Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Hi Guys,
My 3.2 DID appears to be overheating randomly. i minute am driving at normal cruise (+/-100KM/hr) and the needle just climbs up into the red and 5 minutes on it drops to normal. sometimes it will remain at normal up to when i stop and turn off the motor. But when i start up again (say 5 minutes) later, the gauge just shoots up to red. It may stay there for a few minutes and then drops as the car moves. As you can imagine all this time i would be driving with one eye on the road while the other is on the gauge!
I have tried alot of staff that i have read on other forums and still am not winning.
The one thing i have not done (coz i don't know how to) is to bleed the air out of the cooling system. Can some please help me.

If your system is not losing coolant then it probably isn't coolant related.

From what you describe it is either a faulty gauge in the cluster or a faulty temp sensor.

Replace the temperature sensor and if it still does that, have the cluster looked at.

https://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/sh ... hp?t=58746
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTqxmSLe92U
https://www.pajeroclub.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1075

It could be a faulty thermostat as well. Have the entire cooling system checked out by a reputable workshop (which sadly, is not always the Mitsu one! )

4ePikanini wrote:If your system is not losing coolant then it probably isn't coolant related.

From what you describe it is either a faulty gauge in the cluster or a faulty temp sensor.

Replace the temperature sensor and if it still does that, have the cluster looked at.

https://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/sh ... hp?t=58746
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTqxmSLe92U
https://www.pajeroclub.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1075

The system is not losing any coolant at all. The temperature sensor is new and i recently replaced the thermostat. I guess its the cluster. I will have it checked thanks for the advise.

Sounds like the green pc board behind the cluster causing your issue. Mine did the same and replaced the lot, and found that to be the issue where the temp gauge was giving incorrect temp readings. My symptoms were identical to yours, and is very scary!

Thanks David. You are right its crazy and its driving me nuts. Just an update. was driving today, in the morning it was a bit chilly, turned the heater on to 22. In minutes the gauge was trying to get out of the dash through the top. !! drove slowly and parked at the office. at lunch time (ambient temp had gone up), i started the motor, gauge shot right into the red. a while later it dropped to normal and it stayed there for a good 15 minutes drive.
Going by all the advise here am convinced its an issue with circuits to the gauge and not the cooling system.
Thanks all!! i will have it checked and will update.

Hi,

Just 1 thing to note that if you end up replacing the little green pc board, you will lose your mileage, it will go back to zero.....you will have a brand new Pajero, out the box, just without the new car smell. I have read on some of the Aussie forums that re-soldering the joints carefully on the back can resolve the issue as well.

Cheers and good luck

David

So to prove out if it's the PC board that's at fault, is it as simple as connecting a stand alone temp gauge to the existing temp sensor and checking that you are getting normal readings ?
If this does work, you could go ahead and replace the PC board or just set up the new gauge as a permanent feature and ignore the faulty one.

Thanks David. A brand new pajero (0 KMS) i wouldn't mind one!
hahaha. I have also read about on the Ausies forums. Guess i will go the soldering route as step 1. if that does not do it then i will replace the board.
cheers men.

Dirty Boy,
How does one connect a stand alone gauge to the temp. sensor?