'84 Mitsubishi pick up, turbo dzl, 4x4

[bryanbryan89x]

Well I have been away from the diesel scene for awhile, but now I have returned!! because something sparked my interest that I could not refuse passing up.  I picked up a 1984 mitsubishi mighty max 2.3L turbo diesel pick up truck. $1200 and only 84000 miles.  The body is a little rusty, but the frame seems to be solid.

According to a search I have found out this engine is capable of 84 hp stock.  I know a few of you guys out there have this pick up. Anyone have any info on these things, such as

1.   Where is a good spot for parts?, I am mainly worried about finding a timing belt

2.   What type of mods can be done to bring up the hp?  I was thinking larger, less restrictive exhaust and aftercooler.  

3.   Some general specs, such as mpg (I have been told anywhere from 28-35mpg), fuel capacity, and what is the largest diameter tire that can be installed without messing with the suspension?

4.   Also any hints, or things I should know about this truck? such as is the cylinder head easy to warp (I believe its aluminum).

Thanks in advance, pics will follow.

[itzdshtz]

My experience with this engine:

I have an D53T engine that came out of a Dodge 50 pickup sitting in my shop. I am going to put it in a Ford Bronco 2 that I use to push my snow plow around with. (Ford used this engine in the Ranger for a few years)

 It is disassembled right now, there is one broken piston ring in cyl #3 that left a small groove in the cyl. I don't know what caused it to break.
 I will have to install a sleeve in it but I can still use the original piston with a new set of rings.

 I did a valve job on the cyl head, but the camshaft and rocker arms will have to be reground, the lobes are worn. The later engines all have roller tips, so this is a weak spot on this engine.
My engine had 80.000 miles on it so I don't think that the previous owner had the oil changed regulary.

I looked for spare parts for it in wrecking yards,but most engines that I found had the cyl head cracked from the valve seat to the pre-combustion chamber.

The turbo charger on my engine has a waste gate but I have seen others without any waste gate at all, the intake manifold is very restricted so I think that this will limit the boost. It is a Mitsubishi turbo with a three hole flange.

If I was you, I would look at the camshaft lobes, adjust the valve clearance, install an intercooler and do the same pump mods on it that they do on the VW's.
Exhaust manifolds tend to crack badly on the inside, check yours too.
You could make a bigger diameter pipe between the turbo and intake manifold.
 Also replace your timing belt and balancer shaft belt.
Make sure that the cooling system is in good shape, overheating will crack your cyl head!

You can still buy new parts for them, try:  http://www.auto-parts-wholesale.com/

Overall it looks like it is well build and it should last you a long time if you take care of it.

Hope this will help.  

                                          Herman

[zyewdall]

Nice!  That's the exact truck that I have.  And you got it for a darn good price -- I've seen them go for up to $5,000 or so.    

Yup 84HP stock.  I've pulled a 2,000 lb trailer with mine -- that makes it pretty slow on the hills, but i could keep up 60 to 65 on the flats.  It's faster than my subaru wagon, which is also 84 horsepower, and probably 1,000lbs lighter (and only 100 ft lbs torque instead of 140)  I was always going to add an intercooler to mine sometime, but haven't gotten around to it yet.  Putting a boost controller instead of the wastegate might help too, from what some friends with mercedes diesels have said.  I get between 10 and 12lbs maximum boost on mine.

I had a valve rocker arm go out on mine last fall -- then I drove it on 3 cylinders for another 60 miles till it broke another 3 rocker arms (had no choice, a giant snowstorm was coming and I had to get home).   I put new rocker arms and rocker arm shaft in it, and it's all better now.  Not sure exactly why the first one broke, but perhaps from letting the valve clearances get misadjusted.  The mitsubishi dealer here had the new parts, and rockauto.com has some stuff for it too.  Only other problem I've had was the exhaust manifold keeps coming loose -- I've bolted it back on three or four times now, but the nuts keep coming loose, then you lose turbo pressure because the exhaust is escaping before the turbo.

I am running 205/75R15 studded snow tires on mine, and had 215/75R15 all season tires on it in the summer.  It looks like you could go a bit larger diameter, but the front wheels will start rubbing if you go to a really wide tire (I have a dead '82 gas 4x4 mighty max with 10" wide tires, and they rub on the rear of the fenders).  I've taken mine off-roading a little -- jeep trails and such, and it does suprisingly well. Not great departure angle, or as much clearance as a stock toyota, but great torque and throttle response.

As far as mileage, I've gotten between 22mpg and 26mpg on mine.  Averages around 24.  The previous owner used to get closer to 27 regularly, but he didn't have the topper on it, or the toolboxes in the back.  I figure with the weight I've got on it, and the roof rack hurting my aerodynamics, and doing alot of mountain driving, 24 isn't bad -- friends with similarly equipped toyota gasoline trucks are getting 18 or 19.  I am also running biodiesel most the time, which gets you slighly less mileage than diesel (but it idles so much smoother, and doesn't put out black smoke like it does with diesel).

Make sure you let it cool down before shutting it down -- it's an oil cooled turbo on this, so you'll cook the bearings if you shut it down hot.  I've always run synthetic oil since I've owned it.

[bryanbryan89x]

Thanks a lot for the detailed responses!  Well the reason it was soo cheap, was the guy had to get ride of it quickly because his neighbors were complaining about his "collectables" in his driveway, and also it had a few problems, like the rear brake lines leaked, and the power steering pump leaked bad too.  but then again he did include a lot of new parts as well. I just couldnt pass up something like that, i wasnt even in the market but now i am excited about it.  

What is a balancer shaft belt??

[itzdshtz]

This is a shaft that has weights on it and when timed correctly with the crankshaft, it eliminates a lot of vibrations that are normal in an internal combustion engine.
It is located inside the engine right under the injection pump,you can see the protrusion in the block casting. They use a timing belt that is a smaller version of the cam belt, it runs between the cambelt and block.
If this belt fails, pieces will end up between your cambelt and you end up with broken valves.
Make sure to check all your belt guide bearings when you are replacing the belts.

[bryanbryan89x]

Here are some pics of the turbo diesel mighty max.





The frame is not so hot on the diesel mighty max, there are several through holes, especially towards the back of it.  So i am going to transfer the drive train into this 1988 mighty max



The engine on this one is the 2.0 gas, it has some major issues, it leaks a lot of oil, and knocks, but this ones body is 99% rust free, with a very solid frame.

[bryanbryan89x]

Update: I finished the project, and currently have put 8000 miles on the engine since it was in the truck.  It is a lot faster than I had expected, it pulls real good on the highway, I can accelerate in 5th gear from 70-85mph with no problem at all.  I am getting 26mpg, city/highway, 30mpg all highway.  As for the exhaust, I got a 3 inch pipe bent up for it, sounds really good, kinda more like a big diesel, and its not too loud either, the turbo really quiets it down compared to the NA diesels i am used to having.

[zyewdall]

Nice!  Good to see another one of those ressurected.  I've gotten wind of a smashed 2wd Mitsi diesel in a local junkyard, and am going on Monday to see if I can buy the engine and tranny from it.  Not quite sure what I'll do with it yet... but I'll figure out something.

[jbg]

Sorry for bringing this thread back fom the dead, but a buddy of mine has a 1987 Ford Ranger 2WD with the D53T engine. What type of injection pump is on these engines? Those pics show a rotary style, looks like a Bosch VE maybe? Are the injectors Bosch KCA family? He doesn't know and I don't have any pics of his engine compartment.

Thanks,

-Jim

[zyewdall]

Sorry for bringing this thread back fom the dead, but a buddy of mine has a 1987 Ford Ranger 2WD with the D53T engine. What type of injection pump is on these engines? Those pics show a rotary style, looks like a Bosch VE maybe? Are the injectors Bosch KCA family? He doesn't know and I don't have any pics of his engine compartment.

Thanks,

-Jim

I am not sure... but I know that we used the same tool to set the timing on mine as the VW diesel's use, and the basic design of the pump looks very similar.  Probably the next size bigger though.

The injectors are a little different than the VW ones in that they are designed for a steel return line manifold instead of individual rubber lines.

4D55T is the engine number from my truck BTW... I thought it was indentical to the ones the Ranger's used, but not 100% on that.  Visually, they look the same.

[zukgod1]

that turbo is way cute