Dead Battery

After a long day at work I jumped in the car ready to head home.  I slipped the key into the ignition and clicked it over expecting the Batmobile's usual purr and nothing!  I tried again and the dash lights flickered.  "Starter?" I thought.  I went ahead and tried one more time and didn't let up until she started.  Trouble is afoot, I must away to my local Auto Zone and hope for the best.  After a few cold and harsh days I had time to take her to get checked out today.  First things first the battery was bad.  I'd purchased a new battery in Dec of 2010 so it's one month past the warranty.  Luckily Auto Zone prorates their batteries so I was able to get a new one for less then cost.  I went for the gold top 8 year warranty and she started right up!  Thank goodness.  With my heavy heart now relieved I used my last few hours of day light to head on over to my local Firestone and get the alignment knocked out.  Out of the four wheels all except the rear left were way out of whack.  So now the Batmobile has a 1 year warranty on alignment and 8 year warranty on the battery. That's two less things out of a billion to worry about.

Mileage 163,244

Tires

Today I took the Batmobile in to get the tires rotated and had my suspisions affirmed.  I have no tread on my front two tires!  I've kept up with the scheduled rotations but my alignment as gone way off causing extra wear and tear on the front two tires.  Noe, who I'm pretty sure has helped me before, got me a great price on a half set of Pirelli P6 four seasons to replace the more worn of my BF Goodwrench G-Force set.  So now the running list is caliper rebuild, two more Pirelli's, and an alignment (stat!).

Mileage 162,612

Brakes - man it's nice to be able stop

Today the Batmobile had her first brake job in who knows how long.  I had the work done by a very cool female mechanic named Kelly at my local Just Brakes.  I still really want to get a big break kit, but I just couldn't wait for safety reasons. With this in mind I decided to go through a shop that offers lifetime guarantee on pads so I can skip that expense until the brakes are upgraded.  So the following parts were replaced;

front and rear disc pads - ceramic
front and rear bearing packs
front rotors
front struts

So the struts were still factory, which is scary, as these should be replaced every 60,000 miles or three years.  Kelly also gave me some other awesome news, my calipers are seizing up.  This is probably why the car hasn't had the acceleration it should.  The calipers aren't releasing when they should so it's as though I'm holding the breaks down while driving.  My discs will probably be gone again in three months.  Looks like I'll be rebuilding calipers next tax season.

Mileage 156,488

New Rims

Today the Batmobile received a brand new set of rims and wheels from my local Discount Tires.  The stock rims on the base model 95 3000gt were 16".  Today we took it up a notch and through on a set of 17" rims. You can go up to 19" on these cars but with the clearance and my personal driving style I prefer a little more room.  I may have gone up to 18" but the price difference was a little too much for me at the moment.  At any rate she looks pretty cool with her new wheels and has noticeably improved handling and road grip.  Also don't judge me for the spray painted red calibers.  That's from the previous owner.  Evenutally I'll throw on a big break kit and get the real deal.  So remember kids, spray paint doesn't fix everything when it comes to a car.

Overflow Tank Catastrophe

There were a couple of things I noticed when I first bought the gt.  The coolant overflow cap had some kind of quick weld on it (where the original cap was broken and then sorta rigged back on).  As well as a slow oil leak off the head gasket cover (and 2 of the 8 screws missing).  There were a bunch of other things as well but these were the two main points of concern.

I saw this really bad ass looking universal overflow tank so I thought, "hey why don't I fix the cap issue by replacing the whole thing?", sense I couldn't seem to find just a replacement cap for the OEM tank.







Okay!  So here you can see were the coolant overflow tank should be.  It bolts on with 2 x 12 mm bolts, and sits just to the right of the fuse box on the passenger side of the vehicle.

In the 1995 Mitsubishi 3000gt the censor for you coolant system is built into the bottom of the Coolant overflow tank, and has one wire that plugs in near the fuse box.  Mitsubishi does not sell the censor without the tank assembly.  I wasn't aware of this until I'd already removed the OEM tank and had the Universal tank ready to install.  Now at this point I should have realized my hair brain scheme was not going to work and just ordered the OEM tank.  No!  Being the stubborn person I am and wanting a cool looking metal tube instead of the factory plastic bottle I continued this fiasco.  I removed the censor from the old coolant tank, and using water proof sealant, fit it into the the new tank.  Using two strips of metal I bolted the universal tank in place and attached the radiator hose back to, well, the radiator of course.  This tank did hold water and worked for a little while, but it was not giving an accurate temperature reading to the dash gauge.  I've since installed an OEM coolant tank with a brand new censor and the car has stopped overheating.

Master Cylinder Replacement

I noticed a liquid pooling up in the carpet of the driver's side floor board. After driving down the street to Home Depot I jumped back in the car to head home and the transmission would not shift into first gear. After a short inspection of a few things I discovered my master cylinder fluid reservoir was empty. A huge debate among semi educated car people is the difference between brake and clutch fluid. The answer is simple - there is no difference! They are both dot 3 hydraulic fluid. A quick top off and she shifted into first with light persuasion. A few shifts later it was once again smooth. So, verdict? It's time to replace the leaky Master Cylinder.

HOW TO REPLACE A MASTER CYLINDER on a 1995 Mitsubishi 3000gt 3.0L MFI DOHC 6cyl  base model.

Step #1
1. Disconnect your battery.  This should be your first step for any and all car repairs!
2. Using a 12 mm socket or cresent wrench  remove the cable from the negative [black] terminal first.  (Some cars will have the positive [red] cable attached to the chasis. If this is the case then disconnect that cable first.
3. You can stop there or remove the positive [red] cable as well.  This depends on personal preference or location of the work to be done.

Step #2
1. Drain the hydraulic fluid from the master cylinder.  You can use a shop towel to catch the overflow and a cardboard box under the car doesn't hurt either.  This will not be reused so store it until you can recycle it at your local part store.

Step #3

1.  Detach the master cylinder from under the hood.  Locate and loosen the bolt using a 10 mm cresent wrench.  This will detach the resivour.

2.  Detach the hardline using a 10 mm flare wrench.  Be very careful not to damage the line.  It can crimp if you handle it to brutally.

(This tool is also called a crowfoot wrench.  The only store I could find that carried it in brick & mortar was Napa Auto Parts. Everyone else would have had to special order it, or only offered it online.  The brand is Evercraft.)  

Step #4

1. Laying under the dashboard on the driver's side floor board you can see where the clutch pedal attaches to the chassis of the vehicle.  Follow the pedal up and loosen the nut labeled 4a.

2. On the passanger side of the clutch pedal, there is a pin that looks like the little sketch to the right.  Remove the security pin from the bracket bolt 4c.

3. Remove bolt 4c keeping the plastic washer with it for replacement.

4. Now remove bracket allowing the rod to slide out and to the side (this gives you enough room to separate the two.)

5. Remove the two bolts where the master cylinder connects through the firewall using a 10 mm wrench.

6. At this point if you have assistance ask person 2 to slide the master cylinder out through the hood while you guide the rod through the firewall.  You can do this yourself if need be.

Installation of the new or rebuild Master Cylinder is just the reverse of these directions above.  Don't forget to bleed the clutch before test driving your 3000gt.  Good luck!

Another great resource for instructions on this job can be found here 3si.org, so thanks DeceptionsDream for the tutorial and pics.  Lastly thank you John for your help with the installation and clutch bleed.

Nyk's Batmobile

Today I purchased my black 5 speed manual 1995 Mitsubishi 3000gt base model beast of a car!  I'm now the proud owner of the car I've wanted since my freshman year of high school.  I shall call her the Batmobile.  I've got a lot of work to do on her, but it will be fun and educational.  Let's just hope it doesn't eat me alive and she gets me to work everyday.