Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Long, sad story – NL Pajero.

I am about to trade my NL Pajero in on a new NW Pajero. I wanted it to be as good as possible, There was a slight oil leak from the cam cap at the rear of the L engine head. I bought a new O ring and tried to get the cap off, but couldn’t access one bolt. So eventually, I removed the inlet manifold and fitted the new O ring.

On reassembly of the inlet manifold, I dropped a spring washer at the rear of the upper section of the manifold. I often drop the washer and you pick it up from the bash plate next time you do an oil filter change. Not this time……

The bloody washer went inside the manifold. Naturally, I didn’t know until I started the engine and there were very nasty noises. A lot of chasing the noise and eventually I retrieved 3 broken pieces of a spring washer from No 6 piston. My health is such that I was unable to go further with this job, so I gave the car to a local mechanic to remove the head and find out how much damage there was. Two months later, and much strained relations between us, he finally returned the car today. A nasty bill too, but that was almost the least of my worries. The noises are still there.

He arranged for 2 new inlet valves, and then reassembled the engine. Whilst it was stripped, I looked at the bores and they showed absolutely no signs of wear. The car has done 245000 km, but has had regular oil changes and it has had mostly long runs, so I was not surprised at the lack of wear. The piston top showed signs of impact damage, and I suggested that maybe he should drop the sump and install a new piston. After putting my own head back on my shoulders, I decided that it was probably OK anyway and that the bent valves were making the noise. I took a gamble...

WRONG!!! The noise is just as bad as it first was. I drove the car home and the nosie went away, but came back when the car was on the over-run and at idle (high maniflod vacuum). I suspect that the top ring is stuck in the groove, or even broken. Now, I am left with 3 choices…

1 Trade the car in as is: It isn’t worth much anyway, but apart form this problem the car is in immaculate condition. It has been used but not abused. It has had long runs mainly and has had regular servicing - by me. Its condition is really very good. Far too good to go to the wreckers.

2 Install a 3.5 L engine from a Magna. From what I had read, I have to change the sump and oil pickup. I have to bung up the distributor end of the R head – maybe even change over the cams as well. I have to make up a bracket for the cam angle sensor, but I think that is about all. Any more?

3 Fit a new piston. The bore showed no signs of damage. To fit a new piston, the head has to come off again, also the sump. Can the sump come off with the engine still in the car? Can a new piston be fitted with the engine still in? This seems to me to be the best option because the engine would be virtually new again.


Any sensible comments would be welcomed.

Bugger.
Probably better with option one, limit your outlay/losses to those already done.

He didnt remove the sump an inspect the big end bearing did he? Did he measure piston heights when the heads were off?
I would be sceptical about a broken ring. I think there could be excess clearance in the big end bearing due to the impact with the washer between the piston an the head, pretty much like when an engine is hydrolocked. This would give the noise on over run.
If you can drop the sump, remove the bearing cap an inspect the bearing an crank journal you might find only the bearing is damaged. Its worth a look before you go to the trouble of a repower

Thanks for your comments. It was not possible to rotate the engine when the head was off because the other head was still on and it would have bent the valves on that side. I have been told about the bearings and it is possible that this has happened. I won't know until the sump comes off. I haven't been able to find out if the sump can come off in situ, but even if it can, it is probably easier for the whole engine to come out. Then we can get access to the front of the engine to do the timing belt etc. They have already put a new timing belt, idler pulleys and camshaft seals on, so I am almost committed to rebuilding the engine to get the car to a saleable state.

It is a crying shame because the rest of the car is virtually immaculate, but at present it is worth NOTHING. It would be an excellent project car for someone to buy and rebuild the engine. Because of my breathing difficulties, I can no longer do work such as this, and hence I have gone out and ordered a new Pajero (and a new Outlander to replace our TF Magna as well). Not much money left, but hopefully a long time before these vehicles need major work.

the magna motor is easy, no cam swaps needed .
The casting for the dizzy is in all the heads and the bung from your pajero motor will fit it, the cam is toothed to take the dizzy drive.
You will need to swap over pretty well all the bolt on's including swapping your oil pump etc.
yep cam angle sensor .. can be easily made with a couple of bits of flat plate and a welder or some rivets, there are two cast in threaded boss's you can pick up to bolt it to.

There is a chunk ( excess casting really ) you will need to lop off to get the can belt covers back on, it is cosmetic.

I did it in a weekend with basic hand tools and an engine hoist.

The saga finally ends…

Brief recap – I was getting the car ready to trade in on a new Pajero. I replaced the O ring in the left camshaft thrust block at the rear of the head when I cleverly dropped a spring washer inside the manifold. Not knowing, I started the engine and was greeted with some nasty noises. Because I was (still am) having trouble breathing, I handed the car over to a ‘mechanic’ to remove the head and ascertain the extent of the damage.

‘Mechanic’ replaced the timing belt, idler pulleys and camshaft seals because there was a mess in the front of the engine. He replaced 2 inlet valves from No 6 cylinder. The top of the piston was a bit battered, and after suggesting that he drop the sump and remove the piston to check it (and replacing my head back on my shoulders), 6 weeks later I got the car back and the noise was still there, if anything worse! Not happy Jan….

Since ‘mechanic’ and I were not on speaking terms ( I paid him fully what he asked), I arranged for a friend to come from over the mountains to do the job properly. He pulled the engine out of the car and stripped it. We found No 4 piston was damaged worse than No 6. A small piece of the original spring washer had found its way into No 4. I had bought a full set of pistons, rings, bearings & gaskets, so we finished up using only 2 and fitted them. The original honing marks were still visible in the bores. There was no apparent wear. The end gap in the old rings was 0.60 mm – still within original tolerances. The bearings showed no signs of flogging. The whole engine was as good as new, so we only replaced 2 pistons. Reassembled it all, with new O rings in the coolant system as well, and put it back. Start up – smooth as… Excellent condition for a motor with 245000 km on it.

The clutch plate still had 1.5 mm of meat left over the top of the rivets ( it was replaced under warranty at 43000 km). The rest of the car is still in excellent condition. It was a screaming pity to have to spend this sort of money on a car worth so little, but without an engine it was worth nothing, so it had to be spent. Today I pick up my new Pajero, so after cleaning the old one up (grease marks everywhere), it goes down to the dealers to see what they will give me (not much). Anyone want a 2000 NL Pajero in excellent condition? Going cheap - $5000.

I know a few mechanics in Cooma, the one you were dealing with didn't happen to be Mediterrainan & linked to the cafe next to the roundabout?

No! This guy is reasonably new to town. I am not going to badmouth him (Lord knows I should), but the 2 guys who helped me certainly are not going to hold back.

Well, I confronted the 'mechanic' with the evidence. Interesting. I showed him No 6 piston. "Gee - that wasn't too bad" Then I showed him No 4. "I don't remember that one being damaged" 'No - it wasn't' says I. 'Someone didn't clean out the engine properly'. Immediately he went into "Get F___ed! Get off the premises, I never want to see you again" plus lots more expletives.

He mentioned something about not talking to him again (that's easy because I wasn't going to anyway) and that I could go to consumer affairs. Probably not worth doing because he won't have any money to recompense me. It cost me an extra $1820 to get it fixed the second time. It runs beautifully now, but what a trip to get there!

If anyone wants to know the name of a good mechanic in Cooma ask me and I will tell you who NOT to go to.