[Behemoth]

Great to see this thread and appreciate the time that you spent getting back your Pajero back up to full speed!
It really takes a lot of patience and the right FNG to diagnose the issue and solve it perfectly, especially for old cars.
This made me remember my Tata Motors (TELCO) days when I had joined them as a GET in Service and at that time we were taught to disassemble and reassemble engines entirely! But doing the same on a new engine is very different from doing it on an old engine (which has run a few lakh kms!) and effort required is immensely more.
Cars like the Pajeros can easily run for 20-30 years and possibly 10 lac kms, if the right maintenance and spares are available. Good to know that you were able to find both!

[vredesbyrd]

Glad to see your beast up and running again. Considering the amount of work done and the attention to detail, I think 85 grand is a right figure. Hope you do a Leh/Spiti soon with the PS.

On a side note, my 2.0 TDI was partially rebuilt by Skoda back in 2019. Before that, I could get about 16km/l at 80-90 but now it won't rise above 12km/l. Car has done 4000km post rebuild and one annual service (plus faulty glow plug, injector and crank sensor replaced). The only remaining issue in the car is the throttle body/anti-shudder valve and the CEL is glowing. The flap had stopped working soon after rebuild. Going to get it replaced soon. Is that the cause of poor mileage?

[jkrishnakj]

The two parts of the story kept me absorbed into the thread. I found this very educative and very informative and fully appreciate the fact that there are people like vigsom who take the 'Vehicle' seriously, and the attention and detail given to every single aspect is something beyond me. Such a pleasure to read and get educated.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by asit.kulkarni93

I think minor shunts which don’t damage the structure are fine but what’s important is how they are repaired

Very true, @asit.kulkarni93. In fact one reason I even considered this car was because there were no corners cut - even the radiator, though repaired, was functioning absolutely fine.

Mitsubishi parts are expensive but their quality is phenomenal. One of my friend’s dad bought the PS when he was 60 years old and drives it like a teenager. He loves the car so much that he has asked his driver to do duties at home.

Mitsubishi products make everyone young, I guess. On the parts quality, they sure are very good, but in our country, there are some suppliers who want an arm and a leg for MMC parts.

Please run in the engine again and do consider getting a nice remap after 20k kms.

Point noted, Your Honor!!

Originally Posted by viXit

How do you check the quality, Sir? what should one look out for?

Engine oil in a diesel gets dark very quickly, but the key is to feel the oil by rubbing between the index finger and the thumb to note its viscosity; comes with experience. Too greasy or too thin and out it should go.

From which exact place did the gases meet the coolant?

If you look at the pic of engine block in post #3 and 4, you will see a small slit between cylinders 1 and 2. This slit is for coolant flow. Since there was pitting on the head at exactly this point, and the gasket was gradually weakening and finally failed at this point, this is where the breakthrough occurred. The gasket was otherwise in great shape everywhere else.

I read through every inch of this thread and thoroughly enjoyed it! And it taught me so much. Thank you for these quality threads on the forum.

Seeing you maintain high mileage cars so well purges the fear of old high run cars from my mind

Thank You @viXit. There are some high quality robust cars on which miles don't matter as long as they're kept well. Look at some examples in the recent 2,00,000km thread. They should give you all the confidence you need. However, however modern technology might get, I don't trust cars made in the last 2-3 years with achieving such milestones.

Originally Posted by vishy76

What a journey it has been

Long and arduous one, @vishy76. Nice of you to have come over when the car was W-I-P. Yes, I take my hats off to the team at Kedar's for being so confident about the job.

Originally Posted by Abhi_abarth

My goal is to own a Pajero Sport (4x4) one day

Thank You @Abhi_abarth. Yes, dream big and execute big for less. That's how I've lived this far.

Originally Posted by Behemoth

we were taught to disassemble and reassemble engines entirely!

Thank You @Behemoth; I'd have loved to do that, and even today, am willing to learn, execute and teach.

Originally Posted by vredesbyrd

The flap had stopped working soon after rebuild. Going to get it replaced soon. Is that the cause of poor mileage?

Thank You @vredesbyrd. Please get a scan done and read the data, and compare it to a good example. You'll find rhe answer. This is a classic case of poor fuel management. That's all.

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

attention and detail given to every single aspect

Thank You @jkrishnakj. When this issue came up, I was in two minds - to go to the workshop or to just stay away. I felt I'd have been a big loser by staying away. It's been a terrific learning experience for me, although there were only a few bits like the thermostat, the water pump inlet and head outlet coolant elbows, the gasket go ahead, and a rear wash wiper pipe connection fix at the front washer pump end that I worked on myself.

[#ABTorquey]

Hello Sir,
I have been following your current and previous threads. Present my respect for your immense knowledge and expertise in automobiles. Noobs like me can just simply be in awe. Hats Off to you Sir!

[R2D2]

Honestly, your threads are a treat to read. Thanks @vigsom.

I was so engrossed reading this thread my pot of water on the stove boiled over (coffee time!) Fantastic thread with the great narrative and excellent photos.

Kudos to those mechanics/technicians in Vadodara. Their experience, attention to detail and quality of work is evident in the photos. It is so rare to come across FNGs like this!

[SulemanP]

Going by the thread I second @Abhi_abarth that any average joe would definitely give up and sell of the vehicle in the first place, let alone looking out for the reasons for failure. That’s what makes this forum special. I haven’t read your Pajero ownership thread but while reading through I though the reasons could be injectors, EGR & leakage in radiator assembly. Also you were lucky enough to get hold of a good FNG in your city, that’s an assurance that the vehicle is in good hands…
Again as you mentioned last time it is important to diagnose the problem in the first place that will lead you to correct trouble shooting…

Great learning, wish you many happy miles ahead

[anupamsinha]

Quite an interesting read.

I didn't understand everything what was there. However I like machines and loved reading every bit of it.

Would this be called half engine overhaul?

[jithin23]

The perseverance in getting this legend back to its glory by you is awesome! Actually these cars if taken care can last a really long time and I'm sure it would have been a great learning experience. I hope your pajero will take you places without a hiccup.

[Lalvaz]

Amazing thread, love the way you meticulously went about finding out the root cause analysis. Threads like these are the reasons why Team BHP is still worth visiting.

Couple of questions for you:
1) How was the pitting repaired?
2) I'm not entirely convinced the shunt caused a radiator leakage, which then lead to this problem due to overheating. You have shared a video of another low run Pajero which seems to be in pristine condition, which is experiencing overheating. That kinda rules out this possibility.
3) IMO the head gasket sealing mentioned in the TSB was probably the reason for the coolant blow-by, rather than a shunt. Anyways since you have repaired the pitting, polished the head, installed a new gasket, hopefully the sealing should be perfect, and this problem should be history.
4) Have you installed the new radiator cap mentioned in the TSB?
5) Have you reprogramed the ECU as mentioned in the TSB?

Wish you many more miles of safe driving in your restored Pajero Sport.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by #ABTorquey

expertise in automobiles

Thank You @#ABTorquey. I just can't claim to be an expert. Yes, when faced with an issue, I dive deep and try to develop a solution to solve it. That's all. This time it was almost sudden death, and I needed to get totally involved as a lot was at stake.

Originally Posted by R2D2

my pot of water on the stove boiled over (coffee time!)

Kudos to those mechanics/technicians in Vadodara. Their experience, attention to detail and quality of work is evident in the photos. It is so rare to come across FNGs like this!

I owe you a cup of coffee @R2D2. Thank You for forgetting the pot of water.

I agree with you on the FNG where this work was done. Neat place, high on confidence, but both Kedar and I still had fingers crossed until the engine fired. But I haven't seen anyone spend so much time cleaning everything before installation. Not even one insignificant bolt was missed during refitment. The technician even looked at disassembly pictures to ensure that an earthing cable was connected back exactly where it belonged.

Originally Posted by SulemanP

you were lucky enough to get hold of a good FNG in your city, that’s an assurance

Thank You @SulemanP. Yes, you're right on the right FNG. I remember how I just got led to Chacha in April 1998 when I had an issue with my Premier Padmini. I won't say this one is as close to my heart, but yes, couldn't have asked for any better place.

Originally Posted by anupamsinha

Would this be called half engine overhaul?

Thank You @anupamsinha. Not sure but I'd call it engine top overhaul. It is just the cylinder head that has been cleaned and rectified.

Originally Posted by jithin23

Actually these cars if taken care can last a really long time

Thank You @jithin23. I was kind of disappointed when the Sport overheated enroute to Mumbai. I thought of how this could happen at under 1,40,000km when there are so many less rugged cars with odo readings over 2,00,000km and still going fine. Anyways, it didn't hit my pocket much because I took the problem head on myself, and spent a lot of time on it. Had this gone to Mitsubishi service it would have been a rip off. I could have saved probably another 15-18k if this had been done with my folks in Surat. My only disappointment was in not being able to perfect the old radiator and re-use it. It was working perfectly fine but just needed a neater finish on the inlet tank. The core and the outlet were stock.

Originally Posted by Lalvaz

1) How was the pitting repaired?

Thank You @Lalvaz. Here are my responses to your Qs.

1) A special filling, which the head guy didn't want to disclose. I trusted him since he has years of experience in this. Head repair is a very tricky process.

I'm not entirely convinced the shunt caused a radiator leakage, which then lead to this problem due to overheating. You have shared a video of another low run Pajero which seems to be in pristine condition, which is experiencing overheating. That kinda rules out this possibility.

The shunt did damage the radiator inlet in this car because this is the only radiator that has a crazy u-bend at the inlet, and can easily crack if the radiator panel goes back a bit. The Mahindra Xylo also sports a similar side entry radiator but isn't as badly designed as this.

The Xylo radiator- note how the radiator neck is built into the outlet tank


The Pajero Sport radiator - designed by Kalidas to have the neck integrated with the radiator inlet port. Even if someone drops a heavy object eg.battery on this u-bend, it is likely to crack.


Even the 2005-08, and 2012 Innovas have the coolant expansion tank located very close to the AC compressor pulley, and that causes the expansion tank to crack in the event of a minor impact.

IMO the head gasket sealing mentioned in the TSB was probably the reason for the coolant blow-by, rather than a shunt. Anyways since you have repaired the pitting, polished the head, installed a new gasket, hopefully the sealing should be perfect, and this problem should be history.

I hope so, and couldn't have asked for better workmanship that what I've seen in this project. The top surface of the block was actually rough. You can see the before and after pics of the block in post #4.

Have you installed the new radiator cap mentioned in the TSB?

No. The cap with the max pressure here is 1.1bar. It is good enough.

Have you reprogramed the ECU as mentioned in the TSB?

No. But I've reprogrammed myself to do everything so that the engine runs at the optimum temperature.

I am very clear about one thing - the points in the TSB are fixes to cover up design issues. These are corrective actions, not preventive.

[evil_grin]

Bravo Vigsom. I usually don't read tech posts. But yours read like a mystery novel. Gripping.

Now I feel like buying an old D segment car for a bargain and fix it to make it new. Would add some much needed spice to life. Will do that the next time I buy a car. With the ridiculous prices of new cars, despite the impending green tax on old vehicles, used cars still are way cheaper. Except, maybe, in Hyderabad and Bangalore.

[vigsom]

Update after 245km

The Pajero Sport continues to run brilliantly, with no surprises. I did a mix of driving on NH, rural roads and city. Here are some updates, keeping data during the first trial as the baseline.

Originally Posted by vigsom

The car underwent a 40 km trial run on the highway at 100 kmph with the AC on.

- The coolant temperature never crossed 50%
- The fuel efficiency never went above 9kmpl

Current fuel efficiency with AC at 90kmph is in the range of 12.2kmpl; am sure it will get back to old levels.

Updates

1. The coolant temperature continues to remain within 50% of range
2. AC has become more effective
3. Fuel efficiency is back to old times. On a typical 35 km highway drive, I did achieve 14.2 kmpl under similar conditions as in my initial ownership report.

Actions to prevent recurrence

The only actions in my control are to clear the air path of as many obstructions as possible
1. Relocate the two horns to locations where they don't obstruct air flow

This car came with bigger dia and thicker Roots Windtones in place of the stock horns as shown and positioning them right was quite a challenge. In a car like the Innova or the Fortuner, installing even the monstrous Roots Megasonic is a cakewalk; not in this case.

Roots Windtone horns placement when I got the car


1. The low tone stock horn is placed deep down, next to the AC receiver dryer while the high tone stock horn is on the center panel below the bonnet lock. Stock horns are shown in the representative image below.


2. Shoe-horning the bigger dia and thicker low tone Roots Windtone horn would mean it would lie as a tight fit between the intercooler and the AC condenser; not good

3. After studying the already cramped front set up in this car, I first experimented with a set up for the horns but wasn't too happy with the placement.
a. looked a little shabby
b. the horn ports were likely to take in water whenever the car was washed
c. one horn would kiss the inside of the front grille


4. Finally I was able to identify alternate locations for the horns as encircled. There are welded nuts provided here to accommodate the stock horn bolts (12mm head).


5. I did some cable dressing of the stock horn cables and managed to relocate the horns to my satisfaction. Now, the air path is free from obstruction.




Time taken from understanding the set up to experiment to final placement of horns - 8 hours over 3 days.

Phew!!! The Pajero Sport front leaves very little options because of that fat auxiliary fan up front. :

[kavesh55]

Wow. I am in the process of getting a pajero/pajero sports. Wish I stayed in Baroda. Heating seems imminent, it's solutions like these that work.

[4wheeldrive]

Looking for a competent FNG in Mumbai to maintain a 9 year old PajeroSport. Any leads?

The car has started occasionally losing power momentarily while driving. It's usual caretaker claims to have tinkered with settings but no fix has been found.

Need to get it thoroughly checked - injectors, fuel pump, engine tune, etc and I dont think the current guy is up to the task.

Thanks