Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Hello & Greetings I'm new, a handywoman but mechanically challenged, and have just spent an hour getting familiar with this awesome site. But I haven't found what I need yet. Looked at the JDM parts list, but I was hoping for pix so I can see if Mitsi (1992 Starwagon) has all her belts. Yesterday she suddenly got all sluggish and difficult to drive -- she didn't want to go faster and she didn't want to stop It was hard to steer. It felt like she was stalling, but she wasn't. I was lucky to get her home safely. Yes, the battery is fairly new and cables connected firmly. But I found that the fan had stopped turning. So she is Parked I can move the belt by hand and the fan will turn, but it doesn't turn when I start the engine. While I was trying to figure out what was wrong and checking that everything was tight, I noticed a couple of empty grooves that looked like they could take a belt. So I'm wondering if something is missing. Good grief -- who knows how many problems the poor thing has developed? Can anyone help me?
Elly in Nanaimo, BC

Hi Elly, you've lost the alternator belts, they are the belts that are on in this picture:



They go from the main crank pulley at the bottom, around the alternator on the left, which recharges your batteries etc, and around the fan (missing in the pic) thats why the fan doesnt turn. The fan, then has a belt on it which goes to the power steering pump, which would sit top left in this pic if it was there. Because the fan isnt moving, you have no power to the steering and its heavy.

Normally on a delica its 2 belts for the alternator. They are a pain to put on as its awkward, and my advice when they are on is always tighten them, run the engine for 10 minutes, let it sit overnight, and tighten again, since they always seem to need tightening a week later if you dont!

Oh also, a pump on the back of the alternator provides assistance to the brakes, hence those not working!

This is really excellent help, Yojimbo. Thank you very much. I'll go out and have another look...

I put some photos in the gallery, album EllyStu, if anyone would care to check them and help diagnose Mitsi's problem. Thanks!

A rose by any other name etc.

Yep alty belts missing, the front one in the pic is the power steering, that will have to come off to get the alty belts on. Are you considering doing this yourself or getting someone to do it? Its a PITA job but not impossible, but it will take some time, and scraped knuckles!

Oh yeah, a word of warning before I hit the sack as it's late here, those belts also drive the water pump, so right now you have no cooling for the engine, the L300 really doesn't like over heating, if you havent already damaged the engine, driving it any distance, ie more than round the block or so, could quite easily damage the cylinder head and make the cost of repair get a lot higher. So its worth trying to remember if anything else seemed off when you drove it, how far you drove it after it happened etc.

I'm also sure the Canadians onboard will now chip in with a lot of info as I go snore in the corner! Best of luck!

Thank you, Yojimbo. Now I know. I am comfortable with screw drivers, saws, and a biscuit joiner -- love doing woodwork -- but am seriously short of mechanic-type experience. This would be too much of a job for me alone right now. I have friend who might be able to do it. He knows a lot about vehicles, but Mitsi is a strange bird to him. I'll have to gather as much info about the procedure as I can and help him, if he chooses to try. I had enough sense to park her asap, but still we went further than a block. I sure as heck hope everything else is still ok. I love this van! Rest well.

Those belts are fairly easy to change if you've done one before, but there are a couple of tricks to it. There are 3 or 4 common mechanisms that can tension a drive belt, and MItsubishi used a different one on each belt!

Power Steering belt is removed by loosening the power steering pump. Loosen the pivot bolt, and then access the slotted adjustment clamp bolt through the holes in the pulley. When reinstalling, use a small pry bar to hold the belt tight as you tighten the bolts.

Aircon belt is loosened by loosening the idler pulley- loosen the nut in the centre of the pulley by a couple of turns, then wind the idler pulley down using the nut on top. Try and note where the adjuster was, or how tight the belt was, for reinstallation- it's a short belt and getting the tension right can be tricky.

Alternator adjustment bolt: From below, loosen the pivot bolt, then the clamp bolt on the front of the adjuster, then wind the alternator adjuster in. The bolt that winds the adjuster in is nearly impossible to see, being hidden by the radiator hose. A mirror might help, as might removing the plastic fan shroud. You might be able to access it through the driver's wheel arch- there's a rubber flap that hides a tricky access hole which might get you to that pesky adjuster. Otherwise remove the radiator hose. One of those ratcheting ring spanners is handy...

When you buy your two replacement belts, make sure they're the same age and were produced in the same batch. I once bought one older and one newer belt (they had to get the second one in especially) and the new one stretched faster than the older one, leading to squealing and all sorts of annoyance.

HTH and good luck!

Hey, Growler Good morning! Now this is the type of specific instructions that will impress my friend (he is not computer-oriented and was amazed that people were already helping me diagnose the problem) and make it possible for us to do this project. I'm going to make up a document to print and carry with me.
If anyone else wants to add anything, I'll gladly put that in too.
Maaan, what a dandy site. I was pretty stressed that Mitsi was on the fritz, so finding friendly folks like this is really awesome.
Hmmm. Just had another thought. If I get a decent document prepared, maybe there is a place on site for it to be stored. It would be nice if I could contribute something.
Thanks a lot!

I just found another dandy thread, started by Philstade:
Alternator Belt tension adjustment made easy
I knew there would be some great stuff in here somewhere -- once the problem was diagnosed

Good morning I am delighted to report that Mitsi is now sporting a new pair of matched Japanese alternator belts (DriveJoy V98DL-M430; MPMF-1430; RAF2430). The people at Radd 4-Wheel Drive in Duncan, BC, were very helpful and even explained to my friend how to install them. That along with all the coaching and older posts from the great folks on this site made it a much less daunting task than it would have been, had we tried to do it on our own. The poor van must have been ailing for some time as she is driving MUCH better now. Also, there are no squeals on startup. We intend to double-check everything today.
Thanks to everyone. It's wonderful how well this worked out
Elly and a perkier Mitsi in Nanaimo, B.C.