Over here in mainland UK they are popular despite their age. The police forces and highways agencies in mainly rural counties and Wales loved them to bits, and my shooting pal Pete has an '05 LWB that came with a couple of Warne winches ready-installed, front and rear. He uses it mostly Oop North where it is best suited to the roads. Suspension is HARD, mileage is not as good as you might imagine - 24mpg is deemed good, at least by Pete, whose wife has a Nissan Patrol with a gasoline engine that makes a mighty 16 -18mpg. I've just spoken to him about it, and he has a few pointers for you, if you are serious about it. His advice is summed up in these paragraph that he pointed me at - he's happy to note that none of it has ever happened to him, but living in Ireland where, I'm told, you can sometimes get flakey diesel, it's a possibility.

Like a lot of modern common-rail diesel engines, the one in the Pajero has not been without problems.

A combination of the diesel engine’s habit of reburning some of its own exhaust and its crankcase ventilation system means that exhaust soot and engine oil can mix in the inlet manifold and create a thick, black, gooey sludge that has a huge effect on performance and fuel economy. If this occurs, the manifold needs to be manually cleaned with won’t be a cheap job unless you can do it yourself. In which case it will be a very dirty job.

Common-rail diesel technology can also be a bit complicated and, in the Pajero’s case, that involves a valve that’s part of the fuel-pump system. If this valve fails, the fuel pressure is not regulated correctly and the vehicle can start to surge on a steady throttle, refuse to accelerate properly and use more fuel than it should.

Also, like many modern common-rail set-ups, it seems that dirty fuel is often the cause of damage to this valve. And as anybody who uses service stations in far-flung parts of the country, dirty fuel is a question of 'when', not 'if'. A Pajero used in remote areas will probably already be fitted with an auxiliary fuel filter and water trap and, in fact, that’s you first clue to how the vehicle has been used.

The other blot on the diesel’s record was a batch of engines that could suffer stretched or even broken timing chains. The root cause seemed to be a timing-chain guide and tensioning system that wasn’t up to the job, allowing the chain to flail away inside the engine. Any clattering noises above and beyond the normal ones emitted by a diesel engine should be cause for concern. If in doubt, have a Mitsubishi specialist take a listen for you.

Unfortunately, this entire Pajero model run was caught up in the Takata air-bag dramas, so make sure the necessary repairs and replacements have been made.

The Mitsubishi is actually very good off-road, so many of them have indeed been used that way. So make sure there’s no damage underneath the vehicle, and check the sidewalls of the tyres for chunks missing.

The Pajero might have been a bit old-school in some respects, but it also offered suspension and ride that was a bit ahead of the pack at the time. So it’s a reasonably comfortable vehicle and still very, very good off-road as thousands of devotees will happily tell you.

Tac's pals advice I can wholeheartedly concur with as I just got rid of a 07 L 200 crew cab with the near enough same engine. AN UTTER POS ENGINE!:mad: Soft as ****e! Even Mitsubishi dealers say it is pants. If it has ever been run low on oil or the wrong kind of oil even, you can expect damage going into the thousands.I rebuilt the lower half as the oil pump was damaged,as was the big end bearing, shell bearings lower crankcase seal, timing and balancing belt. Some lazy or tight fukers will renew the timing belt and ignore the balancing belt which needs to be done as well at the same time.
Thus leading to oil pressure problems in the upper half of the engine too due to damaged balancing shafts and possible warped rocker shafts.
The best advice that I should have taken this year,is if there is any sort of major problem in those engines is dump out the engine and spend 3.5 grand and put in a "new" Jap import engine and save yourself a lot of grief!:( None of the Jap engine crowds will recondition any of the Mitzi engines post 04. They do a straight replacement or not at all.


You want to see evidence of regular service and oil changes in these and check the chassis for rust, especially anything from NI or the UK, where they go mad with salt in Winter.If there is alot of owners on this and changing within 2or 3 years on the motor check report...Run away!Quickly!It suggests problems.

FWIW...If you can find one that isn't a "farmerised "heap of rust.
Go back to the Seris 2 of the 1990s. They are a much better engine for lugging, easier to work on, have about the same ride and comfort and electric toys, without a common rail diesel electric fuel pump[About a grand plus to replace on the later models] or fly by wire accelerators or an annoying check light coming on every other week for some untraceable electronic fault.:(

I have my Seris 2 LWB in storage, pending a restoration job to bring it to the 30-year vintage mark,and in the "comfort and confidence in turning the key every morning" syndrome. The 1990s version beats the 00s every time.:)

Forget the Pajero lad, the Toyota Land Cruiser is by far the best of all the 4x4 on (and off!!) road today.......ask any farmer. Not the cheapest to buy but in the long run it'll pay for itself in trouble free motoring. If you are considering an older model, the 1 KZTE engine (just before the D4D model) is considered one of the best ever made by Toyota.

M.

monseiur wrote: »

Forget the Pajero lad, the Toyota Land Cruiser is by far the best of all the 4x4 on (and off!!) road today.......ask any farmer. Not the cheapest to buy but in the long run it'll pay for itself in trouble free motoring. If you are considering an older model, the 1 KZTE engine (just before the D4D model) is considered one of the best ever made by Toyota.

M.

I Concur! That's my current set of wheels in HILUX guise.Good enough for the Taliban and ISIL, who wouldn't be too picky about maintenance.Good enough for me!

Have a look at a D-Max while you're at it. One with a hard shell on the back would be ideal for the dogs, and they are reliable.
Cousin has an 07 Mitsubhisi L200, well minded and very little towing.
Bought it S/H, and 3 months later head gasket failed.
Garage covered half the cost, but he was still 600 euro out of pocket.
12 months later some oil seal leaked at the front of the crankshaft, oil got on the timing belt and it slipped a couple of teeth.
Towed home 60 miles (!) and was lucky to escape with only having to replace the rocker shaft and two rockers.
Wouldn't be rushing out to buy one of those .....

Good point.Who does Waxole spraying professionally in these parts?Want to do mine as well.

Speaking of it lads check out the fe 123 converter. Its to be applied after the clean and before the waxoyl. Serious stuff and well worth throwing on inbetween for piece of mind.

If you're the DIY type, I bought rust treatment and underseal sprays from Aldi/Lidl, cleaned the chassis with drill-mounted wire brush and treated half the underside for about 25 euros (3 or 4 rust eaters @ 3.99 and 4 underseals @ 2.99 or 3.99 (can't remember exactly)).

Had to do it in dry weather and took a few goes between cleaning/spraying but not rocket science.

I had done half the underside last year for the same money - the limiting factor is getting enough stuff in Aldi/Lidl, it always flies out fast.

Not as good as a pro job, but cheap and cheerful.