4X4 for winter

[brucemillar]

Folks

I am looking for a 4x4 to get us through the winter. Ideally a SWB Pajero. I have been told to get an old petrol Freelander as they are all going for around 600 quid? Seen a few Pajero's on ebay for the same money, but would prefer if it is a known car.

Must be petrol. An old banger will be ideal so long as it is legal and runs.

Please PM me if you know of anything.

 

[brucemillar]

Still looking. Can negotiate up on price for the right machine.

 

[vijilants]

I think you may be better off with the older RAV4.

They are extremely reliable and drive well.

I sold mine this year.....wish I hadn't....had it over a couple of winters.....fantastic in the snow.

 

[Terry_]

As above try and find a rav4.

 

[WOODYTHEWISE]

I purchased a Suzuki Grand Vitara for winter use, they are a proper 4x4 with low ratio and exchange box. Mine is the two door. Easy to drive and park. 2.0lt Auto 30,000Miles 1 owner £2000 last year. No rust(makes a change) simple 4 pot engine. small enough to use as a runaround.There should be plenty to choose from

 

[flango]

Another vote fro the Rav 4 I had one for 3 years and it battled through anything winter could throw at it. Freelander is good in snow but engine is head gasket prone not a fortune to fix but that and other electrical issues makes them a little unreliable.

Vitara is another good choice basic but bombproof

 

[IanA2]

G Wagen.....?

 

[Sp!ke]

Another vote fro the Rav 4 I had one for 3 years and it battled through anything winter could throw at it. Freelander is good in snow but engine is head gasket prone not a fortune to fix but that and other electrical issues makes them a little unreliable.

Vitara is another good choice basic but bombproof

Arent Rav 4's mostly 2WD only?

 

[flango]

Arent Rav 4's mostly 2WD only?

Early ones all permanent four wheel drive on the first generation, second generation 2000- offered a 2 wheel drive version in the form of the NV model but most of them I believe in the UK will be the 4x4 version

 

[brucemillar]

All thanks for your replies and help.

I finally bought a cracking 3.5 v6 petrol SWB Pajero. 1998 in red with all the toys. It has a full years MOT and 7 months tax + four new intermediate tyres and nice re-furbed black alloys. It also has just had a cam belt and full service including new front discs and pads all round and new drop links.

It has one problem.

The speedo does not work, nor does the odometer. Any clues? I had a quick look on the Pajero Owners Club without much luck.

It is a 1998 car. I assume it is a cable drive from the gearbox?

Previous owner says it will suddenly start to work then just stop again.

 

[vijilants]

Disconnect it from the back of the speedo, pull the cable towards an area where you can watch it or get someone else to watch it and whilst driving the car, see if the cable turns.

If it turns, the problem is with the speedo.

If not, possibly a broken cable or its at the gearbox end.

 

[jaymanek]

It depends how it works, its probably an electrical pulse from the gearbox.. in which case its most likely the sender.. But no specific Pajero speedometer knowledge... Sold plenty of them and they are solid enough.

We had a speedo problem on a Rav4 recently... that involved a complete gearbox strip down...

 

[brucemillar]

Jay is correct it is an electrical drive, pulsed from the gearbox sender. The sender is good as you can get a scope on it and spin a wheel. I think it likely to be the speedo itself as I can see a signal change at the end of the cable.

It is now also clear that the speedometer also controls other functions relevant to speed.

Over Drive
Ride Height

Maybe more. These two are the classic symptoms of a speedo failure on this truck. So I guess I need a new speedo to test it. Breakers yard here I come.

 

[jaymanek]

Plenty of Pajero breakers around... ideal time to convert it to a proper UK MPH speedo..

 

[grober]

Speedo Stopped Working

one or 2 interesting threads on there in particular the one on the inline converter chip

It's an electronic system using a pickup sensor in the gearbox to the speedo then to the auto gearbox controller.
If your Paj has a converter chip fitted then this is spliced in, in between the Gearbox and Speedo.
Gearbox Sensor: Located on Gearbox on Passenger side towards the back this is a 3 wire sensor and should have +12v, Gnd and no reading on the Blue Wire (Signal out). Check for your 12 volts (ignition on, engine not running) with a multimeter on the 2 wires that are not blue (Sorry cannot remember the colours!). Reconnect it if all is good.

Speedo end: Pop the top off the speedo pod and locate the 2 wire spade connection on the back of the clocks, top passenger side. This should be blue and orange (possibly!) wires. Disconnect it.
With the Ingition on you should have between 1 and 10 volts on the blue wire and 5 - 6 volts on the Orange. (Note the blue wire voltage is what you will get IF no speedo converter is fitted easy way to tell if a Speedo converter is fitted is if you have a speedo that has a max speed of 180 mph!)
Also check for 12 volts on the speedo (Marked IGN and GND on the PCB Foil on the back)
If all these are correct I suggest you strip out the clocks and have a look at the speedo itself and see if it has burned out a track.

 

[brucemillar]

GROBER

Thanks for this. I found the same posts/ Mine has the MPH speedo already fitted. I also have the the (rather rare) ride height adjustment (which does work).

So just the speedo to fix and bingo. The guy who I bought the car from runs his own garage. He is having back in to have another go at fixing. He also has a mate at Mitsubishi who has given him the schematics. He is convinced it is not the head, but a loose contact in the harness. Apparently there is suspect connector known to Mitsubishi.

Great fun machine. The 3.5 V6 pulls well and sounds great. The 4 wheel drive all works as it should. Finger crossed and we are ready for the snow.

 

[brucemillar]

Not going to plan. New speed sensor drive fitted today £160 from Mitsubishi. No change to fault. I will get the clock into BBA Reman on Monday. We have a pulse at the speedo end of the cable.

 

[brucemillar]

Well I bit the bullet and bought a second hand cluster from a local breaker. Wrong cluster but the same speedo clock. Swapped the clock.....Bingo.

I now have 4th gear and overdrive as well as correctly raising and lowering suspension.