Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Hi Guys

I have a vibration underneath my 2001 3.5 SWB. I have eliminated the tyres and mags as the source of the problem. I called a technician at Mitubishi Tygerberg and asked if it could be the propshafts. He said that when the vehicle is in 2H the front prop does not turn. Yesterday, I took off the front wheels to replace brake pads and when I turned the disks with my hand the front prop turned with the disc.

Is the Mitsu Technician mistaken or do I have a problem with my shortie?

Cheers,

JohnDG

John, he is correct: If the engine is running and 2H is selected, the front axle is disconnected at the RHS side shaft and the front propshaft will be stationary when driving.

However, when the engine is turned off, the front axle disconnect device defaults to connecting the RHS sideshaft under spring force, sothat the front propshaft will turn if both front wheels are rotated together or if one front wheel is jacked up and rotated while the other is on the ground.

Gerrit,

Is jy seker dat die prop nie draai nie? Dit is steeds vas aan die ewenaar en as die ewenaar draai, dan moet die prop draai. Ek vra maar. Cloyd

Cloyd, die voorste dryfas is wel aan die voorste ewenaar gekonnekteer, maar as die regterkantste sy-as van die ewenaar gediskonnekteer word, dan kan die dryfas en kroonwiel stilstaan terwyl die linkerkantste sy-as roteer en die planeetratte van die ewenaar ook roteer.

Hi Gerrit

I decided to do a little investigation of my own after reading your replies. I activated the video recorder on my cellphone and placed the phone under my Paj to record the front prop as I very carefully drove it(my insurance have already paid for a phone that I had parked an 8 Ton truck on 2 years ago).

I recorded the front prop turning as I drove over my phone slowly in 2H.I called another technician at Mitsubishi who confirmed that the front prop does turn in 2H but is not driven by the engine at all. After a discussion about my vibration problem, he advised me to remove the vibration damper just before the rear prop. I removed it and the the vibration is gone.

Apparently, Mitsu removed the damper on later models.

I have included a pic of the vibration damper below:

Hi All

I do not know much about Pajero's 4X4 drivetrain but after my vibration issue I am very interested to understand the basic mechanics of the drivetrain. I visited a friend who has a 1996 Gen 2 LWB diesel. The front prop on his vehicle does not turn in 2H. Furthermore, the Gen 2 manual actually talks about an automatic hub locking system. So am I correct in assuming that the Gen 2 does have auto hubs and when you go from 4H to 2H then the wheels unlock at the hubs ?

While in the Gen 3 there are no auto hubs but another system that disconnects drive at the transfer box? This means that the front drivetrain(prop, diff and axle) is always running free in 2H? And why have Pajero done this? I read in the Gen 2 manual that sometimes the vehicle had to be driven a short distance in the reverse direction to unlock the hubs. Could this be part of MItsubishi's reason for changing the system in the Gen 3? To make the system more user user friendly?

The downside is that a small amount of energy is wasted in the Gen 3 because the front drivetrain is always turning and possibly more wear too? And the possibility of the front prop being out of balance and affecting the ride comfort?

Thanks,

JohnDG

The way I understand this and reading Gerrit Loubsers very informative explanation I see two points of disengagement of the front drive ssystem. Firstly when 2H is selected the transfer box disengages drive to the front prop. Then either electrically or by rotational forces the right hand sideshaft is disengaged from the front diff. The left wheel will thus drive the left shaft and only the inner spider gears of the diff. The right wheel will drive only the right hand side shaft. This is the same action you get with any car if you lift both driving wheels and leaving the car in gear. If you then manually rotate one of the wheels the other will rotate in the opposite direction without moving the prop. Now in our case the right hand shaft is disengaged and does nothing to drive the right hand wheel. There is also no motion to the prop just like it is with the ordanary 2 wheel drive car jacked up.

Does this help? Regards Willie

JohnDG wrote:I visited a friend who has a 1996 Gen 2 LWB diesel. The front prop on his vehicle does not turn in 2H. Furthermore, the Gen 2 manual actually talks about an automatic hub locking system. So am I correct in assuming that the Gen 2 does have auto hubs and when you go from 4H to 2H then the wheels unlock at the hubs ?

While in the Gen 3 there are no auto hubs but another system that disconnects drive at the transfer box? This means that the front drivetrain(prop, diff and axle) is always running free in 2H?

No, the SA spec Gen 2 and the Gen 3 uses the same front axle disconnect system. Neither has autohubs; the wheels are permanently connected to the sideshafts. The Gen 1 is the one that had autohubs. Your Gen 3 should react exactly like the Gen 2 if everything is working as it is supposed to.

Hi Gerrit

You are correct but it seems paj might have a problem with the front diff or transfer box causing the front propshaft to turn when the vehicle is in 2H. Gonna send it in to mitsu to be checked on Monday. Let's hope it's not an expensive repair.

John.

JohnDG,
You are more clever than me, but I am braver than you. I laid under my Pajero and had my daughter drive over me. I didn't believe 4ePikannini at the time.... silly me

And yes, the front prop shaft wasn't turning in H2