Overheating Transmission, Pajero 2008-2020

[Mohamed Abo ElKomsan]

@Frederic indeed an important topic for discussion for all Pajero owners 😅

I drive 3.5 LWB 2016 90k km and changing transmission oil regularly as per the maintenance table and usually drive on the D mode. I Faced the transmission overheat more than one time even in early morning drives in winter, so lately replaced the transmission oil cooler with a bigger one and installed an auxiliary fan with a separate switch and so far it performs well. My last drive was last week with no transmission overheating after 4 hrs driving at 34c temperature with multiple stucks 😂😂😂

[Abdul Rahman AK]

@Frederic, I have not faced this problem on my 3.5 LWB 2010 Pajero. I drive on 'D' 95% and use triptonic gear shifting only when I need extra RPM. But @Danish Mohammad faced gear heating issue some time back and he applied the same changes as @Mohamed Abo ElKomsan and seem to have resolved the problem. It's heartbreaking when you get such issues with newer models and not knowing what to be done, hats off to you for creating a discussion of this here which may help a lot of new Pajero drivers... 👏

[RaYan E]

I did change the oil cooler bigger and a extra fan as well to avoid this overheating. So far all is fine now and even it benefits with AC on during drive.

 

 

[Frederic]

A small summary of the replies we received:

Thanks to everyone for the detailed information ! 

I think we can come to the following conclusions:

1) Driving in Manual (tiptronic mode) seems to give some relief. However it's important to keep the car in the right gear and not toggle between gears all the time. The trick is to minimize the shifting.

2) If above does not resolve the issue, an auxiliary fan could be the first option.

3) Depending on the severity of the problem and your personal driving style (intense offroading vs calm offroading) you can opt for replacing the stock transmission cooler with a bigger model. If the vehicle is still in warranty this is best to avoid.

I agree with the statement that the Pajero in D mode sometimes has the tendency to upshift and downshift quite often. There are a few reasons for this:

1) The ECU "learns" from your driving style and changes the gear shifts accordingly. If you drive the car slow and economically during the week, it will be constantly upshifting and downshifting on the off-road drive as it notices your driving style has changed completely.

2) During offroading and especially in technical terrains it's as driver not easy to keep your foot stable on the pedal. If you constantly change your throttle, the car will try to follow what you want and it will upshift and downshift all the time. 

Hence driving in manual mode and avoiding the constant shifting helps to minimize the transmission from heating up. I remember @Vanessa8580  telling me that she can keep the car in 2nd gear most of the time, and only kicks it back in 1st gear whenever she needs to attack a dune or hill climb. She never faced overheating issues (2008 3.8 model).

 

[Baskaran P.R]

@Frederic Thanks for incude me in the discussion, which will help me to understand the issue.

I have not experienced the transmission overheating issue till now.

1) Pajero model 3.5

2) 124,000 KMs done so far 

3) Transmission Oil changed @ 114000 KMs

4) Mostly I drive in “D” but when tough situationas i ues tiptronics 

5) Tyre pressure when off-roading 14 PSI

6) Year 2011 LWB 

[Anvar Sadath Bekal]

@Frederic sorry for delay in reply 

 

1) Pajero model (3.5 or 3.8) - 3.5

2) KMs done so far - 118k

3) Has the transmission oil already been replaced ? If so when ? - yess. 115k service 

4) Do you drive in tiptronic or normal “D” ? - Since fewbie+ Mostly  I use triptronic 

5) Tyre pressure when off-roading? 13-14 psi

 

[Frederic]

1 minute ago, Anvar Sadath Bekal said:

@Frederic sorry for delay in reply 

 

 

1) Pajero model (3.5 or 3.8) - 3.5

2) KMs done so far - 118k

3) Has the transmission oil already been replaced ? If so when ? - yess. 115k service 

4) Do you drive in tiptronic or normal “D” ? - Since fewbie+ Mostly  I use triptronic 

5) Tyre pressure when off-roading? 13-14 psi

 

Thanks @Anvar Sadath Bekalhave you ever faced overheating issues ?

@bassel el rafei any update on your car? I heard it's still overheating ?

[Anvar Sadath Bekal]

@Frederic so far so good. no experience 😍

[bassel el rafei]

4 minutes ago, Frederic said:

Thanks @Anvar Sadath Bekalhave you ever faced overheating issues ?

@bassel el rafei any update on your car? I heard it's still overheating ?

I @Frederictried on 4HLC , tiptronic and normal ,,,  it was same .. I will install a fan this week 

[Sinol]

@Frederic Sorry for the late response.

I faced the heating problem on my second drive itself. I fixed the extra cooling fan and did not face heating issue for long time even in summer. But rarely I get the same issue even if the cooling fan is on. However I think the cooling fan will solve the issue.

1) Pajero model (3.5 or 3.8) - 3.5

2) KMs done so far - 170000

3) Has the transmission oil already been replaced ? If so when ? - Yes, Aug 2020

4) Do you drive in tiptronic or normal “D” ? Most of the time I drive in 'D', rarely I use triptronic.

5) Tyre pressure when off-roading? - 14psi