Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Hello All.

Sorry for the long story, thought It would be good to give the background on How I acquired my Delica aka Denisee (pronounced like Tennesse)

I have been considering getting a delica for a while, they have always been on my radar. And a couple of weeks ago I decided it was time.

I put my beloved 85 Toyota pickup up for sale. My original plan was to import my own as that seemed the most economical way to get one and I have connection at a shipping company.

However my friend who has also owns a L400 and has been helping me look posted up an add for one that was what I thought was an excellent deal.

It had a service history including over $1000 on the crankshaft pull and drive belts at CVI in the last month. The only thing reported as being needed was a CV boot which I thought was reasonable and should mean nothing else major needed doing.

It also has lots of extras such as HID headlights (which are amazing) a crazy audio system/back up camera (which is cool but I dont really need) and an inverter ( which was not hooked up.) and Limo tint in the back which will be good for camping.

The person I got it from seemed very honest and reliable and a long with the service history I felt comfortable putting down a deposit as my truck had sold very fast, and both mine and my wifes parents are visiting soon so would be nice to have the van.

So we headed down to Surrey last week to pick it up, the Previous owner included a couple of oilfilters, air filter, belts and spare guage cluster. it looked decent although I could tell it had been sitting a while. It fired right up and ran great on the test drive. everything works good, shifts smooth, transfer case good, lights good, electrics good. Considering the service history and the test drive we took it! although i did not give it as thorough inspection as I usually do (more on this later)

We had a great drive back! we were traveling in convoy as we had drove my wifes car down. We had the 2 ways going and headed to manning park, where we cooked dinner and spent the first night in the van! worked great the seat folded into beds worked great.

The next day we took a leisurely drive back including a nice morning stop at Cowboy cafe in Princton. Van ran great all the way back to Kelowna.

Yesterday my wife was out on her motorcycle and it broke down so I went to pick her and the bike up in the van. This thing is awesome!!

The Van was living up to everything we hoped it would be. Camper, Moto hauler, Work van, People mover, and more.

Now today I thought I better take a look at this CV boot, so I got my shoe goo out ( as I heard that is a good way to patch them) poked my head under only to discover oil everywhere! So it seems I have bigger problems. I am guessing some kind of gasket is gone. Hopefully not the head gasket I guess. Anyone have any advice? I will try and clean it and pinpoint the leak.

We have to go down to Van in a couple of weeks to the airport so I am thinking of booking it in to CVI for a once over. I also think a wheel bearing is on the way out.

I Got it for $6500 with 120,00km which I thought was good compared to once in stock at the dealers especially with the extras. Not so sure now as I am going to fix this leak. but I want to have this thing for a while and get it in top shape so need to get it done.

sorry for the long post. And thanks for everything, I have been reading lots of the threads over the last month.


Tom

Welcome!!

Shoe goo is a great quick fix! Just clean the CV with alcohol or something first.

For the oil leak, check the oil pressure sensor on the top of the engine, it's a common cause and an easy fix. I hear the valve cover gasket/half moon gaskets can leak as well.

Good luck!

Thanks for the quick reply.

I will check the oil pressure sensor and valve cover gasket. hopefully not to serious.

I was thinking I should probably get the timing chain done to as it was not done yet and I read it should be done every 100 thou?

Thanks,
Tom

Tomahawk wrote:Thanks for the quick reply.

I will check the oil pressure sensor and valve cover gasket. hopefully not to serious.

I was thinking I should probably get the timing chain done to as it was not done yet and I read it should be done every 100 thou?

Thanks,
Tom

I was also looking into this, I have 230km now. I asked about it on the Aus forum Facebook page. They were saying that if there's no sign of it needing replaced (chuffing noise) then it doesn't need done. One guy had 400km on the original timing chain. Draw your own conclusions of course, but I'm pretty gentle on my motor so I'm not going to replace it until it starts to go.

x2 with what macro stated.

The oil pressure sensor can make a small mess across the top of the engine. It lives just below the upper rad hose and uses a large socket/wrench...32mm I seem to recall.

The half moon gasket is part of the valve cover gasket kit.

BEcasue the valve cover is secured with only 2 bolts through the top of the valve cover they just don't exert enough force to seal the rubber parts.

There are 2 round grommets (one for each bolt), one rubber band type valve cover gasket and then at the back of the head there is a HALF MOON rubber plug which will always develop a leak at some point.

Grey RTV sealant, oil resistant is the best stuff to use.
Wash the engine down the night before and get all the oil washed off. Dealing with this leak is best done with a cold engine.

1) Remove the valve cover and remove the rubber gasket and the half moon rubber plug. If your gaskets are in good shape then clean em....if they are hard/cracked get a new set.
2) Wipe the metal surfaces dry with lint free cloths (the blue shop papertowels are great for this).
3) Use Spray 9 or Castrol Multipurpose Cleaner and wipe the rubber parts of all oil and old sealant. Don't use varsol or painthinner as it will ruin the gasket parts.
4) Apply a thin coating of grey sealant in the valve cover groove and install the gasket. Let cure for 10-15 minutes
5) apply a thin coating to the head area where the half moon plug sits and install the plug. Let cure for 10-15 minutes.
6) apply a thing coating of sealant on the head's metal gasket surface and apply a little more across top of the half moon plug (This is the most common leak point) install the valve cover right away while the sealant is still wet. Torque down and allow to cure for 30-45minutes before starting the engine again.

Also check your oil cap for a loose spring bar or hard rubber gasket/seal. The tabs can be bent to provide a tighter seal but a hard gasket should be replaced as it won't seal anymore.

awesome info. I am gonna try and clean it up and find the source of the leak. Everthing is quite squished in there! I noticed it underneath but will look on top to.

Another quick simple thing. I check my oil when it is warm and it covered the whole white plastic piece over the end of the dipstick. i presume it should be in the middle of this? I am going to change it anyway as it was black. but it was strange it seemed so full

I find I can ol check my oil once a day, first thing before I start it. The dip stick in these suck.