I bought this truck because I always wanted one. The guy originally had it listed for $2000. I offered him $1000 and he said come look at it and we'll talk. I did and he show me the engine was completely locked up , my offer dropped to $700-he accepted. I got the truck home and tried to break the engine free with no luck. I figured it was something major so I dropped the engine out and separated the transmission . Guess what? the engine turned now . The transmission is locked between gears and that's why the engine wasn't turning. While I have it out, I ordered/installed a new timing belt, water pump, thermostat, and head gasket. Just for the hell of it. Cleaned and painted the engine. The only thing I'm not sure about is the timing belt. I've watch/read 100 installations on line but I still question the procedure. I've got the cam lined up on the mark, the crank is also on marks, the oil pump was close to it's marks when I put the rod thru the hole in the side of block. It's like a hair off. Does this all sound right to you? I tried moving the levers on the transmission , nothing wants to give, so I found a used trans and I'm going with that. I just hate to put this engine back in if it aint right. This last thing I did to the engine was get the oil pump in time. haven't touched it since. any advise would be appreciated.
Hey, nice work on the engine drop and clean up.. Wish I could do that. I don't have as much experience on the 3G81, mine has the 4A30 and the oil pump gear did not need to be synchronized with timing.... I do remember reading the 3G requires the oil pump gear to be in sync.... I THINK this is simply a balancing thing with the pump. I read a thread earlier where someone forgot to even line it up and didn't have any issues... I think you'll be just fine My timing belt job thread >> https://minitrucktalk.com/threads/timing-belt-procedure-mitsubishi-4a30-bravo-u44v.24594/
