Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Been searching the forum, but most posts on idling problems seems to be with diesels. Since the last service, my Pajero has developed a strange problem when you start it. When you start it, cold or hot, it would idle very unevenly for about 30 seconds, after which it would be back to normal. It's almost as if its not running on all cylinders. If you rev the engine, the problem also goes away. It used to only happen on cold starts, but now it happens al the time. Once it runs, it is as smooth as always.

I mentioned that it started after the last services, which included spark plug replacement (meaning the inlet manifold was removed). My first suspicion was damage to the HT lead, but I'm not really sure how to test it. I've also checked that all the vacuum tubes and pipes were connected correctly.

Any ideas before I take it back to Mitspro?

Pierreandre

My 3500V6 was serviced yesterday and I now sit with the same problem, except that the higher the engine temp the worse the idle. Feels like my Pajero is running racing cams. Also new platinum tipped plugs. The mech says give it a week to settle but I don't think that's going to solve the issue.

Where to start?

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air leaking into fuel pipes?

Check underneath the car for fuel leaks

Pierreandre

The rough idle was sorted out on my Pajero by replacing the gasket between the throttle body and the intake manifold. All smooth now.


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That's excellent news. I've checked for fuel leaks, but cannot find any, so I think I'll take mine to Mitspro to have a look. I'm sure I have a similar problem.

Took it to Mitspro this morning. In addition to the starting problem, the water pump is now also a bit noisy. Freek Jnr had a look. Took him a few seconds to diagnose a blown head gasket. The fact that it keeps on pushing water out into the overflow bottle and the bubbles it makes in the radiator and bottle is a clear indication.

I suspected the same, given that its been losing water and blew a radiator a year ago. I did take it to Silverton radiators before to have a pressure and chemical test done and it was OK. Obviously, the hole in the gasket was very small. It no longer is though...

Ouch.


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Finally got it back. Heads done and new gasket. Hopefully its all right now. They did forget to replace the water pump which is still whining a bit when it idles. Should I be worried?

How difficult is it to replace the water pump? From the workshop manual it looks like you have to remove the timing belt, which I don't really want to do myself.

They did forget to replace the water pump which is still whining a bit when it idles

Wow, not too professional in my opinion.

What caused the gaskets to go in the first place, wasn't it perhaps an under performing water pump?

Yip, it is a major job to replace and most guys do it as preventative maint on the second cambelt change (180k km).

Do you really want to drive around in a car with a suspect water pump?

I have a 1996 Pajero 3.5 GLS LWB. Over the last 3 months it has become very difficulty to start. Once started it runs smoothly as always and strong. If my vehicle has been stopped to +/- 40 minutes or longer it struggles to start(hot or cold). Takes about +40 seconds to start. Whilst running, if I then turn off the vehicle and restart, it starts straight away! We have checked the petrol pump, repaired the air leaks in the inlet manifold, changed the engine heat sensor computer controls but had no success.