1-2 GENERALINFORMATIONANDMAINTENANCE
Chitton’sTotalCarCaremanualforthe199M10
MitsubishiMirage,GalantandDiamanteis intended
to helpyoulearnmoreabouttheinnerworkingsof
yourvehiclewhilesavingyoumoneyonitsupkeep
andoperation.
Thebeginningofthebookwill likelybereferredto
themost,sincethatiswhereyouwill findinformation
for maintenanceandtune-up.Theothersectionsdeal
withthemorecomplexsystemsofyourvehicle.Oper-
atingsystemsfromenginethroughbrakesarecov-
eredtotheextentthattheaveragedo-it-yourselferbe-
comesmechanicallyinvolved.Thisbookwill not
explainsuchthingsasrebuildingadifferentialforthe
simplereasonthattheexpertiserequiredandthein-
vestmentinspecialtoolsmakethistaskuneconomi-
cal.Itwill, however,giveyoudetailedinstructionsto
helpyouchangeyourownbrakepadsandshoes,re-
placesparkplugs,andperformmanymorejobsthat
cansaveyoumoney,giveyoupersonalsatisfaction
andhelpyouavoidexpensiveproblems.
A secondarypurposeofthisbookis areferencefor
ownerswhowanttounderstandtheirvehicleand/or
theirmechanicsbetter.Inthiscase,notoolsatallare
required.
Beforeremovinganybolts,readthroughtheentire
procedure.Thiswill giveyoutheoverallviewofwhat
toolsandsupplieswill berequired.Thereis nothing
morefrustratingthanhavingtowalktothebusstop
onMondaymorningbecauseyouwereshortonebolt
onSundayafternoon.Soreadaheadandplanahead.
Eachoperationshouldbeapproachedlogicallyand
allproceduresthoroughlyunderstoodbeforeattempt-
inganywork.
Allsectionscontainadjustments,maintenance,re-
movalandinstallationprocedures,andinsomecases,
repairoroverhaulprocedures.Whenrepairisnotcon-
sideredpractical,wetellyouhowtoremovethepart
andthenhowto installthenewor rebuiltreplacement.
Inthisway,youatleastsavelaborcosts.“Backyard”
repairofsomecomponentsisjustnotpractical.
Manyproceduresinthisbookrequireyouto “label
anddisconnect.. ” agroupoflines,hosesorwires.
Don’tbelulledintothinkingyoucanrememberwhere
everythinggoes-you won’t.Ifyouhookupvacuum
orfuellinesincorrectly,thevehiclemayrunpoorly,if
atall.Ifyouhookupelectricalwiringincorrectly,you
mayinstantlylearnaveryexpensivelesson.
Youdon’tneedto knowtheofficialorengineering
nameforeachhoseorline.A pieceofmaskingtape
onthehoseandapieceonitsfittingwill allowyouto
assignyourownlabelsuchastheletterA orashort
name.As longasyourememberyourowncode,the
linescanbereconnectedbymatchingsimilarletters
ornames.Dorememberthattapewill dissolvein
gasolrneorotherfluids;if acomponentisto be
washedorcleaned,useanothermethodof identifica-
tion.A permanentfelt-tippedmarkerorametalscribe
canbeveryhandyfor markingmetalparts.Remove
anytapeor paperlabelsafterassembly.
It’snecessarytomentionthedifferencebetween
maintenanceandrepair Maintenanceincludesrou-
tineinspections,adjustments,andreplacementof
partswhichshowsignsof normalwear Maintenance
compensatesforwearordeterioration.Repairimplies
thatsomethinghasbrokenor is notworking.A need
forrepairis oftencausedbylackofmaintenance.Ex-
ample,drainingandrefillingtheautomatictransaxle
fluidis maintenancerecommendedbythemanufac-
tureratspecificmileageintervals.Failuretodothis
canshortenthelifeofthetransmission/transaxle,re-
quiringveryexpensiverepairs.Whilenomaintenance
programcanpreventitemsfrombreakingorwearing
out,ageneralrulecanbestated:MAINTENANCEIS
CHEAPERTHANREPAIR.
Twobasicmechanrc’srulesshouldbementioned
here.First,whenevertheleftsideofthevehicleoren-
gineis referredto,it ismeanttospecifythedrivers
side.Conversely,therightsideofthevehiclemeans
thepassengersside.Second,screwsandboltsare
removedbyturningcounterclockwise,andtightened
byturningclockwrseunlessspecificallynoted.
Safetyisalwaysthemostimportantrule.Con-
stantlybeawareofthedangersinvolvedinworking
onanautomobileandtaketheproperprecautions.
SeetheinformatroninthissectionregardingSER-
VICINGYOURVEHICLESAFELYandtheSAFETY
NOTICEontheacknowledgmentpage.
Payattentiontotheinstructionsprovided.There
are3 commonmistakesinmechanicalwork:
1. Incorrectorderofassembly,disassemblyor
adjustment.Whentakingsomethingapartorputting
ittogether,performingstepsinthewrongorderusu-
allyjustcostsyouextratime;however,it CANbreak
something.Readtheentireprocedurebeforebegin-
ningdisassembly.Performeverythingintheorderin
whichtheinstructionssayyoushould,evenifyou
can’timmedratelyseeareasonfor it.Whenyou’re
takingapartsomethingthatisveryintricate,you
mightwantto drawapictureof howit lookswhenas-
sembledatonepointinordertomakesureyouget
everythingbackin itsproperposition.Wewill supply
explodedviewswheneverpossible.Whenmaking
adjustments,performthemintheproperorder.One
adjustmentpossiblywill affectanother.
2. Overtorquing(orundertorquing).Whileit is
morecommonforovertorquingtocausedamage,
undertorquingmayallowafastenertovibrateloose
causingseriousdamage.Especiallywhendealing
withaluminumparts,payattentiontotorquespecifi-
cationsandutilizeatorquewrenchinassembly.Ifa
torquefigureis notavailable,rememberthatifyou
areusingtherighttooltoperformthejob,youwill
probablynothavetostrainyourselftogetafastener
tightenough.Thepitchofmostthreadsis soslight
thatthetensionyouputonthewrenchwill bemulti-
pliedmanytimesinactualforceonwhatyouare
tightening.A goodexampleofhowcriticaltorqueis
canbeseeninthecaseofsparkpluginstallation,es-
peciallywhereyouareputtingtheplugintoanalu-
minumcylinderhead.Toolittletorquecanfailto
crushthegasket,causingleakageofcombustion
gasesandconsequentoverheatingoftheplugand
engineparts.Toomuchtorquecandamagethe
threadsordistorttheplug,changingthesparkgap.
Therearemanycommercialproductsavailablefor
ensuringthatfastenerswon’tcomeloose,evenifthey
arenottorquedjustright(averycommonbrandis
Loctite? Ifyou’reworried
about
gettingsomething
togethertightenoughto hold,butlooseenoughto
avoidmechanicaldamageduringassembly,oneof
theseproductsmightoffersubstantialinsurance.Be-
forechoosingathreadlockingcompound,readthe
labelonthepackageandmakesuretheproductis
compatiblewiththematerials,fluids,etc.involved.
3. Crossthreading.Thisoccurswhenapartsuch
asaboltisscrewedintoanutorcastingatthewrong
angleandforced.Crossthreadingismorelikelyto
occurifaccessisdifficult.Ithelpstocleanandlubri-
catefasteners,thentostartthreadingthebolt,spark
plug,etc.withyourfingers Ifyouencounterresis-
tance,unscrewthepartandstartoveragainatadif-
ferentangleuntilit canbeinsertedandturnedseveral
timeswithoutmucheffort.Keepinmindthatmany
parts,especiallysparkplugs,havetaperedthreads,
sothatgentleturningwill automaticallybringthepart
you’rethreadingtotheproperangle.Don’tputa
wrenchonthepartuntilits beentightenedacouple
ofturnsbyhand.Ifyousuddenlyencounterresis-
tance,andtheparthasnotseatedfully,don’tforceit.
Pullit backoutto makesureit’scleanandthreading
properly.
Besuretotakeyourtimeandbepatient,andal-
waysplanahead.Allowyourselfampletimeto per-
formrepairsandmaintenanceYoumayfindmain-
tainingyourcarasatisfyingandenjoyable
experience.
b SeeFigures1 thru15
Naturally,withoutthepropertoolsandequipment
it is impossibleto properlyserviceyourvehicle.It
wouldalsobevirtuallyimpossible
to
catalogevery
toolthatyouwouldneedto performall oftheopera-
tions inthisbook.Ofcourse,Itwouldbeunwisefor
theamateurto rushoutandbuyanexpensivesetof
toolsonthetheorythathe/shemayneedoneor more
ofthematsometime,
Thebestapproachisto proceedslowly,gathering savingswill
be
faroutweighedbyfrustrationand
agoodqualitysetofthosetoolsthatareusedmost mangledknuckles.
frequentlyDon’tbemisledbythelowcostofbargain Beginaccumulatingthosetoolsthatareusedmost
tools.It isfarbetterto spenda littlemorefor better frequently:thoseassociatedwithroutinemaintenance
quality.Forgedwrenches,6 or12-pointsocketsand andtune-up.Inadditiontothenormalassortmentof
finetoothratchetsarebyfarpreferabletotheirless screwdriversandpliers,youshouldhavethefollow-
expensivecounterparts.Asanygoodmechaniccan ingtools:
tellyou,therearefewworseexperiencesthantrying
l
Wrenches/socketsandcombinationopen
toworkonavehiclewithbadtools.Yourmonetary end/boxendwrenchesinsizesfrom%-% in.or