[Red Liner]

This rig is going through a slow metamorphosis from a sport utility vehicle to a stealth utility vehicle!

Originally Posted by Vipinprasad

Thank you. I am guessing you meant slick and not sick.

You might be surprised, then, to hear that in fact, for many young people today, 'sick' is used as an adjective to describe something good, amazing or cool. “That game was sick!” or “He's got a sick car.”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/l...0car.%E2%80%9D

[Vipinprasad]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/l...0car.%E2%80%9D

Thanks for the info!! Need to adapt to the new lingo!!

[Kinnan]

Congrats on the acquisition,

I would suggest that you should take care of the heating issue with top most priority. Models around 2015 had overheating issues and you should check whether your model is affected or not.

Since its an automatic and there are no service records available, it is better to change the ATF. I used Motul multi ATF on mine. Also consider changing the differential fluid.

Also in automatics the timing belt used to wear off quickly kindly inspect them too.

Have a good day!

[Vipinprasad]

Hello Folks

I am experiencing problems with my Pajero Sport AT brakes and wanted your inputs.

1. In a section where there are a lot of humps(speed breakers) in the Bandipur section on Mysore- Wayanad section, I lost braking efficiency and the brakes were squealing .

2. My mechanic in Wayanad, bled the brakes and mentioned it could be an air trap or so and mentioned it will be fine .

3. On my way back to Mysore, experienced the same problem when driven in the humps section. But after that on plain highways the braking was fine.

4. My mechanic in Mysore said that it could be to do with the brake cylinder and suggested replacement. I happened to get a decent set of brake booster and cylinder from another mechanic and we replaced it.

5. However, again when I was driving to Ooty a couple of days back, in a section where there were humps, the brakes felt like failing again. Back to normal roads, they seem to act fine.

Now the mech who replaced the booster and cylinder says that it could be to do with the ABS module.

What could be the issue and what needs to be addressed? Just listening to the mechs may be a sure shot way of opening money with no solution .

Pls advice

[shikya>60]

MITSUBISHI PAJERO SPORT MT – My Gentle Beast

First post in TeamBHP after being freshly baptized! A longish one, so forgive me! Glad to know so many people are fans of this great vehicle. So, here's my take on it!!



My love affair with this gentle beast started 13 years back, when my friend handed me the wheel to his Pajero Sport and invited me to take a drive on the Mumbai Pune expressway. He also gently taunted me to buy this vehicle, as being salaried, my mindset would never allow me to buy one. He is a civil contractor and owns a Pajero Sport MT, 2 older Pajero’s, SFX and a GLX and a Montero! His older Pajero’s and the Sport have covered more than 1.5~2 lakh kms. He refreshed my memory on how the Pajero’s had huge wins at the original Paris Dakar Rallies, continuously. While those Pajero’s piloted by Kenjiro Shinozuka have hardly anything in common with the showroom Pajero’s, the connection matters somehow. Similar to how Jeremy Clarkson’s drive in the Toyota Hilux to the Artic did. No connection with showroom Hiluxe’s but the connection gets made. That was the first time probably Jeremy had words of grudging praise for a Japanese vehicle!

Booked one at J Williams, Pune with a ICICI Bank loan at a on-road price of 27.5 lakhs. Folks at home were kept in the dark. Wife and daughter were at our home town near Mangalore. That evening, I showed my son the car and he dismissed it as ‘Uncle’s’ car on loan. Never mind. After having shown my parents and brother the beast, who were delighted, next day, early morning, we drove to Mangalore, the beast being just a day old with me. Those days, the NH4 was fabulous, after Kolhapur that is. Till Kolhapur, the traffic was as irritating as ever, with those suicidal sugarcane laden tractor trailers hijacking the roads and causing despair. Post Nippani, the roads turned magical. Less traffic, less Toll, cheaper Toll too. And the road surface with the central median’s colourful shrubs giving it an almost European feel. Self and son shared the drive and thoroughly enjoyed it. Wife and daughter also disbelieved the ‘our car’ explanation. But over the next couple of month’s it dawned on them.

It is 12 years and 4 months since I have owned this vehicle and never once have I regretted it. Good roads, bad roads, no roads, its seen it all. And how. When the roads turn bad, just shift into 2WD also, and just thunder through. This vehicle can take the worst quietly and without any fuss. If its raining on the highway or negotiating a ghat, using 4 WD, gives me the secure grip feeling. Not that there is any front wheel torque steer to talk about. It is very discreet. I normally prefer a steady speed to bursts of speed. So a sedate 80 km/hr and a brief 100 km/hr, road, traffic and a clear view permitting, is what I maintain. Because, I believe, reaction times are very critical. Especially in the Indian undisciplined traffic context. While the current generation with their DTC/DSG auto boxes may zoom around merrily, I wonder how many know how to control the vehicle when a jaywalker crosses the road and you are at 120 km/hr? Will you brake or will you swerve or do both? There will be many fancy electronic gimmickry that claim to provide safe braking etc. etc., But who will teach mind control? So, a controllable speed, in my opinion is safer, and conditioning the mind to do the steer, controlled braking, downshifting regimen is key.

Have been asked time and again, what is the max speed of the vehicle and I patiently say, don’t know. To their surprise. Thankfully, no one asks me the mileage! Having said that, on the highways, a good steady run gets me 13~14 km/l. In the city, it is around 9~10 km/l. I find it good for the comfort, security and peace of mind.

Numerous have said, why Mitsubishi, why not Toyota etc. etc., My deep respect for Toyota surely stays, what with being the most trusted brand in Africa, despite the condition of the vehicle. But Mitsubishi has its own cult following for various and solid reasons. Not the least, for its build quality and reliability, to name a few. In Riau island of Indonesia, full of vast Palm tree plantations, the vehicle of choice is just one. Mitsubishi LS200 and the Sport. The sport is based on the LS200/Triton which is the pick up version. Not even Toyota Fortuner or the Hilux has made a mark here. Which speaks volumes. I can say this for areas in Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines etc., also. But you get the drift? Legendary reliability, solid build and no-nonsense performance. And Zero glamour. Gentle Beast. Gentle because it is not like a cat on hot coals. While being as good or better than any sport SUV on the market. Analog controls are better. Am old school, yes! Beast because, its built like a tank. Like a Panzer, my friend used to say. The looks are one of solidity and a bare knuckled boxer, with don’t mess with me attitude. I can go on but this suffices, I think!

Over the years, the one grouse which always remained was the clutch. It was heavy for city stop and go traffic. Highways, were not an issue. With age, driving in pathetic Pune traffic was getting bothersome. My left knee kept telling me to do something about it. Till last year in October. My Engineer who has regularly serviced my gentle beast till date, once casually told me that, a lighter clutch was available. What?!! He told me that the Sport actually had this lighter clutch on it in various countries, including Thailand. Mitsubishi India in collaboration with HM (what a marriage!) decided to equip the Sport in India with the LS200 clutch. Which is a heavy duty pick up and probably requiring a heavy duty clutch. And with the short sighted wisdom that Indians are heavy clutch abusers, on came the heavy one. With that the woes. Sachin gave me part numbers of the lighter clutch and related housing (lighter diaphragm) plus various belts that needed replacing and asked me to get this from Thailand. Which I did. In November, these were replaced and the change was almost magical. Light as a Diesel Verna (the first and fab version) clutch, driving in the more pathetic Pune traffic was not an issue at all. My knee thanked me, of course! I would recommend this change to all MT equipped Sport owners, expressly.

After 12 + years, and after the ‘light’ clutch replacement, thought it was time to spend some money on such practical things. My model did not have any touch screen display. A small dot matrix screen gave critical info on many parameters and very helpful at that. Maps could only be accessed on a mobile and by the co-driver guiding me on. As I abhor mobile usage when driving. What could be done?

I remember by friend going to an Auto Accessory shop called Poona Motors in Cantonment. This establishment (they even have a vehicle studio now) is more than 50 years old. One of the Chouhan brothers even has a garage in Market Yard, Gultekdi. My son who works abroad, wanted to do a road trip to meet his Grandmother, in her native village, near Mangalore. He and his wife had just returned from a trip to Vietnam and after a few days were planning to fly out. When I mentioned that we could drive down, he was all for it! So, I decided that we should upgrade the infotainment part of the vehicle, which would be very helpful to navigate. As well as something where one could mirror music onto the already good system that the Pajero came with. Rockford system with a amplifier I think. Good bass and mid-range and more than enough oomph. But during the last service I had had, my Engineer told me that the speakers were kaput. As in, after more than a decade, the magnetism just fails. So, I had to do something about it. Jinay at Poona Motors, was very enthusiastic and he said, he will try to get a sub frame which can hold a touch screen system. He called up a guy and asked him about its availability. It seems this sub-frame is a one to one replacement for the Pajero and is available in some models. Great! But there was bad news in store as he said that the sub-frame he could locate was not recommended, as it was in bad shape and it could lead to vibration and become a kill joy. But he promised to locate a new one in a couple of days time. We had to take his word for it and went on our journey with none of the above. Well a JBL Flip 4 gave us good company but it was a compromise!

On my return, back to Pune, Jinay called me up to say that he has a new sub-frame available with him and to get the vehicle to his shop. With both my kids in tow, we went over to see the sub-frame and to select the system. Blaupunkt Series 900 with a 9” screen seemed the best value for money. 18k. Selected. Next were the speakers. And he confirmed that the old speakers were kaput. He recommended Infiniti Primus by Harman all round, door speakers and the tweeters. 18k. Done. I asked him about vibration suppression, which can come about with the mid-range, bass and higher frequencies of the speakers. He said, not to worry. Vibration damping sheets on all doors, 6 in all. 7.2k!! Was it worth it? Yes. Good sound, overall. With the Equilizer, numerous pre-set modes were available, as well as manual settings were possible. Worth the price.





Now, Jinay said, my small dot matrix information display would need to be scrapped. As it did not have a place or a way to fit it. I was reluctant to part with it and seeing how attached I was to it, he called up his guy (need to find out who this guy is!) asking for a solution. After a few hours he said he can accommodate the dot matrix display on a separate frame below the main frame. 2k. Would that be ok?!!! Yippee! Yes of course! We gave the vehicle in the morning and he said it would ready by 5 pm, evening. My son went to collect the vehicle as he had some work in Cantonment. Was dying to see the mod! And it was really worth it. It gave a whole new interior look and the screen commanded all attention. The dot matrix display came out of its frame when repeatedly juddering over rumblers and other sadistic vehicle killing contraptions of the road department. Jinay asked me to come the next day for a better fitment. And so his guy, did a 3M tape job to keep it in place. Its good so far. Even over the kill joy rumblers. Overall with CarPlay pairing it with my phone was a breeze. And it just took a massive generation leap in terms of infotainment for me and the gentle beast! And I had a my beloved dot matrix display doing its job too. The steering control switches were now connected with the central console and I could increase/decrease volume as well as skip songs. All’s well!

While I lounged in his shop, I saw that a majority of his customers were coming in for headlamp bulb replacement or for fitment of projectors. He had a bench where various bulbs (all LED) could be visualized for their brightness. Got me thinking. After 12 years, the gentle beast sure could use a nice pair of eyes. And when driving on the highways at night, the yellow light Halogens were a bit dull and surely outdated for the fresh horrors introduced everyday by the NHAI and their devious contractors. Summer was approaching earlier than expected this year and I enquired about types of sun film with him. He showed me various types and of course more importantly the price points. He did his marketing bit, but being a sucker for some good quality sun film, I settled for the Iris Pro make, which has 70% transparency, was seemingly ok with most RTO’s (I hope!) had a blue shade and more importantly had 94% UV blockage. Claimed that is. The proof was in the pudding, so I had to wait for it to be pasted and then see its effect. Cost? 35k!! Which happened the next day. Was it effective as it was touted to be? I have taken a couple of mid-afternoon drives with the sun blazing down and I can say with certainty, that UV radiation blockage is very effective. I have sensitive skin and on such hot sun exposures, my skin turns red and it starts itching. This did not happen. And the interior felt cooler also. Overall an expensive fit but worth the price.

During the Sun film job, I asked him to replace the original Low and High beam bulbs to that of LED’s. As I told him that I needed good reach of the beam and not something which dazzles the oncoming vehicles, he recommended Aozoom (German make) AZ-1808, 90X2W Power, 8400X2 Lumens bulbs. No doubt the prices were sky high, 9k+9k, but what the hell. My beast deserved the best and me too! He asked me if I should replace the lower fog lamps too, but I said no. Justifying that these were good enough, quite bright and mostly not needed. Bad mistake! Drove the car back in the evening, after the sun film, LED bulbs and all. As there was still enough daylight, could not check out the bulb efficacy. I was most worried about the focus, as I know bulbs and their reflectors, even if projectors, are matched, to maintain the RHS cut offs. And that LED bulbs don’t have filaments per se but a small circuit board like wafer with the LED’s on them. This could upset the entire headlamp focus. Jinay was very confident that nothing of that sort will happen. But I was a bit skeptical.

Had to wait till the next night to take the beast out for spin to check out the LED’s. And boy oh boy, are they magnificent! White light, strong beam, no disruption of the focus and far reach for the Low Beam. The High beam was in a different league altogether. Wow! It just opened up the road for me and sort of brushed away all the cobwebs of darkness, especially at the fringes. And the throw was way far ahead. Night driving is now officially safe! I dare say, the Low beams are not dazzlers for oncoming traffic. The fog lights? They now seem like candles. Regret, regret. Called up Jinay and embarrassedly asked him for the LED conversion. He said no problem. As usual! Recommended a brand called Maxxlink, 80W, 8000 Lumens. 5k. As these were already projectors, just a bulb change was all that was needed. I try to be a responsible driver and now my added responsibility is not to dazzle oncoming road users, in the city. I never use High beam in the city, except for flashing signals. In brightly lit areas, I don’t event use the low beam. My fog lights and Parking lamps suffice.

One of the few quirks of the Sport is the co-driver’s seat. It is set low down and during a long drive, it can lead to some fatigue of the legs, as the angle is not comfortable. Besides, one felt like one is sitting in a submarine and have to crane their head to properly view the front. Hand me the periscope will you?!! Can something be done about it? I told Jinay my requirement. He promised to speak to his Uncle for a solution. Jinay soon called up to say that I should take my vehicle to his Father’s garage in Gultekdi, where my requirement would be met. After explaining to Mahesh Bhai my requirement, he got to work. 4 square tubes of 50 x 50 mm, each were cut, drilled for a long stud/bolt to pass through and tube spacers inside the square tubes, to cater to the tightening load when bolted or fastened with nuts. The front mounts were studs, so these had to be hacked off and long bolts, acting like studs were welded in its place. Was a bit hesitant on cutting the studs but that was the only way. Sigh!

To cut a long story short, this got the seat up by a decent 50mm up, and I got my wish. No more slouching in the seat. It was on par with the driver seat, which has all the fore, aft, up, down adjustments, being electrically powered. My friend who accompanied me, could feel the difference, though it was with my prompting that he felt it… 3.5k! A bit overpriced for the components used but time is money and all this got done in about 2 hours or so. So! And now, with the fog lamps also LED, the light package was complete!





I had a older (and cheaper) front only dash cam fitted. This no doubt captured what was required. But its issue was, downloads took a lot of time and it captured only the front. It also took power from the cigarette light adaptor, so I missed out on a power point for other usages. Although, the Sport has 3 of these, one below the central console, one inside the central storage box and one at the rear. Wanted a front and rear dash cam as well as one which could allow faster downloads. Jinay proposed a 3k Qubo but I felt it was a bit expensive. I asked him about something more middle ground. He showed me a NFS (corny sounding, yes!) which seemed alright. 9.5k. Told him to fit it along with the fog lamp bulbs. Downloads are faster and I have the advantage or the rear cam as well as the static bump feature also. Camera quality after downloads is quite good. The front dash cam also has a small LCD screen and can be removed from its slot to view the recording immediately, if one so needs it. Worth the price. Besides it is not fast becoming de rigour for today’s crazy traffic and daily road rage incidents.

And that was that. My gentle beast had a makeover after 12 + years and I loved it. Did I mention? During the light clutch replacement, Sachin suggested all fluid replacements. Which meant, not only engine oil but also, coolant, hydraulic steering, Brake oil, Transfer case oil, Differential oil, Front differential oil and gear box oil. I always used 100% synthetic engine oil, either Motul or Shell. This time, feeling a bit stingy decided to go for the company recommended, mineral/semi-synth type. Actually, the engine sounded a lot smoother with this oil! And the whole engine sounds overall, at idling and on the run was hugely smooth. Happy engine, Happy owner!

Now wanting to get a long drive under my belt to find out the true value of all the mods done. Next month probably. A drive to Surathkal and back. Can’t wait!

Am a lifelong fan of this vehicle and no amount of persuasion will make me change my mind on it!!!! In a word, this vehicle is 'amazing'!!!!
Do read my take on the Gentle Beast!

[Amrit@wheels]

@shikya, amazing write up. I have a soft spot for the Pajero as well. Would it be possible for you to post more pictures of your beast? Especially the headlight throw?

[shikya>60]

Sure. Will try to do so. Unfortunately, it would only with the LED's. As the older halogens are nesting in their foam protected boxes. Hope that is ok!

Oh. Forgot to mention. The Iris Pro sun film is worth the price. Have not experienced other films to compare, but this is probably as good as it gets and legally too. Had gone on a trip to Wai to new resort, meant mostly for Senior Citizens. And the sun as usual did it's earlier than usual flame throwing work. But the interior and my skin was not complaining. So, were my passengers who did not utter a word about wanting a screen for protection. I suspect, it may also help the A/c to cycle lesser, decreasing fuel consumption, oh so marginally. I think. My Surathkal trip will tell me better!

Thank you very much Omkar! Am still unsure about how to go about getting the photos and captions at the right places. Thanks for helping me out!

[shikya>60]

Thank you very much Omkar! Am still unsure about how to go about getting the photos and captions at the right places. Thanks for helping me out!