Updating this thread after an year (Two days short to be exact). There were a couple of reasons, first I moved to Bangalore and had very little time due to settling in and a plethora of other stuff to set things up, secondly the Pajero gave me no reason to complain and I really did not have any significant update to report. It is still chugging along quite strongly.
It is almost 7 years now (Bought in April 2011) and it has been quite a journey so far. Have driven the Pajero right across India, from Leh to Bangalore and everything in-between. It has never let me down and it's demands have been frugal.
Apart from a mandatory Oil and Oil Filter change every 5K Kms, I really haven't done anything for the Pajero over the last 7 years. Yes, there were some replacements for the Brake Pads and some suspension bushes, but apart from that, nothing.
It just keeps going on an on without complaining.
However at the beginning of this year, I thought it was probably time to have things checked. So I got a complete inspection done at Milestone Garage and Matthew and me went over everything. Underchassis, Overchassis, Engine, Brakes etc. Nothing was found to be out of shape . So after 7 years and the ODO at 98K I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the Pajero had held up.
Having said that, I did feel that there was some driveline / transmission judder between 1200-1500 Rpm in first and second gears. This had been present for quite some time but was getting worse lately. A through test drive later we figured it was either the Clutch or the Shaft Universal Joints. Although both looked okay and there was no clutch slipping and no play in the shafts we had no other explanation.
So I came back and spent the next couple of weeks pondering over the source of the vibration. Read many forums and posted queries at a couple of places too. However it soon became apparent that Pajero's do have some vibration in the drivetrains and if it is bad you could get the clutch and shaft inspected. So we were back to square one!
I was also nearing the 1L mark and I finally thought that this would be a good time to give the Pajero a new lease of life. That's how I decided to get it refreshed.
So here's the refresh update now.
The vehicle was delivered to Matthew at Milestone Garage, Hennur Road on 1st Feb 2018 with the ODO at 98821. The agenda was to start with the replacement of Clutch and then look at other things.
So over the next couple of days, the transmission was removed and inspected. The clutch still had reasonable amount of material and the pressure plate was also ok. The flywheel had some spots but otherwise ran true (Checked on a lathe) with no burns or ruts. The Torsion springs in the Clutch plate were pretty loose and rattling (Most Probable Cause of the Judder).
Sourcing the clutch was a little of an adventure. The Stealerships won't sell the parts as we all know, so I decided to source the parts myself. Starting with the clutch which I sourced directly as a full kit (Clutch Disc, Clutch Cover and the Release Bearing) directly from Exedy. Thanks to their cooperation and help I had a spanking new, sealed and original Japanese Kit at my home. The Kit is MBK012 from Exedy, in case someone needs the part number.
The overhauling bug was now finally hitting me and I decided to go full steam ahead now. Leaving nothing out. So here is the next list of things I decided to replace... Mind you this was a pure preventive job, all components were well within service limits, but I decided to go ahead and replace things. The objective being to have a trouble free drive for the next 1 L kms
Full Steering assembly :- Pitman and Idler Arms, Ball joints, Tie Rod Ends, Shockers and of course the bushes.
Full Brake assembly :- Got new Brembo Discs, front and rear along with Brembo Pads. (From GOA), Thanks to Amit Naik the dealer for Brembo in Goa, he is a fantastic person with impeccable service and communication. He even agreed to replace the rear discs as they got damaged in transit. No questions asked.
Full Shaft Overhaul: New Universal Joints for both front and rear shafts.
Full Rear Suspension: All bushes, Shockers and even the rear arm bushes.
All Engine and Gearbox Mountings.
All Shockers: Kayaba OEM Shocks, Gas Charged, just like the OEM's.
All other parts were sourced from my trusted dealer in Chandigarh and air lifted to Bangalore. They just arrived today. All these are parts from OEM suppliers to Mitsubishi. Manufactures like 555, GMB, RBI etc. Google them up if you want to know more..
All the Oil's were sourced through a close contact and I had the required Oil (Engine and Transmission) delivered to me at home. Same for Oil and Fuel Filters and Fan belts. I use AGIP ENI 5w30 for Engine and 75w90 Motul for Transmission.
Full suspension bushings were sourced through my brother in UK and I got a full set of thermoplastic polyurethane polyester bushes for the vehicle. These are apparently much more robust and stronger than rubber. Also got the front wheel bearings and seals in the same go. Look at
http://www.milneroffroad.com for more details.
I also got a Sump Plug Bolt from the same source in UK, the original one has worn off after so many oil changes over the years. Probably over 20 Oil changes over the last 98K kilometers.
So what started out as a clutch replacement turned out to be full preventive maintenance refresh for my Pajero. There are many other small things that I am sure will get added to this list.
However I must say, there is nothing quite like a Pajero on the roads even today. There is not one single vehicle that has a comparable ride quality, go anywhere capability and rock solid reliability even on the other side of 30L.
I am sure the mighty Pajero will serve me well for many more years to come.
Leaving you all with some pictures.... Enjoy...
My refresh starts tomorrow and I hope I will be back on the road early next week. Stay tuned...