back in shifting it 1 tooth but that did not seem to work with it. I shall attempt to upload the pics again later today. Right now I shall pull the distributor on Single again and just shift it a tooth again.

Thx again for the pics. 1 pic speaks a 1000 ( or more ) words!

Happy new years for those that missed it!

ok, I messed with it some more and the only reason my distributor seems off is because its at -15 instead of -3 ~ -7
If I put it back around default it matches the pictures you posted.

Still having issues with the pictures. Not sure what its doing. Its only telling me the upload failed.

Wow, its been that long again that I last been on here. I have to find these pics again and attempt to put them on here still.
Macro still having issues with timing and lack of power. Some other things also. I need to find the time to pull the motor out and do a good job cleaning and rebuilding.
At least one of the bearings in the block somewhere is grinding.
Figuring before I bought it, it must have sat somewhere for years. Still, 22-25 miles per gallon is not horrible but Single can do 27 ish for the same trip and has way more power ( and miles ).
Time to see if I can find them pics still now I have a few moments to spare.
Also less relevant to this forum but I received a 1993 Saturn SL2 last week from a friend of my old boss. Was his parents car and they passed away. Little blue/greenish car with a while whooping 19k miles on it. Very likely with more idle run hours when miles and driving hours.

Ok, still have issues putting pics on here.
This keeps popping up, any idea's anyone?

--------------------------------------------------------------------
The following errors occurred:

DSC_2025.JPG: Upload of file failed.

Image file is too big

Indeed, forum no like 2 meg pics, now they are "only" 200 K or so.


Here they are, long over due. Though these are from the Single and nor from Macro they are both the same. I just did not take pics from the latter one.
Only timing I did not take a pic from is the balance shaft on the passenger side.
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=26245&stc=1
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=26246&stc=1
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=26247&stc=1
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=26248&stc=1

Well, so much for that.
Driving to tax office yesterday and Pffff..... stall.
Engine died. Fluids are still present, for as recent as I changed the oil, it seems way too dark. Running the starter and that runs way too smooth. Sounds like I lost nearly all compression. Not tested anything yet, Wife dragged me home yesterday ( that was a trip in several meanings :P )
I guess this speeds up the thing I needed ( wanted ) to do anyway. Pull the engine and clean/fix it up. Been having little things a and such since I got it up and running again when I bought it. Now the just dropped me in the middle of no where and passes on the note. "I need TCL!!"

So for now while I wait for more parts I am driving Single. Shall keep you all posed on my findings and such as things unfold.

A little late for sure but hope you all have a good Easter.

Well,

I found the cause the engine stopped running. The cause here does not really worry me, lucky engine for being none interference.
The reason for it "snapping" the way it did though has me far more worried.

Not fully confirmed yet but I think somehow the oil pump seized up. Belt got stuck and well. Snapped there as the crank is wwwaaaayyyy stronger in pulling then the pump is in stopping, are the closely matched. Well.
The timing belt becomes the weak link in that and then you most likely get something like this.

Timing belt is only about 8000 miles young and the oil was replaced about 500 miles ago. Had something odd at that time already.

Work taking up too much time and the neighbourhood thinks that having an outdoor dog here is a crime....
Wife car still needs a radiator flush and I have 2 extra cars in the unfinished drive way.

1 day needs 50 hours. 1~10 for work, 8 for sleep and the rest for ones self!!

Picture of the timing belt after the facts.
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=26442&stc=1

Well crap,

After having checked the reason for the snapping of the timing belt on the Single, I just walked up the drive way ( FINALLY NO RAIN!! ) and took the timing covers off of the Macro also.
Cam has the same issue as the single and this one never overheated. Was always too cold as the thermostat was stuck on open. Hopefully the weather is going to permit me to take the followers off so I can see a little more.

Anyone have any ideas aside from cracking the head on what may have caused this?
Thx.

Fushy.

How old are the belts? Been sitting on the shelf for too long maybe (I was looking at fixing up a new beetle the other day and VW says change the belt every 3 years no matter the miles)

Any signs of cracking on them? Any coolant, fuel or oil will cut the life down. Condition of the tensioner/idler? Too tight or loose, Harmonic balancer? Wobbling out of line

Maybe they both got done at the same shop?

Haha, umm. Well

For sure they got done in the same shop. Kind of anyway. Single was done in my drive way by me and Macro was done at work in the work shop in my spare time. Also by me. Single belt can be oil and coolant as she leaks.
Macro is rather clean. Thought Macro finally seized up her oil pump as I know one of the bearings there is grinding.
After checking though I noticed both have issues with the cam "snapping" into place every 90 degrees. Not had the time yet to look into that and still not been able to drag single home either.....
I have not fully pulled the covers from Macro yet to check the B belt, crank or oil pump for good state/rotating.

Time to "yell" at the wife to get that done tomorrow. We need shopping for food anyway so have to leave the house.
Hope to find some better or "easy" to fix news once I have them both at home again.

Fushy.

Well, I gots some more news.

I got Single back on the road, driving her as a daily again currently.
Macro engine also runs again but still going to do a overhaul here as her engine has quite some more issues then I like. At least I do not have to strap pull her in the "shop" space anymore.
Anyone know if the 4G64 forklift overhaul kits are 100% the same as the ones used in the pick-ups? Seems to be getting a little more challenging to find kits for this. I may be forced to get all parts individually instead.

Fushy.

Meh, it has happened again. This time though the other party was forced to be present at the scene.
Not related to Mitsubishi at all and I still have to wait on the insurance company for all the details.

Some old lady ( I shall try to stay nice ) reduced my inherited vehicle from a perfectly nearly new state that I just did a major maintenance on ( all fluids changed, timing chain, ..... ). To nothing more then parts on wheels.. :(:(
Only had it for 5 months and drove it for the first day after all the work and all gone....
1993 Saturn SL2 with almost all factory options that spend more time in the garage the garage running idle ( grand-pa started and ran the car for 15-30 mins ever weekend ) then it ever made road time or miles. Just over 20k miles on the clock and though Texas sun baked some of the interior plastic. is still clean. Even now ( aside from the oil spots and dirt the tow truck driver put on the driver seat ).

Hoping that insurance is going to permit me to use some of these nearly new parts like the seats and some other trinkets to make Macro a little nicer.
Keep some memories present.

http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=26995&stc=1
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=26996&stc=1

Beg my pardon for the lack of Mighty Max on this post
Texas driving is really not getting better ( NYC was safer then here ). I needed a light vent and distraction.

Thank you
Fushy.

Oh man. Is this why they have open carry on fire arms... this was a nice looking car too. Hopefully the insurance will allow buy back :shakehead:

Some old lady !

I need 1.8 BAC to duplicate what she did !

Impaired driving can be from anything that get you high not just alcohol !

Or maybe she was guilty of distracted driving like using her smart phone to watch a movie while eating a bowl of ramen with chopsticks and putting on makeup while reading the morning paper !

Stay Safe & count your blessings that dent looks bad enuff to have injured soneone !
George

Impaired driving should cost a lot more then what it really does out here. Cops should also be out more to support this but state laws make that rather difficult also. Texas is not smart enough to enforce safe driving and what limited things they do try it lacking horribly. I feel for the folks that had limb or life lost here for car related problems. Having the state force you to watch people in the past having created accidents and loss of life does not work for the current generation ( nor the last one ).
Having car insurance companies recommend you use a cell phone so they can keep tabs on you only enforces the driver to stare at that screen more rather then having them focus on the road. Way too many dump rules and laws made by engineers that never drive them self.
Its no different that quite some years ago a woman was killed by a BMW convertable.
The roof top started closing on its own ( some type of timer caused it to do this ) and the woman got stuck between the roof and the windshield as she was trying to clean the car. There where no safeties at all to prevent this. Automatic roll-up ( or down ) doors are required to have pressure sensitive strips to stop them from closing is they hit anything and even open back up after the did. Elevator doors have the same safety in place for if something is stuck between the doors.
Too many engineers out there today that have no real life experience or are working in a field they are not educated enough in.
Meh, Me ranting and raving again I suppose.

I have to admit I make mistakes too but they at worse cost me a few 100s in parts or tools. Not limb nor life. I have hurt myself in not so smart situations but never others.
Next post shall be about my little 4 wheeler :D

Heya all,

Here something a little better, one content kitty. one of the many we have running around the house here.
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=27379&stc=1

But not for something more "on topic" Macro cab.
I finally got time and puff to do something. Texas heat it limiting me a lot though, working out in the back yard at 100+ heat, I would rather work in the snow for I am from way further North then this. Macro had issues of running and driving but almost no power. Lots of possible causes here. Pulled the exhaust, that went rather easy for it probably never having been taken appart since build some 30 years ago.
Some stripped bolts and nuts made putting it back together take a little longer.
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=27380&stc=1

CAT plugged with carbon build up. Ok, found at least 1 cause of low power and not I also have to search for what cause it to plug up in the first place.
I did all this work in the course of several days. The next morning I found oil on cylinder 4 exhaust valve stem. Well, new valve stem seals and while doing that I can clean the valve train.
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=27381&stc=1

Sure need some cleaning, also checked the intake valves and put new gaskets on there to make sure there are not intake leaks. What a pain removing that 30 year old stuff.
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=27383&stc=1

Here you can see the clean springs in front and the yet to be cleaned ones in the back along with the spring compressor tool ( or at least part of the tool ).
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=27384&stc=1http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=27385&stc=1

And here, not enough space for all that I am doing at the same time. Fixing an A/C, working on the engine and who knows what else I was doing to make that mess of tools and parts.
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=27386&stc=1

Time for the followers!
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Looky, all sping sparkling clean.
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Even got the valve cover mostly clean.
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A night shot of the work space, it got a little late.
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Seems I have not taken any pics yet of it all put back together.
Engine started right up on first try but runs horribly rich. Test so far indicates likely the fuel pressure regulator. At curb idle it its in the high 40 PSIs where it should be around 38. The high pressure ( vacuum disconnected ) is around spec at 50 ish PSI.
Ordered a new one and hopefully that will fix it. if it stays running rich I may have to revert back to the original injectors.

Anyway, here is all the work done so far.

New gaskets on all exhaust parts, new CAT and new O2 sensor
New spark plugs ( Irridium ones ), wires where replaced a few years ago and so was the whole distributor.
All cooling hoses replaced ( I had those randomly burst on my single cab, better safe then sorry I figure this time ).
New fuel pump and gas tank gaskets ( single cab tank was full or rust when I did that one, Macro was completely clean though ). Still 30 years old can use some extra love and care.
New fuel filter and injectors.
All intake gaskets replaced.

Hehe, I also got me new switch arms at the steering wheel to now have intermitend wipers. That was probably the most expensive part.

So well, there you have it. Single cab is still taking me to work and back or other places. I wish Single her A/C was working though, Macro hers still works so hoping to have her back on the road very much sooner then later with this heat wave.

Fushy.

Well, summer has passed and winter is here. At least for a few days we will get frost again.

Macro still running way rich. I installed the original injectors again and though that helped a little it did not help.
Fuel pressure regulator was also not the issue and having done a pressure rest on Single aswell. I would have to say it never was the regulator. Both single and Macro pressures are the same.
Other idea was also a dead end. I swapped the ECUs and even that did not resolve the issue. ECU of Macro is in better shape. Single has a diode or other small component that went missing when it was rebuild. Macro ECU still has it. Somehow it seems to affect the "learning" process of the ECU.
Last idea I have is an issue with the O2 sensor or its wiring rather. I was unable to remove the original sensor and I have to cut the wires to put my tools on it. ( This was before I had the proper sensor socket ). One of my tests to find the cause was installing the original sensor again and hook my multi meter up to it. measured out of specs according to online and the manual.
Regardless of what sensor I install ( original or either of the 2 new ones ) the effect on the engine is the same.

I found a bunch more wire issues on the passenger side that also prevents the AC from running as it should.
Current guess is the O2 sensor is not connected to the ECU at all or giving false infromation.

I connected all my electronics gadgets and I recorded some of the sensors.
Distributor fast and slow signals, all 4 injectors and the spark. I wired all this in on the ECU of the Single cab and used that one on both my Pick-ups. Only major difference I have spotted so far is a large difference in the injector timings.
Single is 2-6 ms shorter or about 1.2~3 % shorter per pulse for the same RPM. There is the rich running. Now to find out why.

Next time I hook my loggers up again I shall also hook the analogue signals such as temp sensor, O2 sensor

Is there anyone out there that has a schematic from the air intake sensor?
I found rather little of this one.

As usual I am doing way too many things ( or I have too much projects running ) at once.

You all better stay warm out there. I am still cruzing around in my little Mighty Max's. No AC but dont need that currently. No issues with my heaters, leaky or drafty door seals though :D

Following this, very interested in the pulse width variations,
any chance of posting screen shots of recorded data? Thanks!!

-in the mean time- some I.A.T. info
looks to be a generic ntc thermistor and circuit.

https://i.postimg.cc/8cwKyBMJ/IMG-0036-1.jpg

and

https://i.postimg.cc/BbcTNSWm/IMG-0038.jpg

Did you figure out if the 4G64 forklift overhaul kits are the same as the ones used in the pickups? I'd like to overhaul my little truck. It too has more sounds than I like.

Here I am again.

I have some "new" news?
For the forklift overhaul/rebuild kit. Specs on the manuals say they should all be the same parts. Some references call the engine installed in the pick-ups the "Forklift" model of the 4G64. I have not bought a kit myself to really confirm this though. The need I not may have however.

Worked some more on Macro and found something I did not understand at first. Higher then normal compression before all my work. Did my work and not I have 3 cylinders with below normal compression and 1 that only just barely meats the low end. Changing the cat made this come to light.
Made no sense to me at first. Mostly found the cause now though. I noticed some really odd "wear" rust around the pick-up when I got it. Now I bought a bore scope and took a peek in the cylinders through the spark plug holes. Think I know why this engine only has 123k miles on it when I got it. I know my other one was a barn find but was more or less regularly driven when I got it. Macro would seems to have suffered from lack of oil circulation and in general internal engine components moving. Cylinder one seems to have what looks like "ingraved" piston rings on the top. Like the engine was stuck at TDC for a very long time.
Have been able to now detect minor compression losses through the piston rings but only minor ( I still need them replaced regardless ).
Found the main leak in the exhaust valve seats and valves. I took pics of both engines I have and compared to info I found online. Single her engine needs work also but the seal and valve surfaces seem "clean" where they touch ( seal ). Macro on the other hand seems to have either "rust" or a lot of carbon build up on the sealing surfaces. My scope did not manage to make pics clear enough to really see what it might be other then the uneven parts in the surface.

The rich running and hotter then normal exhaust cause found. Extra fuel is injected because the O2 sensor only detects part of the burned fuel due to a faction of the power stroke is blown straight past the exhaust valve. I doubt that these older ECU's measure all values constantly and rather only really read its sensors ( O2, air intake, ... ) at small parts of the engine cycle.

Replacing the valve seats seems like a "fun" task. Engine still runs and starts right up. Even on the "dead" battery I am currently using for it.
Driving around here and there now with Macro dispite the issues. I am done with this heat wave and Macro has working A/C in it! Still on R12 too lol Ice cold cab with 100F out here in Texas.


I may opt to do a lot more work though. put a 4G63 twin cam head on it or an other one with MiVec. I also found some other interesting info about the 4G6X engines. Stay with in the same generation and nearly all parts are ( somewhat ) interchangable.
4G61 crank ( Destroking from 2.4 to 1.8 )
twin cam head maybe with a cruse control throttle valve.


Cruse control with limits is easy enough to make on the existing throttle valve. Could say use the cruse control hardware from a Infinity QX4. Converting this setup over to the Mighty Max looks very doable. it screws on the existing throttle connector and adds a second cable for the cruse to open the valve without moving the existing pedal hardware.

So many ideas and so little time and other resources.

Will you look at that. I got locked out of the forum again....
Time is passing me by too fast.

Well as for Macro. About 9k itsh miles further. Stranded in the back yard agian. Wore through a set of tires, again. Too many times I had front end alligned and now finally have a shop that told me the real issue.
Both lower control arm bushings, all ball joints ( partly my fault as I never greased these ) strut rod pushings.
So far mostly rubber parts that are well. Mostly missing. As thus I am rebuilding most of the front end. With that I also likely found what really happened with this puck-up. Either the last owner or the one before him did a lot of off roading. Strange rusted parts now explained. Rusted valve seats. Well. Hit a puddle of water ( mud ) and have the bottom mudded in while the intake breath a nice glup of water.
As such this little one is currently not running. Soon will be. Summer is back and I am not liking the current heat.

There still seem to be quite a few scrap yards around the USA that have these pick-ups in there yards.
I managed to find quite a few with the A style clister, power steering, camper cab, seats in the macro instead of bench. Even 2 with the original Mitsu radio. I should save some money for a road trip to go scrap yard running for parts and such :D

Well. This one is puzzling me. Changed inner, outer tie rods and pit and idler arms ( 2 years ago ). This due to alignment issues and the old parts where toast.

Earlier this year I went to a shop for alignment and they found too many parts wrong to be able to do it. There advice was 300 ish dollars worth of work and parts.
Upper and lower control arms, both sides. All front wheel bearings and ther race's. Front brakes.
No idea currently why they have removal and reinstall of the steering gear.

Over the course of the last few weeks I changed.
Upper and lower ball joints both sides. Changed lower arm buchings. Changed strut bolt bushings. Changed sway bar bolts and bushings.
Front brakes where fine but the brake fluid was well over its usefullness.
While I was under there I also did gear box oil. Last owner would seem to have used GL5 instead of 4. There was what I would describe a lot of copper shavings in the oil. Changed if out got GL4 of slightly different weight over the recommended.

Did alignment myself ( not that I have the right tools or space for it ). Seemed not bad. Camber for as far as I could test it was the same left and right. Left set the gsuge on 0 and right gave me 2.5 degree's. Measuring slope on the ground with a simple level gave me between 2 and 3 degree's. Thus this would seem ok.
Not sure how to do Caster.
Shims where put back the same way I took them out after removing and pressing in the ball joint. Upper arm bushings I could not find thus the originals remain. They seemed ok. Least compared to the lower ones. Lower arm bushings where virtually gone.
The ball joints did not seem to have and marks on them as to what direction to press them in. So those where just pressed in. Somehow I magically pressed them in the same way with the hole for the pin in the bolt facing the arm... What a pain to put the pin in that way.
But got it all together. Surprised at some of the torque specs in the hanes manual though. They seem very high for some small bolts.
After all the work and hours sweating in the blazin sun out here. I would seem to have failed in my endevor.

After my own alignment I have horrible screeching tires. After I have had the shop I went to last time align them. It got no better. Crossing fingers and thinking "Put the other wheels on. It may help". Was no better. Worse even. Pick-up is janking me all over the place at the tiniest touch of the wheel.
I will have to re-check my work again but at the same time I would find it odd for me to mess up on these things. Really making me wonder what else it could be or what the last owners could have possible done that prevents this.

Time to hide somewhere and blow up some zombies!

Nice cat hope you get a member to help...

That big ball off fuzz is "Stitch" one of our 3 cats with odd eyes. That body of his is way toooo big for that little soul that is hiding within

"Black Jack" below was my cat. Lost his life recently due to medical issue's. Good cat to me but hated the wife.
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...id=28398&stc=1

With all the work on the pick-up they have kind of been left out. Let go and attempt to make the best of my current time and yank the wheels one on the ground and 1 off. Maybe I can trace it. Thought about it all night somehow. Not sure you can call it sleep. Who knows what all the mind cannot come up with at night.
Current possible options. Lose nut or bolt. One of the new parts was broken. One of the welds on the frame is busted or something else broke. Not that I seen any of the latter under the there yet. Surface rust, yep. Real rot or broken. Not yet ( hopefully will not ).

I found some damage on the upper arms. Seems the arms are weak ( likely a form of metal fatigue ). The holes for the ball joints are not able to hold them in place and the safety clips on the bottom are preventing from falling off all together. Nice to know they are there and strong enough to hold the weight.
Quick solution to that problem. I have welder, arm and balls are metal. Conclusion : next time I will need new arms either way so they are currently fused as one unit. Welding job is holding but steering is still out of whack. As I am forcing work on my other pick-up currently I have not further looked at this one. Last guess would be the lower joints. I remember that the bolt holes on the arm and ball joints did not allign fully and I cheated. Having thought about it for some time now my "cheat" was probably just a stupid thought that it would work. I am searching for a little luck to have time this weekend for as busy as its going to be to be able to at least confirm my thought on one of the lower arms.
You all out there better be staying cool. 100+ weather out here is cooking me alive while I am attempting to get things done outside.

Fushy.

Only a little dirty. Of only that was the problem though it be easy. They had way too much play on them when I got them of.
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Cracked rubber. Single has cracks here too but does not have issues steering yet. So for Macro they are being replaced.
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Lower arm bushings. The new ( top ) VS the old ( bottom ). They look just fine right?.......
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Here I got a little stupid or the steel from the upper arms is just too weak for press fits. I pressed them on at first and checked them after all the steering issues I still have. They where resting on the safety clips. Not good. They are not moving anymore now though :D
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Still having steering issues as is though. Checking all my work again and also working on getting new upper and lower arms. I have not been able to find any real play anywhere anymore since the welding but cant get the wheels to stay straight either. I might also just put the toe wrong on purpose to see if that helps. Its off way much though. Wore tires down to the steel in about 100 miles.

I have been massively been missing in time to work on Macro much at all. Removed some parts to check things and put them back on. Followed manual specs and they seem rather way different from the original.Still working on reverting some of these adjustments.
Aside from the now bad battery. Booster and crank. Engine starts right up like I have been driving it every day.