Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Thanks Marius,

Is that gunk normal?

I can perhaps understand an old, never-opened starter looking like that, but a 2-year old recon'd unit should look a bit better, no?

Could a seal have perhaps gone or something?

Ok, the starter motor is reconditioned (new brushes, cleaned out etc) and the engine is exploding into life within a second of turning the key!

The auto elec is still convinced that somehow oil is getting into the starter and causing the brushes to corrode and gunk up.

The car has never leaked a drop of oil - any thoughts on this theory?

Hold the phone!

I found it - it's not oil that is destroying my starter motor, but diesel.... I found this on the Aussie forum:

"As Andrew said before, cover the starter motor. It is right under the filter and diesel will pour over it when you undo the filter. I use a plastic shopping bag right over the starter. Diesel will shorten the life of your starter for sure."

http://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/sho ... 852&page=2

Also, closing the loop on my first post re the smoking. WIth the fixed starter the car is not smoking anymore on start-up.

Fantastic feedback!!

Thanks for this tip!

CATS

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There were numerous alerts on the Gen3 aircon's condensate drain pipe that discharges onto the bell-housing.
With air movement etc, it is not difficult for this water to find its way into the starter?
Extend / re-route the condensate drain pipe.

Thanks Gerhard, I'll take a look at that as well.

Last year I had to repair a starter at night at Mana Pools in Zimbabwe. We had an 82-year old man in our group and his Pajero just refused to start in the middle of the park. I had never done a Pajeros starter before and being an auto it needed to be fixed.

When I eventually got it out I found the brushes were worn and it too was full of grease. There is a small hole in the casing near the brushes which needs to be sealed as it normally has a rubber stopper. Luckily I managed to make bush fix and get him back to Harare where we could buy new brushes.

Nothing like the fear of a hyena or lion coming to assist when lying under a car in the dark to keep you motivated. Attached is a picture of my smile when I got the car to start again.

Now THAT is a memory you will keep forever!

Nice!

My 3.2D displayed the same simptoms yesterday. Your post made it easy for me to diagnose the problem.

I took my car to an auto electrician and had the starter serviced for R850. They replaced the bushes and cleaned the starter.

My trusty 3.2D now once again starts immdeiately when I turn the key. My car has now done 320 000 km's and is still running like a swiss watch.