Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Hi all,
My signature just got updated

Driving back from PTA with the Gen3 I bought I noticed that if I let the revs drop quite a bit while driving (especially in 5th) and then touch the pedal again, I get this "kluc" from underneight.
It doesn't happen through gearing up and also not if I don't let the revs drop too much.
Sounds like a "slack" somewhere in the drive-train.
Could it be propshaft bearings or is there a typical problem?

Thanks a lot
Pierre

As an experiment I suggest you also test in 2H, 4H and 4HLc. If all is fine in 4HLc but not in 4H then it could be backlash on a diff or a prop. If fine in 4HLc try 2H. If problem returns suspect the rear wheel's driving mechanism. If problem occurs in 4H but not 2H then problem could be on the front drive. If problem remains in all positions also 4HLc you may have a problem inside the transfer box. What distance has the car done?

Hi Bigwill,

I tried it yesterday in 4H and got the same result.
Knowing that I'm gonna be doing some gravel roads today and not wanting to test 4HLc on tar I can now report the following:

On gravel I get no noise at all - tested in all selections.

Back on the tar after having stayed in 4H most of the time on gravel I must say the noise is a tiny bit less.

I also learned to change my driving style by concentrating on only lightly touching the pedal before giving juice as suppose to a more direct approach. This also helps to eliminate the clunk sounds.

It is a 2001 with 226,000 on the clock (engine re-done but rest of drive-train still the same).
I guess it is just a bit of slack everywhere in the drive train cause the noise. Most noticeable in 5th which makes sense.

Even thought my previous Pajero had over 320,000 on the clock I did not feel it there maybe due the auto box smoothing things out a bit?

My plan is to still swing past a prop shaft place to let them check for play. Else I must simply drive more gravel roads

Thanks a lot
Pierre

Update:

Whilst in Durban over the past 2 days I took it to a Propshaft place and a Gearbox place.
Both said it could be the propshaft, diff or transferbox and that I should start with the CV's on the rear propshaft since there is some play there.

I asked them to give me a quote on re-doing the CVs - will wait for it...

Oh - yes - forgot to add. Since it was SO hot, the aircon picked up the reves a bit, causing me to also get the same 'clunk' sound when I engage a gear while stationary at the robot. First gear was more noticiable.

Any input would be appreciated

I spent some time under the car this morning and found the following:

Sufficient diff oil in the rear diff.
Rotation backlash on rear propshaft within spec (5mm).
Rotation backlach on front propshaft within spec (11mm).
Absolutly no front-to-back movement on the front prop.
Maybe about 1/2mm front-to-back movement on the rear prop.
So if I move it front-to-back, it goes tick-tick as it touches front and back stops.
The manual does not any specs on f-2-b movement so I have no idea what is normal.
Only the Propshaft 'Specialists' who told me there is some play that could cause the noise.

It is hard to try and isolate the rear propshaft to check for play on the reardiff but as far as I could try there was no front-to-back movement on the actual diff. It seems to be on the rear prop.

The noise is much less when the car is cold.
I don't get any noise when engaging the clutch and moving it to 1st gear (without letting go of the clutch) as I was getting when it was hot (as described above).
Maybe that has to do with viscosity in the lubes.
So I was thinking about a post a read on Redline Oil for the diff.
Is that considered a snake oil??

Last update:

I did a lot of searching on overseas forums and eventually got lots of posts about the exact same issue.
The backlash seems to be common on vehicles over 200,000km

The problem is that, in most cases, you cannot narrow it down to a single component. It appears to be a bit of wear on each of the drive-train components. From the gearbox to the propshafts to the diffs (and splines) to the CVs etc.

If you can identify the one with the most wear you will eliminate some of the problem. But the trial & error might be costly.

It seems most guys do one of 2 things:
1. Change their driving style to limit it (which I'm already doing)
2. Install a lift kit which will change the dynamics of the suspension and in that way eliminating most of the noise.

I will start investigating the lift options...

Freshman,

Just keep in mind that lifting a Gen3/4 Pajero doesn't change anything on the propshaft dynamics (on a Gen2 it does). Only the side shafts change. They stretch and the CV joint drives through a more pronounced angle, which is bad for the CV joint and the CV boot.

Thanks - did not know that - still has my Blister cap on

Hi all!
I'm new to this: to forums and to Mitsubishis! I didn't think I'd like the iO that my fiance bought, but I'm falling in love!
It's a 1999 1800cc automatic import, 3-door. It's a great little car with all the mod cons, but I think there's a problem.
There is no 4wd. None at all. None installed, nothing! So it still works, as this is how it was built - I didn't know Pajero's came without 4wd?
The main problem though is that there's a noise that seems to come from the rear left hand wheel when driving, especially between 80-120km/hr. No warning lights or anything though. I'm not mechanically minded, is there anyone who's got any tips for me? Or even anyone with the same model car who I can chat to about it!
Thanks in advance from a newbie!

Klak sound underneath......

Mine does the same. The noise comes from slack on the rear diff. It is not serious. Just change your drive style and try to minimize it.

If you do not use a fairly thick oil, change to a 80w90 gear oil. This will also help to dampen the noise slightly.

CV joints on Pajero's hardly ever give problems under normal use.

My Pajero 's got 307 000 on the clock now. Except for a right rear oil seal on the rear diff and a oil pressure switch,general maintenance components, she is running on original factory fitted components