Overheating MN Triton

[Cowboy Dave]

Actually you'd be wrong there. What they have been doing is actually going out there and swapping motors on vehicles with no faults and then comparing them to the ones that have failed in an effort to try and work out why and when it is happening. It's been a long project and must have cost a fortune. I have no idea what they've learned but it sounds like they're getting close.

Also we have to remember that not all dealer techs are as good as they could be. So just because some dealer's apprentice does a test and says no she's fine and lets a car back on the road which subsequently dies doesn't mean that the test wouldn't have found the problem if done 100% correctly or that the guy actually did all the tests he could have done. Which is a big part of the problem for MMAL. They have to design a series of tests that can be replicated with minimal error and produce the correct result most of the time. Not easy I suspect and I'm sure we've all experienced variable quality across different mechanics.

It's not hard to think of examples - like the engines destroyed after the first service when they forgot to check the rubber seal came off the oil filter they removed - really, really basic stuff but fatal to the engine if they forget.

[flyreels]

Thanks for that Dave, it's good to hear that they have been proactive and are really trying to get to the bottom of this, it's the first I have heard or read of this level of commitment to fix this problem, most of what I have read on here hasn't been that positive, although I must admit I have not read every post as yet.
Cheers Pete

[bstarmotorsport]

Hey I'm not bitching about MMA ! I know that they have a system and need to go through the motions to determine what is the underlying factor in each case . What I'm pissed about is the service monkeys treating me "the client " like shit and by saying like shit I mean to the point where they won't even tell me what they have actually done to rectify the boiling issue ! As they have stated that it is fixed and doesn't boil over anymore- do I not have the right to know what was done ? Now they say that it has a major rattle in the top end - yet they drove it around trying to cook it again and now it's sitting in a bay collecting dust with 3/4 of the head undone for the past week ! Now I bet that ain't in the motion of practices that MMA have structured for them to do - i didn't think that it would be standard practice for them to drive the vehicle if it is making such noises and still trying to cook it again ?

[highlandertriton]

Guys, girls, my MN also overheating...it can seemingly idle for ever, but at speed she heats up.

'Im thinking its EGR cooler has a hole in it, though its not blowing any obvious white smoke. I connected clear hose to a blank cap with nozzle fitted and saw bubbles coming out into the bottle of water i had the other end of the hose going into,,

radiator Hoses seem okay, though i need to get my missus to rev up while i watch if any hoses sucking in..

Ill flush radiator, replace coolant and cap and do thermostat in the mean time

Any thoughts or help much appreciated..

If replaace the EGR cooler, is doing the EGR valve at the same time a no brainer ??

And inlet manifold- best cleaner to soak it in and bets devices, tools, improvised tools such as tooth brushes etc to get best result ?? im thinking ramset hole brush ??

Cheers

[Pet3R]

Hi Highlander,
Look for Miracle Max on YouTube - he did a video of replacing a leaking EGR heat exchanger.
It was a pinhole leak letting exhaust into the coolant flow.

As for cleaning the intake manifold, first I tried degreaser - no good. Then I tried fuel (as a dissolvent) - no good. Then I tried the old oven cleaner - terrible process, some success. Finally I did what I should have started with… burn the gunk outta there.
Take a butane torch and compressed air (I used the shop-vac on blow). Shoot the butane flame down the inlet, and blow air in after it. The caked on oil/soot will ignite. Stop the butane, and shove the air in there. The burn will take off, I mean it’ll get violent, but keep the air going into it hard. Flames will shoot out the runners, and then chunks of burning shit will come flying out.
It’ll take 20min to burn it all out - shove the flame/air up the runners to change direction, and more will fly out the other runners. Wear heavy gloves, cause that manifold is gonna get HOT. Lot of fun, and about as effective as you’ll ever get.

[Pet3R]

Let me be clear… this with the inlet manifold off the engine, and all sensors/bolts/etc off the manifold.
You can’t do anything about the same gunk buildup down the intake runners in the head, or on the back of the inlet valves, really - other than give it to a shop to run a solvent through the running engine.

[bzhang]

Good day, all tirton fellows. Bought a second hand MN triton glxr 5 months ago. Recently the car shit itself and started overheating. Because the car is bought from a dealer with a second hand car warrranty, I went to their repairer and they replaced the viscous fan clutch with a pre-owned (nice wording by the insurance company) one. But the car is still overheating and the temp gauge could go to 4/5 or even 4.5/5.

Called mitsubishi dealer and booked in for a check today. Finger crossed if they can figurer out if it is the engine block or not. The radiator on the car looks quite new 2020. And no coolant leak from what I can tell in the coolant reservoir.

Never thought that this 4D56 desiel triton will give me this headache, because I own another older 2005 single cab chase triton with 4G64 engine when it was 10 year old and the engine still runs smoothly with 320k on the clock and 17 year old now.

So frastrating...

[bzhang]

My triton is still at the stealer's repair shop. By now, they have replaced the thermostat, they have replaced the coolant, they checked the radiator, they are going to replace the water pump. And I am still not convinced that it will fix the overheating problem. Such a disappointment with mitsubishi. And shame on them for covering up the manufacturing defect Takata airbag style.

[NowForThe5th]

Bought a second hand MN triton glxr 5 months ago. Recently the car shit itself and started overheating.

MNs were sold from 2009 to 2015. Which year? How many kilometres? Condition? Price? Service history? Was it given a pre-purchase inspection by NRMA or similar? Define "recently".

Never thought that this 4D56 desiel(sic) triton will give me this headach(sic)

What headache? To the time you posted that you'd bought a Triton which was somewhere between 7 and 13 years old, with unknown kilometres and it overheated. Not unusual, really. The selling dealer had the problem addressed under the warranty but you've booked it in with a Mitsubishi dealer because the fix hasn't worked. Did you discuss with the selling dealer? With what result?

Finger crossed if they can figurer(sic) out if it is the engine block or not. The radiator on the car looks quite new 2020. And no coolant leak from what I can tell in the coolant reservoir.

How do you cross 1 finger? Why would it be the block? New(ish) radiator and no loss of coolant from overflow, so not displaying the classic symptoms of the manufacturing fault, rather a simple overheating issue which usually takes some tracking down.

My triton is still at the stealer's repair shop.

Why refer to them as "stealers"? Did they take something from you? How would you feel if you were constantly referred to as a thief?

But.....you don't say how long the car's been with the dealer, although I can see it would be less than 2 weeks, since that's the time between your posts. It would seem, however, that they are going through a process to track down the problem, dealing with the most common and/or obvious causes first. So, where's the problem?

I am still not convinced that it will fix the overheating problem

Why? Do you know something that they (or we), don't?

Such a disappointment with mitsubishi.

Disappointment with Mitsubishi? So far you've only described dealings with a selling dealer and a Mitsubishi dealer Service Department. When did Mitsubishi (as in MMAL) get involved? Why would you be disappointed? What did they do? Or not do?

shame on them for covering up the manufacturing defect Takata airbag style.

Enough. This is complete bullshit. MMAL complied in every respect with their obligations to replace faulty Takata airbags. They did it out of their own pocket, since Takata went under owing a bomb and there was no way Mitsubishi, or any other manufacturer, was going to get recovery. With regard to the cooling system manufacturing fault Mitsubishi have replaced thousands of complete engines, many of which were well out of warranty and, in most cases, supplied loan cars while the work was being done. A truly outstanding piece of customer service, generally acknowledged as unlikely to happen from any other manufacturer.

I've moved your posts here, from the Cooling System Service Campaign thread since your problem clearly has nothing to do with the topic of that thread.

I have no problem with you outlining dissatisfaction, provided you support what you're saying with some facts and/or good reasons. They seem to be clearly lacking in your previous posts.

And, finally, get yourself a spell check application or program for the device you're using. Use it before posting, please.

[srb]

Chris, he's actually right on one thing, calling them "stealers". There's no doubt that they've already ripped him off, lied, cheated, exploited, conned ect... It's just what they do! They can't help it, it's fact, I thought everyone knew this?

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[NowForThe5th]

There's no doubt that they've already ripped him off, lied, cheated, exploited, conned ect... It's just what they do! They can't help it, it's fact

Evidence Steve? He bought one of those insurance backed warranties that saved him on a s/hand viscous fan unit, but, he could have said "No". I'm not saying that all car sales people are squeaky clean, they're not, but I think it's wrong to label a group for the misdeeds of a few. Almost like racial profiling in my book - a presumption of guilt by association or, indeed, skin colour or religious belief. These days I would have hoped that we had progressed from that kind of thing.

[srb]

What ever you want to believe, mate.

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[bzhang]

Bought a second hand MN triton glxr 5 months ago. Recently the car shit itself and started overheating.

MNs were sold from 2009 to 2015. Which year? How many kilometres? Condition? Price? Service history? Was it given a pre-purchase inspection by NRMA or similar? Define "recently".

Never thought that this 4D56 desiel(sic) triton will give me this headach(sic)

What headache? To the time you posted that you'd bought a Triton which was somewhere between 7 and 13 years old, with unknown kilometres and it overheated. Not unusual, really. The selling dealer had the problem addressed under the warranty but you've booked it in with a Mitsubishi dealer because the fix hasn't worked. Did you discuss with the selling dealer? With what result?

Finger crossed if they can figurer(sic) out if it is the engine block or not. The radiator on the car looks quite new 2020. And no coolant leak from what I can tell in the coolant reservoir.

How do you cross 1 finger? Why would it be the block? New(ish) radiator and no loss of coolant from overflow, so not displaying the classic symptoms of the manufacturing fault, rather a simple overheating issue which usually takes some tracking down.

My triton is still at the stealer's repair shop.

Why refer to them as "stealers"? Did they take something from you? How would you feel if you were constantly referred to as a thief?

But.....you don't say how long the car's been with the dealer, although I can see it would be less than 2 weeks, since that's the time between your posts. It would seem, however, that they are going through a process to track down the problem, dealing with the most common and/or obvious causes first. So, where's the problem?

I am still not convinced that it will fix the overheating problem

Why? Do you know something that they (or we), don't?

Such a disappointment with mitsubishi.

Disappointment with Mitsubishi? So far you've only described dealings with a selling dealer and a Mitsubishi dealer Service Department. When did Mitsubishi (as in MMAL) get involved? Why would you be disappointed? What did they do? Or not do?

shame on them for covering up the manufacturing defect Takata airbag style.

Enough. This is complete bullshit. MMAL complied in every respect with their obligations to replace faulty Takata airbags. They did it out of their own pocket, since Takata went under owing a bomb and there was no way Mitsubishi, or any other manufacturer, was going to get recovery. With regard to the cooling system manufacturing fault Mitsubishi have replaced thousands of complete engines, many of which were well out of warranty and, in most cases, supplied loan cars while the work was being done. A truly outstanding piece of customer service, generally acknowledged as unlikely to happen from any other manufacturer.

I've moved your posts here, from the Cooling System Service Campaign thread since your problem clearly has nothing to do with the topic of that thread.

I have no problem with you outlining dissatisfaction, provided you support what you're saying with some facts and/or good reasons. They seem to be clearly lacking in your previous posts.

And, finally, get yourself a spell check application or program for the device you're using. Use it before posting, please.

Hi Chris, Thank you for pointing out my spelling errors.

The car is an MN triton 2012 GLXR manual with about 240000km cost me $15000 inc GST. And the service history looks pretty good with the latest a few services done at non Mistubishi dealer.

The reason I comment

"shame on them for covering up the manufacturing defect Takata airbag style."

is because the cooling campaign carried out by MMAL is not good enough from my point of view.
after the campaign the cooling capacity of the system will increase and the overheating sympton will be less likely to occur. And ECU update is only to prevent the engine from catastrophic failure. It will only pick out the worse defective engine blocks but not all.

The only thing I wish is that there is an independent motor authority who can do a check on a car and give out a report of a car's defect (if any) in case if anybody want to take their case to a court. Dealers have a connection with their manufacturers and I am not 100% sure if they could be neutral and objective.

Update: MMAL replied me and the car is still at the dealer's workshop. Repair cost at this moment, about $2000 inc GST.

[bzhang]

I am a tradesman not an engineer. I am wondering if there is any engineer who can clarify or justify the relationship between the cooling system campaign and the defective engine blocks for me.

Also legally any goods with defects sold here in Australia won't be protected by ACL after 10 years old. If MMAL still endorse swapping out defective engine blocks after that, I would say they are truely serious and helpful regarding correcting this issue.

Otherwise, it seems like that they just want to wiggle their way out from this because some of the faulty cars might get written off, some might get used in a way the sympton won't show easily like short drives etc, some might get resold and be out of warranty so they can deny to repair this defect etc.

I bought my MN triton from a used car dealer in canberra in march. When I drove the car back from canberra to sydney with no load, it appears to be all good on the highway but I did notice the temp gauge rising a little and I thought it might be normal or maybe just caused by viewing from different angel.

[bzhang]

Enough. This is complete bullshit. MMAL complied in every respect with their obligations to replace faulty Takata airbags. They did it out of their own pocket, since Takata went under owing a bomb and there was no way Mitsubishi, or any other manufacturer, was going to get recovery. With regard to the cooling system manufacturing fault Mitsubishi have replaced thousands of complete engines, many of which were well out of warranty and, in most cases, supplied loan cars while the work was being done. A truly outstanding piece of customer service, generally acknowledged as unlikely to happen from any other manufacturer.

If Mistubishi could name the campaign "defective engine block recall" campaign and make a statement that if any 4D56 engine overheat due to this defect will be covered by MMAL within 15 years (5 year more than ACL legal protection of major defect) and 50% cost cover for engine from 15-20 years.

I would call that a truly outstanding piece of customer service and full recovery of my confidence on MMAL.

Right now as a comsumer I just feel weak and un-protected (not sure if the car is over 10 years or not)

[NowForThe5th]

I am a tradesman not an engineer. I am wondering if there is any engineer who can clarify or justify the relationship between the cooling system campaign and the defective engine blocks for me.

Don't have to be an engineer. The problem is a machining error that allows the pressure in the cooling system to push the coolant out the exhaust. Hence the system runs out of coolant so nothing to measure and therefore why there's no warning from the temp gauge.

By increasing pressure in the system, through a higher rated radiator cap, a forced failure can be generated if the problem exists on that vehicle. If the vehicle doesn't lose coolant with the higher rated cap then it's ok. Most, however, do, but it's a way of identifying the problem without actually taking the head off.

is because the cooling campaign carried out by MMAL is not good enough from my point of view.
after the campaign the cooling capacity of the system will increase and the overheating sympton will be less likely to occur.

No, not really. Water is incompressible so there won't be more in there to carry heat out, since there's no radiator change with the campaign. As above, what they do just identifies the problem engines quickly and easily (usually).

As for making it a recall, that's not possible because they don't, and never did, know which vehicles were going to be affected. You do understand that there were 5 machines and two of them were faulty but the machining was done before engine numbers were allocated so they couldn't know which engine came off which machine.

Also legally any goods with defects sold here in Australia won't be protected by ACL after 10 years old. If MMAL still endorse swapping out defective engine blocks after that, I would say they are truely serious and helpful regarding correcting this issue.

It's now late 2022 so earlier engines are now over 10 years old. There are no posts here that I know of where MMAL have declined to cover the fault on a vehicle more than 10 years old, although this may not have happened at all, given that they tend to fail earlier and have already been identified. There have been a few cases of high mileage, second owner vehicles whose owners have posted on here looking for solutions. Most have simply been told to take it to a dealer for assessment. None have come back saying they'd been knocked back.

Certainly I'm aware of vehicles with very high mileages and, in some cases MMAL have asked for a pro rata commitment from the owner. I don't think this is unreasonable - what's been asked is pretty much in line with reality in terms of expected life and they have been negotiable on this as well. Pretty fair in my book. I think that if you compare Mitsubishi's response on this problem with other manufacturers, like Toyota (injectors, gearboxes), Ford (electrical and gearboxes), Isuzu (various), Land Rover (one of the few to have costs awarded against them because of their abysmal attitude) and probably others, Mitsubishi's response has been exemplary.

Some years ago I had an NH Pajero which I'd bought second hand, was years out of warranty and suffered a brake hose blowout (another identified issue). The dealer had a tilt tray to me in half an hour, picked it up and paid my cab fare home, then repaired it and delivered it back to me all in the space of about 4 hours. All under warranty. No way that would have happened with any other brand, including the POS Land Rover that I made the mistake of buying later. Frankly, I think that if an MN Triton was over 10 years old, had low (ish) kilometres and had been properly serviced, that they would cover the problem if it occurred.

I didn't buy another Triton because I saw the writing on the wall, but I did buy another Mitsubishi and I'd have no hesitation about doing that again, even another Triton now that the 4D56 is gone.

You haven't said anything about progress at the dealer with their diagnosing the problem, so I can only presume that they're still working on it. That being the case I think that you're being unduly harsh in your criticism, without much reason. I get that it's probably inconvenient for you and that's unfortunate, but the fat lady hasn't sung yet.

[bzhang]

hi, Chris.

Just got my MN triton back and sorry about the harsh criticism on MMAL after I paniced out.

Let's say my triton poopooed in his paints and I almost poopooed in mine.

I have driven the car for a short trip and it seems ok. I will do more test and update the result here.

I did panic because after I read so many posts here that they have this issue and misjudged the situation. All I type in google and search is "MN triton Overheating" and stuff like that recently. It was all over my head.

Regarding the radiator cap change during the cooling system campaign, it will increase the system pressure and the coolant can maintain higher temperature without boiling and which will increase the system cooling capacity if the velocity of the cooling air from the fan stays the same. If MMAL really wants to push out the bad ones, I think they should lower the cap of the presure and make the coolant easier to boil.

I am an HVAC tradesman and I am not 100% sure if my above statement is correct for cars.

At this moment the total cost for me is $2068.
And parts replaced are

1. Thermostat
2. Coolant
3. Water pump
4. timing belt
5. timing tensioner & pulley

And after seccond thought I do think probably MN tritons left on the road mostly should be OK considering the age of the car or maybe need a costly major service. So if you have a second hand triton which overheats, get the above items checked by mitsubishi first.

I do believe if MMAL could public this issue and make a guide line of how to resolve the issue will help owners from panicing. To me, the biggest fear is uncertainty and unknowing things. When the service manager (non mechanic) at the dealer replied me that he didn't know what to do next if all the replacements wont help solving the issue, I almost had an heart attack. It did happened to one owner according to one of the post and they have to open the engine head to locate the problem.

And Chris if you can put a directional/informative guide line of how to resolve this issue some where easily found in the forum, it will be more helpful to new second hand MN triton owners. Otherwise, most posts people searched and read are miserable stories of how the car failed and become more panic like me.

[NowForThe5th]

Fair enough. I can understand the panic attack.

From what they've done, though, it seems to me like just replacing parts which were worn a bit and, in total, contributed to the system not performing as it should. Damn bad luck that this should happen when it did, but it's part of the lottery of buying a used car.

I've added this thread to the forum directory for those who bother to use it. Otherwise it should show up in any search that includes the word "overheating". Hint: You can Google search this site by just adding the website address. Easiest done in Google Advanced Search.

Meanwhile, now it's all fixed up, enjoy your Triton.

[bzhang]

hi, Chris. Here comes the real problem. It is still overheating a little after a few trips.
Should the temp gauge stay idle in the middle with no movement all the time once the engine reaches the optimal temp?

That doesn't looks good for me since so many components have been changed. And the temp gauge still goes up a little bit from 2.5 to 3.5.

I can still drive the car for a certain distance but the temp gauge moves a little.

I will bring the car back to them.

I doubt if they have a proper way of diagnosing and figure out the defective engine block.

Really frustrating!

[DibbyDibbyDJ]

I doubt if they have a proper way of diagnosing and figure out the defective engine block.

Really frustrating!

They do. There have been enough of them failing to know exactly what the outcome is going to be.

[srb]

Should the temp gauge stay idle in the middle with no movement all the time once the engine reaches the optimal temp?

That doesn't looks good for me since so many components have been changed. And the temp gauge still goes up a little bit from 2.5 to 3.5.

Wouldn't surprise me if you have a simple air lock in the system, these dodgy dealers are frigging hopeless at times. Happend to me when mine was near new, dealer had multiple goes at throwing parts at it due to minor overheating, I was seeing 100degrees just driving up the road to the shops! Anyway, after many failed attempts by my STEALER, I ended up fixing it myself, I simply spent the "TIME" bleeding the cooling system properly, these cooling systems can be a bit time consuming to bleed correctly due to the thermostat not having a jiggle valve, but, FFS these unless fcktarddealer couldn't even spend the time to do this simple thing!!!! Instead they just threw parts at it, new fan, new sensors, software upgrades, blah blah. Fail!

Now... don't look at you dashboard temp gauge... Instead, get yourself an ob2 reader like an Ultra gauge to monitor the actual coolant temps, do some normal around town driving, if your MN is healthy, you should see maximum of 92degs all day long and on hwy cruising at 110kph you'll see much the same until you hit the big hills, you might see 110degrees at the top, max! IF you're seeing higher temps, get someone to video log the temprature readout, then shove that video info infront of the dealer and demand them to fix it!!

You wouldn't believe the other stories I've got about dealers, I've been burnt enough times to warrant labelling every dealer on the planet a liying, cheating, stealing piece of crap! Does that makes me like a racist? Meh, perhaps, but I'm fresh out of F's. That bit for Chris.

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[bzhang]

Hi if there is still any owner like me having the similar MN triton/chanllenger overheating issue and can't have a satisfactory result from MMAL, please contact me at boz.pty.ltd@gmail.com. We need to group together and see if we can protect our interest and get MMAL rectify this defect for us properly.

My MN triton is still overheating intermittently and I am still dealing with the dealer and MMAL at the same time.

Also regarding this cooling system service campaign, I do have some thoughts of why MMAL carried out this campaign which could be the ugly truth.

Mean while please contact MMAL and send your car to their dealer for assessment first.

[srb]

My MN triton is still overheating intermittently and I am still dealing with the dealer and MMAL at the same time.

I'm trying not to be on the stealers side here, but is you vehicle actually overheating? Did it dump its coolant? Did the stealers see higher than normal temperatures on their scan tools? Did you read my above post?
Like I said, sometimes your dash gauge isn't a true indication.



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[bzhang]

My MN triton is still overheating intermittently and I am still dealing with the dealer and MMAL at the same time.

I'm trying not to be on the stealers side here, but is you vehicle actually overheating? Did it dump its coolant? Did the stealers see higher than normal temperatures on their scan tools? Did you read my above post?
Like I said, sometimes your dash gauge isn't a true indication.



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Thanks, mate.
Thanks for your help sincerely.It is very helpful.

I did a few road tests after reading your post. I hooked a ODB2 scanner on and did a few trip for about 28km with top speed at about 60-70km/h and red light stops in between. The ODB2 scanner shows the coolant temp from 84-88c and most of the time it stays at 85/86. And the temp gauge on the car slightly moved at times between 2.5-3. Not quite sure why the gauge moves. The gauge did move to 4/5 once during the first 3 trips after I picked the car back from Mitsubishi dealer and there was no ODB2 scanner connected at that time.

Anyway, I think I just have to clear my mind and let go the thought that "my engine block might be defective" and just enjoy driving the car (with a ODB2 scanner on it maybe just to be on the safe side). If any more overheating happens, I will send the car to mitsubishi dealer to check. And put the update here.

After knowing the Takata airbag scandal and Boeing 737-MAX scandal, my confidence on these big Corp has clapsed. And I paniced and was very angry at MMAL with no solid evidence. However, it is time to let go my panic and worry.

Many thanks to the forum and the people behind it. It helped me a lot.

Cheers.

[bzhang]

Latest update, I think I found the real problem which cause the temp gauge in the car fluctuating while the car is not actually overheating.

The connection from the negative terminal of the battery to the car chasis was disconnected when somebody was replacing the battery. I think because the new battery is higher so the cable becomes a little short for they to bolt the cable onto the car frame at the factory bolt point. The guy who did the change was too lazy to do some extra work to make the connection and he left it disconnected.

After I bolt the cable back onto the car frame with some tricks and mods. The temperature gauge never moves once it reaches the middle during the trips afterwords. I noticed this long time ago when I purchase the car but I never thought it will have such an effect on the car.

I will drive it for a week or two and see how it goes. And then I will probabily disconnect the cable to see if it will change the behaviour of the temperature gauge to confirm it is the cause.