Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Driving my 2006 Pajero 3.8 GLS on 106 000km through town and the oil light comes on. It turns out the oil filter seal has failed just as the next service is due and bearings now need to be replaced. Any advice on how common this is?

Never heard of that on any vehicle. I can only imagine it was a dud.

Please try and keep the failed seal, clean it and post a pic up here for us to see what the failure looks like. The actual filter may also point to a problem.

Alternatively the oil pressure may have been too high and blew the seal out. Whatever you do, have the oil pressure checked out once the engine is running again.

How certain are you the bearings are done? How long did the engine run after the oil pressure light came on? Those engines are pretty strong and don't like overheating but have survived the oil pressure failure if it was shut off within a couple of seconds of the light coming on (and provided the engine wasn't working too hard at the time)

The car was taken by lowbed to Mitsubishi in Malmesbury so I unfortunately do not have the filter or seal although I will ask them tomorrow whether they still have it.

I had an oil leak about 30 months ago and Mitsubishi Umhlanga took it in and replaced the filter saying the seal leaked but I also did not get to see that filter.

My concern is the too high oil pressure. The engine has always used a little too much oil in my view but every service they tell me it is fine. I was driving less than 60, dead flat terrain, no load, cool air temp, yet the seal blew. I slowed down when the light came on then the engine cut out. I assumed the engine management system had kicked in but it started again so I idled back to a filling station less that 1 km away, oil dripping from the bash plate and lower third of the engine bay covered in oil.

The workshop tell me they cleaned up the mess, replaced the filter, replaced the oil and tested it. Bearing number 5 is dammaged they say. I assume that is 5 of the 6 cylinders?

How can the oil pressure be checked. What other possible dammage should I be aware of and look out for?

I'm afraid that last 1km idle to the garage probably killed the bearings.

Did the oil pressure light stay on when you where driving that last 1km? If so, then that was your mistake unfortunately.

I wouldn't feel safe with that engine unless you have

- the crank polished with new bearings
- pistons and cylinder walls inspected for scrape marks due to lack of oil (if any, - hone or bore the cylinders and fit new pistons and rings)
- new oil pump
- have the oil filter mating surface inspected
- new oil pressure bypass valve
- have the camshaft inspected for oil starvation damage



PS : I find it strange that the workshop only claims one bearing failure. Oil starvation usually means all bearings have damage. Do you have the means to go and inspect the opened engine yourself and take photos or take a knowledgeable friend with that know what bearings and journals are supposed to look like?

It seems I made a fundamental mistake. When the oil light comes on it means "no oil pressure", not "you need to top up oil". So yes I probably did the dammage. They are changing the main and conrod beaings from the bottom. Unfortunately the vehicle is over an hour away from where I am so I can't pop in and check it out as you suggested as much as I would love to.
What should I be aware of once I get it back? Oil consumption, smoke, fuel consumption, engine noise?

Look for excessive oil consumption as you may have damaged the cylinder walls and/or rings and/or piston skirtings from lack of oil.

Also invest in an oil pressure gauge.