View source for Astron II Common Problems

Many of the people reading this site have probably heard the horror stories about the Mitsubishi [[Astron II]] engine. Are these justified? no. The Astron II is quite a reliable engine if maintained properly. The most common problems that seems to face them are:
==Oil leaks==
If you see a clean Astron II it is like winning the lottery. More often than not Astrons leak oil. The most common places are:
*At the back of the engine under the air conditioning pump where the [[Media:Astron_sump_leak.jpg|timing case, sump and block mat to each other]]
*From around the oil filler cap. I have no idea what causes this, but it is often easily fixed by doing the oil filler cap up fully then turning back around 1/4 of a turn
*From the water pump side cam seal
*From the rocker cover - this is usually caused by not using RTV sealant where the "half moons" sit on the head and where the rocker gasket meets these.

==Rattles==
A loud metallic rattle that occurs when the engine first starts up and sometimes at idle on 1985-1990 model engines normally indicate that the balance shaft chain requires [[balance_shaft_chain_adjustment|adjustment]].

If the same noise is heard on later model Astron IIs, the timing chain, balance shaft chain and guides probably need replacement as they use a [[self_adjusting_bs_chain|self-adjusting chain]] on the balance shaft.
==Smoke==
If you start the engine and it blows a little blue smoke and then clears itself, it generally means that the valve stem seals need replacing. This is quite common on these engines and isn't too bad to [[valve_stem_seal_replacement|repair]].

If the engine smokes all the time there is usually one of two causes:
*The oil needs changing - this is easily checked by pulling the dipstick out. If the oil runs off the stick like water - you are due for an oil change.
*The engine needs reconditioning.
==Water pump==
The water pump on the Astron II seems to last a good while but when it starts dripping coolant from the little hole in the bottom of it, it is time to start looking at replacing it.
[[Category:Astron Engines]]
[[Category:First Generation Magna]]
[[Category:Second Generation Magna/Verada]]
[[Category:First Generation Workshop]]
[[Category:Second Generation Workshop]]