PHIL069's 1999 Galant VR-4 (SUE069's)

[PHIL069]

I got all the parts I ordered.
After getting under the Galant and having a proper look I found that I need some moar parts for the rear suspension and rear diff.

Updated list of parts I have include...
Steering pump
Steering rack rebuild kit incl boots, inner and outer tie rod ends
All coolant hoses, clamps and thermostat
Aluminium Radiator
Transmission cooler and thermostat
Rocker cover gaskets and spark plug seals
Spark plugs
Transmission wave spring incl rebuild seal kit and filters
All engine oil seals
Throtlle body and plenum gaskets
Transfer case seals
Timing belt incl pulleys, tensioner, water pump.
Acc belts incl idler/tension pulleys
Front lower control arms, complete units incl arms, bushes and ball joints
Lower control arm stopper
Front upper control arms
Front sway bar drop links
Rear sway bar drop links
Sway bar bushes
Rear lower control arms
Rear diff oil seals and drain plug and seal
CV boot kits
Front and rear engine mounts
Front and rear anti-roll mounts
Engine mount cushion stoppers
Cross member bushings
Exhaust gasket
Engine cover
Engine cover bolts
Cooling water outlet housing
Evo 8 BOV
Center console latches
Gear shifter trim
Wiring and switch to make a AYC bleeding circuit
Rear pillar interior light fitting
New key with central locking buttons
Flared guard trims (metalic silver)
JVC double DIN head unit
All fluids for engine, transmission, AYC, transfer case, rear diff and engine cooling.

Pics...













EDIT: More parts received 24/05/14...













EDIT: More parts received 30/05/14...

[PHIL069]

...And the work begins.

Finally found sime time to get this job started.
Yesterday...
- Jack car up and support on 4 chassis stands.
- Remove all 4 wheels.
- Remove all under engine and inside wheel arch plastic covers
- Remove calipers, rotors, lower control arms and driveshafts from both front sides.
- Drain transmission
- Remove engine acc belts and idler/tension pulleys
- Remove harmonic balancer retaining bolt

Pics...























Ahhh...My bestest corless rattle gun, even cracked and removed the harmonic balancer retaining bolt...in about 2 mins


Now I think I am going to have to buy or build a puller for this harmonic balancer as I can't get behind it with a hammer or block of wood

[Sahin]

You don't f**k around do ya lol

[ZFL45H1]

May as well strip the engine while your at it

[Technikhaus]

Wow, that's a lot of work to be done!

[Sahin]

I reckon that gear shifter surround would fit an fto! that'd look sick

[PHIL069]

I reckon that gear shifter surround would fit an fto! that'd look sick

I have the chrome one that will be coming out of the Galant if anyone wants to give it a try
It is just missing the sliding trim down in the gear stick slot.

[dstocks]

I hate to think what that pile of parts cost.....

[spetz]

How much was that gearshift surround? Was it new?
It looks like the same one the 5 speed Verada has.

Nice assortment of parts. Did you end up swapping the wave spring?

[PHIL069]

All the Mitsubishi parts came from Japan.

I have only just started the repairs, so I haven't done the wave spring yet. Watch this space.

The gear surround is from Mitsubishi Japan, it is new, it is the part number that ASA gave me for my VIN#.
Although the one in the car is chrome silver and this one is titan silver chrome, it looks like black chrome. It will suit the factory carbon fibre trims better.
It was about $130.

I hate to think what that pile of parts cost.....

Not as much as I have spent on the FTO
The parts pictured were under $2500 delivered.
But Sue will end up with a near new Galant by the time I have finished with it.

EDIT: ...and I got the Galant for $3000-$6000 under market value too.

[spetz]

Phil how confident are you that the wave spring is the main culprit for transmission failures?

I had a Verada 5 speed auto which uses the same internals as your transmission including the wave spring and I've talked to a few transmission experts and they told me usually the wave spring is blamed for failures but the reality of the matter is that it is no more prone to failure than other parts of the transmission, namely the planetary gears and oil pump.

I've been looking at doing a preemptive wave spring replacement and was quoted $780 + ATF to do it all.

I am also in a somewhat similar boat as you, as if I had the 4 speed auto I would not bother seeing as the 4 speed transmissions are common and cheap, but the 5 speed is much rarer and more expensive, yours even more so obviously, hence my consideration.

[PHIL069]

On the OzVr4 forum it is a known issue as quite a few members have had their wavesprings fail and cause a total transmission falure.
It also happened a bit closer to home with dstocks VR4, I believe it cost him $4k for a complete tansmission rebuild after a wave spring failure.
A lot of VR4 members have stripped down their transmissions to change the wave spring and have found the installed spring to be already in pieces, and some have found that their springs had already been upgraded in Japan.
I believe Mitsubishi posted an article about it in Japan too, but they did not make the issue a recall. I would have to dig up the article from OzVr4 if you needed it.

Hence I am changing mine for piece of mind, I don't want to be in the middle of nowhere and have a total transmission falure, if I find the spring has already been done then I will still put the new one in that I purchased. The job will also allow me to check all the internal gears and brake discs too, and will allow me to change the internall filter and seals.

...and doing it myself is saving me a lot of ca$h that I can spend on other parts of the car as you can see.

[spetz]

So you are confident that the wave spring is primarily the root cause of most transmission failures?
I think I will go for it too, $900 preventative maintenance I guess. People spend that on timing belts and these can usually run double the stated change interval + rebuilt heads cost less money than rebuilt transmissions.

How come you changed all the idlers as well? Are these prone to failure?

[dstocks]

Yep, my wallet is 4K lighter as a result of that issue

[spetz]

Dwayne who did the rebuild for you?

[PHIL069]

How come you changed all the idlers as well? Are these prone to failure?

I am changing them just for the hell of it, I'm changing everything else so I thought I might as well go the whole hog

[SchumieFan]

Holy sh*t! Now that's a big undertaking!

[PHIL069]

Now I think I am going to have to buy or build a puller for this harmonic balancer as I can't get behind it with a hammer or block of wood

I got my harmonic balancer off tonight, took me 10 minutes.
I put the center bolt half way back in, put my left hand behind the pulley and pulled outwards while giving a few solid hits to the center bolt with a hammer and it came off.
Win

[PHIL069]

I have moar pics to post!

[PHIL069]

There are enough pics on this page.

Hence the 2 posts to start the next page