V6 Pajero heads.
Submitted: Wednesday, Jul 31, 2002 at 00:00
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Yonnee
Recently purchased my first 4WD, a '91 NH Pajero GLX V6. Other than she has the turning circle of the QE2, and uses about as much fuel, I'm fairly happy with my new toy (when I can get my wife out of it)! But a scary conversation with an owner of an older V6 Pajero who spent something in the order of $2500 on heads and was told "there's nothing you can do to stop it happening" and "it happens quite often, they all do it", left me feeling somewhat concerned. I can only assume that 'it' is corrosion of the alloy heads. Is it a common problem? Does anynoe else have similar horror stories with these motors or do most not have problems?
Reply By: johnsy - Wednesday, Jul 31, 2002 at 00:00
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2002 at 00:00
hi yonnee a mate has one and has done 50k and the only thing he's replaced is the water pump which is a bit of a job,but in saying that after heavy sand work he lets it idle down before shutting it down so maybe treat it like a diesel if the problem is cracked heads etc .bye the bye can you send me a email regarding yuor response to trailer ideas johnsie@bigpond .com.au cya
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Graeme - Wednesday, Jul 31, 2002 at 00:00
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2002 at 00:00
I've got a 1990 NG V6 Pajero that we recently changed motors in. I had done 210,000k's when she blew a head gasket. On speaking to a couple of mechanics about it they informed me there are no great problems with the heads on these UNTIL something goes wrong, ie blow gasket. The tend to warp the heads fairly easily.
Doesn't surprise me about the cost. I think they are about $1900 per set.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Yonnee - Wednesday, Jul 31, 2002 at 00:00
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2002 at 00:00
Thanks Graeme. Think I'll change the coolant too. Still green, but I don't know how old it is. I think if something major did go wrong, $2500 will go a long way to fitting a 3.8lt Commodore V6 for which parts are a great deal cheaper than the Mitsubishi equivalents. I'm even going to take a tape measure to a spare Holden V8 engine block I have just out of curiosity. Something tells me that a more powerful motor hauling the same weight might use a bit less fuel.
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Norm- Wednesday, Jul 31, 2002 at 00:00
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2002 at 00:00
I have a few Pajeros visit my workshop for servicing. One has nearly 200,000k's on the clock and hasn't had a problem with heads yet. Another has about 140,000k's and I had to do a head gasket on that one. and a couple more are under the 100,000k's. I have done three water pumps and also three computers. Talking to the computer suppliers the general info is that it is not if the computer goes it is when. So not really meaning to scare you but you can form your own opinion on that info. Also there is a water pipe coming off the rear of the water pump that runs through the valley under the inlet manifold and out the rear of the engine. I have had to do an O ring on one of those once.
Fairly big job for a $2.00 seal.
AnswerID:
5304
Follow Up By: Yonnee - Wednesday, Jul 31, 2002 at 00:00
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2002 at 00:00
Yeah been there done that. Three days after I purchased the vehicle the engine
check light came on intermittently, and a day later stayed on while the motor dropped a cylinder. Also the motor was idling at 1500 rpm. Replaced the Idle Control Solenoid, fixed the idle (Apparently a common thing with V6 Magnas & Pajeros). The loss of cylinder was found to be the ECU not firing No.6 injector... one new computer. Engine
check light still coming on intermittently, LED
test light to the diagnosis lead revealed the Throttle Position Sensor was also faulty, and only available genuine! So after scrounging most of our pennys to buy the Paj, had to find another $700 for these bits, AND THAT'S TRADE PRICE! Lucky I bought a warranty with the vehicle, so they're coming to the party with... wait for it..........$200! Oh
well... Thanks for the info, Yonnee.
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Graeme - Thursday, Aug 01, 2002 at 00:00
Thursday, Aug 01, 2002 at 00:00
Yonnee, been there done that as
well.
As I said, The motor blew a head gasket around the 200k mark, but because my wife drives the PJ far more than me, it wasn't picked up for about 3 months. When I mentioned that to a mechanic mate, he told me about the heads warping, which has been confirmed a number of times. I was quoted $2500 for an engine rebuild, provided the heads were OK. More likely to be around the $5k mark all up. Decided to screw that and put in a low K imported motor for around 3k including new clutch. After that had the Air flow sensor play up, and bought a 2nd handy. (wasn't that, wrong dianosis) Then the Idle sensor and replaced that. Now goes like a beauty. Now have a spare engine as
well for some parts, and the heads can be reused with a bit of work.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Rod - Thursday, Aug 01, 2002 at 00:00
Thursday, Aug 01, 2002 at 00:00
Have recently purchased a 1999 (NL) Pajero with the 3.5ltr donk. Was curious if the problems mention about head cracks and computer problems have been fixed in the later model's or have these model's developed their own unique problems ? I would be very wary about heading west without a spare computer after the comments made about their reliability! Are there any unhappy Pajero owners out there ?
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Follow Up By: Yonnee - Sunday, Aug 04, 2002 at 00:00
Sunday, Aug 04, 2002 at 00:00
Having done a bit of research before I purchased
mine, I found this
home page; www.
home.gil.com.au/~my%204wd.html Also the Qld Pajero has a good site too.
FollowupID:
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Reply By: ranog - Thursday, Aug 01, 2002 at 00:00
Thursday, Aug 01, 2002 at 00:00
Boy I thought it was only Landrovers that gave the sort of truble all you people have had!!
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