Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Ok, so my lower rad hose has a slow leak. My mechanical experience is pretty limited, but replacing hoses (and draining coolant etc) sounds like something I can tackle. First question - whats the best way to get at the thing?

You can do this a few different ways, one by draining all the coolant of the system or second by mounting a vacuum pump off the rad cap alllowinf you to disconnect to lower rad hose
And replacing the hose... either way you should replace both upper and lower rad hose and the thermostat all together... then it's all done. Don't have to drain the system again... good luck with your decision.

The easiest way to get at the lower hose is from underneath, by removing the lower engine cover, but you'll probably also need to remove the top engine cover (the one the handbrake and drivers seat are mounted to) to get at the hose's top clamp.

You'll have even more room if you remove the radiator shroud extension pieces- there's a metal clip in the middle at the top, which slides off, and then if you rotate the shroud pieces they'll disengage from their plastic clips and can be removed from around the fan.

As Chuck says, it's a good idea to replace your top hose and thermostat while you're in there. I would just drain all the coolant- there's a drain tap on the radiator's lower tank which makes it easy.

Growlerbearnz wrote:...

As Chuck says, it's a good idea to replace your top hose and thermostat while you're in there. I would just drain all the coolant- there's a drain tap on the radiator's lower tank which makes it easy.

I'd do both hoses ~ I'm not even sure if you can purchase them individually. Like your brakes, if you're doing one side then do the other while you're at it.

I reckon you ought to take your driver's seat out (four 12mm bolts), then take the deck that the seat sits on off (six 12mm bolts, five or six phillips screws, one wingnut {access hatch for PSF}, unhook your fuel hatch release cable and the E brake {two 10mm nuts}). You don't have to do this to replace the hoses, as GBNZ said ~ you can get the lower hose from underneath. The reason you want to do this is to familiarise yourself with your wagon's motor, besides, if you are doing your thermostat it will be easier from the driver's side.

This is a picture from another thread about the turbo but it also serves to show you what you'll be looking at when you get the seat and deck out.


When was the last time you replaced your thermostat? If you've had a timing belt change recently then I'd imagine that the thermostat was changed then (best to check) so wouldn't be worth changing, in my humble opinion ~ ascertain when your thermostat was changed.

When was your coolant last changed? You might want to put fresh coolant in rather than the old coolant you just drained out. Coolant has a lifespan and goes stale ~ I change mine every two years (ish) and use "Hepu G11" (40% coolant/60% distilled water)

We have a few engine manuals in the Technical Reference Libraries, this one is a good one for general maintenance on the 4D56T, mighty "Astron" engine. You want page "11B-1".

You need some tools. Canadian Tire has good deals on basic socket sets, I spent around $100 for mine.


It's a good deal, especially if you get it on sale! The ratchet wrenches are pretty good to have but be sure to get the kind that have switches on them so if you undo something but cannot get the wrench off because the item that you were undoing is too close to something else, then you can switch to tighten to make enough space to free the wench. You will need phillip's screwdrivers. Also, what I find useful are nitrile gloves: You can go down to yer local artsy-fartsy store and pay five bucks for a pair or you could go to an hospital pharmacy and pay ten bucks for a box of an hundred. Paint stores like Cloverdale Paint can be an option, as well. It's amazing how oily dirty your hands can get doing simple mechanical tasks that takes ten minutes to scrub your hands clean, then cleaning the sink out ~ or you just pull the dirty gloves off.

As you get more into your wagon, you will need more tools and not all of them will be available at Canadian Tire. Some of those tools will be a custom tool, perhaps thought up by you. YouTube can be helpful but sometimes misleading, pay attention ~ use your dialectic skills.

Where will you be getting the hoses from? CC Autos is a good source on the Island.

I typically aim to get my ducks all in a row when preparing to do work on my wagon, especially considering that this is my only ride, good to ask questions. Egg cartons are a good tool for sorting nuts and bolts, 'though now I have a plastic mat, beneath the pedals that is compartmentalised and good for sorting.

By the way, when you are putting it all back together, I find it useful to get all the bolts and screws into the holes before tightening any of them down, this way you have play and can adjust to get them all in their holes. If you tighten one or two down before they are all in you might find that last one doesn't want to fit.

When you take the fan shroud off, first unclip the centre shroud line clip that holds both sides together, slide passenger side shroud toward the passenger side then separate, it's a bayonet style fitting. Then undo the small phillips screw that holds the driver's side shroud wing on but be sure to have a finger underneath to assure that the nut the screw is screwed into doesn't fall into the engine compartment. Slide that side toward the driver's side and separate. Things are easier with the fan out (four 10mm? bolts).

When it comes to torquing bolts back down, be advised that twelve foot pounds is not much, in fact ~ I have it on authority that the RCMP 9mm sidearm trigger is 13 ft lbs. I discovered this when I was replacing a banjo bolt for an oil feed and thought to myself "well, how much does twelve pounds weigh?" then proceeded to twist the head off the bolt. Think about what you're doing.

My, I have gone on a bit, haven't I? I hope this helps, even if it is a little overkill... smiles.

Falco.

P.S.: If you decide to replace your coolant, you will need to drain your engine block. Make sure the engine is cold when you do this, 'cause hot coolant in the face really sucks. A cardboard shield set up adjacent to the block drain hole is prudent to help keep the coolant in a container, rather than all over the floor. You will find the Engine Cooling manual in Technical Reference Libraries/L300 Dedicated Technical Reference Library/L300 Shop Manual Downloads.