Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

My 3.2 DID auto makes a ping sound when towing my trailer and the engine starts to work hard. What is the cause and the cure? Any ideas?

you may have a leaking injector or some glowing carbon deposits causing pre-ignition.

Try to add 1 liter of two stroke oil to your next full tank of diesel.

Mine is doing the same the last three years.Tried every thing,new injectors,dustek chip,two stroke oil,blank off egr valve,took cylinderhead off to inspect pistons.....The car start difficult now in the last few day after I towed the caravan down to the Cape.... Took it in for a diagnostic today and the result is that the fuel pump need a replacement or overhall,,,,Pump timing is completely out...Good luck with yours

Klause, please advise what milage you had when this was diagnosed. Thanks.

I also had strange noises towing uphill and the engine worked hard. The Pajero's exhaust manifold was cracked. It is covered with a plate and not easy to see. If you shine a torch and scan for soot you will know if this is your problem or not.
The noise was better but not gone after replacing the exhaust manifold.
The Mitsubishi foreman diagnosis was that the turbo's waste gate, is making the sound.
Not happy, I phoned Arnold at CRD and explained the noise. Apparently it is common on the 3.2's that the intercooler crack and leak, causing this noise. On inspection by CRD the intercooler was cracked. (They send it to Silverton Radiators for a clean and repair). This is also difficult to see. The bash plate must be removed for inspection. My Pajero is now on 251000 km's and going like new. No more noise

martinbo wrote:... On inspection by CRD the intercooler was cracked. (They send it to Silverton Radiators for a clean and repair). ... My Pajero is now on 251000 km's and going like new. No more noise

Hi martinbo,

Thanks for this post.
I did not realise that Silverton does intercooler repairs. Useful bit of info.

Did they just fix it or did they fit new tubes / core?

Happy to hear your paj is going like new.

They said they did a chemical clean and a aluminium weld on the crack

My Pajero start to do the ping noise at km 200,000 I took the car for a second opinion to a guy in George who specialize in Pajero. He fitted his diagnostic to the car and tested the fuel pump during different modes while driving! The end result is, the fuel pump is operating normal.He could have sold me a overhauled fuel pump of which he has got two in stock.
I must also add that I have removed the EGR valve and it is quite a while since I last noticed this noise and the Shorty is going strong.