Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Hello reader,

'00 JDM Mitsi Pajero 3.2 DiD Smokey on idle, and erratic temps.

A little background, it's my dad's car, he bought it with a blown engine
(it didn't knock badly until 2 weeks after purchase, it was fine upon inspection), upon rebuilding the engine, with the guts out, we saw that the cylinder walls were scratched badly, long story short, overheat was the cause. It ran like brand new after rebuild, until...


The engine started missing at idle, and there was one time that right after starting the engine and it went wild! So, dad had things sorted out by bringing it to a bosch diesel service center. One refurb injection pump and a new set of injector nozzles and a blown pocket too, it was literally running like it rolled off the showroom floor. Was able to get 14Kilometers per Liter!



BUT! it started to smoke at idle a few months later, the Bosch Mechanic is clueless of what could probably cause it to smoke, and the smoke isn't oil, it is diesel! I know the smell of unburnt diesel, not the sooty one, but the white or bluish tint that has a very very foul odor, brings tears to our eyes literally. It happens all the time, at any given time, as long as it's idling it will smoke.

And also, the temps are erratic, tho I do not think this temp issue is connected to the smoke issue as I have mentioned, it smokes on cold, and at operating temps, but, the temp needle goes beyond halfway. we replaced the radiator, 50/50 coolant and distilled water, brand new mitsubishi genuine parts radiator cap, removed the thermostat too, we're still getting corrosion

We tried removing the cat and it made things worse, so it's back now.

maybe anyone from you has experienced this too?

I think your temp issue may be the common temp gauge problem. Check the internet for Pajero Gen3 temp gauge problem. It is normally a bad solder joint on the cluster. I eventually just fitted an after market gauge.

The Gen3 injectors are renowned to be very difficult to recondition. Here, there is only one company that I know of that can do so. The symptoms could be a number of things including injectors though. The glow plugs have an after glow as well.

If it is diesel smoke it means unburnt diesel due to either incorrectly timed diesel pump settings or insufficient compression in the cylinders. Maybe a compression ring collapsed due to the overheating that you are seeming to have?

CATS

Sent from my LG-H870 using Tapatalk

firstly, thank you so much for taking your time reading my post and giving me ideas. I really appreciate it!

@peter, I have read that the gauge could be faulty, I just haven't spent some time on it. I'll try to do the soldering tonight. Oh and by the way, the nozzles are brand new, it is the pump that was rebuilt.

@CATS, Valve clearances were re-adjusted, mechanical timing adjustment of the injection pump had been tried. Compression test results, all 4 were at spec. I am thinking that something is wrong with the timing of the injection pump, internally.

That would be a difficult thing to diagnose but since you are mentioning it, is there not maybe a lift pump installed somewhere between the tank and the fuel injector pump. Some people fit one jn an attempt to overcome fuel supply / fuel draining back to the tank issues. Why I am asking, is when I was busy with long distance road tests, we found that the fuel filters were not according to spec. Because the fuel supply pump in the injector pump also advances and retards the timing, fuel restriction would influence the injector pump timing. Check the fuel filter as well.

@Peter

Hi, I am not so sure what the lift pump is, but what I do know is that there is the "purge pump", located in the engine bay on the intake manifold side, to which the fuel filter is placed, and the fuel filter has also been replaced a couple of times.

Never thought that the mkIII would make me go nuts, but it did and my dad is resorting to intuition. hahaha

What I am referring to is an electronic pump that some people install. The purge pump you are referring to I believe, is a hand operated pump. If you switch on the ignition listen for a slight noise, they are normally fitted closer to the fuel tank.

Hi Larry

I've been having the same problem on and off... Mine is a 2002 Gen3 (150k k, unknown history from 0-95k when I bought it).

Also have the temp sensor issue, fitted an aftermarket gauge (the one on the console sits at max all the time)

I have the following symptom:
- it does not happen when cold
- uneven idle, and since it's auto, it makes waiting at traffic lights jerky
- when the idle is rough it smokes

At the last service they had all the injectors out and they tested fine. Apparently the head has damage because in the past somebody fitted one of the injectors without the washer on the end (something like that), and thus there's a small crack in the inlet area, but it's not making the injector leaky according to ANG.

After the service the rough idle problem disappeared and recently again reared its head.

I've thought it may be when I put in dirty diesel, but right now that would mean all the diesel is dirty ?

So I don't really have advice, but am having the same problem and am following this thread with interest.

Hi wimc,

Thanks for following this thread!



To be honest with you, I am not really familiar with main engine bits, but I think your problem may be caused by the injection pump wearing out? because we did experience uneven idling before, and it was a bunch of sensors failing and aswell as the main governor inside of the injection pump was failing aswell.