Old Pajero's Any Good ?

[greenacc]

So a guy at my work is about to replace his 1991 petrol powered pajero with a new car.
He bought it new and basically only ever drove it to work and shops, very short distance trips, so if anything its been underdriven. 170,000 k's
Price not much, 3K ? I'm half thinking of buying it, doing a few bush trips like Burke, Camerons corner etc and selling it again.
Are they any good, easy to work on, reliable ... ?

[Critical Jim]

Is it a first generation pajero or an early second generation, first gen are boxy and second gen are rounded off edges boxy???

V6 or efi/carburetter 4 cylinder???

Short wheelbase or long???

[Westie]

I had a SWB first gen pajero. With the 4cyl petrol motor in it.
By far, the biggest pile of shite i have ever had.
Sold a few odds and sods off it. Then sold it to an old guy for $400...

The later ones are OK, with the V6... but prone to timing belt failures and heads...

[greenacc]

It's a second generation EFI 3000 V6 Wagon and its Auto. The worst part of that seems to be that its Auto.

[showbags]

Just don't forget, Mitsubishi engineer oil leaks and oil burning into all of their engines.

[DAKSTER]

The Pajero would be OK around town but they fall to pieces in the bush. Especially if they havent been used in the bush before.. 4wds need to be worked hard sometimes or they grow weak

Anyone who has ever lived in the bush will tell you the only real 4wds that last are Nissan or Toyota.

Pick up a Diesel 60 series Cruiser, it wont win any races but it will get you where you want to go in reasonable comfort, over and over.

[greenacc]

Yeah completely agree with the Diesel Toyota sentiment. 10 years ago i was that close to buying a 60 or 80 series and taking off for a year round the country. Should have done it but found a good job just before D Day and i'm still dreaming about it. Got little kids now and they don't go so well in Croc country ( or Dingo's for that matter ) You just don't see many affordable 4WD's as clean as this thing. I don't think it has ever even seen the heat of the sun. He works 6 days a week and parks it underground in the same spot every day. I know, i've been walking past it most of those days lol.

[DAKSTER]

Hey if its that good a condition it may well be worth buying. The bottom line is, how much will you take it offroad?

I lived in an area where there was no such thing as bitumen for 17 years. The nearest bitumen was 250km away, and when you live in a place like that you learn that only the patrol, the cruiser and the hilux are up to the task, and the hilux is borderline. Tough it may be, but not tough enough long term.

On the other hand, the Pajero is a capable enough offroader, though not my cup of tea personally. For occasional offroading, in as good a condition as you describe, it could be a decent buy. Its certainly more comfy than a 60 series, and you arent going to get a decent 80 series for anything like that price.. I sold a 92 80 series for 12k a couple months ago.

[greenacc]

Really the only reson i want to buy this thing is to go places the commodore can't go. I'm not talking about climbing mountains or swimming through rivers but certainly outback tracks... Ayers rock, Burke and Wills kind a stuff.

[vkberlina]

He have an old pajero as a farm 4x4 and it works well, it goes most places the tractor does, we run secondhand cooper tyres on it its only a 4cyl carbie ( I think) we dont have to treat it very nice and it always does its job

Scott

[gopher]

for that sort of money and condition i'd consider it
i know people with them and they swear by them more than at them

, Burke and Wills kind a stuff.

i wouldn't do the Burke and Wills kind a stuff

they both died on the way back

[greenacc]

Haha true true, they were riding camels though.

[>mayhem<]

The NH model was a dud mate, I had one and it was one thing after another, weak lifters, valve stem seals blow like a hooker, I had the manual version and the box decided to seize without warning, two weeks later the transfer case went too. Dramas with sensors, if it has a sunroof it will leak like a fking sieve. the 6G72 motor was designed for the second gen magnas and are interchangable between the two, IF you're prepared to do a shitload of cooling system plumbing 'mods'. Put it this way, I paid around 2 grand for mine a few years back, spent over 5 grand over the next year or so, and sold it for 1500 odd bucks with the sunroof making the car resemble a fking watertank. If you're considering one 'cause ya like the shape, go for a little bit later model with the 3.5 litre motor. If you've never owned a fourby before, dont expect to be able to just pull out the gearbox etc. like you would a car, stating the obvious i know but everything is twice as big, cumbersome and heavy. *ME* >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>CATTLE PROD>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> *PAJERO*

Save a couple more grand and buy an 80 series cruiser........

[DAKSTER]

You wont get an 80 series worth owning for that, but a 60 is a good option.

The Pajero would be fine as a city car I guess, if you like them, but as a 4x4 ... hmm Fraser island once a year maybe? Until the rust sets in... Dont take them on any corrugated roads unless you are towing a trailer, or you wont be able to bring back all the bits that fall off.

Seriously, if you are only going to use it occasionally, then you might be better looking at a Hilux or 60 series. If you get the 4wd bug then you will have to move up to an 80 series.

You can pick up a TD Discovery for 5 grand or so, that might be worth looking at, but watch yourself Landrovers are effing expensive to fix.

[pjdm1980]

The biggest problem with 60 & 80 series is they have solid axles front and rear which are great for rock crawling and trench digging but as a everyday driver that is use a couple of time a year for bush bashing there nowhere near as nice to drive as the Pajero's, if your looking for a long distance tourer (mostly on road and a bit of dirt) I'd say go with the IRS Pajero's. But early V6's can be a handful if they haven't been serviced properly, with oil leaks and head gasket. I have a NA SWB Pajero and he's done 430,000klm's and just had reco motor 20,000klm's ago, but as with any petrol 4WD they use heap of petrol / gas. As for the TD5 Discovery I'd steer clear off anything pre 2003, they use a cam activated fuel pump for every injector.

[Critical Jim]

Pajero's with the right engine/transmisson setup can be capable offroaders, only real disadvantages are there are pretty lightly built and lack torque with the smaller engines.

If your looking at at a Discovery look at the 200Tdi or 300Tdi engines as these are much more simpler/generally reliable than the electronics heavy TD5, much cheaper also.

I have a 200Tdi in my Defender its up to 283,000 and still going strong.

If your planning on going really out bush an old Patrol would be good as thier built tough/simply and can be found for a good price.


It all depends on what you want to do with it.

[PaRaDoX]

Just don't forget, Mitsubishi engineer oil leaks and oil burning into all of their engines.

Yes they do,

I had a Bitsamissing verada for a few years, every 20,000km it'd burn through a main crank seal and start pissing out oil. PITA job in those cars

The early Pajero's run the early magna V6 just with different cams and a few other small changes, Good news is engines are easy to source, bad news is they're known for bad piston rings and oil leaks.