1989 Mitsubishi Magna 2.6 Astron EFI

Summary:

Hats off to Aussie engineers!

Faults:

Air conditioning system failed at 265000Km. Repaired by replacing the hose to compressor from condenser + re gas, ($180)

Loss of coolant from radiator, fixed with adding a sealant to the cooling system.

Sagging roof lining cloth pinned with paper pins by the previous owner.

Center console plastic surround cracking and finally falling to pieces.

Slight oil leak from the front crank oil seal.

General Comments:

The most comfortable car I have ever owned, not good for hard cornering though, the soft sprung long travel suspension soaks up all undulations on the road, quiet ride.

Well engineered car for age. As the original donor design was a Japanese Mitsubishi Galant.

Good pulling power from engine, for its capacity, yet it can consume a lot of fuel if driven hard.

Responsive and powerful brakes (all four disks).

Good rust proofing.

A few modifications were done to the engine cooling system to avoid the engine blowing up in the summer.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 2nd October, 2008

1989 Mitsubishi Magna SE 2.5 EFI

Faults:

Can anyone help me? I have a 1989 TP EFI 2.5L Magna that seems to be overheating. There is a lot of hot water spurting out of the radiator overflow pipe. When the car pulls up, it also make a terrible gurgling sound in the engine.

Can anyone tell me where the thermostat is on the car, and how I can go about replacing it? And which one to replace it with? Do I also have to replace the radiator cap, as a small amount of steam is leaking from that too?

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 9th October, 2004

19th Oct 2004, 22:31

DO NOT DRIVE THIS CAR AT ALL!!!

I had the same problem. My Thermostat had jammed shut, thereby not allowing coolant to flow through the engine. The result was a blown head gasket, leaking coolant into at least one cylinder.

I now need a new head gasket fitted, which will cost AUD$600 all up.

The Thermostat is located just behind the fuel pipe. Look for the large air intake box on the drivers side of the car. Follow the hose until it joins the top of the engine. The Thermostat is located below this.

To remove the Thermostat you will need to disconnect the air intake, then the fuel delivery line. The Thermostat is secured by two bolts.

When just before fitting the new thermostat, fill the radiator with water until it flows out of the thermostat housing. This way you'll avoid an airlock in the system.

8th Nov 2004, 06:28

That's what happened to our car too! But now that we've paid that $600.00 and its fixed, now the indicator lights don't work. It's not just the lightbulb... its that it sometimes turns on, and it sometimes doesn't. We've been told that it'll cost another extra $200+ from mitsubishi as there is a 'loose connection' after we paid for a service of $159.00...

Does this sound right?

1989 Mitsubishi Magna Executive 2.6 Multi ECI

Summary:

Poor quality, family sized car, but it is cheap

Faults:

When I bought the car, it had a timing chain problem.

Advisory warning about shocks on the road worthy certificate.

My water pump cracked about two weeks after I got the car.

Notice bad battery contacts a few days after purchase which reduced the efficiency of the battery power.

General Comments:

I bought this car for $700 + $50 with new battery, 2 new tyre's and a Road Worthy Certificate from a used car dealer.

The handling is very poor, probably due to it's soft high suspension setup.

I feel the car is very heavy, but some other drivers think otherwise.

The cabin is roomy, seats 5 adults comfortably, but I believe there are bigger available.

There are problems with the engine, both in performance and design. I find it difficult to work on the engine.

There is a common timing chain problem (a rattling noise). It can be tensioned, but more likely it needs to be replace as well as new gears and oil pump (the main reason it fails).

Personally, if you would like to buy this car, don't pay more than $1000 for it (03/06/04). You should be able to find on in good shape for this price, not beaten up or in poor condition. Look for the Injected version not the Carburettor version.

I also heard it is the first Australian designed car, I'm not sure if it is true or not.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 3rd June, 2004

24th Dec 2007, 14:17

In the 4 cylinder range for that time (85-91), it gave you the room and power of a six, but in a neat little four cylinder package (go to youtube.com and type in Mitsubishi Magna, and you should find all the ad's etc and the intro from 1985), but of course there are bigger cabins geometrically (cubic cm wise) like in the Ford Falcon (I won't mention the other type of car, as their new VE series is a total waste of space and time; I had a company one, it blew the computer 3 times, new brakes, new exhaust, EFI blew, waste of time).

I use my 1990 Magna Elante to get to and from work now. I paid $500 for it, and quite literally it looks like new apart from the odd stone chip on the grille. It's quite normal to have stone chips on cars after driving on a dirt road.

The cab in the Magna seems huge and roomy, and I noticed the difference between the manual EFI and auto Carby; my 90 EFI takes off first thing, but the 89 carby auto trots along like a town car, and has a sluggish performance like a 2.8 6 cyl Merc from the 70's.