The Mitsubishi Pajero Owners Club®

J4JOE

Hello, thank you for letting me join the site.

I wonder if someone could help me please. I have a 2007 Shogun, 3.2 Auto LWB. It’s done around 190k. I’ve only owned it for around 18 months but it has good service history and seems to be well maintained from the digging I’ve done.

Between January and June this year it didn’t get any use as I was injured and unable to drive. I replaced the battery in June (as it was U/S) and took it on a run of around 120 miles, mostly on dual carriageways and A Roads with no issues. The next time I used it the gears were extremely ‘clunky’ and I got about 200 metres up the road before turning back. It made an aggressive ‘jolt’ into gear and upon coming to a stop it would fail to engage all together until I got the revs up to about 3,000 and then it lept into drive. This didn’t happen every time, sometimes it was silky smooth but then it would fail to engage completely.

I checked the gearbox oil level (or so I thought - I’ll explain shortly) using the lower dipstick in the engine bay, which seemed to show that the oil was low.

I got underneath and found oil pooling in the under-trays. There was oil over the front end of the auto transmission and around a lot of the underside components. It looks like the oil has sprayed as I cannot find the source of the leak anywhere.

When cold I checked the gearbox oil level again (via the dipstick) and there was nothing showing on the dipstick at all - completely dry, but no signs of further leakage.

My plan was to top up the ATF to see if I could locate the source of the leak and also see if the oil level was the issue.

In the meantime I already had a service kit so I carried out a basic service (oil, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter).

This is where the fun begins - Upon refilling with engine oil I checked the engine oil dipstick, with the oil showing - no issues.

I then checked the lower dipstick (I don’t know why I checked it again but I did), which I believed was for the gearbox oil… and this now shows full, with clean oil. This has caused me a great deal of confusion as this was previously showing empty and I haven’t added any ATF.

Could anybody confirm if that lower dipstick is for the auto box fluid please? (Im not able to upload a photo to the forum yet as I’m too new). I’m slightly concerned that I might be the actual dipstick here!

I’d really appreciate any advice you can provide. As you can probably tell, I’m certainly no mechanic!

Thank you,

Joe

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iam_TJ · Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 14:54 Post subject:

I have a Gen 3 2003 LWB with Auto - the top of the transmission dipstick is closer to the rear of the engine and the flexible stick itself is VERY long - possibly close to a meter. That should help you if you do not have the vehicle handbook although I think this one I have is what you need (2008 model year) where pages 4-31 onwards discusses the automatic transmission BUT there is no mention in the section 8 Maintenance of the automatic transmission or dipstick, only a mention on 8-14 of the clutch fluid (presumably for manual transmission). However on page 8-6 the illustration on the left in the highlighted area showing the engine gearbox dipstick seems to show the automatic transmission dipstick behind it and page 9-17 lists the automatic transmission fluid type and capacity:

https://iam.tj/shogun/08MY-Shogun-Owners-Manual.pdf

J4JOE · Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 18:07 Post subject:

Thank you for the copy of the handbook - I’m sure that I’ve got one somewhere but typically I can’t find it anywhere so that’s very handy.

Yeah, that sounds about right - so I’m satisfied that is the ATF dipstick, but I cannot work out how engine oil could be showing on there!

iam_TJ · Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2023 11:05 Post subject:

It sounds pretty serious if it is engine oil getting into the automatic transmission!

How much engine oil did you add and how did you add it? Did you use the measured amount from the specifications or just keep pouring until the engine oil dipstick showed full?

If measured then I cannot see how what you describe could be engine oil. I think the capacity is something like 5 litres or so whereas the automatic transmission is about 10 litres so you'd have needed almost 15 litres to get both full!

Going back to the oil being sprayed - the automatic transmission oil has to be cooled and there are pipes leading to the cooler in the bottom of the radiator and from what I've read in the forums those are a common point of failure, which would explained the oil you found in the under-trays and possibly help locate the leak point.

Bradwell Boy · Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2023 17:05 Post subject:

The other clue here would be the colour of the oil on the stick. The Autobox oil should be RED although with age and lack of changing it becomes darker. It also smells totally different from engine oil.
When you say "Lower dipstick" what exactly do you mean. The Auto box dipstick is the one at the back looking towards the bulkhead. Also there is a difference in the level between hot and cold.

radiomike · Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2023 17:08 Post subject:

iam_TJ · Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2023 17:13 Post subject:

J4JOE · Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2023 1:34 Post subject:

Thank you for your replies.

It took around 9 litres of engine oil. When I refilled it I measured it and also checked the dipstick throughout, just to be safe.

The gearbox dipstick I’ve ascertained is the one closer to the bulkhead/windscreen, which sits slightly lower than the engine oil one. The oil that I’ve seen on the gearbox dipstick is definitely engine oil, due to its colour - brand new golden oil. This is what is really confusing me - How on earth has engine oil found its way into there? Could a seal between the engine and gearbox have gone?

Bradwell Boy · Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2023 6:11 Post subject:

What is the level on your ENGINE dipstick after putting in 9lts? . Are you sure its engine oil in the auto transmition. The oil will change from a cherry red to a murky brown if not flushed occasionally but not generally golden brown!!!
What colour was the oil (ATF) on the auto box dipstick when you checked it in the first place ?
I cant see how engine oil can get into an autobox. They do not share anything between them. The engine oil has its own cooler as does the autobox.
Have you checked the autobox oil previously in the 18 months you have had it and if so was the oil the colour you would have expected?

assassin · Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2023 3:20 Post subject:

There is no upper and lower dipstick, the one nearest the front of the vehicle is the engine and marked "engine oil" and the one behind it nearest the bulkhead is the auto transmission fluid level marked "transmission" and the two are dissimilar.

On the engine dipstick you will have a silky black oil unless it is brand new and you check this with the engine stationary (NOT RUNNING) and this gives the engine oil level.

To check the transmission ATF level is different as you need the gearbox up to temperature and stop the vehicle but leave the engine RUNNING and apply the foot brake, put the transmission in R and leave for a few seconds, then N and leave for a few seconds, then D and leave for a few seconds as this primes the torque convertor and with the engine still running and the vehicle in P you get out and pull the ATF dipstick, wipe, refit and pull again and this gives your level; this should be cherry red if it is in good condition and if it is dull red or brown it needs changing in the near future, if it is black change it imediately as this is your brake bands breaking up.

If it is low or below the dipstick bottom mark then add 1 litre of the correct ATF and nothing else and check your level again without the engine running and once satisfied it has sufficient in to run you check the level again with the engine running.

There is no way engine oil can get into the transmission unless someone puts it in as it is totally seperate from the engine and dealers often top the ATF up with whatever they have to sell the vehicle as they know these transmissions are durable and will generally last in excess of the 6 months the law requires then to last.

Your transmission leak is most likely corroded steel pipes and if you remove your front and centre under trays you will see the banjo bolts on the off side of the gearbox and the pipes running alongside the engine, they go from steel to rubber Z shaped pipes to steel pipes which run under the radiator and to the off side under the front crossmember and to rubber again where they connect to the steel cooler pipes running into the transmission oil cooler, you will quickly spot any leaks with these trays removed, usually they go at the front under the crossmember and people just put longer rubber pipes on them.

J4JOE · Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2023 7:10 Post subject:

Apologies, by lower, I meant that one that the ATF dipstick is lower that the engine one. My one doesn’t say Transmission on it - but the engine one does clearly say Engine.

Thank you for the advice, I wasn’t aware of the correct way to check the ATF level so I’ll try it that way.

Hopefully once the fluid is topped up I’ll be able to spot the leak as I’ve already got the under trays off.

Thank you very much