HEAD GASKET FAILURES ON 2003 MITSUBISHI MONTERO SPORT 3.5 L V6 ENGINE. 1. NO PRECEDING EVENT, CAR STARTED IDLING ROUGH WHEN FIRST STARTED. IDLE SMOOTHES AFTER A SHORT TIME. 2. RIGHT SIDE HEAD GASKET STARTED LEAKING COOLANT INTO CYL #2 AT 30K MILES, REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. LEFT SIDE HEAD GASKET STARTED LEAKING COOLANT INTO CYL #1 AT 65,600 MILES. REPLACEMENT DENIED BY MANUFACTURER, EVEN THOUGHT IT IS AN OBVIOUS MANUFACTURING DEFECT. 3. NOT YET REPLACED DUE TO COST. *NM
THE OWNER SMELLED GASOLINE FUEL WHEN OPERATING VEHICLE AND STARTING IT ONE LAST TIME, THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT BURST INTO FLAMES. THIS LOSS WAS INVESTIGATED BY SUPERIOR INVESTIGATIONS 800-779-2858. THE FUEL RAIL PRESSURE VALVE WAS LOOSE, AND CAUSED FUEL TO LEAK AND START A FIRE.*AK