2001 PajeroiO not shifting into 4th gear
Hello everyone,
I hope you all are safe and well. After searching everywhere and visting several local mechanics, and not being able to decipher my issue, I came across this forum. I seem to be having two major issues, although the car is driving well. They are the 4wheel drive lights, and the 4th gear of the automatic transmision
I got a 2001 PajeroiO recently, 1.8L automatic transmission. It drives well and does not get stuck. It does have some issues.
4WD ISSUES:
First off, the 4wd selector level does not have a sticker. I have 4 selectable positions and a neutral. The lowest position causes the 4wd front wheel lights to flash (on super select guage) In this position the wheels are much more rigid and solid, but no griding noises, I am assuming this is 4H.
In the second position up from the bottom (or last), the front wheel lights remain solid, and the vehicle is much easier to turn and steering wheel feels a lot smoother and free. For this reason I assume this is my 2H position.
One up from this is neutral. One up from neutral and the orange center lock light comes on, along with the front wheel lights, and they remain solid. My assumption is this is 4H lock.
If I push down from neutral and go up, I go to another gear position with center lock light and front wheel lights solid, and I feel a lot more torque. I assume this is 4L with lock.
In no position does the rear lights on the 4wd light come on. They are always off. To test the 4wd I drove into a muddy parking lot at a truck yard and got stuck in the 2H or 4H position. I engaged the center lock and was able to get out on the first try. I did make sure that I was stuck quite good, having tried to exit several times before locking the center. Upon locking, it came out effortlessly. I can only assume that the 4wd is operational.
My issue is with the rear wheels on the 4wd lights. Why do they not come on? Could the guage by faulty ? And why does the front wheel lights flash in the lowest position of the selector?
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION ISSUE:
On the highway, at speeds of 100kph, my rpm is at 4000. It certainly feels high, so Ive been avoiding highways, and when absolutely necessary I drive doing 80kph, and rpm is at 3100.
It seems like it wants to shift up one gear but never does. Ive tested the auto transmission by going from L, 2, and D, and all three gears engage fine, but the 4th gear never engages on the highway. Considering all other gears are functioning, with no slippage or other issues, could the problem be something other than my actual gearbox ?
Ive spent two days looking for a gearbox for my pajero and to no avail. Nobody has them, at least where I am located. This really sucks I absolutely love this car.
Any insight would be tremendously appreciated.
I wish everyone the best, be safe!
Thank you this is helpful.
Thank you this is helpful. The auto transmissions shift lever I’ve played with, OD lights comes on and off in the dash, but I still can’t get fourth gear to engage. Still revving on the highway 4000rpm at 100kph. I’ll take a closer look now.
Does the neutral light work?
Does the neutral light on the dash work? When the car does not shift into fourth as expected, does the neutral light flash? The neutral light is used as a fault indicator and there are a number of possible faults that can cause the TCU to lock fourth gear out.
If you jumper pin 1 in the diagnostic connector to ground (pin 4/5), that puts most of the electronic controllers in diagnostic mode and they will flash error codes, the check engine light for the engine management unit, the neutral light for the transmission control unit, the ABS light for the ABS controller & the SRS light for the air bag controller.
The manual tells you how to count the flashes and what the flashes mean.
One important point - disconnecting the battery does not clears any codes that may be in the transmission control unit - you need a scanner to do that.
Syndicate
I no longer have an iO.
First, I sold my iO a few years back, and I'm going from memory here.
There is NO neutral on the transfer case - the options are from the back 2H (2WD high range), push forward to 4H,or 4WD high range, which is an AWD (all wheel drive) option, push left & forward will get you 4HLc, or 4WD high range with the center diff locked, push down & forward will get you 4LLc or 4WD low range with the center diff locked.
The two "Lc" positions, where the center differential is locked, should never be used on a high traction surface, as drive train damage is a possibility.
4WD indicator lights - these, if I recall correctly are tiny incandescent lamps and can burn out, the rear wheel ones, since they are always on, are first to fail. There are five switches on the transfer case and a sixth one on the front axle housing that feed into a little circuit board (located under the carpet just infront of the right front seat, that controls the lights.
The lights flash to indicate a "mismatch" condition - for example if you select a center diff locked position and the center diff lock does not engage the yellow center diff lock light flashes. Ifyou select a center diff locked position and the center diff lock engages, the yellow center diff lock light lights and stays on. If you deselect a center diff locked position and the center diff lock does not disengage, the light flashes, and if you deselect a center diff locked position and the center diff lock disengages the light goes off and stays off.
Two of the switches on the transfer case are responsible for the center diff lock indicators and if they fail or there's a broken wire, it can cause the indicators to malfunction.
In a very similar fashion, if there is a mismatch between the 2H/4H selection and the transfer case engaging the front output clutch, the front lights will flash - two more of the switches on the transfer case are used to sense this and as with the center diff lock, if the switches fail, or there's a broekn wire, the indicators can malfunction.
Moving on - there is another possible reason for the front lights to flash - the last of the five switches on the transfer case controls the front axle disconnect, which is vacuum operated and there is one more switch on the front axle this time, and if 4WD (4H/4HLc/4LLc) has been selected and the front axle disconnect doesn't engage, the lights will also flash - if you are in 2H and the front axle does not disconnect, guess what happens - the lights flash to indicate a mismatch.
This last is the most likely reason you have flashing front lights in 2H.
Put the car on ramps and get underneath from the front, look at the left side of the front differential you'll find a "rubber bellows" - have someone you trust start the engine and then shift from 2H to 4H, you should see the bellows expand, shift from 4H to 2H, you should see the bellows contact - if this is not happening you've found the reason why the lights are flashing.
Typically the cause is a defective VSV (vacuum switching valve), there are two located on the inside of the right front fender tucked away under the intake manifold.
Diagnosing this system can be confusing, there is a downloadable soft copy of the service manual in the resource section of the forum
Last - not shifting to fourth gear - there are two buttons on the transmission shift lever - the big one at the top has to be depressed to shift out of Park, a smaller one below it is the OD OFF (OverDrive Off) button - that button locks out fourth gear - it should also trigger a yellow OD OFF light on the cluster.
Good luck and enjoy your iO