Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Hi,

I am unable to remove/unlock the lock (lockable nut) on my spare wheel. I have a suspicion that the prvious owner had all the locks and ignition changed at some point but did not change this lock.

Any ideas on how to (forcefully) remove this without causing any damage?

Regards,

Peter

I had a similar problem with my Gen 1... the key would just turn and the nut was just STUCK on.. probably because it had never been removed. Ironically enough, I saw a PR ad from Mitsubishi and it had BridgeStone Desert Dueler Tyres on it... well the spare was the only desert dueler on the rig... so I think my lock was on there from the time they originally built the thing in 1988! My mechanic tried physically twisting it off several times, suggesting that we should perhaps just torch it off... but last February, when I upgraded my tires to 31X10X15MT Coopers, I had no choice, and a guy at the tire shop was able to force it off. It didn't damage the bolt at all... If you could post a picture of the locking nut, I can tell you if it was the same one. I think he broke the cover off, and then just had to use whatever tools he had to tear the thing apart... This may not be the advice you want to hear, but this was my experience, and at least I can get the spare off now.

Just bear in mind the spare wheel lock does not "unlock and slide off". Instead the key works like a ... uhmm .... a key, or rather a key driver ... which you use to unscrew the lock. You also need to press it in a little to "engage" the unfastening operation. If this cannot be done, spray some spook asem and try again -- may just be some dirt that need to be flushed out.

Here is a good tips from ehow dot com. How to unlock wheel locks lug nuts.

# 1

Locate your wheel lock key. This key is required to unlock the wheel lock. Look in the glove box for the key, or look in the rear storage compartment near the spare tire tools. If you cannot find the key, contact the manufacturer of the wheel lock or a dealer for your brand of vehicle.
# 2

Insert the wheel lock key into the end of your lug wrench. Push it in to ensure it's seated firmly; you don't want it to fall out while you are unlocking the wheel lock.
# 3

Insert the key onto the wheel lock using the lug wrench as a handle. The pattern inside the wheel lock key will fit into the wheel lock. Turn the lug wrench handle counterclockwise to unlock the wheel lock. You can now remove the lug nut.

Hi Zoo9mer,

That is for how to unlock the wheel lock lugnuts as you would use on the wheels in use.
(to stop them from being stolen, while on the vehicle)

Peter is referring to the one that locks the spare in place, and uses the normal ignition key.

Peter, I fear Robinsvoyage method is the only way, I drive a gen 2, and I know with mine, it does not unscrew, but rather slides off the bolt lying underneath it.
While locked, you can turn the lockable piece freely with your hand (thus stopping one from being able to unscrew it).

Scubadude, if one used the key as a driver, to unscrew the lockable but, surely you could then unscrew it by hand or with a plier (personally, I would not like to use my key to unscrew something, as with the slightest stiffness, you could put tom much torque on your key and bend it.
Peter, I would however as Scubadude mentioned, spray it with Snakeoil of some sort.
It could just be jammed up with soil / dirt.
Its a difficult one, but if you don't get that right, you may have to pry the cover off, to get to the locking mechanism,
and somehow get that off.
BUT..... Scubadube is the only one of us three that have replied that ALSO drives a gen 3, so take his word on the locking mechanism over mine.
I drive a gen 2, and Robins voyage is a Gen 1.
Hope you come right with it.

Cheers
Ned

The Gen3 doesnt use wheel locks lug nuts. The key reffed to is the same key you use to start the engine. as seen in the first picture of my dad's pajero

Missing Attachment

When i purchased mine the previous owner have removed the original Key lock and replaced it with the lug nut lock as seen in the second pic

I am afraid to say but you only option if some "spook pipi" to try and remove old dirt or the correct key dont work, you will have to butcher that thing to get it off.

Mcnoogle wrote: Scubadude, if one used the key as a driver, to unscrew the lockable but, surely you could then unscrew it by hand or with a plier (personally, I would not like to use my key to unscrew something, as with the slightest stiffness, you could put tom much torque on your key and bend it.

Hi Ned,

When unlocking you only need like a 1/4 turn to get it unlocked so not much force is needed if the mechanism works perfectly fine.

Also hold the outside piece with one hand and push the key in as far as it can and as i said, only about a 1/4 turn should then unlock it and you will be able to slide it off the bolt (IF working properly)

JohanV wrote: When unlocking you only need like a 1/4 turn to get it unlocked so not much force is needed if the mechanism works perfectly fine.

Also hold the outside piece with one hand and push the key in as far as it can and as i said, only about a 1/4 turn should then unlock it and you will be able to slide it off the bolt (IF working properly)

Hi Johan,
Thats exacly how mine works, it literally unlocks, and then slides off. but as you say, you need to hold the outer part while unlocking otherwise you just turn the whole thing.

Scubadude wrote: .... the spare wheel lock does not "unlock and slide off". Instead the key works like a ... uhmm .... a key, or rather a key driver ... which you use to unscrew the lock.