IMPORT ADVICE FOR PAJERO NEWBIE

[Chris_McCartney]

My parents said they dont want me walking to and from work in November and December because once that ice and snow comes even the cars struggle, let alone people. Heard them saying about replacing it with another mk2, something cheap, and getting me back on the road through winter, then just pulling the j-top behind the house until winter passes and we have a chance to fix it. Climate in Ireland is pretty poor, we get a few weeks of sunshine in summer, the rest is warm rain, then spring and autumn are both dry and sunny but cold, then winter comes, usually not much rain but it gets damn cold!!!! Theres a nice red mk2 2.8 (auto ) for sale within 2 miles of me but the owner on holiday and not back until monday evening....

[WillsPaj]

No worries Chris. I guess we are lucky here with our Winters. When I was looking for a replacement for the Ford sedan to tow the boat with I saw a lot of generation 2 Mitsubishi's but they were all well out of my price range. Do you know if any of the Japanese home market vehicles made it to Ireland or the UK?

I suppose having a cheap 4WD to use through your harsh winter isn't such a bad idea, I know a few motorcycle riders who have two machines, one for the good weather and one for everything else!

Did the first dirt run after fitting the new roof storage and awning, nothing fell off!

[Chris_McCartney]

Looking good, looks like a great location for grabbing a few beers and setting up tent!! Japanese home market vehicles, by that do you mean exported from Japan by personal buyers? If so in the UK and Ireland of all the mk1s, mk2s and mk3s, about 1/3 of them are Japanese spec Pajero models, and the rest are a European model called Shogun. I think during the mid to late 90s it was increasingly popular to import Japanese Pajeros due to the higher specifications of their European Shogun equivalent. For example £2000 ($3200) will get you a Pajero with air conditioning, less than 110,000 miles, an auto gearbox, electric windows, electric sunroof, adjustable suspension, electric mirrors and all the options, or the same price will get you a European spec Shogun, which will probably be only base spec, no electric windows, no air-con etc. During the late 90s there were thousands of Pajeros imported into the UK and Ireland (including mine, imported 1998), many with every option available, and unusually, all cheaper to insure than the Shoguns. Did that answer your question? Chris

[WillsPaj]

G'day Chris,

Yeah, that pretty much answered my question. It was the Japanese spec Pajero's I was talking about too, here in Oz we had an influx of Japanese home market 4WD's and cars that started in the early nineties and continues to this day. Most of the imports were much better optioned than the 'official' Australian models sold by mainly Toyota and Mitsubishi. I don't recall seeing many Nissan offroaders about though their sports cars were and still are very popular here. The Aussie spec wagons of '88 only had a leaf rear end and rear drum brakes too compared to coils and discs on mine.

I'm off to the local wreckers today to try and find a good rear bumper end cap before my damaged one falls off

cheers mate,
Will.

[Chris_McCartney]

Did you find a bumper end cap Will? I went to see a 1995 2.8 SWB Pajero import there yesterday, selling for roughly $2900. It's red with silver arches and trims, chrome front and rear bumper centres, a rear spoiler and tinted rear windows. The cloth interior has no tears or rips apart from one tiny cigarette burn on the driver seat, which the owner told me was from previous owner because he doesnt allow anyone to smoke inside his cars... Its the 2.8 Auto with the digital air-con and the heads-up display (compass etc). Lovely 4x4 only flaw is that the bonnet and spoiler are a bit faded and need a good buffing up, but I already own a buffer and Farecla G3 (french cutting compound), which brings anything back to factory colour, even my J-Top when I bought it!! May be buying tonight!

[WillsPaj]

Sounds like a great vehicle Chris? Luckily I found an end cap on wreck at our local yard. The same vehicle has a set of better than mine wheel caps too, might return to get those as well.........

Good luck with the purchase if it goes ahead, looks to be a bargain! Any photos? On the faded paint thing, my Pajero's previous owner[brother in law]had the bonnet and roof resprayed as the paint was beyond being able to be buffed up. Must be our harsh Aussie Sun

Cheers Mate,
Will.

[Chris_McCartney]

Well I bought it, and I gotta say, it's in a whole new league compared to the J-Top. Got the electronic suspension (still working), the ride is amazing, as smooth as my dads 2003 Shogun, it just glides over bumps. Theres electric heated folding mirrors, electric windows, the digital air-con unit, factory 40mm body lift (for the 2.8 larger gearbox), the great big 2.8 bonnet scoop, a rear spoiler, and a nice big (yet thirsty) 140bhp 2835cc auto engine.... I love it, not even 100,000 miles on it yet.... and best of all, it was the equivalent of $2500 Aus!! Bargain. Been working since thursday so when I get a chance (hopefully sunday) I will find my camera and get some nice photos. Moved the Cooper STT's over to it and gotta say, it turns some heads!! Sorry for the story, guess its the new car feel hasn't wore off!!

[WillsPaj]

No worries Chris! Souns like you're smitten with the new Paj I actually used my Pajero to launch and retrieve my boat yesterday, I was surprised how well it towed the 800 odd kilograms. It's 'only' a 2.5 litre engine after all. Seems the turbo makes a big difference, once it starts to spin up the extra torque can be felt. Interestingly, the owners book says to "avoid running the engine on high boost for extended lengths of time" I wonder how one is supposed to do that? Coast along in 'angel' gear?

Lookin' forward to some pix of your new wheels. It is the 2.8 turbo diesel eh?

cheers Will.

[scorpion 42]

Hi Chris and Will,
Been reading with interest, what you to guys have been doing with your trucks since you aquired them, sorry to hear about your misshap with your Jtop Chriss, anyhow, just thought I would offer you this gold nugget of advice about the 2.8 you have just aquired, they are not very robust as the
2.5,s or the 3.0 trucks, because they all suffer from spitting the dummy out after a 100, 000 km,s. What i mean by spitting the dummy out, is the front fuel seals start letting the desiel past the engine and into the sump with the engine oil and the symtoms are these, she start up in a morning with a bit of black smoke and off you go, once you come to the first juction, she will stall, take a good few turns to get her going again and then she will run all day, till you switch her off for any lenth of time and then you have the same palava all over again. But it is very dangerous to ignore this, as the engine will race on and on and you wont be able to stop it, so the reason this happens, is this, the seals that are fitted to it in Japan are for the desiel in Japan and once they get here in Europe our desiel causes the seals to shrink and break up, hence the leak into the engine sump, so Chris, keep your eyes open for this heads up and get the seals changed ASAP when it happens, the seals are only a couple of quid, its the labour that costs, all told around £ 250 to £300, thats if you can find someone local to you to do the job for you, OK didn't mean to scare you, just warn you of whats going to happen down the road, other wise you have got your self a much better and stronger truck than the J top.
Best of luck to both of you, Jack.

[Chris_McCartney]

Thanks Jack appreciate the heads up, always good to get some advice from a fellow Mits owner, just hope it doesnt happen within the next 6 months, the J-Top never even made it through winter!! Not too bothered but, this ones a lot warmer and the glass rear windows make it a lot easier to drive in rain/night, once summer comes again and the days get longer theres plenty of time for working on them!!

Will, heres the photos of the new one!! The black one is my dads Shogun, he fitted the tyres, side steps and a-bar, they really set it off!! Notice I've already swapped over to my Cooper STT tyres!!

[WillsPaj]

G'day Chris & Jack,

That's a great lookin Paj there Chris! Combination of the 2.8 intercooled and the lighter SWB body should make for a great offroader. All the years I had Suzuki's I learnt to love the short wheelbase configuration, they were just sooo easy to drive in tight offroad situations. The first thing I noticed when I started driving my Paj was it's turning circle, it's huuuge More than one embarrassing situation whilst attempting u-turns..............

Thanks jack for the info on what to keep an eye out for re the diesel seepage, but thankfully so far I have no issues and the engine has now covered near on 260,000 km. A friend who works for Shell told me years ago that all of our diesel in Australia is imported from Asia, maybe that's where Japan sources theirs from too?

Has either of you guys had any experience with diesel additives for cleaning injectors etc.? I've no idea when my engine had it's injectors serviced last, though it seems to start and run OK. The only time I see fuel smoke it with large throttle openings at low engine speeds, and every diesel truck I've ever driven did that too. At least from what I've read our Mitsubishi turbo diesels are far and away more reliable than the Toyota ones fitted to the Surf range of HiLuxes that are also Japanese imports into the Aussie market.

Cheers Guys,
Will.

[Chris_McCartney]

Never had any experience with fuel additives no. I think any diesel engine will last forever if serviced right, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Rover etc, although my dads mate is having problems with his Surf!! Will be great once I find a nice roof rack and some spotlights!!

[Chris_McCartney]

Any adventures lately Will?

[scorpion 42]

Hi there, Chris and Will,
What most of the Guys over here use, fo cleaning the fuel lines and fuel filter and on into the injectors, is a product called Proten, they tend to use it when the do a fuel filter change, they fill the new filter with proten and what is left over the chuck in the fuel tank, that way it runs from the tank to the injectors, but if they get to bad, then you have to have them refurbished, hope this helps, myself I have a SWB 3500 GDI thats a bit of a flying machine with its 6 speed tiptronic box and she's petrol and I also run a what we call over here, a Chelsea Tractor, a Porshe 4x4, but thats for going out and about in, the GDI for offroad and kitted ou for it.
see ya. Jack.

[scorpion 42]

Hi Will and chris,
Here's another one you can have a look at to, the japs designed these trucks with an EGR valve and this kind of gets bunged up and needs stripping down and soaking in some desiel and gone to work on, with a wire brush and that seems to sort your problem, they even go to the bother of blanking the EGR valve off with a metal plate, all you have to do, is get yourself a piece of 3mm flat plate and drill a hole in eack corner to attach the plate with the two nuts, simple as that, its all down to the exhaust gas regs in Japan, because they were built for the Japanese market, the Pajero, it is the Shogun that was built for export.
Also Will, you can check the heater plugs out to see if any one of them is duff, just pop them out and test them one at a time useing your battery charger or the battery on the truck, with a pair of jump leads, hope this helps and you get rid of old smokie joe LOL

[Chris_McCartney]

Hi Jack, thanks for the advice. I cleaned the EGR valve on my Jtop a few months ago and it certainly helped with the smoke, what I did was leave the EGR valve overnight in a mixture of white spirit and lemonade, then took it out next day and powerwashed it... The dirt which came out was unbelievable, thick black soot-like stuff. The lemonade is just a cheap and cheerful way of cleaning metal, you should try it on a rusty bolt some time, leave it a day or two then scrub with a toothbrush, removes surface rust!! Cant remember where I got that tip. Anyway back to the point, when I cleaned the EGR valve I guess I didnt powerwash the inside well enough as it smoked even worse for a few days (probably the excess white spirit still inside) and it was embarassing to start, but a few days later it was running with less smoke than before. I have an EGR valve blanking plate (stainless steel) sitting in the kitchen which I bought for the JTop, but the 2.8 runs smoke free, it feels very well maintained!! The Porsche Cayennes are a very nice machine, love the twin exhausts, you can tell they mean business!! Speaking of Chelsea Tractors, I seen a black Lincoln Navigator yesterday in town, probably the only one in Northern Ireland!! Chris

[WillsPaj]

G'day Guys,
Thanks Jack for the tip on the EGR valve, I didn't know they were fitted to diesels too! I'll check that out very soon. Still waiting for an offroad run Chris, looks like it will be a beach run to a place called Stockton Beach in Newcastle about 150km north of Sydney. I've been there many times over the last 25 years, I was born and raised in Newcastle




I've never driven a diesel in the sand so it should be interesting I'll be travelling with my Brother in his 2005 Suzuki Grand Vitara. It's got the 2.7 litre V6 and should do well on the sand[with lots of revs]but I reckon I will have the last laugh at the fuel pump!

I had some new shoes fitted to the Paj the other day, as the fitted tyres were well past their best before date, with only three being sort of OK and one being a retread! I had been toying with the idea of trading the Paj on a newer model 4WD so before I bit the bullet and spent the $$ on the new rubber I test drove a lot of fourbies around the early to mid nineties in age and I gotta say, even with the old rubber still fitted the ride quality and general driveability of my old '88 Paj was as good, or better than everything I drove in my price range. Amongst those were a couple of HiLuxes in single and dual cab, a HiLux Surf, two Jackeroos[Isuzu Trooper]SWB and LWB Patrols, and a pair of LandCruisers. All the above were diesels, with both the Holden Jackeroo and Surf being turbos. I wanted to stay with a diesel for towing my boat, and for the fuel economy. The only 4WD that came close was a rough as guts SWB Patrol, but it had very high mileage and no service history at all.

So in the end I decided to bite the bullet, spend $700 dollars on four new Maxxis Bighorn muddies and a wheel alignment and keep the Paj for a few more years. Really, all it needs now it to have the oil leak sorted and that's it. I've also ordered another new Maxxis to go onto the spare after I found a matching chrome rim in a local wreckers, so I won't have to worry about mis-matching tyre diameters if I get a puncture. I carry a 90L/minute compressor and tyre repair kit all the time anyway these days.

I'll post a pic of the new rubber soon.
Cheers Guys,
Will.

[WillsPaj]

Oh Dear,

I fitted a switch today to turn the driving lights on and off[required by law here in NSW]and at one stage I started the engine, let it idle then turned on high beam and driving lights. Then I noticed a weird 'burning] smell coming from the alternator side of the engine, along with a little bit of smoke

I shut it off immediately, checked all the wiring which looks OK. Restarted the engine and put the lights on again, no smell or smoke but i notice the 'charge' light on the dash doesn't go right out, and glows about half normal brightness compared to when the ignition is switched 'on' without the motor running.

A quick check with the volt meter confirms my fears, with engine running and lights on the battery voltage drops to about 11v.

Oh No

These alternators are very pricey here, about half what the tyres just cost me

So I'll probably fit a 110 amp alternator in readiness for dual batteries next year.

I feel better now I've vented................

Cheers All,
William.

[scorpion 42]

Ok Will,
So you have bite the bullet and spent the money on the Maxxis, good choice for your ( down underland ) LOL, So your off to the beach, are you pulling your boat on this trip, as I cant see any rod mounts on your bull bar, to transport your rods for a bit of sea fishing, as I know you aussies love a nice barbied fish. for your tucker.

Well this is a heads up for driving on the soft sand or for that matter, any sand, once you get where your going and have parked the boat trailer up, if it was me, then I would be de airing my tyres all round, to a 18 psi, that way, I would have a bigger footprint from each corner of the truck,and I hope you have a Hi lift Jack and a couple of welded on jacking points, front and rear, so when you get back to the tarmac, you lift it front and rear to stop the straining the little air compresser motor from trying to blow up all four tyres to at least 30 psi for the road.
Ho yeah, wheres this oil leak emmernating from, then Will ??? bye the way, have you given all your oil levels the once over, since you have had this old fella of yours and I mean, all levels, Ie,front and rear diff, transfer box, the gearbox fluid nice and cherry red, thats to say if its Auto ???? because you dont want to take it into sand and make it work really hard, if the old fella isn't really up to it, just thought I would drop this on you, to save embarrasment from your brother, OK Hope you enjoy it, best regards Jack.

[Chris_McCartney]

Got any pics with the new Mudders Will? Manage to get the bumper end cap yet? Trip sounds like great fun!! I've noticed these Mitsubishi diesels dont like very cold mornings Jack?

[WillsPaj]

Thanks Jack, I've checked all the fluids and they are OK. Today I'll try and get the crook alternator sorted, I might be able to get a reco one rather than have to spend three or four hundred dollars on a new one

Thanks for the tip about reinflating the tyres with no weight on them, that's a good idea! Luckily where we exit the beach there is a service station, though on busy days the queue to get air can be 10 or 15 vehicles!

I think the oil leak is coming from the oil pressure switch sender, though I'm not sure as it's so messy down there!

I'll get some pix up with the new Maxxis rubber as soon as I can.

Cheers All,
Will.

[-Scott-]

Thanks for the tip about reinflating the tyres with no weight on them, that's a good idea!

Interesting idea. Before you jack the car up, check the pressure in the tyre, then do it again with the tyre off the ground, and post the two pressures.

[WillsPaj]

Will do!

BTW the alternator was shot. Pick up car tomorrow and find out what $$ it's cost this time!

cheers Will

[scorpion 42]

Well Will, thats real easy, just wash around the oil sender unit, with a paint brush and a little parraffin, then crack the unit and find youself a new washer seal and it should be Bob's your uncle.

And all you have to do, Chriss, is count the amount of clicks from the heater plugs and dont turn it over, untill at least 5 / 6, that way she should crash into life and give her a couple of minutes to warm herself up, then OFF you go. All the best Jack.

[pjb]

Thanks for the tip about reinflating the tyres with no weight on them, that's a good idea!

Interesting idea. Before you jack the car up, check the pressure in the tyre, then do it again with the tyre off the ground, and post the two pressures.

LOL, I'm looking forward to the results of this one!

[-Scott-]

give her a couple of minutes to warm herself up, then OFF you go.

Do any car manufacturers recommend "warming up" an engine these days? Any engine builders? F1 cars have an automated "warm up" sequence for their engines - they don't simply "idle" them (of course, F1 cars idle at ridiculous rpm, but they don't "warm up" at a constant rpm).

For years, I've been reading that extended idling is bad for an engine, and doing it cold is about the worst. Give it a few seconds for the oil to reach everywhere, then drive gently for the first few km.

[Chris_McCartney]

Thats never been a problem for me Scott, usually when I hop in and the engines cold the seats are usually too cold to want to sit in them, so I hop in and drive (easy) straight off!! Haha. You've no idea how bad these 'seasons' we get over this side of the world are... constant rain, snow, ice, and the summers.... well up in the north end of Ireland here we usually see a maximum of 28*C... only during short heatwaves but!! Average summer temp is 20*C, and winter dropped to, well -20*C at one point last year, that hurt it was so cold!! Now you know why Ireland has the greenest grass in the world, plenty of water!!

[WillsPaj]

G'day All,

It pays to shop around.......................Remember the alternator carked it? First two auto elecs just said to replace it with a reco unit, about $350 ish. Talked to local mechanic who I've been using for ten years and he recommended an auto elec nearby, went to see him and he did some checks and rebuilt my own alternator for $220 inc labour, drive in drive out. Turns out rectifiers were shot, and had been on way out for a while. Charges very strongly now!
But wait, there's more!

Next day the air con died. Well our Summer is just around the corner and a dark colour equals oven like cabin temps-I've seen 50 deg C on the 'inside' temp gauge readout

I thought, great. Just spent $869 on five new tyres then the alternator goes, then the air con dies the very next day!

I was feeling very anti MMC by this time, but I thought bugger it. I'll get the air con fixed as I do enjoy driving the Paj, and especially the suspension seat on my crook lower back. Three separate air con 'specialists' I saw in one day, first guy said the gas was low, and showed me with a special torch where the leaks were, at the compressor. Said drive in drive out would be $900!! I said how do you know the gas is low? he said when system is underpressurised a fail safe switch stops the compressor clutch from engaging. I said it was working OK last week and left. Next guy didn't even open the bonnet, said at least $850 maybe more! The last guy I saw wanted $55 just to have a look and pressure test the system!

I was devastated. I went back to my local mechanic again, he said the auto elec who did my alternator does air con too, though it's not his specialty. Bewdy.

I called in the next day unannounced, he said it might be tied up with the short that wrecked the alternator and made a phone call, turns out this model Pajero was not originally factory designed from the start with air con in mind, and so the wiring, relays and fuses are all INSIDE the cabin behind the glove box. Of course they are
My friendly auto elec checked the pressure on the spot, said it wasn't quite full but still more than adequate to operate and spent some time searching and checking circuits before realising it was a blown fuse
I had the system regassed anyway, all the time he took plus the regas was only $120.

I asked him about upgrading the stock H4 globes to something like a 90W low and 130W high globe, and he said it would need relays etc. otherwise switches and or wiring would burn out. then he suggested HID conversion. That's the way I went, using stock headlights had HID globes fitted with all the other bits like ballast, wiring, fuses etc. Only $280 fitted

Seriously, in all my years of driving all sorts of vehicles I've never used such an efficient lighting system. Very easy to pick out objects at night, and only 35W per light current draw. I would recommend this conversion to anyone considering spending big dollars on halogen driving lights. They are absolutely AWSOME!

Like I said, it pays to shop around Air con is now so cold I have to turn vents away to stop my hands and wrists aching

[WillsPaj]

New tyres on, alternator fitted and air con working! WooHoo


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[NJV6]

NIce original looking Gen 1.

Don't get too hung up on spending money on these old vehicles, it is at least 20 years old and things will go wrong.