Newbie Off-Roader Vehicle Care

[Lisa Pemberton]

So I'm 4 drives into this new hobby of off-roading. Loving it so far! Looking for advice from the seasoned owners and drivers here. What should I be doing regularly to care for my Pajero and ensure she keeps running smoothy and avoid any rookie errors which may result in expensive mistakes. Beyond regular servicing, oil changes and fluid top ups my level of expertise is pretty low and consists of YouTube videos and manual reading. I've been reading about the rear bumper/scoop issue so will look into having a workshop fix this. Ideally, if there were such a thing, I'd love to do some kind of maintenance workshop to learn how to do minor upkeep or modifications myself and avoid the "Very White Lady Tax" I get charged every time I go to a garage 😕

[Shiju Manuel]

Hi @Lisa Pemberton am not an experts but below are the few things i have done.

1. Rear bumper scooping need to be sorted out in newbie drive itself by fixing a plate to stop scooping the sand. there is a topic available for this solution and advice in Carnity forum. 

2. Cleaning the air filter will be better after each drive, because lots of sand will go inside. 

3. If you are unplugging the traction and abs switch under the hood for the drive, then when you take the car for service inform the people to blow some air and clean the pug inside the switch, because some sand always will be there inside. 

4. Better to trim the lower part of front bumper, because in Pajero if the front bumper hit on the sand, the lower part will bend inside and every time we need pull it back other wise it will touch on the tire. 

5. Always checking Coolant, engine oil, transmission oil before the drive. 

i believe other experts and leaders  in Carnity can give you  more inputs

thank you. 

[Lisa Pemberton]

Thank you for these tips! I've read the topic about the rear bumper, I'm assuming the same workshop mentioned in Ajman could adjust the front bumper as you recommended here. Any recommendations for best fluids/brands?

[topgear]

It never occurred to me to do this "2. Cleaning the air filter will be better after each drive, because lots of sand will go inside. "

I will check out some online tutorial how to DIY this for the FJ. 

40 minutes ago, Shiju Manuel said:

Hi @Lisa Pemberton am not an experts but below are the few things i have done.

1. Rear bumper scooping need to be sorted out in newbie drive itself by fixing a plate to stop scooping the sand. there is a topic available for this solution and advice in Carnity forum. 

2. Cleaning the air filter will be better after each drive, because lots of sand will go inside. 

3. If you are unplugging the traction and abs switch under the hood for the drive, then when you take the car for service inform the people to blow some air and clean the pug inside the switch, because some sand always will be there inside. 

4. Better to trim the lower part of front bumper, because in Pajero if the front bumper hit on the sand, the lower part will bend inside and every time we need pull it back other wise it will touch on the tire. 

5. Always checking Coolant, engine oil, transmission oil before the drive. 

i believe other experts and leaders  in Carnity can give you  more inputs

thank you. 

 

[Vanessa8580]

Hi Lisa

I am driving a Pajero and for oil change, I recommend Shell, Castrol or Mobil one. Be careful with the gas station brands. 

Welcome to the Pajero club 😜

[Shiju Manuel]

2 hours ago, Lisa Pemberton said:

Thank you for these tips! I've read the topic about the rear bumper, I'm assuming the same workshop mentioned in Ajman could adjust the front bumper as you recommended here. Any recommendations for best fluids/brands?

Yeah they can adjust the bumper, for fluids and any parts I always use Mitsubishi original that will be more safe even if it’s slightly costly peace of mind. 

[Mels Wolf]

Hi @Lisa Pemberton,

Great stuff driving Pajero! To add onto the above mentions which are very good I found that the inlet of the air intake has a water drain which in the uae case also gets blocked with sand. And the easy removal is taking the rubber bottom off and rinsing it with a garden hose to take out all the sand (see the picture)

[Lisa Pemberton]

This is super helpful with the photos too! Thank you!

[Gaurav]

@Shiju Manuel Mitsubishi dont make engine oil, but in UAE Habtoor motors put Mitsubishi label on LUKOIL. I tried and its the most shittiest oil for off-roading for my Pajero. Maybe newer gen4 , dont mind that sub standard quality.

My highest recommendation to any offroader is to use Mobil 1 once and see the difference in engine noise, engine cooling and off-road performance.

@Mels Wolf putting water in air filter dry box is not very ideal (I think). Instead that box has 2 or 3 bolts, remove it and give gentle dab upside down.

@Lisa Pemberton great post and so far great input from other experts and owners alike.

Please check these two post as well

 

[Shiju Manuel]

6 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

@Shiju Manuel Mitsubishi dont make engine oil, but in UAE Habtoor motors put Mitsubishi label on LUKOIL. I tried and its the most shittiest oil for off-roading for my Pajero. Maybe newer gen4 , dont mind that sub standard quality.

My highest recommendation to any offroader is to use Mobil 1 once and see the difference in engine noise, engine cooling and off-road performance.

 

@Gaurav i did not know this alternative engine oil Habtoor put in Mitsubishi label 😤 Next time i will try with Mobil 1 and see how its.