new Pinin driver hello
Hi All,
I recently bought a Pinin for winter duties and generally being a little work horse. I absolutely love it, but have/had my fair share of problems with it.
It's a 1.8 GDI Attivo in silver. Fun to drive, quite nippy and hideous uneconomical! But great off road and in the snow, which is perfect for what I want.
I also drive a VW Transporter but wanted something smaller to drive locally. The Pinin fills that bill.
Pics:
I've just this moment broken it (how it lead me to the forum). The front right suspension is sitting lower than the other 3 sides and it makes a really bad knocking noise over bums when going slowly. However, hit a pothole at speed and it's quite. Strange. I dunno what the part is but it's the vertical bar with bushes on either end that connects two parts of the suspension together. I've got the workshop manual so looking at that now...
So hello and I'm looking forward to getting more in touch with my Pinin thanks to the forums!
Alex.
Hi
Hi Alex and welcome to forum,
is nice to have another member from the uk to join. I know what you mean 'bout the economy but it does have a charm all of its own these little rigs.
Whereabouts in the country are you??
I'm originally from Dorset but am currently living in France in the Alps. So really needed a 4X4 for winter duties. It's a great machine and probably even more fun without proper offroad tyres, just M&S rated one.
Here are some pics from yesterdays adventures...
I was suprised how much travel the stock suspension has!
I also gave the diff's a try out on some snow - I got it stuck and let the wheels spin - with the centre diff locked, one front and one back wheel spun - which is what I was expecting. However, with it just in 4H the same thing happened. I was expecting only one wheel to spin. I was also expecting the LSD to cut in at some point and try to spin the other back wheel. Am I expecting too much, is this right or could there be something wrong?
PININ_me - where are you from? How long have you had yours? They're awsome cars! And yeah, the economy is 'charming'! It's worse than my T5 van which weighs 2 tons unladen and has a thirsty 2.5 liter diesel! Haha.
Alex.
Les Alpes
In the French Alps...il y en a qui on de la chance....
Welcome to the forum...not all io/pinin have LSD diff...and I think that the LSD diff need some minimum resistance (on both wheels) before it does work, one wheel in the air doesn't have any resistance for it to work.....
Are the wheel arch that you have on your io easy to get where you are ? if you have an online supplier, even in French, that would be great....
Nice pictures...where about are you in the Alpes....
Happy io
LSD
In the French Alps...il y en a qui on de la chance....
Welcome to the forum...not all io/pinin have LSD diff...and I think that the LSD diff need some minimum resistance (on both wheels) before it does work, one wheel in the air doesn't have any resistance for it to work.....
Are the wheel arch that you have on your io easy to get where you are ? if you have an online supplier, even in French, that would be great....
Nice pictures...where about are you in the Alpes....
Happy io
Yeah, deffo lucky, and happy to live here. This winter has been long though, so much snow its crazy. There's still 3 - 4 meters at 2000m altitude... I want to go bike riding now, had enough of the snow!
I got it stuck on a steep bank of snow, with all 4 wheels in the snow. I tried it in 4H, 4HL and 4LL and everytime on one front and one back spun. There was some resistance, so it should have worked? Maybe the LSD wont put enough power to make a wheel spin but will give it some drive?
The wheel arches came standard on the car, I didnt realise that they were an aftermarket option? It's the Attivo model which is based on the GLS. I'm yet to find anywhere that does parts for the Pinin, except this place in Greece: http://www.tessera4x4.gr/
I'm in Haute-Savoie in the Portes Du Soleil. It's nice here, especially the interseason when all the tourists go home and you have the mountains to play on. ;-)
Where are you from? Which countries is it called the IO? South America and Australia? In Europe it's either the Shogun Pinin or Pajero Pinin. I guess they are all the same car?
Also does anyone know where I would be able to get some left-hand-drive headlights from (second hand preferably!)? I really need to change mine for the Controle Technique in France.
Thanks!
headlight
You are right about the io and pinin.
About your headlight, I am guessing that the cover is getting opaque...if it is sand it back with very fine wet sand paper (2000 +) and give it a polish with toothpaste. There is special polish for it but toothpaste work too. It won't get as new, but will be fine for the "Control technique" Check this thread for a bit more info http://pajerio.com/forum/murky-head-lights
If other problem...Ebay may have some headlight.
Happy io
uhh - slightly off target Claude
A right hand drive car in France MUST be fitted with left hand drive headlamps to avoid dazzling the oncoming traffic - although I think they used to allow you to fit a self adhesive "stripe" that did the same thing.
About the broken suspension link - I'm guessing the sway bar end link - take a look at this thread - there's a picture a few posts down.
http://www.pajerio.com/forum/knocking-sound-some-us-seem-have
The car is known as a Pinin in the UK & Europe and the iO everywhere else, except Brazil, where it's known as a TR4
yes!
You are right about the io and pinin.
About your headlight, I am guessing that the cover is getting opaque...if it is sand it back with very fine wet sand paper (2000 +) and give it a polish with toothpaste. There is special polish for it but toothpaste work too. It won't get as new, but will be fine for the "Control technique" Check this thread for a bit more info http://pajerio.com/forum/murky-head-lights
If other problem...Ebay may have some headlight.
Happy io
Strangely enough, the headlight lense has yellowed. I assumed this was on the inside of the the light and was resided to the fact of having one yellow eye! But if its on the outside then great if a bit of polish will fix it up...
A right hand drive car in France MUST be fitted with left hand drive headlamps to avoid dazzling the oncoming traffic - although I think they used to allow you to fit a self adhesive "stripe" that did the same thing.
About the broken suspension link - I'm guessing the sway bar end link - take a look at this thread - there's a picture a few posts down.
http://www.pajerio.com/forum/knocking-sound-some-us-seem-have
The car is known as a Pinin in the UK & Europe and the iO everywhere else, except Brazil, where it's known as a TR4
Yeah, I am looking for LHD headlights for it. They're very expensive new ~€300. I dont feel that they are worth that much! There dont seem to be many Pinins in France, so the breakers yards dont have any...
And, yes, again, it is the drop link that is bent but I have a feeling that the roll bar is bent too. The rollbar isn't symmetrical across the vehicle so there is obviously something going on there...
Does anyone think that an 'Italian tuneup' will help with the idle surge? I know it's a 'feature' on the GDI engine but want to start with the simple stuff before taking throttle bodies apart and decoking the inlet manifold. Driving at 6000rpm for 10 - 15 mins will help or not?
drop link
If you managed to bend an anti sway bar - you had to be doing something out of the ordinary.
I hope I haven't. I think it might just be the drop link making it look bent, but there is a definate lack of symmetry across the bar. Anyway, I've bought two new drop links to see if that fixes the problem...
Here's a photo of the drop link in question.
other side
That's interesting. The drop link on the other side sites at an almost perfect 90 degree angle to the floor. I assumed that that is how it should be, and the other side is wonky. Strangely the angles don't change when I've driven the car which has led me to believe that something is wrong.
The droplinks only cost £20 for two so no loss if it doesn't fix the intermittent knocking on rough ground!
I've been exploring the forum a little more, you guys have done some great things with your ios/pinins. I'd like to be able to spend more on mine but because it is a second car, I can only really afford the bare minimum.
Another question - I'm going to do an oil change on it. Is there a specific standard that the 1.8GDI requires? I've got 0w-30 (or 5w-30 I can't remember) as the top up - is that going to be okay for the engine? The manual doesn't give any specifics about oil type specs. My other vehicle is really really fussy about which oil you use, so I wanna get it right to help the engine on the Pinin. I also read somewhere that there is a special oil/detergent that you can put in the car to help with the coking up? I read that you can get it from Mitsi dealers, is this true?
Thanks.
There are GDI specific oils
Shell makes a GDI specific oil, but I suspect you'll find it quite difficult to locate - do a forum search, there's a thread on it.
The manual specifies a 10w30, I've chosen to run a 15w40 CF/SM "all fleet" oil, rated for use on both diesel and gasolene engines, and I've noted a drop in oil consumption.
good thread
Shell makes a GDI specific oil, but I suspect you'll find it quite difficult to locate - do a forum search, there's a thread on it.
The manual specifies a 10w30, I've chosen to run a 15w40 CF/SM "all fleet" oil, rated for use on both diesel and gasolene engines, and I've noted a drop in oil consumption.
Good thread. So from what I gather there are GDI oils but there is no specific specification like for example, VW. I bought Moibil 1 ESP 5w-30 fully synthetic as the top up oil for the car - I assume this is okay to use in the car all the time?
I need 5w-30 - living in the Alps means up to -30 degree temperatures so a light-weight oil isn't a bad thing. It also get's hot in the summer, so need nothing lower than 5w-30.
So I guess my question is: is there no specification (like VW - 506.01, 505.00, 507.00 etc etc) I need to adhere to? GDI engines aren't that fussy? From your postings it makes sense to get an oil for both diesel and petrol engines and choose the appropriate weight - but beyond that there is nothing else to consider?
Thanks,
Alex.
Are you using *F or *C
The manual shows a 5w30 as good for temperatures from -10*C (about -50*F) and lower, and a 10w30 as good for temperatures from around -25*C~40*C (-15*F~105*F) - curiously enough 5w40 is shown as good for 20*C and lower - so you might need to run different oils winter & summer - I'm in an all year round warm climate - it's either hot or very hot, hence my choice of the 15w40. which is rated for -20*C to over 50*C neither of which we ever see.
oil oil oil
The manual shows a 5w30 as good for temperatures from -10*C (about -50*F) and lower, and a 10w30 as good for temperatures from around -25*C~40*C (-15*F~105*F) - curiously enough 5w40 is shown as good for 20*C and lower - so you might need to run different oils winter & summer - I'm in an all year round warm climate - it's either hot or very hot, hence my choice of the 15w40. which is rated for -20*C to over 50*C neither of which we ever see.
I'm using ˚C for those readings. I clearly have a lot of learning to do - I thought 5w-30 was better for lower teperatures than 10w-30. So yes, I will be needing 10w-30 for my use (-25˚C - ~40˚C which is pretty much exactly the ranges I experience). Although looking at local autofactors around here that doesn't seem to exist so I dunno!
15w40 exists in Castrol GTX A3/B3 so maybe that is the oil for me! It's still a bit strange that there isn't a specification for the GDI engine. My VW Transporter T5 needs (and must not use any other oil, ever at all!) 0w-30 506.01 specification. Maybe that is overly-fussy...!
Reading your thread it seems that it is best to drain the oil with the car nose down? 4 axle stands it is then!
Thanks!
I think I'd better update
I think I'd better update this:
The knocking noise, as it turned out, wasn't the droplinks being worn it is much much worse. The mounting point on the chassis cross member (that holds the radiator) for the tie rods is totally corroded and one of the tie rods has come loose. It is only held on with 1 bolt. Needless to say I have stopped driving the car because it is really quite dangerous.
So the cross member is absolutely rotted through with rust. I'm gutted to say the least and think that it is pretty much beyond repair unless I can find a donor car and cut the cross memeber out, then cut mine out, then weld a new one on. I can't see that happeneing any time soon.
So I've either got to scrap the car, fix it or sell it as spare parts. I've seen quite a few other Pinins that seem to be in good condition for cheap but am put off by them now and have been looking at L200s as a replacement.
I'll let everyone know how it goes...
Right side?
If the answer to that question is yes, I would suggest that other forum members proactively check their iOs - as this may be a common problem area.
At the beginning of this month I discovered corrosion on my car, fortunately not to the point where anything was loose, all I needed to do was clean it up, apply rust neutralizer, and then anti-corrosive paint.
What seems to happen is the battery is located directly above the right hand end of the cross member, and any spilt or leaked electrolyte ends up running down the inner guard and lodging in the crevices of the cross member - if you get it early you may be able to save the vehicle.
It's not enough to just remove the battery and look from above (although that's better than doing nothing at all), you need to remove the right headlamp so that you can see under the battery stand - to remove the headlamp, remove the grille to get to two bolts and be aware there is a third bolt that goes in from the back and has to be removed from within the wheel arch.
yes, right hand side
It has broken on the right hand side and is badly corroded on the left hand side. So yes, it does seem to be related to the battery over flow and rad expansion tank over flow.
But I think the main contributor is road salt, mud and wet. Its been raining all day here and the two ends of the cross member are soaking wet where the majority of the corrosion is. So even if you're not driving the car they are exposed to water.
Design fault, bad luck and old age seem to have contributed to the failure of the tie rod attachment on the cross member.
Everyone is certainly advised to check theirs.
Here is a photo to show location of the worse damage, the worst is the rusty bit above the blackest bit (the bit that is hanging down is the towing eye):
Just to follow up with some
Just to follow up with some better pics of the ruse and the damage it has caused:
Broken (drivers, right hand side)
Middle corroded cross member:
Left corroded but currently not broken side:
Took the standard sump guard off to have a better look - you only need a 12mm socket so pretty easy to check yourself.
As it now stands the car is going to the scrap yard... BUT! I have found a newer, good condition 5 door to replace it with. Fingers crossed it is worth it!
Syndicate
Hi Alex and welcome to
Hi Alex and welcome to forum,
is nice to have another member from the uk to join. I know what you mean 'bout the economy but it does have a charm all of its own these little rigs.
Whereabouts in the country are you??