pajero..what to do...

[User00003]

ok guys What would you do in this instance.

I bought my pajero from JAYB last year paid £1,750.

Knocked it into a tree and needed a new wing, suspension and front spoiler..paid £1,250 repairs.

Then paid £350 for an oil gasket repair in June

Last week the radiator and head gasket blew..looking at min. £1,000 repairs.

So, question is, and I’m pretty torn...do I repair it, do I scrap it?..or can I resell it ‘to be repaired’, and if so, what sort of price you reckon I can get?

Only thing is, my fear is that if I get it repaired, there will be more work needed, which is just becoming unaffordable to keep pumping money into it...

by no means am I saying JAYB sold me a bummer of a car, on the other hand it's been nice to drive, but being an old car and all,,things do break,,,,,but will they keep breaking,,and how fast

What would you do?

 

[paul o']

feller you could pay out and then be still paying out next mot or other ,time to cut the loss and move on unless you feel you owe the motor a life. part it out for bits or buy another and keep it for parts as trans can be costly i'v seen some good motors up for sale not much more that your repairs will cost
sorry to say it but that's life feller i would move on you have paid 3k and you are about to do the another £1000 at best you could have a 56/7 ranger or other 4x4 to your likeing for that ? think with your cash not your hart mty
its a none runner so scrap price !!! as no bugger will take your word it a good motor other than the head has to come off and rad needs replacing and why did it overheat and has it cook the head ! has it or do's the head need a skim'd was the fault a water way blocked within the block !! see what i mean ? your can't prove it to them until you have spent a min of a grand then what next !!

sorry i'v been a bad news giver

 

[bogtrotter]

OK you need to decide what to do you won't get much for it as it is, where did you get your price of min £1000
main garage I suppose, can you do the work yourself? if you can't might be worth looking for someone who can do it as a homer a large part of that £1000 quote will be labour.

new radiator for pajero 2.8 £118.80 a good second hand one from breakers about half that.

Will you need a new head or just a gasket head gasket £22.80 new set of head bolts £24

If you need a new head ,bare head £213.60

Worst case scenario new head complete with new valves etc £456 unlikely you are going to need that unless you have burnt valves or seats which not connected to gasket blowing, and you would most likely have noticed a power loss prior to blowing.

However fitting a complete head would be the quickest option and might save you a bit on labour just a swap over three four hours for someone that knows what they are doing.


As said though worth looking for someone who will do it as a homer, or one of the one man band mobile mechanics, it could save you quite a bit on garage prices, you can save a bit on parts also by sourcing them yourself rather than a fitter doing so as they tend to add a percentage.

Its your decision but I would be inclined to fix it,believe its possible to do for less than the £1000 you have been quoted , but even if you do have to spend that, you won't get much of a 4x4 for £1000 and even if you do it will be an unknown, fix the head and radiator and you should be sound, the 2.8 pajero is pretty reliable but cooling is critical keep an eye on the water level, be very careful filling if you have been changing the coolant adding anti freeze etc as they tend to air lock, don't trust the temp gauge too much as they are not the most accurate.

 

[stone]

ok guys What would you do in this instance.

I bought my pajero from JAYB last year paid £1,750.

Knocked it into a tree and needed a new wing, suspension and front spoiler..paid £1,250 repairs.

Then paid £350 for an oil gasket repair in June

Last week the radiator and head gasket blew..looking at min. £1,000 repairs.

So, question is, and I’m pretty torn...do I repair it, do I scrap it?..or can I resell it ‘to be repaired’, and if so, what sort of price you reckon I can get?

Only thing is, my fear is that if I get it repaired, there will be more work needed, which is just becoming unaffordable to keep pumping money into it...

by no means am I saying JAYB sold me a bummer of a car, on the other hand it's been nice to drive, but being an old car and all,,things do break,,,,,but will they keep breaking,,and how fast

What would you do?

the answer is quite simple as I am going through the same dilemma myself

if you are intending to fix it ... Then you may of well of put that £1000 into a newer or better motor

But you may first might want to look at " steel seal " first and see if that temporary cures your head gasket problem
about £70 it may work and you will hav a running motor to PX

if not then you hav only spent £70
who says fixing the head gasket may solve the problem
as a bad mechanic may of missed diagnosed or the head may not be skimmed and tested properly
better the head is skimmed then pressure tested and skimmed and pressure tested a 2nd time
then you hav the EGR to think about

also new thermostat and radiator cap can also affect and also may need the head gasket doing a second time if it fails first time round or will you get told the block has a fracture after forking out for a failed head gasket job


but as I see it you are throwing money away by keeping it going as your own motor ... It is getting on in life and things will just keep breaking... As with any jap motor new parts are not cheap and cheaper copies of genuine parts are not always upto the job
job

but it is your choice
​good luck with what ever you decided

 

[activeviii]

first thing you need to do is ask why the head gasket and rad went. new rad if you do your self is around £55, very easy job. make sure you burp the system.

if its a cracked head then not whether the hassles.

go over to POCUK and ask on there. all good guys and will not mess you around.

the pajero is cheap enough to keep running if you know where to look for parts.

only reason i got rid of mine was it cost in fuel. i sold one of the best tonka toys i have ever run and now in in an outlander that is a pain on the wallet.

 

[Ranger22]

Fix it yourself, loads of sites to glean info from. Join one of the mitsi forums, you may find a member close to you who will lend you a hand

Al

 

[JAYB]

I'm sorry to hear that Peter, I bet hitting it with that tree did not help! I don't know what to say I never had any trouble with it apart from the seals on the fuel pump, but as you know I had it refurbished. Cooling is quite critical on the Pajeros and when the radiator is drained and refilled it is necessary to get the front of the car as high as you can and run it like that for a bit to get all the air out.

I expect it is still low mileage and rust free, the repairs can be done quite cheaply and you will know what you have. Go to POCUK and check out the possibilities on there, if it was me I would repair it, but then again I am biased.

John

 

[bogtrotter]

Just seen Jayb's post see its had the fuel pump refurbed, all the more reason to hang on to it the pump seals can be a problem on them seals are not expensive , but a recon pump is if you can't do the job yourself.

Presume the radiator was the initial cause of your overheating problem, did you roast the engine, if the heads not cracked you will get away with a gasket, probably best to get the head skimmed £60 £80.

Max to skim on these heads is 2mm if distortion is greater than that you will need another head.

If you can do the job yourself you could with a bit of luck have it back up and running for around £200
its not that difficult if you have the tools, apart from head skimming of course thats a job for a light engineering firm ,only special tool you would need is a valve spring compressor if you need to strip your head.

As JAYB said join POCUK its free lots of information and a good chance of finding someone close at hand who will help you.
One option is S/H head from breakers, if yours is cracked just watch where you buy from if you go down that road better ones will give a guarantee .

For parts Milner offroad have most parts you need for the pajero, head gasket from them is cheap, while it may be OK I would probably recommend an official Mitsi gasket, I have heard of some issues with their head gaskets
though unsure if this is fact, other parts OK I have used them a lot and never had a problem great service and cheap.

Only you can decide but I certainly would not scrap the vehicle because of a blown head gasket.

 

[Ranger22]

There is a 4x4 breakers yard in Perth that has a lot of Mitsubishi`s in, a second-hand engine is also an option for you.

​Al

 

[bogtrotter]

There is a 4x4 breakers yard in Perth that has a lot of Mitsubishi`s in, a second-hand engine is also an option for you.

​Al

Good point Dalcrue 4x4 a good S/H engine should still be less than the £1000 you were quoted.

 

[hcm1]

repair it mate, full head built up new casting about 400 quid, i have 2 new head gaskets you can choose from for 25 quid put a new chain in another 80. if you have a basic set of tools its not a hard job to do. did mine with little mechanical knowledge no problem. great trucks and if you have one in good, nick its a keeper, there isntanother 4x4 to touch them, except maybe thelandy but thats different!