93-94 pajero

Never had one but know a couple of people who have.

Only comment I can make is 5th gear in the manual is not very strong, and does not last long if used when towing or if it is "lugged" up hills, or used at low speeds all the time.

5 speed manuals should not be driven in 5th when towing anything over 750 kg, but the paj especially.

Other than that, a good medium sized forby, with many happy owners.

auto diesel ? I'm not sure, this model would only be an old style 2.8 turbo.

cracking chassis ? Only if it's been used for jumping sand dunes etc;

A mate of mine had one of about that year. That is pretty much the start of the second shape which was the more rounded yet still boxy Pajero. He had the diesel which is a 2.5 intercooled turbo. It had a decent mount of power for off road but was very slow. I don't think it had an auto option back then.
As for chassis cracking I have never heard of it in these however if you abuse something enough then I'm sure it will. Just look at the list of known chassis crackers: Hilux, Rodeo, Jackaroo, Defender just from the top of my head.

the 93 was the NH , the 94 was the NJ. He wants the NJ.

The NH had the last of the 2.5 TDi's , and the NJ (which came out late 93) , started the 2.8 TDi. Good motor , very strong , will go for ages.

AFAIK , the Diesel only had the manual option. The 3.5V6 in the exceed or the V6 3.0l had the auto's.

Never heard of this bad habit of chassis cracking

Never heard of chassis failures perhaps he means the rear axle housing problem where the weld below the spring seat fails from heavy loads and rough roads. The mod is to weld supports under the axle housing. I looked at this when I had my Paj, there was a mob in Melb doing the mod but I didn't get around to it...a cheap mod and good insurance.

I have a 96 2.8l diesel.

The fifth gear problem was the earlier model, until Mitsu issued a fix using a heaver bearing. The 2.8l uses the same gearbox as the 3.5l petrol. MItsu lifted the body 20mm to clear the heavier gearbox.

Done 230,000k now without any major dramas. Usual turbo diesel problem of not too much power under 1600rpm. Friends 3.5l petrol has more torque up to 1800rpm.
No chassis problems.
Service interval is 5000k for oil, but filter is supposed to be 10,000 but I do oil filter every 5,000 at $30.00ea. Fuel filter every 20,000 at $38.00 ea.
Otherwise timing belt/injectors and glow plugs serviced every 100,000.

Good old mechanical fuel pump that is easy to work on.

No diesel auto available until the new shape and the 3.2l diesel.

No signs of rust yet, fingers crossed. Might be soem there somewhere but I can't find it. Only been on beach 3 times. Have to get the fish oil out again soon.

They run out of steam above the 100k mark since they are low geared, 2750rpm at 100k. Have put bigger tyres on, which also increases top speed, now 155 instead of the old 145. Takes a while to get there though. Why I am called plodder, still slower than friends with faster cars. Fastest time sydney to brisbane is 10.5 hours. (Friends have done it faster. Friend used to regularly do it under 10 hours on his RS1000 BMW, or another friends old 327 monaro.)

Generally happy with it as a midsize, reasonably capable (but not highly capable) 4WD. Good tow vehicle. Tows trailer sailer of 2 tonnes quite well, and a pop top caravan of 1000kg you hardly notice, since you drive by torque, not power.

Have a look at the 3.5l petrol. friend regularly gets only 1 or 2l/100k worse than I do, and with diesel prices, he is ahead of me. Has more power on the highway for overtaking.

I have the older 2.5td in a Triton ute. 240,000kms & its going better than ever.
No oil or water useage.
Gearbox is weak in 5th so as said dont tow heavy in 5th.
With proper tuning it will accelarate easily for passing in 5th from 100 to 120kmh
but I dont live near the burbs where its competitive.
11-12 kms/l easily driven, 10-10.5 a bit harder.
After market oil filters for $18-20,air filter & a few other minor mods help.
No doubt the 2.8td with stronger box would be better . Triton has bigger diffs than some others & f.end seems durable. Still running original brakes but rear getting thin.

Hi Dave,

We owned a NH Pajero for several years and loved it. We had the 3.5L petrol version which went very well for a small engine. Even towing a campertrailer we could cruise along nicely at 190-00km/h although the hills would knock us back a bit. Actually that was hubbies on real gripe with it - not enough grunt. But then of course, he was used to V8's. A very capable 4wd once you get to know the vehicle. Only real downside with them is lack of clearance and no real low down torque that you associate with bigger 4wd's. We got a rear suspension lift but because of the wishbone suspension there's not a lot you can do to raise the front apart from winding up the torsion bar but we found that the paj tended to wallow a bit after that so we wound it down, then back up, then down until we finally reached a hapy medium. Anyway, we kitted the paj up with a snorkel, roof rack and so on and it was a great touring wagon in which we travelled all over the top end, Kimberely, NW coast of WA, Pilbara and SW WA. Got some pics and info on our website that your mate might be interested in. And no, we never had any chassis problems and can't say we've heard of this.

:o) Melissa

Hi all

Thanks for all those informative answers , have passed the info onto my mate it made him a bit happier, he likes the pajeros, so now i guess its just a matter of findin him one..........once again thanks everyone .......Cheers ....Dave