Hi Guys,

My 1st ever post - total newbie; though I've read through lots of the Third Gen writings.

Looking to buy a TL through to TW wagon for the missus and our faithful hounds. Been looking around and I see some 120 - 170,000 Km units for prices as low as $6K here in Vic and even lower if you accept higher K's. Speaking to a friend who still has friends in the auto industry, (now in Nursing himself) - but his mate works in engine repair shop and claims that the 3.5 Litres had issues getting hot and could crack heads?

There's almost no mention of that on here though? I have owned Sigma's (they did) TP Magna (it did) - but this forum is almost silent on ANY heat issues on the 3.5 V6 - I take it that this fella is ill informed? :eek2:

Sorry but your friend of a friend is a moron, simple and plain.

I have seen these cars punished for over 400k and still be running very well, reco places do not even bother buying magna engines as they have rare call for them if that helps you. In several years of business the only heads I have sold are those where valves were bent from broken timing belts and mechanics are repairing them so sorry this person in the so called auto industry has his hand on it. One of my staff is also an engine re conditioner and has come from a place locally here specialising in head work and even he has stated that rarely did a Magna head come in

welcome to the club mate
never heard of a 3.5 cracking a head . but all cars will crack heads if you get them to hot
if you buy a 3.5 check when the timing belt was last done

My brother has accidentally cooked his due to a cracked radiator hose. Drove it to his work, replaced hose and coolant, has worked flawlessly since.

Does this friend of a friend own a commodore? haha

Does this friend of a friend own a commodore? haha

Exactly what I was going to say haha.
Odds are your friends friend is illogically biased towards his beloved falcodore.
When looked after properly, I would say that the 3.5 cooling system is great. The temperature on a well-serviced system sits at just below half no matter how hot the weather gets. My friends S-Pac commodore fluctuates between just above C and just below H... man would that drive me insane!

Ive had my car on the track on a 30+ degree day and sat on the edge of redline under load on and off all day and car just loves it, they even took the magna to an arabic country to test the cooling systems ( think this was tj) and it passed easily. The only time people have these issues is when they dont service the car correctly.

I have owned Sigma's (they did) TP Magna (it did)

Did they? I will have to take your word for it. lol I have owned 6 Sigmas and 1 TP in the past, also own a TJ and TL, never had this problem.
Did have 1 problem head on a Sigma with head bolts receding into the head because the alloy had softened though. Does that count? lol

Chinese whispers perhaps? lol (Or are you just trolling for a reaction? Hmmm???)

Haven't had any problems with overheating, cracking, blowing up etc in my TH with a 3.5L.

I've done nearly 27,000km towing a caravan with my TW AWD Magna and have had no cooling problems, a sure test of how well the motor etc copes with heat if ever there was one. The only cooling-related change I've made is for the auto transmission, which I've supplemented.

The only time I've seen my Magna's water temp getting up to the red was while towing my caravan up the road to Eungella National Park in Qld. The last 4km has a 500m or thereabouts climb (ie about a 12.5% grade) ...

Other than that, towing the caravan between Darwin and Broome with the aircon on saw the water temp oscillating a fair bit from 1/2 to less than 3/4, but that's all.

Very very misinformed, obviously hasn't owned one, but on the off chance he did, he was doing something seriously wrong.

A friend of a friend of mine also said to me <quote> Pajero engines abruptly blow up because of a design flaw <quote/>...rather than have a heated debate, I just acknowledged that idiocy has no bounds.

You certainly come to right place if you need to know the real hard facts.

Maybe he was referring to some of us who own and enjoy driving our 3.5's, I admit I drive a Magna and my head is probably cracked ..... but my head was cracked well before the Magna.

Did they? I will have to take your word for it. lol I have owned 6 Sigmas and 1 TP in the past, also own a TJ and TL, never had this problem.
Did have 1 problem head on a Sigma with head bolts receding into the head because the alloy had softened though. Does that count? lol

Chinese whispers perhaps? lol (Or are you just trolling for a reaction? Hmmm???)

My dad's TP Magna cracked a head back in the day. It was very well maintained, not driven hard and had done less than 170,000km at the time.

The TM magnas were prone to cracking heads. They cracked in the camshaft bearing pedestals. I had our TM crack and took it to a place to get it fixed. I asked him how many Magna heads they did each week? Answer - about one per month compared to nearly 20 VL Commodore heads per week. They fixed it and we never had any other issues with the cooling system after that.

(Or are you just trolling for a reaction? Hmmm???)

Hey MadMax - Sorry - no conspiracy here - just genuine surprise at the so called mechanics comment! I really like the cars, their low price (and therefore value) and wanted to checked with other owners, since it's pretty hard to search all 500 odd pages of comments. Cheers Steve

My dad's TP Magna cracked a head back in the day.

Hey Karj - ours did too; and we opted for what was supposed to be a recon short motor. All was OK for a few months, then various faults arose - we now suspect we were most likely dudded with a 2nd hand motor instead! :eeek:

Still have the TP - but it's almost dead now! Needless to say we dunna use that mechanic nay more! :happy:

HeHe! I'm sure my wife would agree about mine prowler!

Steve

Many thanks to all who replied. Must say that that feedback has confirmed what I originally suspected, that the guy is a Wally! I always use look to use synthetic oils and change it - and the filter regularly. Got to help with engine lubrication, temp and life - aside from the fact that Mitsubishi made the cars locally and offered REALLY long warranties, which suggests confidence.

Steve

A friend of a friend of mine also said to me <quote> Pajero engines abruptly blow up because of a design flaw <quote/>...rather than have a heated debate, I just acknowledged that idiocy has no bounds.

You certainly come to right place if you need to know the real hard facts.

Thanks GTVi,

What the guy said just did not sit right - for example prior to joining here (today); I had read these pages and researched TL-TW's on here and simply did not recall that sort of comment!

Now compare that with another contender for the type of work we want the Mitsy wagon to do (Chrysler Voyager) and one only has to read a few reviews to be scared silly!

Once more - you guys have been a real blessing!

Steve

No way the 3.5 is reliable as hell... basically if you keep servicing it it does not break It truly is an indestructible engine.

can't say the same about the 4 banger and the 3.0 though.

I had a 1997 verada that got written off twice but even as it went to be wrecked its engine purred smooth! It had done 220km and I never had a single issue with the thing...

Just make sure the engine's been serviced and has no leaks.. and change the oil every 7500 with 10-40W and it will do 300km easy with the original slushbox.... and make sure to flush and keep the auto trannie fluid tip top and nothing will go wrong.

I only wish mitsi would make engines like that today...

No way the 3.5 is reliable as hell... basically if you keep servicing it it does not break It truly is an indestructible engine.

can't say the same about the 4 banger and the 3.0 though.

I had a 1997 verada that got written off twice but even as it went to be wrecked its engine purred smooth! It had done 220km and I never had a single issue with the thing...

Just make sure the engine's been serviced and has no leaks.. and change the oil every 7500 with 10-40W and it will do 300km easy with the original slushbox.... and make sure to flush and keep the auto trannie fluid tip top and nothing will go wrong.

Hey zed,

Thanks for the great feedback! I guess we are all aware of cars that have reputations for certain flaws; but I was surprised when this guy said what he had said. I could not imagine that MMAL who were based in SA and offering solid, long term warranties would let a defect (if it even HAD existed) slip through without it being rectified. I WILL grab one of the cars, based on what you guys have said.

Steve

I WILL grab one of the cars, based on what you guys have said.

Low Km is best.
Having the service record with the car you are looking at helps.
Look for repaired accident damage.
Remember at 100,000 and 200,000 km some costly services are needed. Hence these kms are common on Magnas up for sale. lol

Some light reading for you all about the 6g7x engines

http://autospeed.com.au/cms/A_1440/article.html

http://autospeed.com.au/cms/A_1449/article.html

Low Km is best.
Having the service record with the car you are looking at helps.
Look for repaired accident damage.
Remember at 100,000 and 200,000 km some costly services are needed. Hence these kms are common on Magnas up for sale. lol

Thanks MadMax - just one I'm looking at is a 126,000 Km private sale - another by dealer is a 2003 model with only a claimed 92,000 (with no documentation); I am being cautious and will haggle!

Thanks for the detailed read Neo!

Steve