The Mitsubishi Pajero Owners Club®

[rickhlondon]

Hi
I currently own a Pajero Mk2 SWB 2.8td Fieldmaster which have I owned for 7 years and nursed along as required. I use it virtually daily and love it to bits.

Just a big Tonka toy really.

It is now becoming old and knackered (not unlike its owner!) and I'm considering changing it.

My passion is old classic cars and I have a reasonable theoretical knowledge but limited practical ability apart from normal
servicing and obvious repairs.
I have prepped and rallied a classic car previously and am presently (with major assistance from others) building a historic race car with a view to sprints, hillclimbs and...who knows?

I have recently come across the Pajero Evo, a car I had previously no knowledge of, and have to say that it  is very appealing (if someone of my more advanced years driving it won't look like a ....) having such a fantastic history and being basically a very quick Tonka Toy, which will probably increase in value to boot. (A major factor in persuading management what a great investment they are!)

Practical advice please.

1.I presume there is a lot of commonality with the 3.5 V6 other than engine,box and suspension.
Would I be correct or if not what else differs (apart from bodywork obviously)?

2. I have approached a couple of franchised Mitsubishi dealers and indeed Mitsubishi themselves trying to find a garage/mechanic who presumably has to be Ralliart trained?
The main dealer recommended by Mitsubishi reckoned obtaining parts is very difficult but normal servicing should be reasonably ok.

What please is your experience and are there any mechanics/garages reasonably local (I'm in Hertfordshire) up to the job who could be recommended?

3.I've heard that mud flaps come in at about £600! Is it likely that major engine/transmission/suspension work is likely to be ludicrously expensive or, subject to getting the parts, is the work generally relatively straightforward such that a competent say race mechanic could deal with?

4.I've followed the mails on the PajEvo's manual located by one of the members in Australia.
My Japanese is a little rusty (!) and I wondered if any progress has been made on the proposed copying and translating of them into English?
I would be really interested in obtaining a full manual, which very sadly I shall probably spend a great deal of time reading (really should get a life) before buying as I like to get a feel for these things and of course they would be absolutely invaluable for the day to day running issues, never mind all the data needed for servicing and repairs.

Very happy to buy/make a donation for same.

Just testing the water at this stage but any input from experienced owners really appreciated.

Regards

Rickhlondon

[Google]

[hutchy]

i don,t own an evo but i do know things like suspension arm bushes shocks and springs are no longer available through mitsubishi,but i am aware there are guys in Russia i think who cast bushes,not sure about the springs and shocks,body parts things like the bonnet vent and the extra plastic add on parts can be very expensive...but otherwise like all mitsubishi pajero,s if they are looked after they will run for ever,standard stuff for your service including timing belts are pretty much off the shelf,one biggy sort of problem is the engine ecu,they don,t tend to go wrong but T leaves tend to like them from what i have heard over the years a fair few have had ecu,s stolen but that said they are held in a steel cradle with nuts so i would change them to some sort of anti theft nut,and make sure you have a damn good noisiest alarm system installed......as for fuel economy well like any big 2 ton brick floor it and you will overtake pretty much anything other than the fuel stations.......

i,m sure some of the guys who own them will come along and give you some pointers...

[riceboy]

Rick, i have owned mine for 10 years. and its pretty much what Hutchy said. except chassis is unique so all suspension parts are now difficult to get hold of. there are workarounds though. I had poly bushes cast into the old suspension parts and they have worked really well and held up for a long time.
Thieves recently broke the dash when they stole the stereo. a new piece that is unique to the evo was ordered from Japan. the cost was not crazy more than it would be for any other car. We used to be able to get all the body parts from mitsubishi, not sure if thats still the case. Most motor parts have an equivalent from another model so its about figuring out what other model it was used in.

if you find one it will probably need new suspension bushes. there is a guy on the forum from Rusia who sells them or you could do what i did. Also get the nut on the main crank pulley lock tighted on. they come loose........ and that can mean a new crank!

As a daily driver which mine was for 6 years the only comment is fuel economy. it is crazy heavy on fuel. i replaced it as a daily with a grand cherokee 5,7l hemi. it felt like i was driving an economy car haha. work on 25 liters per 100km at best around town. if you are heavy on the peddle it can go as high as 35l/100km

tiptronic box shifts really slowly. they were made when tiptronic was just becoming common.

prices are definitely on the rise. it is something special and on fast dirt tracks it is a reel hoot.

any specific questions let me know

[rickhlondon]

Hutchy, Riceboy, thank you both for taking the time to reply.
Much appreciated.

Looking forward to any further input.

Regards

Rick

[Qckslvrslash]

I have only had my Pajevo for a couple months but as far as sourcing parts go it can be done but you will pay a premium for them. Some things are shared with Mk.2/3 Pajeros others completely custom and there is no real rhyme or reason as to what. The engine is a 6g74 but its heads are completely custom as are its pistons and rods but some of the accessories are shared with other models. A good example of something that isn't is the Alternator which goes for about $1000 bucks.  The suspension is the same. Some parts ie. lower front's are from other pajeros but upper fronts are completely custom. The entire rear setup is it's own thing ARMIE was their acronym for the fully independent rear suspension it was given.

I have loved every second with my Pajevo and as somebody who also owns an Evolution I I am pretty used to digging up and trying to figure out what works where but you have to be willing to potentially be waiting on something for a week or two.

[EVO_PAJ]

Ill Put my two Cents in Mate,

Yeah im from Australia we have about 7 of them over here - All needed to be personal imports to my knowledge, in Aus its Extremely hard to find anyone that knows about them hence i purchased the workshop Manuals ( I posted just then on their progress too if you wanna have a read ) - T04 knows a fare bit though

Im lucky enough to have one of the last models made so everything is going well still-  (A Few squeaks here and there but overall an amazing car.)

Pros :
Looks - I mean still to this day is there a 4wd that looks tougher - I get more thumbs up in this car than anything else i have been in. I mean hell you are riding inside of a Transformer
Heritage - This was the only car Mitsubishi built for the Dakaar then moved it to Production ( Hence why they kept winning but Shhhhhhh) - every other manufacturer built road cars and turned them into dakaar competition.
206 KW engine - non turbo - Back in the day it was more powerful than the BMW M3 ! - Torque from the get go.
Rare - Yes they have to go up in price, still to this day so many people have never seen them and just fall over backwards when they do.
Its An Evo ! i mean im an evo guy so it just doesnt get any better ( maybe it would with a turbo )

Cons :
Fuel - Yeah 20- 30 L / 100kms is about normal
Parts: Yes can be hard to get
Cost: Parts are Generally expensive however if you have owned any other Evos all evo parts are becoming expensive so not really a biggy. ( Wheel bearings for my 6 were $600 )

But lets be honest - your gonna look after the car and not crash into anything and make sure no one crashes into you - your gonna park in the rear crnr of the carpark so you dont have anything "dinged"
I mean its the evo life, its what you do bud.

The bottom line is that putting all that aside the feeling of driving it and the look on peopls faces far outway the worry of "Maybe" needing a rare part.

Honestly if i could i would just sit mine in the lounge room and stare at it.

Be sure to give the one your thinking about the normal car once overs - Leaking shocks - Smoke on start up - oil leaks - weird noises that sort of thing.

Good Luck !

[rickhlondon]

Thanks Evo_Paj.

A true enthusiast.

Looking forward to seeing those manuals !


As luck would have it I saw another Evo locally and stopped and chatted to the owner who was very helpful.
Had his for years and loves it.

All good feedback apart from that fuel consumption.
Problem is..... should I replace a knackered work horse which I wash once every 2 years and trash daily with something that really should be
looked after and nurtured ?

First world problem.

[rickhlondon]

Done it !

Pick it up in a week to 10 days.

1998, Silver, 44k miles, auto.
Mileage appears to tie in with Japanese service book (obviously km equivalent).

Imported in 2015 and been stored in a collection until now.

Appears in excellent condition, but I'll reserve judgement.
Watch this space for a heap of stupid questions over the forthcoming months........starting with:

1.What oil is best for the MIVEC?
Car pulls well and can feel Mivec kicking in (which I understand is oil pressure dependent) but oil pressure gauge is not working at all. Not a flicker.
No smoke, and oil appears fresh
Could be the gauge, the sender unit or???
Are sender unit and gauge easily obtainable and if so from where?
2. When is cambelt change due? My Japanese not great and therefore service records not much help.Current owner hasn't had done.
To be on the safe side I'm thinking of doing shortly.
Presumably need to do tensioner  (and water pump?) at same time? Please advise.
Also, are these parts easily obtainable and if so where is best source?

I'll be back !!