Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

I have a 1999 Pajero IO 1800 which has the following problem.
Last month I did Naudes Nek pass and then wanted to do the Baster voetslaan when the engine management light came on and the vehicle went into limp mode. I stopped, turned off the ignition and started the vehicle which ran normally for a number of kilometers and did the same again. I decided to return home and it was a pain in the backside with the car going into limp mode every so often. I have checked all of the connecter plugs in the engine compartment to no avail.
Has anybody got a solution for me as I don't want to take the car to the agents if I can help it.
Thanks in advance.

Terrence

It would appear that I have a unique problem with my car as I have had no replies to my message.
I will just have to take the vehicle to the agents and possibly be ripped off.

Terrence

best would be to try and figure out how to read the error codes on the ecu and take it from there. I don't know if the ecu checking on the IO is the same as other pajeros.

look here to start http://www.4x4wire.com/mitsubishi/tech/ ... eshooting/

Thank you for the pointer Marius, I have had a quick look under the dash and located the socket where the diagnostic tool attaches and another one behind the glove compartment but still have some more looking to do.

Terrence,

Have you tried disconnecting the battery and left it for 30mins before re-connecting?
This often resets the ECU.

Thank you Gerhard, I have already disconnected the battery and left it for a couple of hours with my fingers crossed but when I try the car again I can do maybe 1km before the engine light comes on and it goes into limp mode. I wanted to try the pointer that Marius gave me but when I wanted to use my analog meter the battery was flat and a digital meter won't work. I have been told that it might be the crankshaft position sensor. I will have to see how to get to it. I have tried cleaning all of the plug contacts that I could find , but this made no difference.
I think this is a great little vehicle and don't want to get annoyed with it and call it by it's Latino name (Little W#$%@r).


Terrence

Hi Terry,

Unfortunately we don't have many members here that own those little iOs (great little cars, by the way), so the knowledge is a little thin on the ground.

I would suggest trying to get the engine ECU to tell you what it has detected. This can be done by going to the agents (or any other garage with the correct equipment) and plugging in the Mitsubishi MUT-II diagnosis tool. Perhaps they will do this (merely reading the codes) for free or at least without breaking the bank. This will provide a read-out of any fault codes stored by the ECU and might give a clue as to the root cause. Then you can decide on a suitable path forward (i.e. DIY or workshop).

Many Mitsubishis have provision to read the ECU error codes without the MUT or MUT-II tools (after bridging two specific pins on the diagnostic plug, the engine light flashes out the error codes Morse code style), but as far as I can see this route is not available on the iO.

If you are interested, I could possibly send you a CD that might be of assistance. Send me a PM with your details, if you would like.

Thank you Gerrit,
I have not had this vehicle for long but have noticed that the electronics have a lot in common with the rest of the Pajero range, so any sugestions are worth investigating. With regard to the MUT at this stage it is a bit difficult getting to the agents as they are on the opposite side of Pretoria from where I live. Driving through the traffic with a vehicle that cuts out every now and again is extremely difficult and dangerous with the type of drivers we have here.
I will PM you in the next couple of minutes.

Terrence

Just a feed back regarding my IO.
I had a chap do a diagnostic check and he told me that it showed the crankshaft sensor to be faulty. As the chap had bought his tester recently I was a bit wary of his diagnosis. I then took it to Schalk at Dyno Logic who ran it on the dyno which showed up no faults. The vehicle must have been on the dyno for about an hour and ran beautifully without a hiccup. Schalk drove it down the road for a way to check for the local constabulary, turned round and belted it back. The car went perfectly. I left for my home and not 500 meters the engine light came on again, it came on about 5 times before I reached home, a matter of about 5 kms. went back to Schalk and he decided to drive the car to a spares place about a 10 km round trip and again the car performed great. On my way home the car stopped about 4 or 5 times. In desperation I went and spoke to Johan at North auto electrical. Johan told me to check the crankshaft pulley as he was sure that it was loose. I did this and found the center bolt could be removed by hand and the keyway in the pulley had been badly worn. I tried all avenues for a secondhand pulley to no avail so had to go for a new one and center bolt at R1500 plus. This installed and had the same problem, in desperation I stripped everything and looked at the crankshaft sensor which was very dirty and oilly. I cleaned it up and re installed it, surprise the car is now running fine.
I now just have to find out what is causing it to idle at about 1500 rpm when it warms up? Never a dull moment, I hate electronics in cars.

Terry

Since it only does this when you are driving, maybe you must check your driving style .

Just kidding, glad you got the problem sorted and thanks for the update.

CATS