Learn me: Mitsubishi Montero

I came across a 2001 Mitsubishi Montero in my local want ads. From a quick Google, they appear to all be 4WD SUVs with a 3.5 liter V6. Fuel economy is listed as 14MPG average, which sounds bad, but with the little driving it will see, isn't a big deal.

How are these things in regards to reliability? Are repairs expensive or abnormally difficult? What about common failure points?

From what I know they are pretty reliable. I remember them always getting scrutinized for being easy to roll over, but I've never personally seen one on it's roof.

The fuel mileage seems right. 16 hwy/13 city.

i actually seen an 01 on the local craigslist this morning and was wondering the same thing.

Keep in mind that Mitsubishi sold two SUV's both named Montero during that timeframe. The Montero was a small full-size or large mid-size and the Montero Sport, which was unrelated, mid-size.

Both were offered with the 3.5L, although the base engine on the Montero Sport was a low output Single Cam 6G72. The 6G74 3.5L was standard on the full-size Montero.

They didn't really catch on because they were sort of unrefined and expensive because they were all built in Japan at a time when the Yen was pretty strong.

I thought I remember having a large under-tray that needed to be removed every oil change.

I love em!

They seem to be more plentiful in urban environments up here in Ma.

drdisque wrote: Keep in mind that Mitsubishi sold two SUV's both named Montero during that timeframe. The Montero was a small full-size or large mid-size and the Montero Sport, which was unrelated, mid-size. Both were offered with the 3.5L, although the base engine on the Montero Sport was a low output Single Cam 6G72. The 6G74 3.5L was standard on the full-size Montero. They didn't really catch on because they were sort of unrefined and expensive because they were all built in Japan at a time when the Yen was pretty strong.

The Montero Sport is related at that point... same chassis, just smaller body.

They're both strong trucks. The one weak point i can remember is that the fuel lines at the pump bulkhead rust out. Not a fun job.

Nothing to add other than I think they are awesome. Very capable even in stock form off road, and over all pretty reliable.

I've got an 03 I love everything about it except for the gas mileage and would not hesitate to take it almost anywhere a wrangle rubicon would go stock. It's got a real transfer case, the front wheels free spin when in 2wd, its got pretty innovative seat setup where the rear seat reclines as well as the fronts to essentially make a bed. The third row is handy and it has quite a bit of storage when its folded away in the floor.

Mine has the 3.8 and 5 speed auto. When I first got it I got 22mpg hwy but that was at 60mph speed limits and before I put more aggressive tires on. Its around 15-16usually for me. It's built like a tank to a world standard. Mine is the 20th anniversary and has everything. Really nice stereo/interior great amount of space and drives so nice really comfy seats IMHO.

Typical things to watch for, timing belt, 02 sensors (it has 4) seals on the diffs etc but no known weaknesses. I also have the pajero/montero haynes type shop manual if you guys have something you need from it. Mine is running the 2" old man emu lift and 31" Goodyear wrangler duratracs

the DOHCS in the SR are difficult to do valve seals in and upper intake manifolds are problematic. note I had two Sports

I would not buy a sport. It's a made for USA product and was built to a not as high standard. The Montero is built to the standard of the Land Cruiser and has actually won dakar from 2001 to 2007 with the 3rd gen, its actually the winningest(sp) vehicle in Dakar history. The montero is like getting a better priced deal on a 1000 series land cruiser

Bought a Montero Sport after a no-sale at auction. Everyone was scared of it because of a faint knocking at startup. A little online research revealed this as a known idiosyncrasy of the montero engine. Got a good deal. Loved the vehicle. Then lost oil pressure momentarily after a sustained high speed (85) run. More reading. Changed to oem oil filter. No more problems, no loss of pressure, no knocks, nothing. After market filters appear to be more restrictive or something. Wife drove it everyday for three years. Wants another one.

I know the 2 door version of that generation was never sold in the U.S., but was it a production vehicle in other markets? One of those would make a really nice cross country off road adventure rig...

Another competitor in the offroad rally and arena/mudding events here drives a 2nd-gen 2-door Montero, it's reliable and with these suspension mods it gets through anything. Even stock, they're pretty good offroaders.

Wish I could find that pic where he pulled a sweet wheelie going over a dirt berm...

2nd Gen's are great too the most desirable ones when I was looking was the Gen 2.5 only made in 99 I think has box flares. I think its because they had a straight axle? But the Gen 3 has really good capability for IFS and the stock traction control is actually quite good off road (gen 2.5 had a rear axle locker stock gen 3 has a center locker only with the electronic traction control)

Here is a cool build thread for a nice Gen 3 http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/81212-ImNoSaint-s-Gen-III-Build/page15

Serious question, not trying to troll; How are the Monteros' build quality? Every Mitsu product that I've had the misfortune of wrenching on was a steaming pile of manure, made with second rate engineering and third or fourth rate materials.

I have a friend that was into DSMs, and I helped him a few times, and couldn't see why he liked them so much, I've also worked on a Galant extensively & an Endeavor quite a bit too. I wouldn't pay to own any of them. 4G family engines were used quite a bit in forklifts (not just their brand), all I'll say about them is that reliability is not what they were know for.

All that being said, I like the looks of the big Montero, and if they really have build quality even remotely like Toyota Landcruisers, maybe they're worth a look.

Monteros never had solid front axles to my knowledge, but the stock diffs/axle setups are very strong for stock parts. For example, you can go bigger/farther on Montero stock parts then you could on a Wrangler or Cherokee or anything else using those basic parts like a Grand Cherokee.

I've owned a 2nd gen (last year) and a 1st gen (this year). I have not owned a 3rd gen. I think they are all great, underappreciated vehicles and the only bad thing i know about the 3g is that it's ugly. The other gens are arguably good looking to me. If the 3g was good looking i'd probably have owned one by now.

Growing up my dad had a 3 door 1st generation Montero V6, had the archaic locked-diff 4wd setup that you had to back up to disengage. We would go over Mt Tam along route 1 out to the beach at least twice a week, and at a good speed for an SUV. I drove it up our driveway when it hit 200,000 miles. Blew a head gasket, was fixed and sold to our surf teacher. She took it down to Baja more than a few times. It was stolen, recovered, made a few more trips to Baja and back, and then finally got scrapped. Miss that car a ton, I'd love to get a white 3 door again.

You can make the gen 3s look a lot better. But I agree styling is the low point for me. In terms of build quality the montero is built to a global standard to survive in the middle east, jungles of south america etc. Theres an aussie video of them trying to bend the frame and they just cant (by yank strapping it out of stuck positions in sand by putting the tow rope on the window pillar) and they couldn't even get it stuck until they pulled the fuses for the traction control. In terms of durability just search for Pajero globally as Montero is the US only name I believe. I have heard of some larger number of issues with the earlier 3.5 motor but I believe the 03+ 3.8 motor has resolved some of those. (hard to remember specifics from my research but I know I was shopping Gen 2.5 or Gen 3 and if Gen 3 I was determined it would be the 03 for the 3.8)

I just realized I was running 35 psi which is probably why my mileage was so bad lately. Time to see what 70psi does for my mpgs' (my duratracs are max 80psi cold)

He removed the body cladding and linex'd the bottom portion of the rocker panel, I think it cleans up the lines of the Gen 3 a lot as that cladding tends to look cheap.

Vigo wrote: Monteros never had solid front axles to my knowledge, but the stock diffs/axle setups are very strong for stock parts. For example, you can go bigger/farther on Montero stock parts then you could on a Wrangler or Cherokee or anything else using those basic parts like a Grand Cherokee. I've owned a 2nd gen (last year) and a 1st gen (this year). I have not owned a 3rd gen. I think they are all great, underappreciated vehicles and the only bad thing i know about the 3g is that it's ugly. The other gens are arguably good looking to me. If the 3g was good looking i'd probably have owned one by now.

I think I am thinking of the rear locking diff. Totally a weird thing to be surprised about with a SUV but the brakes are really good. Even in the wet when I lived in Seattle I felt like it stopped extremely well for such a sizable vehicle.

Serious question, not trying to troll; How are the Monteros' build quality? Every Mitsu product that I've had the misfortune of wrenching on was a steaming pile of manure, made with second rate engineering and third or fourth rate materials.

I'm not sure about Monteros, but in my experience the Japanese Mitsubishi's seemed to be a step up in build quality. The earlier cars also seemed to use better materials. For example, the 1G DSM's seemed to have decent build quality for the time, and 2g's felt cheaper to me. The build quality and materials of my Galant VR4 is well above both of them. 23 years old and the leather seats are in great shape. Come to think of it, my Starion Lemon's car had a really well built interior. 80's funky, but well put together. I don't think that Mitsubishi's have many engineering issues- most problems are due to assembly issues or poor service. Rubber items don't last as long as other cars, but the hard parts are very solid.

Boost_Crazy wrote: For example, the 1G DSM's seemed to have decent build quality for the time, and 2g's felt cheaper to me. The build quality and materials of my Galant VR4 is well above both of them. 23 years old and the leather seats are in great shape.

As a 1g and vr4 owner , I agree 100% about the quality.

A very close friend has 98 Montero sport, 220k+ New England miles, barely needs anything. It does need valve seals though. A few smaller repairs. I work at a Toyota dealer, and Toyotas seem to rust out way worse, even with half the miles

When we did the suspension install and crawled under mine I was impressed by how over engineered everything looked. Everything was tucked up nice out of the way. I hit 100k miles on mine on the drive to San Diego from Seattle. When I had it checked out and got an oil change before I left the oil change places owner was a bit surprised to tell me that all the boots/diffs/etc looked good and were not leaking or loose or anything

I honestly think a Montero Sport is a perfectly good vehicle and very good looking on the outside. I'm not crazy about the inside. That's another thing that makes me prefer the 1g & 2g monteros over the 3g and Sports.. The older ones have a very 80's Japanese interior that harkens back to when trucks weren't expected to be cars, and that makes it feel purposeful and different from modern SUVs.

GameboyRMH wrote: Another competitor in the offroad rally and arena/mudding events here drives a 2nd-gen 2-door Montero, it's reliable and with these suspension mods it gets through anything. Even stock, they're pretty good offroaders. Wish I could find that pic where he pulled a sweet wheelie going over a dirt berm...

Why door say nissan?

We had a 2nd gen (the same one that Vigo had) and I thought it was a great truck. I'd entertain another Montero before about any other SUV other than a La Forza or Rover.