Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Ok, well since Simon said that the only daft question is one that does not get asked, here goes with the first set of questions:

1. Has anyone ever filled up with bad diesel in some or other backwater town? What is the best first aid when one does end up with the tank of such diesel.
2. We saw that the fuel filter has 'n build in watertrap that can be used to bleed the water out of the sistem. Has anyone ever done this themselves? Is it the same on the Gen 3 Pajero or is it a new thing in the Gen 4?

3. How does the actual engine in the Gen 4 differ from that in the Gen 3? Is the engine know for any specific problems?
4. Obviously the new diesel engines is sensitive to the quality of diesel. Has anyone ever experience engine problems specifically due to low quality diesel? I assume engine problems will have to develop over a period of continuous use of low quality diesel.

Thanks

Gina

1. I have not noticed Bad diesel as such but has picked up some water in my diesel in the past. Remember that bad diesel not only indicate water in there but also other nasties like possible paraffin dilution, algae growth etc. The best is to rather try and not get bad diesel in your vehicle- full stop! Pump from a well used pump, which hopefully indicate that the locals support him, hopefully over a long period of time, which would have indicated problems. One can also invest in funnels that assist in removing water, algae etc.

2.The watertrap on the Gen4 is similar to the one used in the Gen 3.

Yes I have used this system twice already on my Gen 3. Touch wood so far not on the Gen4. It is a bit tricky, especially with my double battery setup which made it dificult to get to the bottom drain nut, but otherwise reasonably easy, if a bit messy. One could clearly see the water drain out and then become diesel. Once the drain nut was secured and the system was primed it started first time without any hassles.The first sign of trouble was the engine management light that indicated water in the filter.

3. The engine(4m41) in the Gen3 is identical to the Gen4. The only difference is the way in which the diesel get injected into the combustion chamber. The Gen3 use a pump and the Gen 4 uses a common rail system. The common rail system work at a higher pressure but promises better consumption and less pollution. The higher pressure unfortunately also make it more prone to damage if say parafin is used in the diesel, which has different lubrication and combustion characteristics. I am sure that some of the other members will give more detailed elaboration on the differences in detail.

4. So far I had no diesel related issues on my Gen3 standing at just shy of 200 000km and also on the Gen4, standing at 17 000km.

CATS

Thank you very much Cats. I am starting to feel a bit more at ease now.

1. I think in the city there is less chance of water in the diesel because of greater volumes sold than in the platteland. I have three filling stations that I support because they are very busy. We are definitely going to get one of those funnels

2. We also have the battery in the same place as you next to the fuel filter. The manual describes the process like you did.

3. We want to go to the remote places again and i think it is wise to invest in a spare fuel tank. Should be able to drive maybe 1100km or more depending on the road conditions. What do you recon? We also have two jerry cans on the trailer.