Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

I'm new and my car is a used 3.2did SWB, 2001 model.

On inspection by a recently acquired mechanic i was informed that my head has gone and my fuel pump is faulty. when i check my dipstick i can see what seems to be water lying above the oil. however the car drives perfectly fine and has never overheated or shown any side effects of a blown gasket or cracked head (well those effects that mere mortal cars will show) & it doesn't have a miss. What do you guys make of this? Is the engine that tough, me that stupid or am i possibly being lead on? BTW I'm not a mechanically sound individual so i easily fall for mechanic tricks. I'm also told that this engine might have a oil/water separator.

please assist.

Beeno wrote:I'm new and my car is a used 3.2did SWB, 2001 model.

On inspection by a recently acquired mechanic i was informed that my head has gone and my fuel pump is faulty. when i check my dipstick i can see what seems to be water lying above the oil. however the car drives perfectly fine and has never overheated or shown any side effects of a blown gasket or cracked head (well those effects that mere mortal cars will show) & it doesn't have a miss. What do you guys make of this? Is the engine that tough, me that stupid or am i possibly being lead on? BTW I'm not a mechanically sound individual so i easily fall for mechanic tricks. I'm also told that this engine might have a oil/water separator.

please assist.

How did the mechanic determine that the head has 'gone'? This can only be confirmed as a cracked head if it has been removed and tested which I don't think was done. Oil in water ussualy shows up as a milky like white/cream froth under the radiator cap after some driving. Do you have that? A cause for water in the oil does not necesarily mean a cracked cylinder head but more often than not is linked to a blown gasket, which sits between the head and block of the engine. A car with a blown head gasket can still drive as normal but, if the blown part is between the oil and water sleeves, will show the white in the oil and also be using some water. Have your vehicle been using a lot of water lately? If the blown part is between combustion chamber and water it would tend to cook the water rapidly and pressurise the radiator pushing out all the water. Do you have that? A small gasket failure between the combustion chamber and water might not be big enough to push out all the water but still cause problems. To check this a radiator specialist will check for combustion gasses/particles mixed in the water and from the test make an analysis.

Anyway, that is my understanding, but I am also not a hands on mechanic!

CATS

Beeno wrote: when i check my dipstick i can see what seems to be water lying above the oil.

What oil are you using ? (... that's heavier than water)

Oil floats on water, not water on oil.

I would

• change the oil and filter
• have a compression tets done
• have a cooling system check done to detect exhaust gasses in the coolant.
• ask the mechanic to be more specific about the "fuel pump is faulty"

Thanks! i am taking the car away for a second opinion and will def use this info to assist in the analysis. Will do the checks recommended and return with some feedback.

at least i'm a little better prepared now.

Normally water in oil causes a milky/foamy liquid, clearly visible on the dipstick.

I suggest you do as suggested above, and replace your oil andmonitor it closely before tackling a big job (maaybe unnecessarily).

Anton