Lancer A72 Saturn Engine

[rameez]

I am interested in buying a Lancer A72 station wagon car which has got the saturn engine (4G33), I need to know about the spare parts availability of this car engine,the car is 8Sri.

has it got a timing chain or timing belt.will the timing chain be a nuisance with lack of spares ..... I have no idea on this ?

Does this car have a spare tyre well at the end of the rear seat I forgot to check that

what is the main difference between the orient and the saturn, for normal day to day driving will this be OK.

Any Lancer owner who can give me advice about this car overall will be much appreciated and your answer will make me take a more valued decision.

Edited November 30, 2010 by rameez

[rameez]

I am interested in buying a Lancer A72 station wagon car which has got the saturn engine (4G33), I need to know about the spare parts availability of this car engine,the car is 8Sri.

has it got a timing chain or timing belt.will the timing chain be a nuisance with lack of spares ..... I have no idea on this ?

Does this car have a spare tyre well at the end of the rear seat I forgot to check that

what is the main difference between the orient and the saturn, for normal day to day driving will this be OK.

Any Lancer owner who can give me advice about this car overall will be much appreciated and your answer will make me take a more valued decision.

hello any lancer owners there............

[Davy]

Hi Rameez,

Sorry for the late reply, I was not on the forum for quite some time now, Just popped in randomly and saw your post. Nice to see someone else interested in this kind of car.

- The 4G33 engine runs with a TIMING BELT

- The spare tyre is located underneath the vehicle, towards the rear (underneath the fuel tank)

- I have seen both Orion and Saturn (obviously, because I own one, hehe!) engines and there are definite differences, I think the orion engine is 1390cc while the saturn is 1410cc (I remember seeing that somewhere). But I can gurantee that both the engines are equally great. They just run forever!

I own a 1979 A72 Lancer with a 4G33 engine and I did a full engine overhaul in November 2010. I was able to find ALL the parts I needed for the engine restoration.

- Complete gasket overhaul kit

- Timing belt, tensioner and razors

- Water pump

- Oil pump (genuine)

- Fuel pump

- Welch Plugs (Complete set)

- Piston rings

- Main and big-end bearings

- Engine valves (Inlet and exhaust)

I managed to find all of these parts from either Panchikawatte or through contacts of the mechanic who carried out the engine restoration. Let me know if you need contact details.

All I can say is that this car is just amazing, Some things that I had trouble with over the years are:

- Clutch cable snapped once (have to expect that from a 30 year old car)

- Leaking radiator (again, old car, old radiator)

- Hand brake adjusting mechanism goes wrong, It just wears out soon. No parts available there, so I'm thinking of converting the entire dial and using the dial plate from a Lancer Box

- My steering box has a worn out pinion for some reason, I guess it was badly greased for some time. So there's a massive play in the steering, so I'm thinking of replacing the steering box. (Parts available in Panchikawatte - recon)

Hmm, thats about it I guess. I have been having this car for over 14 years now. And it stalled on the road only once... on the exact day I decided to buy a new car and while I was on my way back home after inspecting it. Guess these cars have feelings also. That incident alone was enough for me to make up my mind to keep the car and not sell it.

Good luck with buying your car. Let us know how it goes. I have also sent you a personal message. Check it out. :-)

Regards,

Davy

Edited January 22, 2011 by Davy

[Davy]

Rameez,

You can download the Engine Workshop Manual for the 4G3 engine series from here:

You might find this useful. Helped me a lot.

Edited October 7, 2018 by Davy
Manual link updated

[rameez]

Rameez,

You can download the Engine Workshop Manual for the 4G3 engine series from here:

http://www.mitsubishi-motors.kiev.ua/Manuals/Engine/pwee9049/11A.pdf

You might find this useful. Helped me a lot.

Thanks Davy,,,,,by the way can you tell me who is the mechanic for your vehicle ,,by looking at the job he has done for you i will not hesitate to give my car to him.I will keep in touch with you.Your car looks stunning with the black paint as well. I assume you have done something for the interior as well.

[Davy]

Thanks Davy,,,,,by the way can you tell me who is the mechanic for your vehicle ,,by looking at the job he has done for you i will not hesitate to give my car to him.I will keep in touch with you.Your car looks stunning with the black paint as well. I assume you have done something for the interior as well.

Rameez,

Thank you for the compliments! About the interior: all stock and in working order. I'm still working on the restoration during my spare time.

I have sent you a PM. Let me know if you require more details.

Regards,

Davy

[rameez]

Hi davy,

Sorry for the late reply, i had been busy with my career

I need to do a repair to the hand brake which seems to be malfunctioning and does not make the car to stop.I think the cable is there but some reason does not work.The car works well to be frank and for and old vehicle the pickup is superb.

Will be fixing a stereo soon. ..

Any shops you deal with in panchikawatte for spares ?, i have not started to see how much mileage i get, can you enlgithen me about the range, this is a 1500 cc engine i think.

Hi Rameez,

Sorry for the late reply, I was not on the forum for quite some time now, Just popped in randomly and saw your post. Nice to see someone else interested in this kind of car.

- The 4G33 engine runs with a TIMING BELT

- The spare tyre is located underneath the vehicle, towards the rear (underneath the fuel tank)

- I have seen both Orion and Saturn (obviously, because I own one, hehe!) engines and there are definite differences, I think the orion engine is 1390cc while the saturn is 1410cc (I remember seeing that somewhere). But I can gurantee that both the engines are equally great. They just run forever!

I own a 1979 A72 Lancer with a 4G33 engine and I did a full engine overhaul in November 2010. I was able to find ALL the parts I needed for the engine restoration.

- Complete gasket overhaul kit

- Timing belt, tensioner and razors

- Water pump

- Oil pump (genuine)

- Fuel pump

- Welch Plugs (Complete set)

- Piston rings

- Main and big-end bearings

- Engine valves (Inlet and exhaust)

I managed to find all of these parts from either Panchikawatte or through contacts of the mechanic who carried out the engine restoration. Let me know if you need contact details.

All I can say is that this car is just amazing, Some things that I had trouble with over the years are:

- Clutch cable snapped once (have to expect that from a 30 year old car)

- Leaking radiator (again, old car, old radiator)

- Hand brake adjusting mechanism goes wrong, It just wears out soon. No parts available there, so I'm thinking of converting the entire dial and using the dial plate from a Lancer Box

- My steering box has a worn out pinion for some reason, I guess it was badly greased for some time. So there's a massive play in the steering, so I'm thinking of replacing the steering box. (Parts available in Panchikawatte - recon)

Hmm, thats about it I guess. I have been having this car for over 14 years now. And it stalled on the road only once... on the exact day I decided to buy a new car and while I was on my way back home after inspecting it. Guess these cars have feelings also. That incident alone was enough for me to make up my mind to keep the car and not sell it.

Good luck with buying your car. Let us know how it goes. I have also sent you a personal message. Check it out. :-)

Regards,

Davy

[Davy]

Hi davy,

Sorry for the late reply, i had been busy with my career

I need to do a repair to the hand brake which seems to be malfunctioning and does not make the car to stop.I think the cable is there but some reason does not work.The car works well to be frank and for and old vehicle the pickup is superb.

Will be fixing a stereo soon. ..

Any shops you deal with in panchikawatte for spares ?, i have not started to see how much mileage i get, can you enlgithen me about the range, this is a 1500 cc engine i think.

Hi Rameez,

I have sent you a PM on the hand brake issue. Hope you saw it.

I'm sure you have already found the spare shops in Panchikawatte. If not, let me know, I will PM you some places.

As for the mileage, since I restored my engine last year (4G33 1400cc), it does over 12 - 14 within city limits and about 18 - 19 outstation. If your engine has not been rebuilt recently, I would still expect about 12 in traffic and about 14 - 15 outstation.

Davy

[rameez]

Hi Rameez,

I have sent you a PM on the hand brake issue. Hope you saw it.

I'm sure you have already found the spare shops in Panchikawatte. If not, let me know, I will PM you some places.

As for the mileage, since I restored my engine last year (4G33 1400cc), it does over 12 - 14 within city limits and about 18 - 19 outstation. If your engine has not been rebuilt recently, I would still expect about 12 in traffic and about 14 - 15 outstation.

Davy

Davy please go ahead and let me know

[Davy]

Hi Rameez,

I've sent you an email with regard to this. Hope it goes well.

Davy

Edited May 12, 2011 by Davy

[rameez]

Hi Rameez,

I've sent you an email with regard to this. Hope it goes well.

Davy

hi davy...i might have to do an engine oil change as well right.....do you think castrol is ok...havoline is expensive as per friend.4 litre can should be fine right

[Davy]

Hi Rameez,

Castrol should be OK I guess (I'm using Lanka Super Plus SAE40. Old car - basic oil ), if you're doing an oil change, make sure you do an engine flush before that. That'll clear up sludge and dirt from your engine.

Davy

[rameez]

Hi Rameez,

Castrol should be OK I guess (I'm using Lanka Super Plus SAE40. Old car - basic oil ), if you're doing an oil change, make sure you do an engine flush before that. That'll clear up sludge and dirt from your engine.

Davy

davy that should be costly right going for an engine flush

[Davy]

davy that should be costly right going for an engine flush

Not at all Rameez. An engine flush liquid is pretty cheap and you can get the engine flushed in a matter of minutes.

If your car has undergone regular oil changes, an engine flush might not be necessary, as a matter of fact, old cars don't develop sludge like new cars. Ask your mechanic, he will know if a flush is necessary. After all since the valve body has been taken out now, you can manually have it cleaned.

I will send you an email on this as well.

Edited May 15, 2011 by Davy

[rameez]

Not at all Rameez. An engine flush liquid is pretty cheap and you can get the engine flushed in a matter of minutes.

If your car has undergone regular oil changes, an engine flush might not be necessary, as a matter of fact, old cars don't develop sludge like new cars. Ask your mechanic, he will know if a flush is necessary. After all since the valve body has been taken out now, you can manually have it cleaned.

I will send you an email on this as well.

HI davy ,

sorry for the late reply. well i went to pachikawatte ceymo motors on saturday and was able to get all the parts from one go , thanks buddy for the information. The person jayarathne is the owner right and was quite helpful. the gasket cost me about 2400( fuji), the spark plugs 225 each and the hose about 550 and the total about 3100, so that was it.will be fixing back all the things on vesak day, mechanic seems to be busy. fisrt i need to get the car running and then will look into the handbrake issue.

I also came to know that jayaratne was an ex employee of indika motors who dealt with lancer spare parts until they were closed down and also then he and his pal started this place.Indika motors should be known to you.

anyway i will also have to fix a wiper washer and coolant bottle to the car. the wiper washer bottle is there and from the internet i found out that there is a small mnotor that is fixed in the wedge bettween the bottle which pumps water, coolant bottle of course need to check the internet again. thanks for the photos and i will send you the photos of my dashboard( my PC has some problem with the USB port)

Davy with reagrd to the engine flush since my mechanic is a busy guy i though of doing it a seperate place and then filling an oil filter as well . Does a normal car servicing place do this.how much did that SAE 40 engine bottle from lanka oil cost you.4 literes should be ok and as you say old car basic oil should be fine Tongue out, as long it can do the job.

[rameez]

Hi Davy,

Hope you are doing fine, well just wanted to keep you updated. The mechanic came on the vesak day and fixed the head gasket and it took about 4 hours to get this done since he had to sand the engine in certain areas. After we fixed all the parts we cranked the engine and it started, however although most of the vibration was gone when compared before, the engine was far from smooth. Something that I missed very much.

He later adjusted the idle and also did something to the distributor but still the problem is there, I yesterday took the car out for a ride but the performance was poor. The car accelerates poorly and I get the feeling of a motorbike that goes into reserve ( I think you know the jerk you get when your bike goes into reserve fuel), the same thing is occurring here as well.I floored the gas but the car although reached very high speed in marine drive the time was more, must look into it this weekend.

Tough luck…..

[The Don]

Hi Davy,

Hope you are doing fine, well just wanted to keep you updated. The mechanic came on the vesak day and fixed the head gasket and it took about 4 hours to get this done since he had to sand the engine in certain areas. After we fixed all the parts we cranked the engine and it started, however although most of the vibration was gone when compared before, the engine was far from smooth. Something that I missed very much.

He later adjusted the idle and also did something to the distributor but still the problem is there, I yesterday took the car out for a ride but the performance was poor. The car accelerates poorly and I get the feeling of a motorbike that goes into reserve ( I think you know the jerk you get when your bike goes into reserve fuel), the same thing is occurring here as well.I floored the gas but the car although reached very high speed in marine drive the time was more, must look into it this weekend.

Tough luck…..

I think either there is an issue in the ignition system (unlikely at this stage since your mechanic should have spotted it and repaired it) or your cylinders might be under compression. Your engine is no longer producing as much energy as before. Get a compression test done and if it is found to be under compression, you will need to do an engine overhaul.

Edited May 20, 2011 by The Don

[rameez]

I think either there is an issue in the ignition system (unlikely at this stage since your mechanic should have spotted it and repaired it) or your cylinders might be under compression. Your engine is no longer producing as much energy as before. Get a compression test done and if it is found to be under compression, you will need to do an engine overhaul.

Hi don,

Where can i get a compression test done......... , this guy kept his finger in the 1st 2 cylinders and told me that if there was compression it would push it out .

with regard to the ignition system , he also suspects that,he says that he has to remove the spark plug wires and check....

[The Don]

Hi don,

Where can i get a compression test done......... , this guy kept his finger in the 1st 2 cylinders and told me that if there was compression it would push it out .

with regard to the ignition system , he also suspects that,he says that he has to remove the spark plug wires and check....

Well Rameez,

First and foremost your mechanic sounds a bit incompetent. What I would do is do the cheapest thing first and then go from there.

These are all things which should be done by your mechanic.

Normally you can detect a cylinder is misfiring by removing a wire from a spark plug at a time and seeing if this makes a difference.

They will also remove the spark plugs and check if they are in good condition. They are not too expensive to replace.

Failing which they should check the fuel system for blockages, if the injector is in good condition and the carburettor is working properly.

If all that is ok then one should check the compression, though sadly I can't recommend a place to get this done. I think Edirisingha engineering works might do this and their details can be found in the yellow pages. They are the best known people for engine rebuilding.

[Davy]

Hi Davy,

Hope you are doing fine, well just wanted to keep you updated. The mechanic came on the vesak day and fixed the head gasket and it took about 4 hours to get this done since he had to sand the engine in certain areas. After we fixed all the parts we cranked the engine and it started, however although most of the vibration was gone when compared before, the engine was far from smooth. Something that I missed very much.

He later adjusted the idle and also did something to the distributor but still the problem is there, I yesterday took the car out for a ride but the performance was poor. The car accelerates poorly and I get the feeling of a motorbike that goes into reserve ( I think you know the jerk you get when your bike goes into reserve fuel), the same thing is occurring here as well.I floored the gas but the car although reached very high speed in marine drive the time was more, must look into it this weekend.

Tough luck…..

Hi Rameez,

As I said over my email, what your mechanic did when he adjusted the distributor is that he adjusted the engine's ignition timing (probably advanced it a little); I hope he knew what he was doing because this can really mess things up.

Another thing is that this roughness could be because power is not reaching the spark plugs correctly. There's a small capacitor attached to the distributor and a contact point set inside the distributor, you might have to check and replace them if there's an ignition problem. Usually after a problem like what you faced, it's godd if you can replace them + clean the distributor cap and rotor thoroughly.

As Don said, it also might be due to low compression in one or more cylinders because the gasket leak might have caused water/coolant to enter the combustion chamber which is not a good thing. I think I know a place to get a compression test done, I'll send you details through email as usual.

Good luck and keep me posted via email as u always do.

Davy

[mensoft]

Bump .

Rameez , Do you still have this car with you ?

[rameez]

Bump .

Rameez , Do you still have this car with you ?

yes machang.......i still use it

[mensoft]

yes machang.......i still use it

Great To have a Owner here .

Mine to A72.but not the wagon. i have a issue with my hand break. break adjusters are missing.

And do you have Windscreen Washer in your car ? is it in working condition ?

Edited August 18, 2011 by mensoft

[Sylvi]

Great To have a Owner here .

Mine to A72.but not the wagon. i have a issue with my hand break. break adjusters are missing.

And do you have Windscreen Washer in your car ? is it in working condition ?

'mensoft',

Windscreen washers if it is defective you can get enough used good ones at Delkanda used spare parts shops. I one year ago bought with the tank for rupees 1000.00 it was not the same for the car which fitted I did small modifications to the fixing bracket and fitted same only to connect to the water line of the windscreen if it is not used for long time get the tubes cleaned and water jet nipples to the W/S also cleaned.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

[LancerL]

Hi, I have a Lancer A73 L light car 9 Sri (1976 module) brought a week back. This hasn't serviced nearly 8 months and planing to do on next weekend.

Can anyone advice me about the best engine oil grade for this by your experience.

Also do I have to replace the gear oil and differential oil too or just filling is enough??

Thanks in advance

Mahesh