[HJ13]

Hi BHPians,

Thanks for helping me decide if I should purchase the vehicle. (Should I buy a Used Mitsubishi Pajero Sport with only 18k on the odo?). I need your help again, this time for identifying and sourcing genuine parts for this vehicle.

As Mitsubishi does not run any service center in my state (Gujarat), I explored various options to source parts.

The first service after purchase was in a garage owned by an ex Mitsubishi Authorized Service foreman. I saw Mitsubishi parts for the first time and was satisfied by the writing on the box. I don’t remember the markings/writings on the part itself. They charged me as follows:
Oil Filter - Rs. 1200
Fuel Filter - Rs. 1500
Air Filter - Rs. 1300

During the second service, I purchased parts myself from a local shop. The AC cabin filter had Mitsubishi written on it along with the part number. Oil filter was just having the part number. I do not remember the price for each part, but the charges were high. For example,
AC Cabin Filter - Rs. 1850

For the recent service, I tried some other options.

I purchased some parts from a shop at Kashmiri Gate, Delhi over the phone. The owner was very helpful. When I insisted on a fuel filter with the manufacturer's name on it, he advised me to purchase Toyota Innova fuel filter locally because it is a direct fit for Pajero. I purchased weather strips for rear doors and he advised me to apply a particular oil (later I found that it is a silicon oil/spray) on front door strips so that they last long. Prices were low.
Oil Filter - Rs. 600 (named A in this post), Rs 850 (named D in this post)
Fuel Filter - Rs. 350
Air Filter - Rs 750
AC Cabin Filter - Rs. 650

I also tried online options (Here are some examples - mechkartz, Parts Drive India, JDS services, MotorCare, etc)
Prices were reasonable.
Oil Filter - Rs. 750 (named B in this post), Rs 1200 (named C in this post)
Fuel Filter - Rs. 750
Air Filter - Rs 800

Now comes the main discussion point. How can I make sure the parts I purchased are genuine quality parts ? This is important especially for parts like oil filters.

The importance of quality oil filter -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-rqEYbltjU

One way of making the filter -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQC3I2YjUbc

Another way -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiKbyi9fEmE

As you can see, the difference is in material used, precision and sophistication in workmanship and quality control. Making as per the required specification (bypass valve opening pressure, flow rate and filtration, etc) vs reverse engineering.

Here is the comparison of the four oil filters (named A, B, C and D) I purchased. I do not know if they are genuine (acceptable oil filtering and flow rates), or are counterfeit (will damage the engine if used). However if you inspect them closely, you can differentiate.

Note: I installed oil filter 'C' and forgot to take photos of it. Sorry for that. However photos of box of C are present.

Oil filter (Part no - 1230A186)

The box:

They are almost identical except some markings,



shape of flaps (C has long flaps with smooth rounded ends)



some spelling mistakes (on A)




and the presence of instructions in Thai language (missing on A).






The casing of filter:

Note the typos on A and D (etancheite is the correct spell)








Look at the yellow/pink dot(s) on B, C and D which may be related to quality check. No such dot on A.



Looks like some unique identification code different for each filter manufactured. 'C' has it (check the image of C above), however no such code anywhere on 'D'.



The seal which prevents leaking of oil during high pressure (high RPMs) and high temperature (after removing the seals from A and B, I thought I should not do it as it may not get re-fitted properly. So I have not removed them from C and D. I shall do it once the filter is used) :




And as I removed the seal, the welding marks appeared:



Let's look inside now.

The glue and bypass valve:





Closure look of the bypass valve:





The inside casing and filtration media:

Note the size of the holes, pattern and density of the filtration media inside. The vertical strip you see in 'B' and 'D' is where the insider cylinder with holes joins. Filter 'C' was having black welding marks instead of this strip.




Weight:
B (730 gm) > D (611 gm) > A (550 gm)
If we think about efficiency, less is better, however, if we think about the material used, more weight may indicate good quality.



Company name and logo:

As you can see, all filters have company name on the box.
Only one filter - 'D' has company name and logo on the filter itself.



Also note that the orientation of writings/instructions on filter 'D' is opposite to all other filters. This orientation is incorrect for a mechanic who wants to read the instructions during installation. However when it is on table, the orientation is correct for reading.



The price:

A - Rs. 600, B - Rs 750, C- Rs 1200, D - Rs 850

My opinion:
'A' is of the lowest quality. I will not use it.
The quality of box of 'C' is the best. However the quality of oil filter itself is important.
I found a little difference in 'B', 'C' and 'D', they all are almost equal if I consider filtration media, rubber seal, casing, etc. The inner cylinder was joined using welding in 'C' which I did not like (photograph not available). 'B and 'D' joins the inner cylinder by pressing the ends and forming a strip, which I liked.



'D' is the only one having company name and logo but the spelling mistakes on it makes me believe that it is not manufactured by the company. 'B' (and probably 'C' too) is not having any spelling mistakes.

So my opinion is: B = C > D > A

Questions I have:

1. Which among these filters are OEM part and meets the required specification ?
2. Why 'A', 'B' and 'C' do not have their manufacturer’s name, manufacturing date, etc. on them. Where are they manufactured ? By which company ?
3. If you are a Mitsubishi car owner, I have high hopes from you. Are you able to source verifiable OEM/Mitsubishi parts ? Please share your experience and contact details of the parts dealer.
4. If you are a Mitsubishi parts supplier, please light up this area and help us keep our cars as reliable as they were meant to be when manufactured.
5. If you represent Mitsubishi, thanks for making such a good SUV, but why you left your customers struggling like this for parts ? Isn't there a law forcing you to make the parts available for 10 or so years after discontinuing the product ?

[Aditya]

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

[GTO]

Wow, that's some great analysis & comparison. I appreciate your commitment & attention-to-detail.

My general philosophy in life is, getting the right person onboard is 90% of the problem solved. Whether it's connecting with the right doctor for treatment, the right contractor for civil repair works to your house, or the right independent garage to repair your car.

Similarly, in this case, I would just buy parts from a store I blindly trust. For you, I'd recommend Shetty Motors in Mumbai (Spare parts : Shetty Motors (Opera House, Mumbai)). Talk to Somnath who is one of the owners. They will most likely be able to source anything for you, and ship it to you. Also check out https://sashaaautomotive.com/ who are for luxury cars, but might be able to help you.

[NomadSK]

Wow that's a detailed insight and eye for minute details to find out quality aspects on OEM parts.

But just to calm your nerves, The OEM filters are NOT made by the car makers. In fact, car makers make virtually nothing these days, most car makers are merely assemblers now. They contract third parties across the world for their filters, windshield, tires, bulbs, ECU etc etc however, they dictate the specifications, and create a level playing field and provide marking of their trademark symbols. So the name brand and label filter may be slightly different from different manufacturers. I would say that no OEM approved filter is junk, but there are "better" material of composition in some of the top line filters, hence functionality won't be compromised. Your engine probably would never notice the difference, unless you do miss oil changes on regular intervals. Although you can see minor changes in material specifications.OEM oil filters are invariably manufactured to the specifications of the automaker. Also, the car maker has a lot to lose from poor OEM filters, and the OEM filter manufacturer has a lot to lose if the car maker gets dissatisfied with its work.

I have a Mitsubishi and I procure the parts from the any authorized dealers and have never bothered to dive so deep in details. Infact my car has suspensions from Gabriel, which If I Buy from reputed vendor (The one who provides the shocks to the car maker) costs me around 1000$ (all 4), these are the same to the T and if I buy the same from the Mitsubishi authorized dealer costs me around 2000$ with the only difference of their trademark stamp on it. Definitely they are also in the market to make money out of this as some people are gullible and would want to buy only original parts from the car maker, plus it might be a government regulation to provide the genuine parts.

Finally I can say, all OEM parts (from different manufacturing units) would meet your functional requirements, with minor physical construction changes. I won't differentiate them as genuine and fake.

[Prozac]

@HJ13 -- I drive a 2015 PajeroSport myself (among other Mitsubishi vehicles). Source parts from HMFCL only, yes, they still exist and supply MMC parts. Write customersupport@hmfcl.com and they would ship to the dealer closest to you who might in-turn ship to your address. All kosher with tax invoice and all!

[man_of_steel]

Originally Posted by Prozac

@HJ13 -- I drive a 2015 PajeroSport myself (among other Mitsubishi vehicles). Source parts from HMFCL only, yes, they still exist and supply MMC parts. Write customersupport@hmfcl.com and they would ship to the dealer closest to you who might in-turn ship to your address. All kosher with tax invoice and all!

Did NOT know this! Trying this immediately. Thanks a lot!

[The Rainmaker]

Congratulations on buying the Pajero Sport. It's an amazing vehicle and the best in its class. You did your research and it's good to be aware, however, for the kind of money you wasted buying from Indian sellers, you could have bought a Genuine one from abroad with shipping and duties accounted for.

Amayama and Partsouq are quite legit websites and I place an order with them regularly. Never had a single disappointment. Their customer service and quality of packaging is probably the best. I'd rather spend a few hundred or thousand bucks more than to rely on local sellers and ruin my peace of mind. Time saved is money earned - Time is money.

Just so you feel more confident in buying from abroad, I've been only buying parts from abroad since 2010 and I'm a happier person. Everytime I have to deal with a local seller (If in a hurry), they give me a headache, not to mention their stock is always dirty/greasy/unhygienic/torn or bent boxes. The quality just isn't there and try telling them that it's not mint and see how he replies to you in a typical "Hamara roz ka hai" fashion. Lessons learnt and I'm satisfied with my decision. Hope you find ways to service your Pajero as well. I'd also suggest buying or downloading a factory service manual so you know the exact torque values and how to carry out services. I do that for all my vehicles and they run and look like new still. Happy Driving!

[HJ13]

I would just buy parts from a store I blindly trust. For you, I'd recommend Shetty Motors in Mumbai.

The oil filtered I ordered from Shetty Motors was exactly like type 'A' (not so good in my opinion). I returned the filter and they refunded the money. I really liked their friendly approach and customer service. They reminded me to send the account details so that refund can be initiated. They sent me the filter using my preferred courier service and the shipping charge was the actual courier charge only - Rs 70. Filter cost however was Rs 1416 which was high compared to my earlier purchase of type 'A' filter at Rs 600.

Shetty Motors also offered me Sakura oil filter C-1012.









The part number was compatible with Pajero SFX, however I was not sure if it is a right fit for Pajero Sport (no mention of 4D56). So I did not order. However, I want to try Sakura filters. Sakura prints its name on their filters - an act that shows some responsibility towards their product. The customer knows whom to praise or blame. Looks like I need to decide from the following:

1. C-10600 - compatible with 15200W010P, so will definitely fit.
2. C-10081
3. C-1045

Sakura India has not yet published its dealers info: http://sakurafilter.in/dealer-network.html

[HJ13]

Source parts from HMFCL only, yes, they still exist and supply MMC parts.

HMFCL offered me oil filter part number - 15200W010P. I was confused as the part number of oil filter I used earlier was 1230A186.

Difference between 1230A186 and 15200W010P:









HMFCL confirmed that 15200W010P is suitable for Pajero Sport, so I went ahead. I also ordered the same part number from a dealer at Kashmiri Gate, Delhi and compared them.

[HJ13]

Originally Posted by HJ13

The oil filtered I ordered from Shetty Motors was exactly like type 'A' (not so good in my opinion). I returned the filter and ...

There was a typo in this post, it should be read as below:

The oil filtered I purchased from Shetty Motors was exactly like type 'A' (not so good in my opinion). So I returned the filter and ...

[HJ13]

Comparison of two oil filters (part number 15200W010P) : one from Hindustand Motors and Finance Corporation Limited (HMFCL), another from a dealer at Kashmiri gate, Delhi

Type - A : oil filter from HMFCL
Type - B : oil filter from a dealer on facebook at Kashmiri gate, Delhi

Price:
Type - A : Rs 1710 + shipping Rs 250 = Total Rs 1960
Type - B : Rs 800 + shipping Rs 150 = Total Rs 950

Packaging and box:





That middle writing is in Japanese



I overlapped the barcode photos to match them, it is same:



Read the barcode through online reader:



HMFCL version comes with this label on the box



Box flaps:





Instructions in English (yes, these filters are made in China, not in Thailand or Japan, and I am okay with this as it does not necessarily mean lower quality.
Manufacturers seeks lower production cost and can still maintain quality by forcing the manufacturer to meet a specification):



Instructions in Thai ('Oil Filter' was written in Japanese, however these installation instructions are in Thai !)



Instructions translated:




The filter:

Instructions in English:



Instructions in French (note the correct spell of etancheite on both filters):



Instructions in Japanese (note that installation instructions on box were in Thai) The vertical identification code is different. HMFCL version has a dash. This is the one and only difference between the two. I don't know if this number should be different on each filter or each batch of filters or something else. If you know more about this, please share. If you have purchased multiple filters from HMFCL in a single order, please tell if all the codes are same or not.



I asked this to the seller of Type-B. As per him this is a batch code and will be same for all filters made in a batch. He also shared a photo showing multiple filters he purchased sharing the same batch code:



I have asked this to HMFCL as well, waiting for their reply.

Japanese to English translation:



The seal:



Bypass valve:



Inner cylinder with filtration media:




Weight:




Summary:

Build quality of both the filters is same. There is no difference in them except the vertical code; and the price of course - HMFCL version costs almost double. Please note that the price depends on various factors like source, quantity, duties, taxes, time of purchase, etc. HMFCL may be having genuine reasons (other than the quality of filter) that justifies their selling price. The intention here is not to judge the price but the quality.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by HJ13

I asked this to the seller of Type-B. As per him this is a batch code and will be same for all filters made in a batch. He also shared a photo showing multiple filters he purchased sharing the same batch code:

This also can imply a spurious part as the one who copies the packing will not bother changing the code whereas one from the manufacturer will have different from time to time (can vary based on production shift/ day or some other parameters)

If someone has stocks of similar batch numbers - very high chance- fake.