and ive got quite a few other things to get done to it according to Mitsu.

but before that, they used a 30W 50 engine oil. Should i go and get some of the Penrite that everyone uses but in those specs or a different oil?

now onto the main part.

Hard to start - Unable to fault: The car is old of course being from 1997 Verada, anything that may also improve start response?

And usually there is a "priming" sound coming from the engine itself, but occasionally a more clunky sound comes from the passenger side near the firewall where a few odd looking things are. This sometimes results in the car turning over but no start. Mitsu couldnt find any error codes in the system for it therefore could not diagnose it. Is there something in that area that might cause / fix this?

Requires front brake pads: already getting done by someone else rather than them (not going to pay $250 for it)

Washer bottle cracked: Easy fix, and again, $140 for a new bottle from them, so wreckers or a AMC WTB thread.

RH Engine Mount broken - They told me $300 for this to be done, has anyone else replaced this one before and is it quite time consuming and costly? This is the one is near the washer bottle.

Distributor O Ring leaking - And end cap seal - $100 for that through them. Leaking what exactly i dont know, but if someone could fill me in on that would be nice and again, is this another time consuming job?


Long thread and probably got things in here that a long and painful search on here could bring up, but at least everything is collated, and hoping for some insight into all this.

Hard to start - Unable to fault: The car is old of course being from 1997 Verada, anything that may also improve start response? Depending on k's, may be due for a set of leads and/or plugs?

And usually there is a "priming" sound coming from the engine itself, but occasionally a more clunky sound comes from the passenger side near the firewall where a few odd looking things are. This sometimes results in the car turning over but no start. Mitsu couldnt find any error codes in the system for it therefore could not diagnose it. Is there something in that area that might cause / fix this?

Requires front brake pads: already getting done by someone else rather than them (not going to pay $250 for it)good call, overpriced for the same job someone else can do for half the price

Washer bottle cracked: Easy fix, and again, $140 for a new bottle from them, so wreckers or a AMC WTB thread.again, they are just making profit off you, bought a washer bottle for my TE before i sold it, cost me $40 from a wreckers, that was without a trade discount or anything

RH Engine Mount broken - They told me $300 for this to be done, has anyone else replaced this one before and is it quite time consuming and costly? This is the one is near the washer bottle.thats incredibly pricey for what the job is, i spose you do need a jack to do it tho, it isnt hard at all, but you do need a jack, and obviously a engine mount.

Distributor O Ring leaking - And end cap seal - $100 for that through them. Leaking what exactly i dont know, but if someone could fill me in on that would be nice and again, is this another time consuming job?the dizzy o ring you talk about does have a bad habit of leaking, just be sure if you do it yourself that you dont put the dizzy timing out. End cap seal, the one on the rocker cover, south of the above mentioned dizzy o ring, same deal, except no dizzy in the way.


Long thread and probably got things in here that a long and painful search on here could bring up, but at least everything is collated, and hoping for some insight into all this.

"but before that, they used a 30W 50 engine oil. Should i go and get some of the Penrite that everyone uses but in those specs or a different oil?"
Penrite has HPR10 (10W 50) or HPR15 (15W 50) is thinner when at low temp compared to the oil your mechanic used. The 30W means the oil will be thinner when the engine is cold compared to the 10W in the Penrite. Most of the wear in an engine occurs during start-up so I'd personally want to make sure the engine was well lubricated during these times and therefore make sure the oil was thicker. Also - 30w50 would be better suited to more warmer climates like that in Nth QLD, NT etc we do have some cold winters down here in Vic. You can get away with the 30w50 oil but it definetely would not be a bad thing to replace it with the nice HPR10 (<200,000km) or HPR15 (>200,000km).

Hard to start - Unable to fault: The car is old of course being from 1997 Verada, anything that may also improve start response?
Could be a variety of issues but as above - the leads and spark plugs are a good place to start. Always a good thing to change these. Opt for Bosch leads and NGK IridiumIX plugs (can be ordered for cheap off the internet). Otherwise your ignition barrel coil and/or immobiliser coil may be a bit dirty.

Requires front brake pads: already getting done by someone else rather than them (not going to pay $250 for it)
Can be done yourself pretty easily. You can get QFM HPX pads from Mal for $75. Very much worth the money - they stop well, have no noise nor dust (after being 'bedded in'). I'd recommend replacing the brake fluid as well.

Washer bottle cracked: Easy fix, and again, $140 for a new bottle from them, so wreckers or a AMC WTB thread.

$20 and a trip to wreckers. Bottle is held on with two screws. Easy fix.

RH Engine Mount broken - They told me $300 for this to be done, has anyone else replaced this one before and is it quite time consuming and costly? This is the one is near the washer bottle.
$300 is a bit overpriced. Engine mounts around $100-150 and can be bought from Megatron who is a sponsor. Otherwise Mal sells them as well. Again not too hard to do DIY - the other engine mounts could support the engine if that one is removed but as a precaution use a jack to support the engine.

Distributor O Ring leaking - And end cap seal - $100 for that through them. Leaking what exactly i dont know, but if someone could fill me in on that would be nice and again, is this another time consuming job?
Distributor o-ring can be a little tricky for a new home DIY backyard "mechanic". You will need to make sure you make markings of where the dizzy is currently lined up when the Piston No1. is top-dead centre. You turn the pistons to this position via the markings on the crankshaft pulley. Usually turned by a breaker bar and the right sized socket. Remove dizzy, replace o-ring and make you reinstall the right way - lining up the markings and that it turns the direction of the rotor. This may be worth giving to a mechanic if you don't know what you're doing.
The other leak I assume they are probably talking about the cam shaft cap seal. This is a "cap" that goes on the end of your camshaft, and is on the rhs of the engine, just under the rocker cover. The seal (a rubber o-ring) gets hard aftertime and fails to stop oil from coming out. Its only $3 but the labour can get expensive because "officially" the thermostat housing and lines need to be removed to get full access to take the cap & bolts off. There is a trick to this where you use a spanner to undo the top bolt as far you can until it hits the thermostat housing, and then you cut the head off the bolt and spin the body out using your fingers. Grab a smaller length 12mm bolt, file one of the hex sides down on a 45 degree angle and slip it in and then tighten with a spanner. Works a charm. 20,000km later my camshaft cap still doesn't leak.
Come to a meet sometime and I'll show you how I replaced mine.

So overalll - not a massive deal but I'd definitely look into at least the brakes and engine mount replaced pretty soon.

Hard to start - Otherwise your ignition barrel coil and/or immobiliser coil may be a bit dirty.


where abouts in the car are those two parts? i took the big grey plastic cover off from under the steering where and there was a white box near where the key goes, wasnt to sure what it was so didnt bother to muck around with it.

the leads and plugs im pretty sure were done when the major service was done along with the timing belts.
and why would they have used the 30w oil for?

and the engine mount im trying to find on the internet, and prices are varying quite a bit. from $90 up to $150, is there a specific part number for the mount at all?

and the dizzy seals, what do they leak exactly? oil i presume.

i really should have asked those sorts of questions at Mitsu, but just wanting to drive the car again took priority

... wtf are you people talking about with throwing out dizzy timing?!

The 3rd gen dizzy is electronic, only bolts in one spot. There is no adjustment. There is an electric coil inside and timing is controlled by the ignition map in the ECU.

Makes no difference if it is electronic or not, a third gen magna true can not be mis timed but many cars with electronic dist can be mis timed, TR/S is an example.

As for the rest, could be so many issues and only a proper testing process will discover the issue