Friday, Apr 06, 2007 at 01:11
Our Holden Dealer is also a Mitsubishi dealer and sadly, I own a 2005 Pajero. For about 30.000k's now, the car has some surging and loss of power issues at speeds of around 100kph or when overtaking.
The dealer initially diagnosed a crook injector pump, which they pulled out of the vehicle and looked at. They rang me and asked if I was using bio-diesel...which I had done once, or maybe twice. They said the bio-diesel had stuffed the injector pump and the repair wouldn't be covered by warranty.
I politely referred them to page two of the Owner's Manual (Fuel Specification) and asked them to show me where it said I can't use bio-diesel. Of course it didn't say anything about using bio-diesel. They said it doesn't matter, that Mitsubishi don't allow any bio-diesel to be used and that it has been in the media. I said that unless Mitsubishi personally contacted me and told me not to use bio-disel, then they didn't have a case. They gave in.
A couple of hours later they rang and said that the problem was caused by water in the fuel and that the repair wouldn't be covered by warranty. I politely asked them that if they build an engine with a fuel filter and a water trap, then why was it my problem if the water trap didn't trap the water? They fought that for a while and then gave in.
Anyway the pump was sent away to a repairer and the Dealer rang to say it was a valve-
seat that had dislodged and that it was covered by warranty. Beauty! The pump was returned, fitted and I got the car back. They hadn't fixed the original problem!
I took the vehicle back again. This time they said it was due to some sensors in the steering wheel incorrectly sending messages to the stability controls. They reprogrammed the sensors. Problem still not fixed.
10,000 Km after the injector pump was changed it literally flew apart and had to be replaced. Meantime I've got a $132.00 towing bill and three days lost time because I need my vehicle for work.
While all this was going on I repeatedly asked the dealer if there were any other filters in the fuel line other than the one in the engine bay. "No mate, that's the only one" was the reply.
Next time it went in they rang me and said that the breathers in the fuel tank were blocked and this caused the injector pump to suck the mesh filter on the fuel line intake (in the fuel tank) into the fuel line. So there is (was) another filter!
I know enough about fluid dynamics and pressure dynamics to know that this was bulldust. The only thing that would cause this filter to do this would be if it were clogged up, or it simply disintegrated due to age or inadequate materials. Since the dealer made no mention of any pollutants in the fuel tank, I assumed that the latter applied. Subsequently the dealer informed me that a Mitsubishi representative had visited their workshop recently and indicated that this filter should be changed at about 110,000Km. You've got to wonder why.....
When my vehicle first started having probs it had only done 85,000Km.
They changed the filter and blew out the blocked breather tubes and finally, problem gone. The dealer charged me for all of the work.
One week later I filled the fuel tank and noticed fuel dripping under the car. Not only that but the fuel gauge no longer indicated "full" even though the tank was full. It was perfect before the dealer "fixed" the tank. I went straight back to the dealer. Obviously they cocked something up and they pulled the tank out again.
A few hours later the phone rings. It seems that the breathers were already blocked again (although what this had to do with the fact that the tank was leaking is beyond me). The dealer asked if I had taken the vehicle out into the bush and got dirt in the breathers. What a joke. The vehicle had done 100 km's since the last time they had it and it was spotless - I'd had it detailed so I could flog the mongrel and get it out of my life.
"OK" says the dealer, "if it's not dirt it must be rust." Now these guys had the tank out just a week before and they said they'd cleaned it. The dealer reckons they couldn't see any rust so the only place it could be was the "roof" of the tank.
The dealer said that the valves in the breathers were knackered due to this rust and that if these were to be replaced then the fuel tank should be too. "Now this could get expensive" says the dealer. "WHAT!!!!!!!!!"
I went off my nut. His argument is that rust must have been caused by moisture. He argued that the moisture must have only got in the tank in the fuel and that Mitsubishi cannot be responsible for the fuel I buy. My argument is that I have a car with a 130,00Km warranty. If they can't build a fuel tank to last the length of the warranty, then it's not my problem.
A very heated argument ensued and we are at a stalemate right now, waiting for Mitsubishi to make a decision.
Well I've made my decision.
1) This is just one of the horror stories for this vehicle. In all I've had 17 weeks of downtime in two years of ownership. I'm going to the media with this story.
2) 17 weeks * 7 days * $1000.00 per day lost income =$119.000.00 that I have now lost because of the crappy Pajero. Mitsubishi will be seeing me in court.
3) I still haven't paid for the last lot of work (they obviously didn't do properly) and
it will be a cold day in hell before I do.
you can read about the whole sorry saga here....
2005 Pajeros falling to pieces
cheers
away
AnswerID:
231937