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Mystery Switch Solved
Bearing in mind I’ve had my Pajero for just over six months now, I’ve finally solved the mystery of what a certain switch does. No, it’s not a standard factory-fitted switch that operates one of the many gadgets Mitsubishi fitted, but a little plastic toggle switch that someone fitted after the truck had left the factory.
I’d played with this switch many times over the months but couldn’t for the life of me work out what it did. I had come to the conclusion that perhaps it wasn’t working any more. I’d had it in mind to trace the wires at some point - not necessarily an easy job.
Heated Fuel Filter Head
After listening to various threads of discussion over on the POCUK forums it now seems that my Pajero has a heated fuel filter head unit rather than the standard non-heated version. I had wondered about my filter head when I changed the filter as neither the Haynes or Russek manuals had any reference to how mine looks.
Japanese Bluemoon
“hirorinn324″ contacted me from Japan and pointed me to his website that has some great images of his Bluemoon Pajero. Unfortunately my Japanese isn’t too good, so we struggled to communicate as his English wasn’t too good either. This is what he did say to me:
Nice to meet you.
I’m hirorinn324.
I also own Pajerobluemoon.
I own it since 1999.
It has already run 109000 kilos.
Cold Starting
As the mornings get colder I’ve noticed the Pajero isn’t enjoying getting going so much. This has previously just been a problem with getting away from a standing start. The first couple of yards from where I park is a very slight incline and it’s coughed a little and lacked power until on the flat where it’s fine.
This morning my outside thermometer read 6 degrees and it felt pretty cold. For the first time since I’ve had her she actually coughed a little on starting the engine - before even setting off. I could imagine that if we were down near 0 degrees she might be struggling to start at all, though I’m only guessing of course.
Pajero Insurance
I’ve had several emails from people asking me who I got Pajero insurance from. Well, there’s a quick and easy answer obviously but I thought it would be good to discuss the options and the peculiar nature of insuring a Pajero.
So what do you do when you’re first considering buying a model of car that you’ve not had before and you’re not sure of the insurance costs? A sensible person gets a few quotes first to see how much the insurance will be before looking for the car to buy. I’ve never been especially sensible so I usually buy the car first and worry about the insurance after, which is exactly what I did with the Pajero.
Pajero Pitman Arm Recall
Since I’ve had the Pajero I’ve known that there was a manufacturer recall on Pajeros/Shoguns/Monteros for the replacement of the Pitman arm. Briefly, Mitsubishi realised at some point that this model had a defect with its Pitman arm that could lead to steering failure. Obviously they had to recall all vehicles involved to replace them. So a couple of weeks ago I thought I’d better look into this and find out what it’s all about and whether my Pajero need sorting out.
Pajero Fuel Filter Change
This is one part of the servicing I’ve been putting off for a while. It just looked a little complicated to me and when you start playing about with fuel lines and things it worries a relative newbie with the spanners. Anyway, it had to be done and I was determined to do it myself, so here’s the write-up with some pictures.
As usual with the Pajero there are several theories on how often the fuel filter should be replaced. These include: Every 12 months, every 40000 miles, only when you think it might be causing a problem. At this point for me I don’t when the fuel filter was last changed (if ever) so I need to do it now for peace of mind. Then I can decide how often to do it in the future at a later point.
Removing the Pajero Intercooler
Removing the intercooler from the Pajero is the first step in many jobs under the bonnet as it takes up so much room. As such I thought it would be good to post a write-up about how to perform this task on its own. This might look tricky to a novice (it did to me) but it’s really very easy and should take no more than a few mintues. (includes photos)
Wheel Rotation
Not the most interesting of posts this, but I want to build up a full picture of my servicing. So anyway, I rotated the wheels today in the sense of moving their positions on the car, rather than just spinning them around! This should increase the amount of wear I get out of them as a full set as they should theoretically wear evenly.
She Got Mucky
Went on my first ever off-roading day on Sunday (August 5th). It was arranged by Andy (ukrabbiter) through the POCUK forums and took place at Briercliffe quarry near Burnley. Just the four of us involved: Andy, Gareth (LFM), Dennis (denjo) and of course me.
I’d known about it for a few weeks and so I couldn’t wait to get started when the day finally came. And what a day! Following the lousy summer we’ve had this had to be one of the warmest, most beautiful days of the year. It’s about half an hour’s drive from my house through some lovely scenery and the site itself is in the middle of nowhere. Really nice location.