The Mitsubishi Pajero Owners Club®

[minesapasty]

Ivor, I still have the box, as I haven't decided whether I should replace the seals, just in case, or just get rid of it. I always have been a "keep it just in case" sort of person, it drives my Mrs nuts  

As far as the issue regarding Dales, this is an example of their professionalism. Before you say it, it was Sales staff, not mechanics/service staff, I agree, but they are at the forefront of the garages reputation. Usually, people meet the sales staff, before any of the mechanics get chance to put their hands dirty on your pride and joy.

I placed a 1000 quid deposit on a GT3000 (UK version of the GTO), with the agreement that I could collect it the following week, paying the balance in cash after it had been through the workshops, full MOT etc........ on the day of the supposed collection, I arrived to find there was no car, it had already been collected by someone else who had bought it a couple of days after I had paid the deposit. It also took me 3 weeks to get my deposit back..... All that I got was, an apology from an embarrassed salesman saying that he had never experienced the situation before. I had even phoned him to ask if the car was ready before I went to collect it. The sales invoice/reciept of my deposit stated clearly that I had entered a legal contract with the garage, the vehicle would be released on payment of the balance, as you would expect, but I was legally bound to buy the car...... Legally the car was mine, yet they wouldn't approach the other customer to say that there had been a mistake, and that they couldn't sell the car to them..... at the time I was livid, now I just have a bitter taste in my mouth over the whole episode.

I accept, that it is possible that the pump could have been worn with pitted shafts etc. If this is the case, would new seals fix it, or would they fail because on the shaft being worn? Dales wanted 200 quid to replace the seals and 1200 ish to replace the steering box. The guy on the desk did say, that they had experienced little success with replacing the seals.

Surely though, when replacing a pitman arm, if there is a chance of mucking up the seals on all of our Paj's. How many garages actually tell you this before it is done? Would another dealership or Mitsi themselves, have put that right if it was caused by carrying out the recall? Is this the reason why a dealership may try and avoid carrying out the recall?

As mentioned before, it took me an age (nearly 4 months) to get the recall carried out, and then a week + to get it driveable again afterwards, (that includes waiting for the postman to deliver the unit after the auction finished on that wonderful website). In hind sight, I wish that I had taken up Skymatty's offer of the bacon butties and gallons of coffee while I waited for his local Mitsi dealer to carry out the recall. Dales will never get any more work from me, free, paid or otherwise.

[Google]

[Ivor Green]

Well I haver to say if I had been trewated like that by the sales department , then I dont think I would even drive past the place let alone give them any of my money .
ok so as for the time taken to get the recall done ,the problem is as it was explained to me by the Colt car Company was they had to submit the pre warrenty claim to Japan and await for there yes or no , this might take twenty four hours or it could take weeks as you found .  now our problem was the arm costs around what £40 to £60 say , the Labour is one hour , if the service department then set the technician to work they need to recover around £150 , if they do not this goes down as work in progress against the workshop , Techs aere not allowed to earn bonus on warrenty work , so the tech will do it within the book time no rush , so not very often is he going to make a mistake .  that was my experiance , next  there is quite often issues now with the fact that the arms were quite often changed im Japan already , so not needed ,  if the arm was replaced Jap records haver to be checked to confirm this.   also remember Colt car company is privatly owned 51% uk 49% Mitsubishi . Colt did not bring the car in to the UK , made no money out of it , get bad press about trying to sort out problems wich they did not cause , and have never ending calls from owners who cant get help from dealers as the dealer have very poor access to workshop manuals , ( yes they are diffrent to ours , I know ) put all this together and we can get what apears to be bad service , I tried my leval best over the last 6 or 7 years to provide good service , I hope the three dealers I worked for provided this , but it only takes one bad thing to happen and it ruins it fir all of the Mitzy dealers .

As for reapair dont bother , I would put money on it that when you lift the steering pin out it will be pitted ,and no amount of wet &dry will remove the pit marks .

should dealers warn you that it might break or fail after a repair ? I dont know , I always told customers that if there steering wheel was out when it came in they had better tell me  if they didnt Mitzy would not pay for it to be setr straight , maon as much as you want but I would not try to slacken off a set of lock nuts and tubes , that had not been moved for three or four years , they just dont like moving , , and before any clever s.d says use heat , back street garages do jobs like that , and I had to put my name to the job card afterwards , and I know that the threads were worn the nuts were now poor and the tubes would be corroded , so no unless it moved under a bit of WD40 or the like or if the wheel could be reset on trhe splines it went out as it came in . remember they fast boys love to adjust tracking on one side only , this caises all sorts of problems when we use to replace the arm , pulls to one side wheel out of line on and on .

sorry , just know the service biys at Dales take there jobs to heart , trying to earn a honest living .

[leonfr]

Contacted mitsubihi or colt cars to see if my paj was on recall list,emailed me back within 2 days to advise me to contact my local dealer for him to check if there were any outstanding recalls on my vehicle, did this dealer said he would have to contact mitsubishi as it was not on the system and it would have to be put on the system for him to check on any outstanding recalls.i would have thought mitsubihi would have done all this when i contacted them. Is someone taking the mick or what  

[Ferino]

Ivor Green

There's a recall on my Paj.
After reading some of the hassle people have had I'm wondering if it's really necessary to have it done?
The guy I bought it off imported it himself 4 years ago and knew nothing about pitman arm recalls.
It drives fine and probably has for its 15 year life.
As an experienced Mitsi Tech what is your honest advice - get it done or carry on as it is?
Is there any real danger ignoring the recall?
If not for this site I wouldn't know about it and would be happily driving in ignorance!

Regards
Ferino

[Baddoo]

[Ivor Green]

I have changed in excess of 300 of these over the last 20 years apart from the ones that were replaced because of wear , I did not find any evidence of the corrosion that is reported to be effecting the ball pin ( tapered pin) I understand that there were instances of this happening and so because of the Jap laws a world wide recall was started ,why did I not see any cant say other than we tend to live or rather I do , away from salt water conditions that we tend to have our vehicles serviced and in that the steering is greased as per the requirements of the service menu we work to . for that reason the grease oozes out of the joint and from around the gaiter , this then give a semi water proof seal around the pin between boot and the drag link , this is where the corrosion starts .

ok back to your question would I persist in having it replaced , YES I would not because it's a freebie but because there is a possibility that this could happen to yours(Failure)  , and I might just be walking in front of your truck when it breaks , also the loved ones you convey could also get hurt .

Steve and I have a saying (My Number two at Solihull Mitzy ) Safety first safety second.

Ring Colt cars if you are getting the run around ask for customer services and ask if they can speed up the check, and if they then say it has had a modified pitman arm fitted in Japan can they give you proof as they are asking you to risk your life and the lives of others.

01285 655777   please don’t say I said so if I get any more PM's from Colt cars I will need a server and a PA.

[Ferino]

Ivor Green

Thanks for the advice.
I called Gallaghers Warrington on Friday to book it in but they said 'It doesn't work like that' they have to get authorisation for the work and that takes a couple of weeks. I was surprised as Amanda at Colt Cars had already checked my VIN with Japan and confirmed the recall was outstanding and told me to take it to any main dealer! I assumed I would be put in the system by Amanda.
I emailed Amanda late Friday telling her what had happened and expect a reply Monday morning as she has been very efficient so far. Maybe she will contact Gallaghers and put them straight - if she does I hope Gallaghers put my steering wheel straight!!
Failing that I will take Nick the Nurse's advice and call Holdcrofts, Stoke on Trent as they seem happy to do the work if you have a copy of the email from Amanda.

Thanks again for your advice and I will have it done for everybody's safety.
Ferino

[Pistol]

Perhaps it is me, but I see it like this:

Mitsubishi identify a fault on a vehicle that they have manufactured which they deem worthy of a recall (therefore pretty serious).  They will have done the maths and know what the cost is to their business to rectify potentially every vehicle they have produced and will more than likely made an accrual in their accounts (or one based on a realistic estimate of remaining vehicles and take up).

For them to try and wriggle out of doing this job is a false economy for them.  If someone was to have an accident that could be attributed to the failure of the pitman arm which a dealer had not replaced having sent the customer away the potential liability would be massive.  Sometimes in business you just have to take a hit and I believe that this is one of those occasions.

[Ivor Green]

I agree with most of yuor comments but I say once more COLT CARS UK is a indipendant franchise holder they are not owned by Mitsubishi , they did not bring the car into the country , they did not make any prophet out of it , they are very clearly instructed by MItsubishi Japan that they will only pay for the part if the clear guidlines are followed to the letter .

I know that when this does not happen they do not get paid , and the tech does not either most are on hours produced and paid accordingly , they are not wrigling out of it they have to do as the boss says , ok you might say but it's lives they are playing with , that they may be doing but if they just replace arms willy nilly , then you cant imagine the cost , £70 ish  pluss VAT for the arm .75 labour ish , so we are looking at the best part of £200 every pitman arm if you owned Colt cars you may well do the same .

[Pistol]

The internal problems of relationship between the Colt Car Company and Mitsubishi should not affect the service to the customer.  I sympathise with the guys not getting paid but I think that sort of pay system is pretty unfair.

I've got a similar issue with my house where there is a rat infestation and the council are arguing between departments about who is going to sort it out (it's a council property too).  I am not particularly interested in who pays for it as a customer, I just want the problem sorted

[Ferino]

Ivor Green

Got an email from Amanda today as expected and she had been in contact with Gallaghers who say it will be in the system by this Friday and I can have it done next week.
As the Paj is 15 years old I don't think another week will hurt it.
Just hope Gallaghers do a good job and that the steering wheel is straight afterwards.
I've read good feedback on here about them so I'm sure it will be fine.
What do you reckon to Gallaghers Ivor?
Thanks agian for your advice, we're really lucky to have a senior Mitsi Tech as a member.

Regards
Ferino

[Ivor Green]

they always had decent techs when I knew them
say when yuo arive could they please pay paticular attention to the steering wheel as it is straight now ok