Half shaft popping out

[buckster]

I have read about this on the previous forum. I have a nm 3.5 petrol. I was on the last leg of my trip up to the kimberlys and stopped at Norsman. When i went to the rear of the car the camper trailer was covered in diff oil and the underneath of the car was covered and oil was dripping off the diff.

I called my mitsi service centre and advised that i had diff oil leaking out and the first question they asked was, "have i been towing?" I said yes and they advised that the half shaft had popped out. Just push it back in and top the diff up and bring the vehicle in on my return as there is a problem with the early diff's and half shafts popping out. Apparently it is a warranty fix that is only carried out if it pops out.

I have raised the car with HD springs by 50 mm and i fear they will try and worm their way out of fixing it as i have raised the car thereby increasing the angle on the half shaft.

Has anyone else had this half shaft problem and should i fit the std springs back before taking it in?

[Pickle]

Companion Shaft, their is a hotline fix out for it.
Part of an email that a gent sent to me with the same problem.

Dave got stranded in SA. with a hotline fix, that's a recall that never makes it out. The problem being the diff has a shaft on either side that starts inside the diff, has a large seal, and then bolts on to the live axel, these shafts are called companion shafts.
Inside the Diff these are held by a snap ring (like a cir- clip), the groove that these rings sit in is not deep enough to hold and the ring is not thick enough to hold, Mitzo puts the problem down to -
POSSIBLE CAUSE: Companion shaft is coming loose because of unusual external pressure applied during high speed driving. Pig I said this was changed to other factors also apply.
It is said that it will not effect 85 % of Pajs as they will never leave the suburbs but oh the 15 % left that TOW, SPEED (UP TO 100 KLMS) OR GO OFF ROAD MAY HAVE A PROBLEM.
The fault gives no warning just drains the diff. If when checked it makes any noise, the complete diff needs replacing (repair procedure No 2).

I doubt if they will knock you back because it is well documented even with standard springs
Dave

[zacc]

will this happen to all nm,s when towing and is it prone to hapen to np,s aswell. i ask this as i am going to travel around australia and this would realy annoy me if this happened.

[gaz1]

Zacc
In my NM V6 (build date Apr '02) I've done somewhere between 30,000-40,000km towing my caravan which tips the scales around 23-2400kg. Diff has not leaked a drop. I'm keeping my fingers etc crossed; virtually all my towing is on bitumen but in some pretty rugged territory eg some parts of Tasmania and through the Snowy Mountains on the back roads.

I believe that others have not been so lucky - the worry being that it's apparently hard to predict which cars will have the problem. One member suggests getting under and physically trying to rock the short shafts that come out of the diff - if there's noticeable movement, you may be heading for trouble. Mine seem to be rock steady.

Gaz

[zacc]

thanks for that gaz . you said rock the shafts , wich way ,like in and out of the diff , or like towards the front and rear of the paj ? cheers

[zacc]

gaz is your paj deisel or petrol , if it is petrol what does it go like towing the van? cheers

[psproule]

They charged me $260 per shaft - "out of Warranty" they said. "Cant be bothered arguing after the last time" I said. less painful to fork out the $$$.

Changing them did also fix most of the drivetrain backlash so that was a bonus.

Pat

[gaz1]

Zacc

Mine's a petrol auto and it does pretty well, considering the van's weight. I think the 5 speed auto is a big bonus when towing - you get a better spread of ratios to keep the momentum up when you come to a hill. Prior to the Pajero I towed it with a petrol 100 series LC with a 4 speed auto, and in reality I felt the LC was only marginally better.

With the rocking of the shafts issue, my understanding is that you need to try and rock them in a backward/forward or up/down motion rather than in/out of the diff. I think Pat Sproule might have been the member that originally posted this suggestion, maybe he could confirm or otherwise my thoughts????

Gaz

[psproule]

The circlip issue and the worn splines / bearings are two different things. (Or perhaps related when you think about it??).


The companion shaft outer bearing is simply metal on metal - no roller bearing. A bit of splash lubrication and that is it.

I am guessing that these wear a bit when the K's are up and it has had a bit of a hard life towing and so on. On mine you could see the shafts cock sideways slightly under load. I was able to move them up/down, left/right a noticable amount. . The other end (splines) are supported in the diff carrier and thus it's own roller bearing set. You may feel a little in/out play but only until you hit the circlip. To remove a shaft you need a short lever to pop them out against the circlip.


Cheers - Pat

[pampaskat]

Pat, how much play is too much when doing the companion shaft rocking test? I crawled under my 2003 DiD yesterday and there is some motion, but no signs of leakage or even sweating/seeping.

[psproule]

Dont know exactly. I'd say if they aren't leaking or haven't popped then leave them alone.

[buckster]

Thanks for all the responses. Car goes in next week for them to have a look. i will post their response.

Cheers

[Beachcamper]

getting a warranty run around

96,000K and oil blew out every where I did not know it was an issue my dealer charged me heaps but after I barked about it should not fail they said that as I was only just out of warranty mitsi would pay 75% now the diff is noisy as hell after less than 2 weeks and they say I have to pay for a new diff thanks for all the info and i will take it up with them we should not have to pay for desing flaws very unimpressed that it was not a recall i was stranded on a bech miles fro anywhere and bugger all oil left in the diff.

Shame when it leaves such a bad taste as it has been such a great off roader very impressed.. but the service sucks not sure I would buy another one

[zacc]

what exactly is the fix ? are they modified shafts ? stronger clips ? or they just put in a new set and hope it will not happen again?

[Beachcamper]

Apparently it is a larger cir-clip presume larger diamiter as if wider would also need a new shaft with larger recess groove they did not say