[vigsom]

Introduction

This is a report of some maintenance updates and upgrades on my 2012 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, a car than once almost brought me down to my knees, but post that has been serving us well. Surprisingly, the car is being used much more than my use between 2019 and 2022.

Episode1 - the curious case of the radiator cap!

Post my long drive from Gujarat to Karnataka in end-2022, the car's been doing only outstation drives. Sometime in Feb-2023, three months after the long drive, I was a little surprised to see the coolant reservoir level steady for the most part. I opened the radiator cap and found the barrel empty. Topped up some coolant that I always carry and the car just took in some 300ml or so; this had me relieved. After a bit of investigation, I concluded that the only culprit could be the radiator cap, as I'd always find this cap tricky to fit on the radiator. After the new cap arrived, I did a comparo between the old and the new - and the pics say it all. Radiator necks (from whatever I discovered) do not have standard sized necks. The cap I was using was a good one, set at 1.1 bar but not the exact type meant for this car.

A stitch in time saves nine

Knowing that the cap for the Pajero Sport is an ND make cap, I just ordered an MGP radiator cap of the same make and set at 1.1 bar. On closer inspection of the radiator neck, top and the cap, this is what I found

Minor abrasions courtesy the radiator cap - radiator neck front


Neck Rear


Radiator Top - absolutely fine thankfully


New ND cap on the left vs Old cap - note the difference in the claws




New cap in position and it was a happy ending after all! The radiator is always full, and whatever negligible depletion is seen is indicated on the coolant surge tank

[vigsom]

Episode#2 - The curious case of a brake squeal

Now, this promises to be a thriller. I was returning after an 840km drive documented here, and as I was entering my adda (den), I noticed a minor squeal from one of the brakes. It was a Sunday evening, I was scheduled to go up west the next day, and found no one who could drive the car with me observing which wheel the noise was coming from. The noise wasn't there even when I entered the city off the highway, so I was sure that it had just started. In hindsight, I should have just driven the car and asked my wife to listen to which wheel the noise was coming from, but then, brains don't work when they need to.

The next morning, I looked for my relative's driver, hoping to ask him to just drive the car in the parking, and as luck would have it, my relative and he had scooted early since there was a critical regulatory audit at their firm. That left me to do a visual inspection before leaving - inspected the rear wheels and the outer brake pads on both the wheels showed good life. Fronts weren't visible and so I concluded that the front pads must have worn out. Since I was headed via my old den aka Surat, I decided to get a set of brake pads when returning. Why all this hurry? a. Diwali was just round the corner b. Brakes have to be done c. I could bank on stuff that I source from my contacts in Surat

All done, left as planned, got a nice looking set of LPR Brake pads for the front, and on return, it was time to find someone who could do the job without any strings attached. A fellow bhpian was kind enough to lead me to a known technician, and off I went to Jakkuru with the following jobs planned:

1. Engine oil replacement - Castrol Magnatec SUV 5W40 - six litres plus an OE Mitsubishi oil filter sourced from the UAE
2. Brakes service (front and rear)

Something new unfolded there..

A thin technician under a fat car

[vigsom]

Episode#2 - The curious case of a brake squeal (Contd.)

On opening the front wheels, the brake pads were observed to have enough juice - I couldn't do my diagnosis well enough but wasn't prepared to believe even the other day that the front brake pads could have worn out, given my style of driving. Anyways, long story short, I was holding a brand new set of front brake pads and now I find that they were the wrong purchase.

Move over to the rear wheels - the right wheel was off and the pads were observed to have worn out evenly, and had approx 50% juice left. These were ADVICS OE brake pads and perhaps the only ones globally to be light blue in colour.

When the left wheel was off, the culprit was found - the left inner brake pad was down to the wire while the outer pad had over 80% juice left. Another observation - the rear left pads had worn out more in the bottom half than the top half. Reason : The brake caliper top pin sleeve on the left wheel had gotten jammed and therefore the brake pads were being pushed by the piston and actuation was only via the bottom part of the rear left brake.

What do I do now?

I was in Jakkuru, far away from the city, with 3 okay brake pads and one non-usable one. Even if I put that worn out pad in, I'd have to work on the system again to change the pads. It was almost 3pm. I'd in the meanwhile contacted a parts guy in JC Road and he confirmed that he could Dunzo the part, but I didn't want to get parts without actually seeing them. Off I went in an Ola Autorickshaw 14km to JC Road braving some crazy traffic and automotive fumes to reach my destination. I decided to head to Manu Automobiles with the hope of finding my stuff there - and they did have the stuff. Nothing high quality but at least I got a set of brake pads so that I could get my job done. These were ATX make (Autonex). I'd call these Bosch quality. Refurbished pads were being marketed as OE at another palce but I knew what OE was and therefore didn't fall for the bait. At least here at Manu, I knew it was average stuff but was charged also appropriately. So no regrets.

Another enthusiastic auto driver took me back to Jakkuru and I reached there around 5:45pm. Meanwhile, the jammed sleeve had been removed via a hydraulic press and the complete system was serviced and ready. All that they were waiting for were the pads and once in, I was good to go. Since I saw anti rattle pins on the rear brakes, I just wanted to make sure they'd been installed right, but it had gotten dark, so I took a pic and left. Post new brake pads at the rear, the braking had improved substantially.

Front brake pads - OE is Tokico but ADVICS is also a good make


Rear left brake pads - uneven wear


Rear right brake pads - even wear


Brake pads on the car were OE Mitsubishi (brand ADVICS)


Rear Caliper Pin sleeve - the top one had gotten jammed causing the uneven wear (image courtesy partsouq.com)


Aftermarket ATX Brake pads - this was all that was available

[vigsom]

Episode#2.1 : Something wasn't right with the rear brakes

After getting home (it was almost 10pm since I'd taken some pit stops enroute), I decided to check the pics of the rear brakes that I'd taken amidst all those events. When I checked the pics, I immediately realised that the anti rattle clips weren't rightly installed. Good that I took pictures else I'd have seen clips being eaten away by the disc once the pads came down to 50% thickness.

Rear left brake - before removal at the garage and after installation at the garage


Rear right brake - before removal at the garage and after installation at the garage


Again, what do I do? Go back 30km to Jakkuru, find another unknown technician closeby, or... D I Y?

DIY rectification of the anti rattle clips

My parking is ill-lit but I decided to move forward. I have a torch that sports AA size batteries, and have used this in the cigar position for many jobs (example as follows)



I've never ever handled the jack on this car, or any other large SUV till date. Also mindful of the fact that I've just recovered from a major op, I had to ensure that I didn't subject myself to some heavy weights. I had my relative's Man Friday cum chauffeur for company and,

1. jacked the left side up using the vehicle jack
2. successfully took the wheel off
3. removed the pins holding the clips and
4. reinstalled them the right way

Repeated the same steps for the right wheel. For the first time, I handled the 17 inch wheel (with 265/65 tyres). Yes, they were mighty heavy but my resolve was even stronger.

Jack in position


Pins to lock the pads in and hold the clips


Anti rattle clips


Correct fitment of anti rattle clips


Left brake system - Clips installed right


Right brake system - Clips installed right

[vigsom]

Episode#3 : Underbody inspection

Took the opportunity to inspect the underbody when I went in for wheel alignment at Trichy; the place I went to had great reviews and I was astonished at the owner's approach in charging me just as much as he did for an Etios. His logic - the effort is the same on this car, so why charge more?

Inspecting the underside - first time since 2021 - looked good


Episode#4 : Water wash with wheels off

A regular taxi bloke recommended this place to me as one of the few places that washes cars with wheels off. I was #4 in queue and had to wait for 2 hours plus before I got my turn. Guess how much I paid? INR 650. Yes, they do miss on a few bits like no dashboard or tyre polish, spray water liberally on the door bottom and hinge side, so I had to tell them, "Olagade neeru beda" (no water on the inside). In their enthusiasm, they went ahead and washed the noodle mats, and I had to take them home to make them dry. Also, one of the hub bolts which I knew was 50:50 broke when the wheel was being installed. That led me to episode #5

In high places at Bengaluru

[vigsom]

Episode#5 : Hunting for the right hub bolts and changing the broken one

Five out of six bolts seems a reasonable proposition, but there was no point postponing this job as it would compromise on safety, especially on the highway. Here again, when I verified, I discovered that the Suzuki bolts were a little tight while Honda bolts were fine. Off I went to Manu Automobiles, and my issue was sorted out in just 2 minutes - the Innova bolt was the right fit. I got two, went to a local mechanic on reference from my taxi bloke, and the job was done in a mere 20 minutes. Perfect fit.

Hub bolt - sheared off when installing the wheel at the water wash station. It wasn't their fault. The stud was already bad and am happy the opportunity to rectify presented itself


Hub bolt replacement underway

[vigsom]

Light upgrade gone wrong, and now corrected (hopefully)

While I was aiming the lights, I found that the right side fog lamp reflective surface had peeled off. This warranted a replacement. Taking a cue from bhpian CAPTAIN REX, I looked at all options on boodmo and ordered an MGP foglamp without the bulb. This is the same lamp for the Maruti Jimny, DZire and many others. I was never interested in the bulb and hence the assembly worked out favourable - a mere INR 450.

In the meanwhile, I'd procured a set of OSRAM Night Breaker Lasers as an "upgrade" to the stock OSRAM H11s (low) and Sylvania HB3 (high). The Night Breakers turned out to be deal breakers - the worst decision I have ever made. Although I got them at DP, they were just not worth the cash. Again, what to do next? Try LEDs. I strongly practice responsible driving and utmost concern for other road users, including lighting that doesn't blind oncoming drivers. Folks would ask me, "Fine, but your commandments will all be put to nought with LEDs". Decided to try them out nevertheless since I had a very harrowing drive on the Karur - Trichy highway earlier this month with the Night Breaker Lasers.

Fitted 4500K LEDs, but took 3 hours to align the lights

I am a novice at lighting, and LEDs is no exception. Here again, I got a set of Mogato LEDs just to try them out, and if I find I'm causing the car, and oncoming drivers harm, I'll revert to stock bulbs. It took me quite a while to figure out how to lock the LEDs in place and install them right. The slots for the H11 are marked well while the HB3 LEDs needed a lot of trial and error to fit right. I finally managed to orient the bulbs so as to not cause glare to oncoming traffic if I were to use the high beams; stood in the path of the hi beams, semi squatted too to simulate the scenario of how an oncoming vehicle would feel. Low beam projectors were spot on from the word go. Some pics

Aiming the lights with the Night Breaker Lasers - 25 feet distance, put tape to create markings based on the center of the fog lamps minus x inches and center of the headlamps minus y inches


Low Hi and Fog lamps on


The damaged fog lamp


New fog lamp


Low High and Fog lamps on post fog lamp replacement - these lights were grossly inadequate as I discovered later one night on a single carriageway


Low beam - LEDs


Low and hi beams - LEDs


LED Bulb orientation for min glare - hi beam left


LED Bulb orientation for min glare - hi beam right


Dressing the cables, and ensuring a suitable placement for the LED drivers


Left


Right


A well waxed car lighting up the parking


Expenses

1. Brake pads INR 1600
2. Engine Oil INR 3800 (under lightning sale)
3. Oil filter INR 1100
4. Labour (for engine oil change, serving 4 brakes) INR 1600
5. Night breaker Laser (03 sets) INR 6600
6. LED bulbs (one set of H11 and one set of HB3) INR 8500
7. Fog Lamp INR 450
8. Hub bolts INR 200
9. Hub bolts labour INR 250
10. Alignment INR 300
11. Wash INR 650

Total A: Maintenance INR 9500 B: Lights INR 15,550 (partly refundable )

Key takeaways

1. When in doubt, do not hurry with judgements. I should have verified which wheel was making the noise - could have got superior brake pads in the first go itself
2. Lights - choose the right option that doesn't harm other road users.
3. Maintenance - never skip routine maintenance. In my case, usage was very low for all of 2020 and 2021 and here's where the rear brakes were missed

Season's greetings and best wishes for 2024 to all of you!!

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Kosfactor]

Man and machine bonding

Advanced new year wishes man.

Aftermarket replacement LEDs are a gamble for various reasons - beam pattern being wierd, glare etc but also the reliability aspect for a motor vehicle's headlamp. I present you the size of a downlight heat sink, it's bigger than the reflector itself and it's just 31W. Given their need for color accuracy I can imagine a good part of that power is wasted as heat.



So from a reliability perspective, halogen bulb inside halogen assembly would be appropriate. Those night breakers are just more money for no real benefit, the normal 100 Rs Philips bulb works best, except that they are now very hard to find outside of JC road.

There are some old service garages who still do wheels off water wash, they do greasing, diesel wash of the entire frame underneath etc. It's just that they clean the interiors like they would do for an ambassador or Jeep which can be a problem if it's some fancy interior with light leather work!

I tell them not to remove the wheels because I have them tightened with a torque wrench at the ASC or alignment shop, some cow dung and mud can remain in the wheel wells for good luck I suppose.

[Amrit@wheels]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Light upgrade gone wrong, and now corrected (hopefully)

Hate to crap on your latest upgrades but it would have been better if you had gone with Valeo fog lamps instead. They do cost a bit more (around 1.6k) but the performance is miles better than any other round foglamp. Add a decent pair of LED bulbs and you have a solid fog lamp setup. You can check out LeoShashi's XL6 thread for more details, including pictures.
Another option is the ubiquitous projector fog lamp setup that will satisfy 95% of your lighting needs. They range between 5-7k but totally worth it.

[ritedhawan]

First of all, I bid you good health. Its an audacious decision to get under the steering wheel when you recently had a critical operation. I always dread working on my Honda Accord brakes using the jack that came with it, I wont do it without jack stands. Even though I have seen how simple it it to work on the Honda Accord when its comes to simple brake pads replacements.

Nice to see the Pajero in good condition, wishing the car and its owner long miles ahead.(Figurative meaning!)