Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Driving up Deerfoot trail today at 16th ave north the Delica very suddenly started making a very loud rattling/banging noise and started running quite rough, I pulled over immediately and shut off the engine, looked underneath, looked in to the engine compartment, checked all the fluids, everything seemed in order, re-started the vehicle and it was still sounding and acting AWFUL, crept the rest of the way towards home at very low speeds until I got a few blocks from home (Huntington Hills) and the Delica stalled completely, trying to re-start it wouldn't even turn over, it made a loud clunk sound as if the starter motor was hitting a brick wall.

A special thanks to Erebus for towing me the rest of the way home (we were convoying when it happened)

I suspect I've seized something, and I'm pretty sure this won't be cheap....

Now I need to decide where to go from here, do I try to take it all apart and see what's going on, which will probably be way over my head, and even if I figure out what's wrong, I probably have no way of fixing it... or do I take it to "the delica place" in Calgary (Pro-Active) which doesn't have the best reputation, and is known for being quite expensive... or do I beg my mechanic (Kirkham) to look at it even though they have previously said that the internal workings of the engine itself aren't their thing... (no diesel experience)

*sigh* not the way I wanted to spend my week...

Sounds like you broke a connecting rod or spun a main or rod bearing. either way it's a complete engine rebuild. sorry.

Check your fuel pump, it is out of timing may be. We had a customer, his balancer belt jumped one tooth over and the timing was off. The van made same loud clunky noise. We thought the bottom end is gone but it was just a timing.

Check your fuel pump, it is out of timing may be. We had a customer, his balancer belt jumped one tooth over and the timing was off. The van made same loud clunky noise. We thought the bottom end is gone but it was just a timing.

While I would love for it to be this simple, the part that makes me think it is otherwise is the fact that the starter motor can't even make the engine turn over at all any more.

I'm starting to think that it may have started as a simple timing issue of some form, but that driving it the last few km may have done the rest of the damage...

Bummer, hope it turns out to be the lesser of the two evils; no one should have to have two engine failures like this!

Regards,
Kevin

I hope it isn't too serious, but at the end of the day, diesel OR petrol - an engine is an engine....and therefore any 'decent' mechanic should be able to work on it?

I can supply full details of engine rebuilds if you need them (photocopied and posted would be much easier) - but I would urge you to take it to a 'trusted' mechanic rather than a Delica specialist who you aren't confident about? Most of the dealers on this site could probably get hold of all the parts you need?

The other option is get it diagnosed and if it turns out to be a blown engine, try and source another one from one of the club dealers who have parted out an L300? An engine swap is a lot easier than an engine rebuild all day every day.

Food for thought and in the meantime I'll be keeping my fingers firmly crossed for you.

I'll ask our private garage in Calgary if they would consent to take a look if you want. They are a bit like Kirkham and they can be fussy about what they will take on, but if they do, they are definetly worth it.

Got a 1992 VW Corrado VR6 sitting in my garage that arrived a couple of months ago from Japan for sale, it's too much car for Sharon so we're going to let it go.

I'll ask our private garage in Calgary if they would consent to take a look if you want. They are a bit like Kirkham and they can be fussy about what they will take on, but if they do, they are definetly worth it.

Well tomorrow I'm going to call kirkham and ask if they're willing to look at it... if they're not, your garage may not be a bad plan, I would definitely appreciate it.

The other option is get it diagnosed and if it turns out to be a blown engine, try and source another one from one of the club dealers who have parted out an L300? An engine swap is a lot easier than an engine rebuild all day every day.

That is certainly something I'm leaning towards right now, but even that would probably be a few thousand dollars I suspect...

To be perfectly honest, I have no idea how much an engine costs, or how much shop time it takes to swap one... both things that I may end up learning in this process

Posted elsewhere too.

I know some good guys (Pajero owners) in Calgary and asked them for info.

Will post/PM you the info soon.

Hope it's nothing too bad.

Jesse

I've sent them a note and when I hear back from them I'll PM you. When I was picking up my Corrado in March I got some parts from John Hamilton in Surrey, I saw a used Toyota engine on a pallet that he had sourced, so I know he can source blocks, etc., if it comes down to that.

I am new to posting but I have been reading this site a lot.
To make a long story short I crashed one of my new delicas three hours after driving it, its a write off but still lots of parts. Especially an engine that was working great. Its in Vancouver though, but we can always get parts if needed.

Dean

dean wrote:I am new to posting but I have been reading this site a lot.
To make a long story short I crashed one of my new delicas three hours after driving it, its a write off but still lots of parts. Especially an engine that was working great. Its in Vancouver though, but we can always get parts if needed.

Dean

Perhaps you would start a new thread and tell us the long story...?

That's a real bummer Green1. Hope you get sorted out without too much trouble and expense... Good luck with it.

To make a long story short I crashed one of my new delicas three hours after driving it, its a write off but still lots of parts. Especially an engine that was working great. Its in Vancouver though, but we can always get parts if needed.

I'm sorry to hear about your loss
Do you have any idea what it would cost to get an engine from Vancouver to Calgary? and how much you would want for it?

dean wrote:but we can always get parts if needed.

Are you a business ? I'm probably misreading what you wrote. Sounds like you can get parts 'if needed' ?

Green1.

Trucking an engine on a pallet is the best bet. Doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Jesse