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Save money by DIY car maintenance? Sure, I thought it was a great idea by doing it all by my self though only reason was that the car was so unreliable....however it was getting a bit ridiculous to be honest...
Many of us who can't or don't want to payout a 30% vehicle registration tax at least once if not more end up with an absolute piece of junk in search for a bargain buy...
Little did I know that in most cases commercial vehicles were abused to the extent it just sucks money and time with endless repairs after repairs...and still not quite right. Looks like I just bought it a day before it fell apart.
Most of folks who has sane mind would let it go long before the repair cost exceeds the purchase price of the vehicle...some insane people try to keep it going no matter what and I am starting to realise that I maybe one of them...
This is a story of a curse I have picked up back in October 2005 so naively believing that it was a great buy...for a sum of €2200.
The vehicle in quesiton is a Mitsubishi L200 1993 model with 2.5L turbo diesel 4D56T. I think the max output is somewhere in the region of 85hp when new...horrible 4 wheel drive and as thirsty as 2 family cars. But I was happy since back then it was my dream come true.
But I realised my happiness was short lived since the vehicle has been plagued by series of serious faults.
I mean serious as in majour safety implications.
Finally on the 31st of November 2009 the engine started gurgling through the radiator bleeder hose emmiting distinctive smell of blown head gasket, or perhaps a cracked head. There were signs previously such as oily fumes coming through the bulk head during cruising and excessive blow-by through the breather hose but I chose to ignore it until something serious happened.
Followed by inspection after the head was removed, it turned out that the head was cracked in 2 cylinders seen as very faint hair line crack connecting the shortest path between intake and exhaust valve ports.
Based on a bit of background reading I did in the past, apparently this Mitsubishi 4D56T engine is a family of 4G54 petrol engine used in Galant and surprisingly smooth ride is achieved by 2 counter rotating balance shafts. I think one is rotating 1:1 and the other is 2:1 against crank shaft speed.
However there is a bit of a problem...
It is entirely my opinion but I think the block is identical to its petrol couterpart. Maybe changed the bore and stroke to make it lower reving engine and put on an alloy diesel head. I just do not think the engine was up to the job at all as I am sure a lot of modern L200 owners may have experienced the premature head and gasket failure on direct injection variants. Also the latest L200 is well known for sudden catastrophic failure during motorway cruising due to oil pump failure. The power from the common rail direct injection is just too much for a block designed back in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
http://www.reviewcentre.com/review692058.html You will be surprised how many cases of engine failures are reported under the use the vehicle was supposed to be designed for.
Photo above is taken shortly after the engine was removed fromt he vehicle. A relatively easy job.
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