.this is in a 1998 Mitsi L200 n/a petrol ute. 283k, coolant level stays constant, temperature needle does not go past 1/3 whether driving or idling, no unusual sounds, etc.
It does chew through a bit of oil though, 1L or so every 2nd fill-up.
Could this be a sign of oil escaping into the coolant!
kazbanz,
Apr 29, 5:03am
How long ago did you buy it! --I just wonder if its had the ol quichfixto dump it done.
roddie1971,
Apr 29, 5:06am
head gasket isnt it! im sure ive had that prob many years ago
vjregal770,
Apr 29, 5:14am
I got it in March after I sold my Maxima. It's been the company hack for about 5 years or so now.
Still the company hack , and I've gotten used to not paying for gas etc. :-)
mugenb20b,
Apr 29, 5:22am
Mud like substance! I'd start off with doing a cooling system flush and keep an eye on it from that point on. Should the problem reappear, more tests will be required.
As for excessive oil consumption, that's a standard feature on L200 petrol motors.
henderson_guy,
Apr 29, 5:26am
Bull. Find out where the oil is going. It may well be a head gasket. The gasket sets are cheap though
skittles93,
Apr 29, 5:37am
Usually a milky type of condensation on the cap means a blown head gasket!
moosie_21,
Apr 29, 6:29am
Jeez you guys must not read very well!
Your temp needle is not going past 1/3, and the radiator is sludged up. When was the last coolant flush and re-core of the radiator! Beat you hasn't been done for 100,000 kms+. You need to start by flushing and getting the radiator checked out first, checking that the thermostat is actually opening/closing, then filling it properly with 1/2 coolant 1/2 water.
moosie_21,
Apr 29, 6:31am
It's standard on my 3sfe Celica, everyone knows that as well, and it's in fine condition. Want to rubbish anymore cars without any knowledge!
intrade,
Apr 29, 6:41am
mitsubishi are a mud like substance .
vjregal770,
Apr 29, 6:43am
I'll do that tomorrow if time permits. Unsure on the last radiator flush, pretty certain it was recored not too long ago though.
It never overheats, nor is there any smoke of any sort apart from the occasional blue puff on a warm start up.
roddie1971,
Apr 29, 6:46am
still think its head gasket lol
intrade,
Apr 29, 6:47am
you mesure the glycole in the cooling system with a refractometer .well thats what i do to see if the coolant is still ok. if its automatic then i would check the transfluid soonest as it could cross leaked on radiator trans cooler.
beast9,
Apr 29, 6:51am
check your oil filler cap when the engine is cold if it looks milky then its a head gasket another place to look is in the breather tube from the tappet cover to the air cleaner or has some one put some horrid stuff like radiator stop leak in there some of those were the cause of more damage than good
henderson_guy,
Apr 29, 7:44am
A 3sfe Celica is not a 2.6 petrol L200, or even a Mitsubishi for that matter. 1L of oil per ~ 800-900km is a fair whack of oil, and most definitely not normal for one of these. Without any knowledge! Oh so I guess 5 years of owning one of these very vehicles, doing my own servicing and maintenance, is not knowledge enough! Mine uses about 2 litres per oil chance, that is a 10,000km interval, and most of that is leaking from the rocker cover gasket, which will be replaced in the next month or two. I would definitely suggest that oil is getting into the cooling system somehow, and the head gasket is the most likely culprit. Not all leaking gaskets result in overheating or loss of power.
moosie_21,
Apr 29, 7:47am
Soooo, you pretty much just admitted yours chews out oil. Contradict much!
henderson_guy,
Apr 29, 7:53am
No, I said mine LEAKS about 2L of oil in a 10,000km interval. Quite different from the OPs situation of an unexplained oil loss of 1L every 2 tankfuls of petrol, which would be about 800-900km going by my own usage. And I think that at 325,000km, I'd probably leak a bit of oil too
vjregal770,
Apr 29, 8:38am
1L every 800-900km would be about right. Rocker cover leak was fixed about a month ago, has a very small external leak, but doesn't even leave any oil on the ground. There is no loss of power (not yet anyway).
I guess it just reinforces the theory of an internal leak > cross-contamination into the cooling system > head gasket.
skin1235,
Apr 29, 9:33am
haven't had the head off a 98 L200, but have had a few off the earlier L200'S, from memory there's not a lot of gasket between the overhead oil feed galley and the water system, and that they have a restricter at the head face too, all designed to weep oil across or through about 2.5mm of space between the two systems as others have said they're not hard to lift the head and pop a new gasket on vj, you'd do it inside 4 hrs ( book says 3.2 - no other work like valves etc) at 263k it would give it another 200k and chuck a new thermo intoit, check the old one should be 82 degree full open, new ones are cheap if they save you an engine
assume this is the 4g64 motor
wimwom,
Apr 29, 11:14am
Check fuel pump, they can be responsible for the loss of huge amounts of engine oil on those motors if crook. Check breather hole on pump body.
intrade,
Apr 29, 7:50pm
yea bit its 1998 unless he spelled the year wrong that wont have a mechanical membrane be fuel injected i guess with electric fuelpump
henderson_guy,
Apr 29, 7:53pm
If it is a L200 and not a Triton, it will be a 2.6L carbied dealie. I thought 97 was the changeover year to the Triton, but I could easily be wrong.
elect70,
Apr 30, 2:03am
Head gasket or cracked head , old VL commie had it like that for 6 monthsjust put chemi weld in it &kept going untilII flooged the POS offas is where is & bought a mitsi V300 that was 100% reliablefor 320 k
toyboy3,
Apr 30, 2:53am
Do the Mitsi L200 have frost plugsunder the cam shaft in the head ! its been awhile since I did a Mitsi head
phillip.weston,
Apr 30, 3:09am
a '98 L200 will be the 2.4L 4G64 SOHC 16V I4 or the 3.0L 6G72 SOHC 24V V6. The late 90s shape were still briefly badged as an L200 before being badged a Triton.
I bet it will be the head gasket is leaking between a oil gallery and the coolant jacket around a cylinder. Oil operates at a higher pressure than the coolant so therefore if there is a leak it will be getting into the coolant and not vice versa. If the compression across the board is still good then the leak most likely hasn't reached the combustion chamber (yet).
I had the same thing happen to a 4G37 powered Galant of mine - at 360,000kms I discovered oil sludge building up around the inside of the radiator filler neck but no coolant in the oil and compression was still a good even 185psi across the board. Head was pulled, gasket replaced and went for another 60,000kms fine until it was run out of oil by a subsequent owner.
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