Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Hi all,

I tried searching the forum on this topic but could not find a decent match, so sorry if this has been covered a 100 times.

I bought my Paj about 6 months ago and in that time I did the following:
New c/belt with all the pulleys and tentioners, lifters, w/pump, v-blets, seals and gaskets, long-life plat s/plugs.
Replaced diff and ATF oils and moved to Delo 400 on the engine side. Re-con rad.

I'm now noticing some smoking when idling and smelling burning oil when I get out.
Not sure if this is "only" valve stem seal or indeed oil rings.

Also I heard that it is no use doing the stem seals without the valve guides and I believe for that the head has to come off which is something I would not like to do it not 100% needed.

So my question is: If this ends up being a worse case would a re-build or re-con engine be the best and cheapest way to go?
I have no idea what a re-con would cost (bearing in mind the stuff I already did and possibly don't have to do again) compared to fitting a re-con engine.

Could a re-con be only new rings and head-gasket or will it end up being re-sleeve or re-bore and new pistons and rings etc.

A buddy of mine recently changed his 3L V6 Colt's engine with one with about 70K on the clock for R15,000 which sounds like a bargain.

Lots of questions but your input would be valued.

Cheers
Pierre

I assume V6 petrol engine?

If so then just do the valve stem seal test.

Go for a drive and look for a longish downhill. Drive down the hill and let it coast for a few seconds in gear. Then step on the throttle and check your rearview mirror. If a nice big puff of smoke comes out then it's the valve stem seals.

There is no need to do the valve guides with the seals. The seals are not a bad job to do, just trickey and can be done with the heads still on.

I would recommend having them done instead of DIY (unless you have done a few before and know what to expect)

Thanks Marius, I agree, misdiagnosing this could cost me lost for nothing.
I had my wife start it this morning (without touching the pedal) and I saw no smoke at all. Revving it a bit result in some fine white smoke which disappears almost instantly. I guess that is just fuel.

Will do the downhill test as well.
Mine is an auto (signature gives all the details) so I'll just let it coast in Drive before flooring it.

Like I say I can smell the burning oil when I get out after a drive or if I reverse into my own gasses.
I noticed some dark blue-ish smoking yesterday when I parallel parked next to a shop window's reflection.

Thanks
Pierre

Just a bit on the colour of the smoke you see, if it is black or blue it is normally a sign of over fueling while white smoke indicates oil being burnt. Unless you are really burning oil in large quantities you don't smell it that usually indicates oil dripping on a manifold or hot surface and would point to a tappet cover gasget not sealing properly. The downhill run is a very good indication of valve seals gone, while running at speed down a hill the throttle body is closed increasing the vacuum in the intake system and thereby sucking the oil past the valve guides if they are shot, when the throttle is opened again the unburnt oil is sucked in to the cylinder creating the tell tale puff of smoke.

As Marius said the valve stem seals can be tricky to do with the heads on, getting the cotters to release can be a bit of a mission, as for the rest it is quite easy and would occupy most of a weekend.

Thanks Henk,
I'll check the tappet cover for oil there as it's only using about a pint every 2000km or so.
It seems to be smoking slightly more when hot. It is not that visible at the moment so the colour is hard to check exactly, maybe it's the smell that makes it worse.
About the possibility of overfueling. I tried runnning it with the chip and without but the same.
How would I fix overfueling or test for it?

overfueling on a petrol is easy. It smells of fuel (like on a cold morning just after it starts)

Hi Fellow Pajero owners, compliments of the season to you all !
Concerning this "re-con vs re-build" issue, I have a question/seeking advise : My 2.8 Blister (4M40) has just come back from SAC Centurion with a very long & costly list of problems (motor has done +280K). Do I rebuild or buy a Jap replacement (if I can get one) ? Do I go for diesel again or buy a V6 petrol ? Can this be done ? I believe the 3.2 (4M41) can be installed fairly easily. Any input/suggestions would be much appreciated.

marsharo,

Please start a new thread with your question.

Give full details of the condition of the engine, symptoms, details of quote etc.

Ok, thanks I'll do that.

4ePikanini wrote:overfueling on a petrol is easy. It smells of fuel (like on a cold morning just after it starts)

Thing is that I'm not sure if it is over fueling or an oil smell I'm getting when I stand still at idle.

I did change the two temp sensors 2 months ago (like you suggested) to sort out the fuel smell I got at start up in the morning. That seems to be gone now.

So the smell it more oily.

I did the valve stem seals test but got no smoke when I floor it after a long downhill.
Vehicle also not visibly smoking - even if I check at the exhaust.
When I drive it hard I also see no smoke and there is no performance loss.
I also checked under and there is no oil leak I can see.
Not using excessive oil either.
This morning I actually tried to smell at the tailpipe to try and establish if it is the same smell I get while in the driver seat. Being so close to the tailpipe my specs immediately fogged up with a white-ish mist although I could not see the mist coming out when I look from further away.
This is probably normal but I don't think everyone is going to rush out to look up their tailpipes

Result was that I did not get the same smell so maybe the problem is upfront.
Maybe a leaking exhaust manifold I guess??

I thought of booking it in so they can diagnose the ABS problem and this at the same time.