Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Now that poor Pumbaa has been relegated to the daily school run while Dad takes advantage of cheap efficient public transport (thank you Democratic Alliance) I'm wondering what effect this will have on the longevity of the mechanicals.

The engine doesn't even get to operating temperature on those short daily 7km trips which can't be good (fuel consumption is horrendous now at 5km/l but I'm not all that surprised).

Other than oil changes (which I will now do every 5000 km) what else should be considered?

just take a drive once a week on the highway - 10km out and 10km back. That should be enough to get the moisture out.

SimonB wrote:Now that poor Pumbaa has been relegated to the daily school run while Dad takes advantage of cheap efficient public transport (thank you Democratic Alliance) I'm wondering what effect this will have on the longevity of the mechanicals.

The engine doesn't even get to operating temperature on those short daily 7km trips which can't be good (fuel consumption is horrendous now at 5pm but I'm not all that surprised).

Other than oil changes (which I will now do every 5000 km) what else should be considered?

More weekend breaks?

Seriopusly though I don't think there is anything that one really CAN do but is open for any pointers as I would also dearly like to know as I might have a somewhat similar situation in the distant future.

CATS

Simon,

Seven km should be enough to get most of the motor warm. My office is 7km from home. I find the temp meter shows full operating temp after 4km at sixty on a slight down hill. The last 3km is run at about 80, also slight down hill. Then stopped for most days until the drive home again. I've been doing that trip now for 23 years... every conceivable engine: LC straight six carb, Nissan V6 injection, Rav4, Toyota 2.7i and of course various Pajero petrol and diesel motors. Never had a problem once. Even the exhausts seem to last OK. My Sodwana days used to chew up the Sani exhaust, but we were young and wild and no respect for cars. But yes, bit of a run every now and then and even a drop of 2stroke oil on the longer runs can work wonders.

Another problem that nobody seems to think about that occurs on short trips is that the oil temp does not reach operating temp and all the "nice" water and acid "effluent" can not evaporate. I also drive a Cobra and the water temp is up to the normal 90 degree C within 4 to 5 km but the oil temp takes 20 km and more to get to 80 degree C. The answer is to change oil more often to get the "nice" stuff out.

Cloyd.