Mitsubishi Problems

A leaking rocker cover gasket won’t cause the engine to stop unless it somehow manages to allow too much lubricating oil to escape the engine (which, it potentially could over time). But it still needs to be fixed, because technically the car is unroadworthy with an oil leak and various bits of the car will be getting coated with the oil as it leaks out. Rubber suspension bushes, in particular, are intolerant of contact with oil and will degrade as a result. You might also find the leak is dumping oil on your tyres or the ground in front of them. So it needs to be fixed sooner rather than later.

As for the original diagnosis of your car needing a new engine, I’d be giving that workshop a wide berth as the mechanic in question might be either incompetent or attempting to rip you off. Or both. Your decision to seek a second opinion was a good one and should be standard practice.

This sounds like a classic case of a vehicle with a fuel pump that has died. Electric fuel pumps have a very finite lifespan and, when they stop, they do so suddenly, for no apparent reason and with the result that the engine will simply not start or run at all. By spraying starting fluid into the engine, you’re giving it a sniff of fuel; enough to make it fire, but not run for long.

You’re probably looking at a new fuel pump, but don’t forget to check fuses and relays, the lines for leaks and the various fuel filters for cleanliness.

A typical air-conditioning system in a car uses an engine-driven pump (compressor), heat exchangers and lots of ducting as well as a decent volume of compressed refrigerant gas to make it all work. If any of these things is out of kilter, the air-con may stop working.

Low gas levels, a worn out compressor, compressor clutch, or an electrical problem could be the cause here. The system is also full of interlocks to ensure that it can’t be damaged, for instance, by operating with insufficient gas or if the temperature of the system becomes too hot. At the other extreme, you might simply have a blown fuse that controls the fan circuit, at which point the system will not work either.

The best solution is to take the car to an air-conditioning specialist. The first thing they’ll do is test to see whether the system is holding pressure. If it is, the fix may be a simple re-gas of the system, at which point, chilled air may be miraculously restored. But you may find you need to replace some parts as well. But a pressure test will often be the first thing tried as the typical car air-con system loses gas over time, and that’s just a fact of life. Eventually, it may get so low the system can’t operate and there’s no more cold air.

This is why it’s important to run the air-con (even in winter) for a minute or so every week. This will help keep the seals lubricated and prevent loss of gas in the long term.

You say you’ve checked the basics, but it’s worth taking a close look at electrical connections that form the basis of the car’s ignition system. Are all the plug leads properly connected? Is the high-tension lead form the distributor to the coil secure and the coil wires correctly hooked up? Any fault with these things can cause a no-start situation.

The other prime suspect in a car of this age would be the electric fuel pump. These usually live inside the fuel tank and have a very finite lifespan. If you can’t hear the pump humming when you turn on the ignition, it’s probably dead and could well be the cause of your problem.

Beyond that, there are a lot of things that could be the cause here, but many of them are cheap and simple to fix once you’ve diagnosed the issue. It’s worth having the car checked over in case it is something really simple (and inexpensive). The Mitsubishi V6 is pretty good unit and if you’re happy with the rest of the vehicle (and it sounds like you are) then fixing the problem and squeezing every last kilometre out of the thing is the way to go.

The confounding element, of course, is that fifth gear is getting hard to engage. This could be a simple linkage adjustment problem, low clutch fluid or it could be a worn out clutch. Again, though, a proper diagnosis should be your next step before deciding whether to repair or sell and move on.

This sounds like a fairly serious failure somewhere in the engine that is pressurising the cooling system (and the coolant overflow bottle) and draining the engine of the coolant it needs (which is why the overheating light is on). This can be due to a blown cylinder head gasket or some other failure within the engine that is allowing combustion pressure into the cooling system.

The best advice is to not drive the vehicle any farther and get it to a workshop who can diagnose the problem properly, rather than just guessing about the cause. Don’t forget, though, that your Triton, provided it’s been serviced properly, should still be covered by Mitsubishi’s factory warranty.

Any diesel engine can be a bit noisy; that’s just the way they work. But if a new noise has surfaced, then something has definitely changed under the bonnet. First thoughts would be a hydraulic lash adjuster (also known as a lifter) that is failing and making the noise.

These lash adjusters maintain the correct valve clearance (which otherwise alters as the engine heats up and cools down) but one that fails will allow the valve clearance to grow, at which point you get a ticking noise at the top of the engine as the valve and lifter collide.

If this is the case, you’ll need to replace the offending lifter and best practise suggests you replace all of them at the same time as one failed one suggests they’re probably all worn. But it’s also important to make sure it really is a dud lifter you’re dealing with. A diesel engine has lots of potential sources for such a noise, so make sure you rule out a worn fuel pump or any other mechanical problem before ripping the lifters out.

The last decade of dual-cab four-wheel-drive utes have emerged as the tow-vehicles of choice, and you see them everywhere filling roles exactly like the one you have planned. Popular models include the Ford Ranger you’ve nominated, Toyota HiLux, Mazda BT-50, VW Amarok, Mitsubishi Triton, Nissan Navara and Isuzu D-Max. But there are also cheaper alternatives including makes like the South-Korean made Ssangyong and various Chinese brands like LDV and Great Wall.

Just make sure you know exactly how much you need to tow before making a decision as some of the cheaper models don’t have the same outright towing capacity and even if they do, some of them don’t have the engine performance to make towing as easy as it should be. For parts availability, the Toyota would be king in really remote areas, but any of the major brands are pretty well covered in Australia.

Meantime, don’t rule out ute-based wagons such as the Ford Everest, Isuzu MU-X, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Toyota Fortuna. These offer better ride comfort when unladen thanks to more sophisticated rear suspensions and most have as much or almost as much towing capacity as their ute brethren.

By which, I assume you mean that the level on the engine-oil dipstick is rising, rather than falling slowly with time and kilometres. This is actually a bit more common than you might think and affects modern turbo-diesel vehicles with DPF filters.

In a nutshell, what’s happening is the vehicle is trying to 'burn-off' or clean its DPF filter. But in many cases, the engine and exhaust system never get hot enough for this to occur, so the computer instructs the fuel injection to squirt some extra fuel into the engine to get everything hot enough for a DPF burn. Inevitably, some of this extra fuel gets past the piston rings, into the engine oil and there you have the increase on the dipstick.

The problem is that this fuel actually dilutes the lubricating oil and suddenly, your engine is not getting all the protection it needs from the oil. The whole situation is a result of the engine not reaching a high enough temperature in everyday use, so the best advice is to make sure you take the ute for a 30 or 40 minute drive at highways speeds at least a couple of times a month. That will allow the DPF to burn off properly and you shouldn’t have the problem recurring.

For now, though, an oil change is good insurance against that oil dilution. And keep an eye on the level on the dipstick for future reference.

Broadly speaking, the law in WA states that you can’t increase the width of a car’s tyre more than 30 per cent over the standard fitment tyre. But since you’re only going 20mm wider, that’s not an issue and shouldn’t present any legal problems. However, it would still be wise to let your insurance company know about the increase as insurers often have different standards to the actual law-makers.

The only other hitch might be that the new tyre is physically too wide for the rim it’s being fitted to. Again, though, this is not a huge increase and should be viable. A good tyre shop will be able to check your rim size and let you know one way or the other.

Unless your engine is overheating very quickly and then miraculously cooling instantly, I’d say there’s a problem with either the temperature gauge itself or the sender/sensor unit that controls it.

An auto electrician will be able to test the gauge and its sensor and tell you what’s happening. Scanning the vehicle electronically might also reveal the cause as the onboard computer may have logged this odd reading as a fault code.