Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

I travelled from Pretoria to Krugersdorp Game Reserve and filled up the '97 3.5l V6 A/T LWB that I just bought. I towed my Jurgens Penta there and back 120 Km at approximately 110 Km/h. The other 109 Km was to town once and in the reserve at less than 40 Km/h. I filled up again after the weekend at home. Total 229 Km, 57.6l. Fuel consumption 25.2l/100Km or 3.98Km/l. Is this normal? If not what do you experts suggest i do?

I am also looking for 1 x hubcap (Plastic Silver colour) not real silver. Dealer price = R560-00 for one, not a set?

that sound bad.

i have a diesel 3.2 DiD and from 134l i still have just a little more than half a tank left and have done about 900km now, 3 or four times to work and back (100km a trip), then from RTB to Krugersdorp over the week end and also visited the Krugersdorp Game Reserve yesterday, did the 4x4 track and drove back to RTB.

i am no expert but my suggestion: get a diesel

Willem,

That is the consumption of a 4.5 Cruiser at top speed! To my mind that is about 25% too heavy for normal use (including average towing).

The weight of the caravan can certainly influence it, and even when going at a low speed, the consumption shoots up if it is pushed to reach cruising speed.

How recently was it serviced? It may be worth your while to pop in at a reputable service supplier and check your settings out...

Regards,
Anton

Thanks Anton.
I will do exactly that as I am not sure What was done? as the previous owner "said" he serviced the Pajero himself last year October November. Maybe he just changed the oil? I am used to driving diesel vehicles so this kind of consumption was a surprise to me.

Any advice on that hubcap?

Willemdj wrote:...Any advice on that hubcap?

Willem,

I got some (older model, but new they cost R800 at the stealers!) for R80 each via Gumtree. Have not seen any advertised lately, though.

Keep in touch with scrap dealers on this.

Maybe you can post a pic of yours here - you may just find someone with one lying in the garage.

Regards,
Anton

Willem,

It sounds a tat heavier than one would expect.

I personally don't like calculating consumption over a short trip. It is better to keep record over a number of tank-fulls and then to look at the average.

Are you running on standard tyres?

But yes, going from a DiD to a V6 is a culture shock of note.

The consumption does seem a bit steep. The 3.5V6 is very heavy on petrol. You cannot compare the DiD, which is an excellent engine, but the 3.5V6 is a higher performing vehicle and as such does use more fuel. Pajero 3.5V6 is one of the highest fuel consumptions of all 4x4 and definately the heaviest in its engine size. Before I bought my vehicle I researched it very well, and I checked the consumption estimates and in town I was told it uses around 26lt/100km and on the open road around 16lt/100km. I have never done better than 16.2lt/100km. That was with a medium load. I have Grabbers (AW tyres) on my Pajero, which helps with fuel economy. I have been contemplating having an intercoller fitted. I am told that some have done it and it makes a 25% difference in fuel consumption. Not sure if the motor was designed to take the extra KW and that is why I have not taken it further. I did read about some guys in Australia which do a conversion on the Pajero which take the KW to 190. But. I do not think the vehicle was designed to do that. Although it should give you more speed for less revs you may do damage to the vehicle.

All of the 3.5V6 drivers are looking for that miracle to decrease the fuel consumption. But, I just had my vehicle taken from back to front and had everything replaced which needs to be replaced and a major 100,000km service. Had a great service done and the performance of the vehicle is much better, but also, it is running at around 17.8lt/100km in town and dropping.

gerald randall wrote:The consumption does seem a bit steep. The 3.5V6 is very heavy on petrol. You cannot compare the DiD, which is an excellent engine, but the 3.5V6 is a higher performing vehicle and as such does use more fuel. Pajero 3.5V6 is one of the highest fuel consumptions of all 4x4 and definately the heaviest in its engine size. Before I bought my vehicle I researched it very well, and I checked the consumption estimates and in town I was told it uses around 26lt/100km and on the open road around 16lt/100km. I have never done better than 16.2lt/100km. That was with a medium load. I have Grabbers (AW tyres) on my Pajero, which helps with fuel economy. I have been contemplating having an intercoller fitted. I am told that some have done it and it makes a 25% difference in fuel consumption. Not sure if the motor was designed to take the extra KW and that is why I have not taken it further. I did read about some guys in Australia which do a conversion on the Pajero which take the KW to 190. But. I do not think the vehicle was designed to do that. Although it should give you more speed for less revs you may do damage to the vehicle.

All of the 3.5V6 drivers are looking for that miracle to decrease the fuel consumption. But, I just had my vehicle taken from back to front and had everything replaced which needs to be replaced and a major 100,000km service. Had a great service done and the performance of the vehicle is much better, but also, it is running at around 17.8lt/100km in town and dropping.

Comparing petrol consumption to diesel is a bit unfair but if you want to go that way 26l/100 sounds about right for some of the toyota diesels not for a petrol pajero. Being a large petrol vehicle the can be thirsty but definitely not of the heaviest in their class. In town and traffic my 3l uses about 16.5l/100km and open road 14l/100km or less.

Fitting an intercooler would not have any effect on performance or consumption as these only come in to play if you have a turbo. It cools the charge air to provide a cooler more dense mixture to the cylinders as the compression in the turbo tends to heat it up.

The only way to get more speed for less revs is to change the diff ratio or add another gear but I do agree not to try and up the output of the engine as you will have reliability issues

My advice would be to have the vehicle sent to a decent tune up specialist and stuck on a dyno as it sounds as if you have lost quite a few horses over the years

gerald randall wrote:Pajero 3.5V6 is one of the highest fuel consumptions of all 4x4 and definately the heaviest in its engine size.

That's not entirely accurate as you're not going to get much better consumption from vehicles of the same generation. Try driving a 2.2 Hilux!!!

Before I bought my vehicle I researched it very well, and I checked the consumption estimates and in town I was told it uses around 26lt/100km and on the open road around 16lt/100km. I have never done better than 16.2lt/100km.

In town I'm getting 15.5l/100km (my last tank was 14.4l/100km) and on the open road around around 13.5 with a roof rack on, at a steady 110 or so (dropping down to about 14 with the roofrack loaded)

Please dont get me wrong, I am not complaining I was just surprised as I am used to my DiD.
The last trip was 266Km with aproxamatly 60Km of towing on 58l = 4.6Km/l or 21.8l/100Km.
The Gen 3 will give 10Km/l in town and open road and 12l/100Km when towing.