bulletsforringo

Thanks for confirming, I only need the passenger side right now luckily.

I need to replace the exhaust manifold gasket for my Thorley headers and I am just wanting to confirm that the gasket I found on summit is the proper one for my truck. Nothin' special just a VG30E with some Thorleys on it. Is this the gasket I am looking for? http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dte-9464p/overview/

No worries, like I said there is no such thing as too much information! And there are quite a few useful pictures on there- reminds me of a VG30e autopsy or something.

Did you trim the resonator that usually extends above the fan? If so, how is that working out for you? I have been thinking about doing the same until I can put in an aftermarket intake.

It probably would be best to only post pictures of VG30E engines on this thread- a thread dedicated to each model would be excellent and it would help lessen any confusion that might arise otherwise. I like to follow the Keep It Simple Stupid system- hasn't failed me yet! If B or one of the other mods can add "- VG30e" to the title of this thread so that we may differentiate between the different threads that'd be most helpful. I couldn't find a way to do it myself otherwise I would have already.

One of the reasons why I love NPORA so much is because it is loaded with useful information. So, keeping with that I wanted to start a thread that consists of VG30E engine pictures so that all of us can compare and contrast our rigs- along the way perhaps gaining some information we wouldn't have stumbled upon otherwise. The majority of us here have rigs that were previously owned and abused and we as the current owners are left to piece together everything that the PO/s tore apart. Looking under my own hood I am often left wondering: what is this? or what goes here? My hopes are that this thread might provide the community with some answers to these un/common questions (especially for those like myself that are new mechanics). Starting this thread on a whim at work, I will post a picture of my engine after I get off of work. Post as many pictures as you can- there is no such thing as too much information!

I am getting the warning while using Chrome on my Android device. I have Avast! Mobile Security. The day before that I was blocked from the whole forum and the message told me it was a MySQL problem on my end. It might have had to do with my internet connection though but I thought it was worth noting.

Thought you guys might appreciate this, looks like someone could pick up this FSM pretty cheap. http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/pts/4026845043.html

I have been experiencing a similar problem. My passenger side hi-beam turns on by its self. I have been disconnecting the ground cable to my battery so my battery doesn't die while I am at work. I was going to replace the switch but now I'll see if I can just clean it instead.

About an 8. Minor surface rust around the rear quarter panel window and underneath the flares. Nothing a bit of elbow grease can't fix.

If I were you I'd throw some headers on that thing . A couple other things to consider are a cat back exhaust and aftermarket air intake. Check out 4x4parts.com for a treasure trove of goodies.

Alright, after a lengthy search for an engine for the Montero I inherited I have decided to scrap this thing (nobody seems to want to buy it, even for parts). I yanked off the ARB bumper to put it up on 4x4wire.com and craigslist but before doing so I measured it to see if it would fit my rig- and it will. The only problem are the mounts, everyone around here knows ARBs are model specific so this is going to take a bit of fabrication. The local community college has a welding class and I am friends with the teacher as well as a couple of the students so that is probably going to be where the modding takes place. I wanted to post these pictures here and pick the brains of the more seasoned fabricators on NPORA to see if there is any advice that might help me in getting this job done. I was thinking about purchasing the mounting brackets for the WD21 ARB bumper and using those in the process but if custom fabrication would be better we can go that route. I took pictures of the mounts on the bumper and attached to the frame of the Montero for reference. Can't believe there were only four bolts holding this thing on there!

I noticed that as well, evidently the 6G74 engine is expensive across the board. Usually in a situation like this you can get lucky and find someone that doesn't know how much they can really get for what they have so you come up on it cheaper than you would otherwise- not the case here, everyone knows what they have and wants lots of money for it.

Very good idea- I know there is a high resale value for anything ARB. Haven't gotten any legitimate offers thus far, only one scammer. Perhaps I could yank the ARB bumper off and sell the rest to a scrap yard. Thanks for the encouragement, I hate letting this thing go but it it just out of my price range.

Okay guys, after more than a month of searching for an engine and checking various other leads that could be the issue I have hit a dead end. Engines are a little pricey for this particular model- 3.5 V6 DOHC model: 6G74 and I have checked every wrecker and junk yard in a 200 mile radius. Prices for the whole engine (used) have ranged from $900-$1500 which even with all strings pulled I couldn't come up with. I hate to see this thing sit any longer so in the hopes of maybe passing it on to someone who can afford an engine I have put it up on Craigslist. If anyone on here is interested I would be happy to see it go to a good home. http://phoenix.craigslist.org/wvl/cto/3962474978.html

Alright, I have had the spindle issue fixed and the noise is still present. Just thought I would give an update to keep everything in the open. I will be checking the bushings for the tension rod and the control arms. Will follow up after that!

Master Pro Chemicals 80w-90 gear oil. It says on the container that it can be used for limited slip differentials where API GL-5 gear oil is specified. I was reading on another thread about a similar issue and adding some LSD additive solved the issue. Do you think that may help?

About a couple weeks ago I was driving around when I noticed a horrendous groaning noise while turning, it seems to be coming from the rear end of the truck. After a little bit of reading I thought it might have been the LSD that needed some gear oil- I drained it and put in some new 80-90w GL-5 LSD oil and that seemed to nearly get rid of the noise. Well, now the noise has returned- not as bad as before but I really would like to get it taken care of. After the noise returned I started thinking it was never the differential in the first place and perhaps it was the propeller shaft so yesterday I crawled under the truck to find some grease points thinking I had a bearing or something that was dry but I couldn't find anything along the rear end of the propeller shaft to grease! My bad for not consulting my FSM first! Any guesses? I'm still very new to this so I appreciate any amount of help.

No damage to the engine bay as far as I know. Everything is fine except what was damaged by a fire from my power steering pressure hose bursting...that's a story for a another thread though. If anyone knows what the little black box in the last picture is that would be nice to know...also, where does it go?

Thanks for all of the advice everyone, I am still assessing all of my options. Hunting very diligently for an engine for this thing- apparently they are rare (expensive too). Engine is a 3.5 DOHC that was only made from 94-96, everywhere I have found one for a decent price all they had was the 3.0 which I guess is interchangeable with a few Mitsubishis. Like B said, I am trying to pull every string on this one to see what I can do and after trying my hardest (honestly, I am giving it my all) if I cannot come through on getting an engine I will probably try and sell the whole rig to a Montero enthusiast and fix up my rig with the proceeds. Albeit I could get a lot more out of a running Montero than a dead Montero I most likely will never be able to afford an engine more than $400- like a lot of people today I live on a very tight budget. In the meantime I took some more pictures.

I mentioned that my Pathfinder had a few bullet holes in it when I introduced myself here- finally got around to taking some pictures. PO messed up the dash pretty bad as well. Every now and then I find another "fix".

Hey All, I have noticed an exhaust leak recently and I believe that it is related to where my headers connect to my exhaust system (please excuse lack of terminology, I'm still pretty new at this). While recently under my rig I took a look and it looks like this area is the culprit, and much like other "fixes" the PO did this is looking like another half hearted attempt to deal with the problem without actually fixing it. Included below is a page from the FSM, I believe it is the correct page for my model, (1991 SE 4x4) but if I am wrong I welcome correction. I circled in red the area I believe is the problem, it looks like there is a gasket that goes there- is this correct? If so, what is it called so I can order it?

Same thing my brother recommended, I was the one that checked him in at the hotel and took his ID and credit card- the name matched the title (and VIN) he gave me so I am pretty sure it is legitimate. I'll see what I can do B, you are right- where there is a will there is a way. I might have to make a trip to Mexico on this one guys- I have good information that there are a lot of these things south of the border.

Changed the oil in my LSD, it needed it...badly. Also, found a leak I didn't know existed...still trying to find the source. Love it when that happens.

I would like to fix it up however an engine for this thing is in the $1000+ range and I really cannot afford that. The tires are 9.5x30xR15, with a healthy amount of tread left on them and the wheels will fit. I have been thinking about putting them on my Pathy and setting the legos aside for a while. Alternatively, a someone in town has offered me a few hundred bucks for the whole thing- I've given this a little thought as there is another guy in town with a WD21 sitting in his driveway broke down and I was thinking about trying to buy it off of him to have a doner truck/ make a FrankenPathy.