The Mitsubishi Pajero Owners Club®

[PacmanGoNomNomz]

Hi all,

I've had my SWB 55 Reg Shogun 112k since November 2020. less than 1500 miles on it since then. I had the fuel filter light illuminate so I removed the filter and emptied the contents - result of which was what I consider to be a lot of rust (and water). I checked the fuel filler pipe and yep the breathers are completely gone - fuel filler pipe itself looked okay.

I do see a lot of topics related to this, but I struggled to find any detailed guide as to what steps to take to check, replace/repair and prevent for the future.

Quite frankly, I'm not sure where to start. My concern is I start something that I cannot finish on my drive. My thinking was:

I'm not even going to start the engine for now as I don't fancy the drama of replacing a new fuel pump.
Order new breather pipe from somewhere like Mitzy bits or Milners?
Drain the fuel tank? I have no idea how to do this, or even if I can, like what to collect it to? It's got half a tank of 'stuff' (god knows the % fuel/water in there).
Drop it? Inspect it? Order a new fuel tank maybe?
Clean lift pump or whatever device is pulling fuel to the engine.
Presumably clean flush the feed from the tank to the fuel filter? Again, not sure what the best method would be here? or how.

If anyone could give me a break down of steps (in as detailed as possible instructions) to resolve this it would be appreciated.
I am mechnically minded and have a good range of tools, but the Shogun is still very new to me and I'm not at all familiar with its quirks yet.

Failing that, I'll take it to a garage.

Thanks in advanced!

Adam

[Google]

[Simonfathead]

I get most of my parts from milners 4x4 as for your problem, i would sugest removing the corroded pipes and dropping the fuel tank and it will need cleaning out removing all the old fuel and rust/water i have never done it but been told its not a big job but the tank can be heavy especially with half a tank in there. Im sure someone who has done it will be along shortly as to give you better details.
Dont forget to order a new fuel filter as well.

[assassin]

Start at the beginning ans gather lots of 5 litre oil containers and a 20 litre oil container and a large funnel, get some liquid degreaser and clean these containers out and rinse.

Get your vehicle into the air high enough for the 20 litre container to go under your fuel tank with the funnel in it, go under your vehicle and you have a fuel tank drain bung, remove it and let the diesel drain into your 20L container, be aware that the fuel guage lies as there will be more in the tank than you imagine. Put the cap on this fuel as you will use it later.

Remove the o/s rear wheel and you will see the filler pipes cover and filler pipes, remove the cover and you will see the pipes and they connect to the fuel tank by rubber pipes, disconnect them from the steel pipes, Bung the rubber pipes by covering with cling film and put an elastic band round them.

Unbolt the steel vent pipes (15mm) and snap them off as this removes most of the corroded pipes and put to one side, if you have a copper pipe bending spring (about £3.50 from Toolstation) you can reform new copper pipes, make them overlength and form them to shape, cover them with self amalgamating tape where they touch the steel so no copper is in contact with the steel as this causes electrolytic reaction which rots the steel. Loosely fit them after cutting the remaining steel pipes back to good metal and cleaning them with emery cloth until they are bright steel, make your final cuts and you can connect the new copper pipes to the good steel pipe with 16mm rubber fuel hose.

Measure the distance between the copper pipes and put them on the bench, flatten a piece of the copper pipe and mark the new copper  pipes where they mount and solder the flattened copper pipes to the new copper pipe so they align with with the mounting holes and drill them, these should now align.

Your smaller breather pipes go to a breather valve and ordinary copper brake pipe fits and again this can be connected with 5mm rubber fuel hose, remove everything and clean the body behind the piopes as they are a rust trap. Coat the body with a good compound, I prefer Bilt Hamber Dynax S 50 which can be painted on, leave for a couple of hours and fit all your pipes with new clips and rubber pipe, with everything connected, coat everything with a second coat of S 50 and lather your pipes and get behind them.

If you haven't removed your fuel tank guard its a good idea to do so, I have a standard Killaspray garden sprayer, the pump up type with adjustable spray lance, this is set to a fine mist spray, put 2 litres of degreaser into it and pump it up, push the nozzle ans liberally spray upwards and to the sides to apply the degreaser, refit your drain bung and push your lance into the fuel filler and spray, and dont be tight with the degreaser, leave for about 30 minutes and rinseby fulling the fuel tank with water, remove the drain bung and drain fully, you can spray water up through the drain bung hole as well as down the fuel filler to ensure the degreaser is removed. You will have a clean fuel tank which is free of rust and sediment.  

Leave the drain bung out overnight as well as the filler cap removed so the fuel tank dries out. Fit the drain bung and coat the outside of the tank with Dynax S 50 and take care around the filler pipes as the tank corrrodes here and ensure anything steel is covered with the Dynax, remove the drain bung and let the tank dry inside, if you have a heat gun or Halogen light you can heat the bottom of the tank and accelerate the drying, but don't overheat it.

Clean your drained diesel by getting a piece of the wifes (or yours) and put it over the top of your funnel with an elastic band around it to hold them in position; and put a clean nut or similar in the middle to weigh the tights down slightly in the middle, put this funnel into your first 5L container and pour your contaminated fuel through it until the container is full, then fill the next container and so on, you will see the sediment from your drained fuel on the tights.

Change your fuel filter for a new one and clean everything you remove such as the drain plug and refit your filter, pour your cleaned and drained fuel back into your tank, prime the fuel filter by using the drain screw bleed nipple (if fitted) with a piece of clear pipe into a jam jar and remove all the air, pump the top of the filter again with the bleed nipple closed and start the engine.

[PacmanGoNomNomz]

[PacmanGoNomNomz]