Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

So Japan decided to to omit the protector plate over the gearbox area on my 2013 Gen 4 exceed. I admit I knew about this and it was at the top of my list to get a protector plate - hmmmm. Not planning on doing any thing too hectic I decided to put it off till I had sold my 2000 DiD.

So by real bad luck on a gravel road I missed a rock in the road on Sunday (momentarily distracted by kids) - it lodged against the cross bar and road, shearing the 2 mounting bolts clean out of the chassis as well as shearing the mounting rubbers at the case. Speed was very slow about 20km/hr.

Initially I thought I would be leaving with the car on a flat bed but then I noticed some adjacent mounting points (I assume for manual gearbox) which looked like they might work.

So with a 14 socket, the hydraulic wheel jack and rocks as temporary jacks I managed to get one of the mounting bolts to line up. This placed the cross bar at a bit of an angle but still supporting enough of the gearbox to feel confident to carry on. The second bolt I could not get in so hoping for some redundancy in the design we drove home carefully on 3 bolts.

Lessens learnt -

1) Get a transfer case protector (even the thin Mitsu would have probably helped).
2) Always carry tools
3) Always watch the road
4) If the gearbox mounting bolts get ripped out - Mitsu have provided spares - kind of.
5) Never give up
Now we just wait for the damage bill - must say was surprised how thin the steel is at the mounting point - will be interesting to see how it gets repaired. Anyone had a similar problem ?

buckinghamrd wrote: Now we just wait for the damage bill - must say was surprised how thin the steel is at the mounting point - will be interesting to see how it gets repaired. Anyone had a similar problem ?

Is the damage "just" the cross-member hole?
If so you could take it to a general engineering works with a hydraulic press (to straighten) and a solid reputation for welding.

Or a replacement cross-member from somewhere like Parthunt.

Where are you based?

buckinghamrd wrote: Now we just wait for the damage bill - must say was surprised how thin the steel is at the mounting point - will be interesting to see how it gets repaired. Anyone had a similar problem ?

Is the damage "just" the cross-member hole?
If so you could take it to a general engineering works with a hydraulic press (to straighten) and a solid reputation for welding.

Or a replacement cross-member from somewhere like Parthunt.

Where are you based?

Maybe I misread the pics.

Is it the hole in the "chassis" that is torn?
If so then I would look for a good panel-beater / suspension specialist to weld up and reinforce.

That might involve cutting out a section around the hole, welding in a backing plate and then a replacement plate (each with correct ID hole in the correct place) to fill the cut-out.

Could take some time with engineering shops / panel-beaters only opening now after Christmas break.

Cross member is probably repairable but it is quite buckled - the holes are in chassis where the mounting points were ripped out - quite correct will need someone to cut out a piece chassis and re-weld in a section with captive nuts in right position.

Big issue I have now is the gearbox mounting rubbers which go between the cross member and the gear box - there is no stock in the country so this is ex Japan min 21 days!

Waiting for insurance quote - part cost not too bad actually about R6000 for cross member and mounting rubbers. I am based in Port Elizabeth - is Part hunt online or a breaker who specialises - could only find a Pretoria tel number?

Phone around to different Agents. Recently learned that Mitso Bryanston and East Rand have different stock systems. More often than not East Rand have the stock on hand!

So the repair turned out to be pretty complicated in the end as the chassis was quite badly deformed round the area of the rip out. It was localized but enough to make a quick repair difficult. This is compounded by the fact that there are 2 layers of steel sandwiched in this area to give extra strength.

In the end with the threat of warranty issues etc I let insurance take its course. Repair bill was a whopping R28 000 which I settled the excess on. They cut out this area and replaced the steel with captive nuts with a thicker plate behind - my only worry is corrosion but it was well Tectyled inside. Ill keep an eye on it.

So to prevent this (Gen 4 Exceed oweners take note) I fitted bash plates. It was such a minor rock but could have been a catastrophe.
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