Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Back in March I was parked around 30 Km or so from home. When I started the engine, all seemed normal but pulling into traffic the Pajero was very sluggish to accelerate and if pushed, suddenly the engine would surge and it would change into the next higher gear. There was no CEL, so I crawled towards home. On going round a circle very close to home the Pajero suddenly reverted to normal. So I put it to the back of my mind.
Yesterday I did a long round trip of around 600 Km. I filled up before leaving and had an uneventful trip.
This morning as I drove the Pajero, the same thing happened again except this time it doesn't seem to want to 'correct' itself and is still crawling at low speeds but once it gets going seems (almost) normal but somewhat sluggish. As I've kept close to my house in suburbia I haven't attempted any speeds faster then 60 Km/hr, but in traffic it's normally lower than that.
I had used my 'handy dandy' Bluetooth dongle and the Torque Pro app and it said there was a warning about the ECR system. After driving it again, the warning was no longer there.
I've purchased a new oil filter hopping that might do the trick. It's the Fram equivalent of the GUD Z188. The current filter is a GUD Z188 and is 15KKm and 30 months old. Unfortunately the Fram was the only one available close to home. If it improves matters then I'll change it to an OEM one at some stage. My immediate concern is getting the Pajero back running.

So I just went out to the car and checked the acceleration in neutral and the vehicles 'revved right up'. Hmm. Tries it on the road and bingo. It's back to normal again
I had 'fiddled' with the connectors to the ECR (wiggled them a bit) prior to the last 'test'. Maybe there's a loose connection? Would that account for the crawling and very poor acceleration?

I'd hate for the same thing to happen if I'm miles away from home and these 'spurious' problems are the worst ones to correct.

Any thoughts on the matter would be gratefully accepted.

Best,
Tony

To add to the saga:
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• I started the car and rove around the block this morning. No problem

• I loosened and cleaned the electrical sockets connections to the throttle and ECR. Started the car, drove around the block. All OK

• I then drove to a shop around 8 Km away. No problem.

• Started the car for the return journey, and the problem started again after a minute or so.

• Pretty much limped home. No CEL and no fault codes on either 'Torque Pro' or "Car Scanner".

So, back to square one.

So I took out the EGR assembly and cleaned out the EGR valve actuator. I had cleaned the lot (excluding the inlet manifold) around 40KKm ago but at that stage I hade not disconnected the electric motor/control as one screw was giving me problems and I had not wanted to shear it off or round the Philips 'cross' by trying too hard.
This time round I forced my hand and the screw came loose, so I was able to dissemble the valve assembly too. The valve itself was not moving very well so I cleaned the bushing very thoroughly so it now drops under gravity back into position. Previously I had to turn and twist the valve to get it out of the bushing. Perhaps it was the 'sticking valve' that might have caused the problem?
I reassembled the motor/control back onto the EGR body using 16mm M4 'hex head' stainless steel screws to prevent similar problems if I have to disassemble again.
After reinstalling the EGR the engine started first turn. So far, touch wood, this lack of acceleration hasn't returned after a few local drives. I'll take the Paj out on the highway tomorrow and see what happens but first impressions are that the idling is far better and the engine more responsive with smoother auto gearbox changes.
Difficult to know if the problem is sorted as it occurs at random. Time will tell.
I'll update as I get more data.

Drove 400 Km to Standerton yesterday. Vehicle went OK, no 'crawling' but engine sounded somewhat less than 'smooth'.
Have changed the fuel filter (Just over 15KKm and 29.9 months since last changed) to a FRAM P4922.
Will see what happens.

Well it seems thus far that the cleaning of the EGR and changing the fuel filter have worked, but only time will tell.
The vehicle now seems to accelerate a lot better and engine noise (clatter) has diminished.
I have a feeling that the fuel filter was pretty well blocked and the engine was being starved of diesel, which would be particularly worse as the fuel pump works on a vacuum system.
More than likely the problem was exacerbated by the dirty EGR valve stem perhaps making it stick at times.

Moral thus far is:
1. With diesel now being imported perhaps the quality is not as good as the SA made product and requires more frequent filter changes, perhaps every 10,000 Km. But this requirement might vary depending on where the diesel comes from.
2. If the EGR requires cleaning, ensure that the drive motor is separated from the valve assembly and the valve/spring assembly is disassembled.
3. Ensure the valve stem and guide are cleaned such that the valve (minus spring) will drop under gravity when the valve is inserted into the inverted EGR body.