Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Hi all, my name is Keith and I have no Pajero or 4x4 prior experience. I bought my brothers GEN2 2800 intercooler blister fender last year November. The vehicle has 200000k on the odometer. The reason I bought the pajero was prompted by my love for diving. I need a vehicle that can take me to destinations in remote areas. Including Mozambique. The vehicle is not to be used as a main means of daily transport but needs to be reliable.

I am a ex motor mechanic that last practiced in 1974 or 5 if memory serves. Did my apprenticeship at Hooper motors in Durban. So I am reasonably mechanically minded and can do most fixes.

My current occupation, I have a family business constructing, consulting, maintaining and servicing marine and tropical fish tanks. Hence the synergy with the diving thing. I am known as Nemo's Janitor on most of the aquarium forums so I hope my user name here does not infringe any regulations.

I joined this forum because my Pajero overheated and the cylinder head cracked. I am now rebuilding the motor as well as fixing a few little issues like aircon etc.

Not sure how this forum works but will open a thread on my Pajero.

Once again Hi to all and looking forward to a happy experience here.

Hi Nemo (captain Nemo, I presume).
While reading your post I thought about warning you to look after the cooling system as those heads are prone to crack. The rest of that car is really tough and can last you a life time. Regular oil and filter is all she will ask.

Welcome here.

Are you replacing the head? If so there are a number of different makes with variable reliability reported. The 2.8 4m40 motor is reasonably reliable in the Pajero format but not so much in the Colt format for some or other reason. Some suggest it has something to do with the double timing chain setup on the Pajero and single one on the Colt(I am talking from what I seem to remember having read, not from personal knowledge so might be total rubbish! ) . Having said all that they need a good functioning cooling system to survive otherwise they tend to crack the heads. There apparently is a Spanish replacement head that promises better longevity but again this is from my ltd read and remember knowledge.

CATS

Thank you for the welcome guys.

Yes the cause of the head to crack was the radiator header tank that came apart from the core. I am having a problem finding a replacement radiator that is reasonably priced. Agents want a fortune. I did manage to find a colt radiator very close in size and thickness. Only issue seems to be the mounting lugs. Will have to do a mod for the bottom mounting lugs.

I did purchase a complete new head, "head master". Hope it is the good make.

Since I am having to do the top end I may as well lift the engine out and do the bottom end as well. At least I will have piece of mind.

The injectors have been serviced and the pump will also be sent in for service and calibration.

I have looked at the turbo and it seem ok. Will also take that in for testing and service. The exhaust manifold is also ok. Thankfully no cracks there.

So this weekend I lift the motor out and strip then send to the machinists.

Will take a few pic's of the process. BTW I did download the 4M40 manual from this site. Whoever spent all the time and effort putting the download section together need a pat on the back. Job well done.

My take on the Colt head being more prone to failing than the similar Pajero one, is the Colt having a smaller cooling system. If that be true, then fitting a Colt radiator could possibly be not the best option.

But like Cats says: this is from reading up on the topic and not from personal experience.

I will definitely relook at what you say.

The thickness and height of the two radiators is the same. The length of old Pajero radiator is 60.5cm and the new colt radiator is 63.5cm. Three centimeters longer. Not sure if the top and bottom tanks hold the same volume of water though. Will check. Thanks for the heads up.

The Colt guys also changed the manifold as the old manifold did not dissipate the heat causing a heat seep problem resulting in the head blowing. Not sure if this applies to the Pajero as well