Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

My experience driving a 2003 Pajero DiD LWB GLS Auto with 188k on the clock.

Background: A good friend who lives on the Cape south coast found this car at an up-country Pajero dealer with full dealer service record. In the end it was decided that the car would be brought to me for a final “yes/no”. If “yes”, then we (SWAMBO and I) would drive it down to him. The answer was “yes” (quite a responsibility as you may well imagine) and so started a 1400km run to Glentana, followed by a week touring holiday to places like Die Hell and Baviaanskloof.

1) Engine is still like new. Didn’t use a drop of oil or water over the 3000km trip including long open road cruising as well as slow 4H dirt track driving for long hours at a time. Sounded and felt like my DiD’s when they were still new.
2) Gearbox is still like new. Sounded and felt like my new auto boxes.
3) Interior was still in very good nick. I think the car may have been very dirty inside before the valè job. The body panels in the engine bay were also very dirty, but came clean with very little effort (something to keep my mate off the streets for the next few days). All the seats were still firm and comfortable and the car was rattle free. After the trip through the Baviaanskloof, we picked up a rattle in the radio area. We took it out and found nothing wrong, but stuck some foam rubber on it and replaced. The rattle didn’t re-appear.
4) Super Select had a problem. This was not evident during the test drive as the warning light only comes on after about 30km drive. The symptoms are as follow: After the mentioned 30km run, the two green rear wheel lights on the display would be replaced by a flashing centre diff light (limp mode for the 4-wheel drive system). As soon as that happens, then all 4-wheel options are disabled. This didn’t impact on the car’s normal 2H performance. Stopping the car and restarting would clear the system and everything would function perfectly, for 30km. Engaging 4H before the 30km mark prevented the limp mode from happening at all. We had the dealer in George check it out. He did a systems check and the culprit was identified (a switch on the front diff). The car will be checked in next week for repairs. For the moment there is no indication of cost or if it will actually solve the problem. An interesting observation is that the expert, who did the system check, mentioned that the limp mode normally happens after 31km. So maybe next time when you take a Pajero for a test run to purchase, make sure you exceed 30km in a single run.

In summary, I was totally amazed at the build quality of the car. I have been driving Pajeros since 1994 and found every one to be totally trouble free, but have never pushed the odometer past about 120k.

I felt compelled to write this account, although the 4-wheel system has not been repaired yet. I will give an update as soon as there is something to update. My mate also promised to get as much detail as possible about the repair job (keeping in mind that dealer workshops are secretive places). Hopefully there will be some valuable info to share as well.

Do you still like the power, comfort, and handling or have you become accustomed to it?

4e,
On this forum we already accept the power, comfort and handling as a given. I was amazed at how well the car had aged.
Roelf

I have a 2009 3.2 DID Pajero and had a similar problem with the Super Select.On returning from Namibia after a service in Windhoek (30000 km) we were about 40 km from Upington when the lights went from "2 wheel" to "4 wheel" flashing followed with the diff lock flashing on its own.Went straight to the Agents in Upington {who had previously done my 10000 km service in April) who were fantastic.The Service Manager advised it was probably the "switch" on the gearbox which would mean a major repair(have to remove the gearbox)
As time was not on my side (returning home in Durban) he said he would try one more thing as I had told him we had been in Namibia for 3 weeks touring with plenty off dust!!!
Aparently the "switch" works on air pressure and vacuum to change between the gear selection. He changed the 2 pipes around and presumably blew some dust out as everything then resorted to normal. Return trip to Durban was fine. I tried all the gear settings with no problem.
At my 40000km service I will ask them to check the switch. (probably in Dec 2010)
Hope this might help you

Colin,
Thanks.

Please keep in mind that the Pajero dealer who sold the car is not walking away from this problem. The vacuum lines were no1 on my suspect list and we did a visual inspection on those. But because the system check pointed to the switch on the front diff and because the seller is taking some responsibility for the repair, did we not tamper.

Had an e-mail from my bud this morning, the car is going in today.
He is still very happy with the car and has added another thousand km over the last few days.

Cheers
Roelf

SORTED

Car was taken to the agents.

All five sensors tested with too high ohms. They were replaced and the total cost came to R1800, supplemented with a personal guarantee from the technician

I think you guys know the script from here on? Before my bud got home the 4x4 system was already in limp mode. He went straight back with his car (with a touch of a bad attitude, I assume). The tech re-tested everything and the vacuum pump was faulty.

The guy was very “nice”(guilty conscience) and broke the pump open and repaired it with bits from another broken pump in the shop. This was done at no cost.

Since then everything is working perfectly.

This whole experience is a repetition of many other stories on the net – across all makes of cars. The experts with their computer testers often get it wrong and then a costly series of “experimental” replacement starts, until they happen to replace the correct part.

Luckily this story wasn’t too painful or expensive. Also, there is a “loose” commitment from the selling Pajero dealer to pick up the bill. The invoice has been forwarded to them. Time will tell.

Update:
Another month has gone by and the Pajero in question is still running perfectly. My bud is VERY impressed with the car, keeping in mind that his previous drive was an Allroad Audi and before that a VX Cruiser.

The selling dealer picked up R1000 of the repair bill. My mate is totally satisfied with that level of dealer commitment, keeping the age of the car and price he paid in mind.

This should close the loop on this thread.
Roelf