rroker

Yes, you are right. You can find it easily right in front of the air filter. I have taken a photo for your reference.

It has been 2 months since I got the solenoid valve replaced and I can confirm that the problem has been resolved. Thank you everyone for helping me out with this issue!

Found an old Carnity post about a similar problem, suggested solution was replacement of solenoid valves:

So I visited Al Habtoor today, explained the situation to them. They did a complete inspection (test drive, OBD, etc.) and suggested that the differential is the root cause. They also ruled out wheel bearings as a cause and told me that those would make a consistent noise. Suggested repairs by them includes replacement of solenoid valve, free wheel switch and hoses. If that does not fix the problem then the actuator and all 4x4 switches need replacement. The leak in differential was a false alarm, it was some leftover WD40 from the timing belt replacement job 😅. My personal experience with Al Habtoor was a good one. They were professional and quite helpful. Have to give credit where it's due. My Pajero is still under Al Futtaim warranty (Automall purchase), so I will be visiting them to get the fixes done. I have already visited Al Futtaim Auto Care Centre twice in the past for this particular issue, both times they said "we cannot fix what we cannot observe". So I am under immense pressure of recreating the noise during test drive when I will visit them again. If the noise does not occur during test drive then I will insist on the video being proof of the problem (already tried in the past) and of course diagnosis from the official Mitsubishi Service Center Al Habtoor. @Marek @Frederic I found a post on an off-roading forum about this exact issue where people have (over) analysed this issue. I am pasting the technical explanation from that post to shed some more light on this issue: BTW while driving today I was able to turn off the noise again by switching from 2H to 4H. I will do some more research as well as tinkering and hopefully get the car to make the noise on command. That would make my life much easier when trying to explain this fault at the service centre. Would appreciate any tips to recreate this sound when I want for demonstration purposes. I will keep you guys updated. Thank you!

Thank you for the detailed replies @Srikumar, @Islam Soliman and @Gaurav. @Srikumar I do not think it is the sound of rubbing, not sure about wheel bearing sound though. I do not have the front skid plate installed and after every offroad drive the tyre did start slightly touching the front back bumper at certain angles but I got it fixed each time. This noise problem existed before my first ever offroad drive, (which was with you @Srikumar BTW ) so it seems unrelated. From the driver's seat, the noise does not seem to be coming from left or right, but almost center. Heeding advice from you guys, I decided to visit my garage today and luckily the noise started when I was about to reach the garage. I called the mechanic out on the road and was able to demonstrate the noise to him while slowly driving past him. Later we put the car on a lift and tried spinning the wheels in 2H and 4H. The mechanic concluded that the noise is not related to the wheel bearings but he pointed to the front differential and said the noise seems to be coming from there. Also he pointed to fluid leaking from the differential. I have taken a picture of the part that he suggested to be faulty: After leaving the garage, I got the noise again. I tried switching from 2H to 4H and the noise just went off when the car switched to 4H. As I had mentioned before, the noise problem never occurred while off-roading when I was always in 4H. Googling for "Pajero front differential issues", found me some posts on various off-roading forums that had people complaining about the exact same symptoms as me. The final solution was replacement of either solenoids, actuators or both. I am going to get a second opinion about the wheel bearings and front diff from Al Habtoor before getting anything fixed. Would also appreciate any further comments from you guys.