Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Two clips of my brother doing his thing in the Pajero with the 4X4 club in Durban.

http://youtu.be/ySltaHjwl6c

http://youtu.be/OaKbEu3QQMc

Promised pix of the engine out, still on the engine crane.

Engine bay with engine out.

The difficulty issue in removing the engine is highlighted in the next two pix.


This Picture shows the pressure plate clip that was rusted/gummed up on the thrust bearing sleeve.

The rusted thrust bearing sleeve where the pressure plate clip was jammed on. I will have to remove this sleeve and polish it. The other side of the sleeve is quite badly worn from what i could see through the inspection hole in the gearbox bell housing.

Moving away from the engine removal and rebuild, strip and clean for the moment. I want to assess other aspects while the engine is getting the work over. In the meantime I am looking into other aspects of necessary/preventative work, along with other nice to have modifications. I am sure the list will get longer as we get deeper into the build.

When I received the vehicle from my brother, the four green lights in the instrument panel that look like wheels were flashing. I asked my brother what that meant and he told me it was normal. If I knew then what I do now, and he was a salesman that sold me the vehicle, he would have a damaged ear drum and skewed nose today. LOL. Yes after reading the wonderful links and information on this forum I came across the article on how to fix this issue. With the engine out, access to the vacuum actuators and switches is an opportune time to sort this one out.

I also want to redo the suspension. Not springs or torsion bars, just bushes and rubbers. The ball joints will also be assessed as will the tie rod ends etc. Shocks will also be replaced due to the failed bushes indicated previously. Looking for pointers on options in all these areas.

The 50mm lift article I found here also looks cool. I do not envisage dropping a few grand on tyres and rims just yet as the ones currently on the vehicle look OK for a few 1000 km's. Maybe!! . Not sure the vehicle has not already had a body lift previously.

Bushes currently between body and chassis.
Tyre's currently on the vehicle.. This pic is of the rear tyre. Note the body height. Tyre size is M+T 31X10.50R15LT.
These are pix of the front and rear tyre treads respectively.

I have not looked into the 4X4 system as yet. (diff, transfers etc). All seemed to work when I took over the vehicle.

I am also wondering if I should just remove the body off the chassis and get the complete under part sorted. Anybody done that at home before? and was it worth the effort?


Any idea what this is? Note the air valve thing with a cap at the very bottom of the pix. The guys that put the vehicle through COR said that there was some sort of system installed for raising ride height when towing, and was faulty. Is it worth fixing this system or should i remove it? What does it actual do?

Nemos Janitor wrote: Any idea what this is? Note the air valve thing with a cap at the very bottom of the pix. The guys that put the vehicle through COR said that there was some sort of system installed for raising ride height when towing, and was faulty. Is it worth fixing this system or should i remove it? What does it actual do?

Looks like a pneumatic valve that would have an air helper at the other end = some tough "balloons" inside the rear springs that you can pump up (to maybe a max of 2.5bar) to increase the spring rate of the rear coil springs - check here.

Looks like you are having fun with this project.

andrew.ashton wrote:

Nemos Janitor wrote: Any idea what this is? Note the air valve thing with a cap at the very bottom of the pix. The guys that put the vehicle through COR said that there was some sort of system installed for raising ride height when towing, and was faulty. Is it worth fixing this system or should i remove it? What does it actual do?

Looks like a pneumatic valve that would have an air helper at the other end = some tough "balloons" inside the rear springs that you can pump up (to maybe a max of 2.5bar) to increase the spring rate of the rear coil springs - check here.

Looks like you are having fun with this project.

Thank you for the encouragement and support Andrew, feel like a little boy with two wee things to play with.

Thank you for the link and will check if it is worth restoring or removing.

This air spring thing looks very interesting. How long do/are they supposed to last? Thinking if I do restore the system I would want the bellows to last at least 10 to 15 years without disintegrating. The ones fitted did not do that so... Hmmmmm

Captain Nemo, thanks for this thread and please don't hesitate to keep the info and pics flowing. We don't always have a contribution to post, but we sure enjoy following your efforts.

RoelfleRoux wrote:Captain Nemo, thanks for this thread and please don't hesitate to keep the info and pics flowing. We don't always have a contribution to post, but we sure enjoy following your efforts.

Thank you Rolef.

Tonight I started to strip the engine and removed most of the engine bits. All that is left is to remove the pistons and split the block to remove the crank. Wash and then deliver to the machine shop.

This pic shows the engine on the table awaiting the oil cooler cover removal.
Oil cooler cover and cooler removed from block. The oil cooler will be flushed and checked for leaks. We don't want to have oil pressure issues later.
Next I removed the clutch pressure plate and fly wheel. The ring gear looked OK but will check the flywheel properly in the morning. The clutch will be replaced even though it looks like it would last a few thousand kilometers.
The water pump was removed along with the crank pulley. Note the bits of debris found in the water pump cavity. I assume that these bits were from the holes in the cylinder head. Now i am concerned that the intercooler may also have some of these bits in it. will flush it and get it checked.
I then turned the engine so that the sump was facing up and removed it. It was quite a job to remove the sump as it was stuck with silicone. Had to part it by sliding a knife blade between the block and sump. The flywheel oil seal plate was then removed. Timing chain cover was then removed and revealed all the gears that run the balance shafts and oil pump.
The oil pump was removed and the balance shafts also removed. Remembered to mark left and right shafts.
So we are now at a point where the block needs to be split so that the crank and pistons can be removed. will do this tomorrow evening and wash all parts so that they can be inspected and checked.