Outer Limits 4x4 Board

OK, I use my Paj in the water, mainly on my property, nothing serious mind you , just some splashin in the creek, nothing above wheel height & I certainly dont remember it taking a bad dunking. Just good fun, I thought.

So I had this bad noise coming from the front axle when I recently tried to engage 4WD. I immediately thought bad vacuum lines & all that sort of stuff. They all checked out OK, so i took the Paj to my local diff guy.

Turns out the front diff was full of water!! result one badly farked front end, including ARB locker hemisphere! Ouch $1200 just for that baby, lucky I still have a spare front diff in good nick so they can salvage CW&P off that.

I still cant understand where the H2o got in but it sure got in. All in all a damn expensive $$$ exercise. So guess what , no more water for me & regular checking of diff fluids etc.

yeh im with you ian,

water is a shit! iv replaced 2 x steering knuckle bearings, several cv boots, another CV that was chipping away, a brake caliper, wheel bearings both sides, all seals in the front end of the mighty paj and theres still suggestions of water damage through other parts. Water and/or mud is not good, iv never liked mud anyways, even less now. It seems that a SAS could be a solution, a live axle setup just doesnt seem to be so finicky. I have never had a problem with the rear end, not like i do the front, and it goes the same places the front does. For me, i have seriously thought about the future of the pajero lately, SAS, buy a zook, save some moneys and buy a GU coil cab for touring aus, sell paj buy road going car for 12 months, save moneys buy a Patrol, im not sure....For the moment everything is really good with the paj andi actually am off the thought opf selling for a moment. Who knows.....

dean

yeah Paj is an excellent, comfortable vehicle, hasnt missed a beat til now, just doesnt like water though!

cheers

Interesting. I am regularily in water, often over wheel height, that is all my vehicle gets used for is off roading (bar the driving on the road to get there) it does about 5000km a year.

I have never had water in any diffs or gearbox. I checked them religiously after any water trip after I first got it, and never had any so now don't bother unless I have just been on a big trip and or sitting (stuck) in deep water.

I reckon if it is getting in it will be on the LHS where the inner cv pushes into the diff housing as this is where they can tend to weep. Mine has a slight weep but surprisingly it doesn't let water it.

The water and mud is a pain with ball joints etc.

NJ

NJ, beats me where it got in, but all I know is NO MORE water for me, I cant afford it!!!!!!!

Sorry, never had a problem with water. Except the doors leaked sometimes in very deep water. Talking over front of bonnet deepth.
I try and let things cool abit before plunging in and never intentionally stop in deep water.
That was my NJ.

Zute, that is a very good point - I won't go roaring into deep water, always try to cool my heals a bit first, it doesn't take to long for oils to cool.

Ian, I'm afraid I couldnt have the attitude towards water that you do - I'd go insane! Drawn to it like moths to a light bulb!!

I am imagine the frustration of having to turf a front locker thou... What was the damage - bearings rusted?

NJ,

Bearings farked, rusted, CW&P farked, ARB locker farked.

Most stuff farked!! Fark me.

$1200 for a new ARB hemisphere, I supplied another CW&P , new seals, bearings all round (not sure about wheel bearings though), labour.
I dont think i'll get much change from $2k.

Mate, its so depressing , all I can do is farking stay away from water.

Feel for ya mate . I am still completely locker less... Have not sourced another factory rear ($$$$$), just biding my time till the ARB one arrives... Not long now.... maybe....

funny about this, im in the process of doing all bearings on car ..two week saga so far.

i check diff and trans fluids after every meeting with the water ... but have had some noises of late ... bearings were ok ...but the smaller bearing on the inside of the hubs (where the cv pokes into) was non existant on both hubs .. the two wheel bearings were not the problem.

so that and all the bushes on the two trailing arms, transmission linkages - transfer mounts ... tailshaft seals ..... heaps needed replacing ... hopefully this is it for a while ...all goes back together sat/sun ....

water/mud holes .... are not nice ... think its ok as long as you KNOW your not going to get stuck and sit still in them ..... i do run long diff breathers - never had water in them .....

just thought id share my experience with water

Yep, as Hayden said, you need diff breathers........

Interesting timing of post, Im changing the diff oil and extending diff breathers this weekend.

PajeroSRV wrote:Yep, as Hayden said, you need diff breathers........

as far as i know the Paj does have breather that extends up to the engine bay.???

Well, get underneath and have a look

Other possibilities are:

1. It was never there

2. It was there originally but someone took it off and left it off (most likely when you got your locker)

3. They did not seal around the diff centre properly when they put in the locker and put the centre back into the housing

4. Its there but split or perished

Ian Sharpe wrote:

PajeroSRV wrote:Yep, as Hayden said, you need diff breathers........

as far as i know the Paj does have breather that extends up to the engine bay.???

Yes, it does, but it's a pathetic little vacuum tube sized line which blocks easily.

Have a hunt around on 4x4 Wire. Frank posted an article on upgrading the breather to something a little less pathetic - in typical Frank fashion, it's an excellent job!

I'm probably a bit anal with my grease gun in that every oil change every nipple gets a squirt. I also spend about an hour looking underneath to make sure every thing looks to be in place.
I'm not very trusting when it comes to other people touching my car, so I like to check there work.

Bitsamissin wrote:http://www.4x4wire.com/mitsubishi/tech/ ... breathers/

thanks Frank, I'll take a look at this when I get the Paj back. Good news (if there can be any good news) is that no other water contamination was found, ie transfer case, tranny or rear diff. All in all , this has been a nasty experience & costly too!.

Yeah thats why I try and avoid mud/water if I possibly can.
If I have to go through it I will but if there is another way round I will always take it.
Bog hole heroes = max maintenance $$ (been there done that).
The IFS is much more susceptable to water ingress than a live axle.

i met sum water once...blew my front box, ecu, radio, relays,cb,fuses, and anything else electric lol