Hello there! I bought a 1997 Mitsubishi minicab a good few months ago and failed to realize it needed a head gasket replacement. So after some troubles getting it home (it started fine and drove like a dream before it would get too hot and needed to be shut off) I got the engine taken apart got a new set of gaskets ordered and got to work on it. Quickly into the job I realized that the minicab in fact was not a stock truck. My model was supposed to include the 12 valve 3G83, but instead came with a 6 valve 3G83 (the block has an imprint in the medal that says 3G83). On top of that this was the first car I ever worked on, I worked on it alongside a buddy and we made some rookie mistakes. First mistake we made was not taking pictures of anything. On top of that we never took thought in taking off the spark plugs. Upon getting the truck back together it will crank and take a quick stop and continue cranking. I’m unsure what the cause is for this. Can confirm that we are getting air out the exhaust, fuel is being pushed into the carburetor, and at least one of the spark plugs is getting spark. I am 90% sure the spark plugs are correct on the distributor as I lined them up with the old distributor I had (new distributor did work previously before the engine was taken apart). This leads me to two questions and any guidance you all might have: 1. What engine might I have and what vehicle is it from? I was thinking possibly it might be the 3G83K since I saw somewhere it was a 6 valve used in the minicabs at some point. 2. What might be my issue causing the vehicle to not start? My thought is that it’s either spark or somehow the timing got messed up despite the fact it we had matched the belt back up with a line we drew on. All help is appreciated, thanks!
The timing belt configuration is a bit more complicated then just lining up the markings, there is also timing for the oil pump that controls the the offset for the motor, it should run without this calibrated exactly right, just a rough idle, but maybe its so far off that its not running well enough to even maintain combustion? I have no idea, all I know is when I was getting my timing belt done I was helped by others that had suggestions and information that ensured I did it correctly! https://minitrucktalk.com/threads/replacing-timing-belt-noticed-offsets.25349/ another problem could be spark gap, the spark gap for mine was almost half of what the initial plugs were setup for, .25 instead of .4 that helped a lot with stable timing.
Way too many possible causes based on your original post. As I've stated on some other post, you need compression, spark, fuel, and air. Since you just rebuilt you motor and replaced head gaskets with zero mechanical experience ( not being a jerk, actually pretty impressive to attempt that ) well that leaves you open to a number of possible issues , whether it be motor related or maybe electrical. -----Engine question >> Sorry, no help here as I have a 4A30. You can put your VIN into Partsouq.com and try to to some investigating --- Starter turns over, then stops, then turns over again >> So it never actually turns over enough to start the motor? >> Possible electrical issue between key switch and starter. You'd want to check for power at the starter and see if it's consistnetly getting power when it has the no start issue. If it's getting power but still having issues, you need to dive deeper. If power cuts out at the same time as the starter maybe it's a key switch / electrical connection / plug that was messed with during engine removal / rebuild >> but even with a few revolutions of the motor from the starter you should be able to hear it try to start --- Replaced head gasket >> So how did you diagnose this problem in the first place, was it due to overheating? Did you do a compression test? I'm not expert with full rebuilds but don't the heads also need to be machined down when doing repairs like this? ----Spark plugs >> I don't really see how this could be an issue. Are they easy to get to? Can you just replace them now OR put an inline spark tester to see if they are working --- Timing >> Do you feel good about having everything timed up right? I'd get a compression tester and inline spark tester, if you don't have one already. My guess based on not much at all is something went wrong with the rebuild.... First remove the lines from the spark plugs and test for spark. If getting spark, remove the plugs and install compression tester. What compression do these motors need? I have no idea, I'll search and try to post back here
Hey there, so the engines when purchased is kind of to order. You will get a varying amount of engines in them. My 1997 3g83 has a 2 valve. For question 2, i guarantee its more than likely the timing as they are VERY finnicky to do. Do a compression tester and make sure its still compressing. You may have pooched the valves. Ask me how i know. They are definitely interference engines.
Update! Got to digging and thinking. I stripped everything down to get to the timing and totally redid the timing making sure everything lined up and was in correct place. On top of that I went ahead and adjusted the valves to spec. Lastly I went ahead and also took the distributor off and flipped it upside down and lo and behold the engine finally started. I do believe the distributor was the real issue in the end. I believe when I got my cylinder head flattened the machinist had put the distributor back on incorrectly. Though in the end I got it fixed and now she’s running. I do need to make some adjustments, but thank you all for the help.
