Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Hi there

I apologise in advance for my lengthy story, but I feel it necessary tell the full story in order to get our honest opinions.

I hereby appeal to those of you with more experience in Pajero, perhaps those with more engineering knowledge than mine, and some who simply believe in honesty.

I drive a 3.2 DiD 2005 CK - Known throughout forums for the above mentioned issue

Recently, on my way back from the Calitzdorp, I noticed that my diff was leaking oil due to my passenger side companion shaft popping out. I hadn't done more than 100km on tar road since checking the diff before leaving (I had heard problem about this in 2005 CK models and decided to make it a point to check the diff before long trips and especially after and during dirty driving).

I adopted a bush trick of gently knocking the joint between the companion shaft and drive shaft until the former appeared to seated in the correct position (which works wonders for those who ever wondered). I topped the diff with oil and proceeded to limp home, checking for further leaks every 50km, and topping up (seemingly unecessarily) every 100km as a precaution.

My Paj is still currently sitting with Mitsu (I'll spare which dealer for now) and here's what they say...

The Companion Shaft and seal need to be replaced, including labour and oil - R1975.35

Having dabbled in engineering I questioned why the shaft needed to be replaced and why it could not simply be refitted with a new seal and circlip (as generally done if this happens when your vehicle is still under warranty). I was told the shaft was damaged.
I told them I'd be around to have a look at my damaged shaft next to the new one they wanted to fit (I genuinely want to see the damage just out of interest). I was asked to please hold while the service consultant chatted to the mechanic. Upon returning to the conversation I was told there was no physical damage (did I hurt its feelings?) to the shaft but it is recommended that the shaft be replaced as it may happen again if not and thus could damage the diff.
This I can not comment on simply because I dont know, they could very well be right. But I can now question is it actually damaged or not.

This is where I need your help

Logic says that if there is no physical damage to the shaft and the diff casing, a new seal and a new circlip would suffice as a repair. Am I right or am I being a cowboy calling their bluff for new part sales?

When I questioned if this repair was possible I was told the shaft and clip are not sold separately. When I challenged that (thanks to reading forums from around the world) I was later called back and told that in fact you can purchase them separately. R15.75 for the circlip versus +-R1350 for shaft + clip.

I guess I'm looking for your opinion on whether or not calling their bluff on an entire new shaft is a smart idea.

I'm just tired of being forced into unnecessary replacement cost because we, as the customers, have become too soft to challenge them at the own game when sometimes we may know better.

Your thoughts would be appreciated

To add to this after reading the post below
https://www.pajeroclub.co.za/forum/view ... =25&t=1853

I quote pieterpajero » Fri Feb 04, 2011 2:25 pm
"The new companion shafts does not fit on the sideshafts, because this is all part of an upgrade, therefore you need to replace the sideshafts as well.The hotfix no is NM27-002 dated 11 April 2006."

Mitsu have made no mention of this to me in quoting the repair...
According to my repair bill its just a companion shaft.

Are they lying and if so who are they lying to?

There was an upgrade/change in design of the sideshaft somewhere around 2004/2005 which taakes a bigger circlip to prevent this to happen again. You can buy the circlip, old or new, and refit, but the bigger circlip will not fit the old shaft and vice versa. So yes they are correct if yours is still the old design. Fitting the new design will prefent it from happening again. There is a guy up here in Centurion that remachine the old shafts to enable them to fit the bigger circlip at a much reduced cost, but this is obviously not part of the dealer setup.

My advice: Dig deep and fit the new shaft and circlip design. Pop by the agent to compare the two(old and new) and take a pic for us forum users.

CATS

Hi all

I borrowed my 2004 3.8i LWB Gen 3 to a friend last week to tow a trailer, and upon his return was told that my diff was leaking. Upon inspection, I found that my driver's side companion shaft pulled out, and that it had been leaking from there. It did not pull out completely, just enough to break the seal and allow the oil to leak out.

I found this very strange, and asked the gent whether the trailer was heavy. He told me that it may have been overloaded, and that the vehicle was struggling to tow it. (spare the comments on my stupidity, since he has allready received his "klap").

Some Googling indicated that this was a common poblem with some of the Gen 3's and that the design was changed in October 2005. The only change in design was increasing the depth of the groove in which the C-clip clips into. Obviously the clip thickness was also increased. It was also apparent from other threads (here and abroad) that the left handside shaft was most commonly affected, and in most instances it happened after suspension upgrades or during heavy towing.

I managed to get the shaft seated again, and topped up the oil to the tune of about 150ml. I purchased the seal and standard clip from MM. Oil seal part number MR350883 and clip part number MR410469.

This morning I jacked the baby up, and fitted the new seal and clip. The hardest part of the job was splitting the companion and side shaft. Those bolts are a b***h to get loose. About a two hour job in total.

I guesthe proof is in the pudding, so I will keep a close eye on it.

By the way...I aksed MM what he cost of the upgraded shaft was, and they told me R1800 a piece. I did not ask whether this was just the companion shaft, but I assume it is. I am not aware of the fact that the upgraded shaft does not fit the standard side shaft, so it would be interresting to see what MM does if you accept the quote for replacing the shaft at R1900...

If you intend doing this yourself, I need to advise that the upgraded clip will not solve the problem on it's own. You either reinstall the standard clip and seal, or upgrade the shaft and clip, and then use the standard seal.

There is quite a handy illustration of how to do it at the following link (you have to register though): http://140.99.20.180/forum/showthread.php?p=53510

JP

Hi there,
Can anybody tell me: does the 2004 Pajeros also have the same problem. If it is a problem on the 2004's, please post a drawing / photo to show the problem and the suggested repars. I would not like to be on tour in darkest Southern Africa and then to run into such a problem. From the discriptions I can not visualize the parts / problems. Cloyd.

use this link to make the imageshack pictures show up

http://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/sho ... hp?p=53510

If this problem is acknowledged by Mitsubishi and in fact they have a re-work available, then surely this is a quality issue and should have been fixed via a re-work campaign when they discovered it! Mmmm, sounds like Mitsubishi still have not learned the hard lessons from the head cracking senario on the colts.

CATS, please provide the details of the engineer you speak of.

I had exactly the same problem, a known fault with Pajeros. I simply had a new circlip and oil seal fitted and have not had any problems since, touch wood!! Was quoted roughly R5k to refit both left and right with "upgraded" shafts. I was also told by MM that the amount of oil in the diff would never run empty when this happens???? Aslo that by gently nudging the shaft back into place would suffice for a pretty long period should I be far away from any garage! Long and the short, until such time that I am forced, I simply carry a spare oils seal and circlip

Wilddog wrote:If this problem is acknowledged by Mitsubishi and in fact they have a re-work available, then surely this is a quality issue and should have been fixed via a re-work campaign when they discovered it! Mmmm, sounds like Mitsubishi still have not learned the hard lessons from the head cracking senario on the colts.

CATS, please provide the details of the engineer you speak of.

Mitspro in Centurion does the re-engineering of the old shaft to fit the new clip. They obviously send it away somewhere as they are a workshop, but they will be able to assist. Do a search for their contact details.

CATS

wilddog,
MITSPRO IN CENTERION CONTACT NUMBERS.
012-644 2888
OR FREEK SENIOR 083 543 6406
REGARDS