For General duties - Mk3 Mitsubishi Shogun
Discussion
So here we are again - a second car to supplement the AX's astounding ability to turn it's hand to pretty much anything. Nontheless, there's no getting away from the fact that a sub 800kg hatchback is ill suited to towing (unless it's a Peugeot 306....), especially if the load involves a horse that's only a few hundred kg lighter than the car....
Much as we both loved the Volvo 940 (I will always have a passion for estates), the towing capacity of that while technically good enough for a single horse and trailer, elicited a whiff of clutch at the prospect, and that was probably a deciding factor in its departure.
A Monday idle browse of eBay (sorry PH classifieds, but we're definitely swimming in the cheaper end of the pool) revealed some prospects. A bi-fuel vehicle with a good towing capacity was the goal, and 'LPG' in the search turned up some interesting things. I loved the airbrushed wolf bonneted Honda for some reason, but it was unlikely to tow anything, and various broken Land Rovers and Range Rovers held little appeal. However, a fresh listing for a Mitsubishi Shogun....go on, lets have a look....
Hand on heart - 'SUVs' leave me pretty cold (see previous comment about estate cars), but something described as 'Agricultural' in various 1 Star reviews? That I can get behind.... It's a truck with a car body? You have my interest.....
Having agreed to buy it, I elected to work in the office yesterday to be a little closer to the prize. I'd love to say it was a smooth experience getting there, but a late train to Nottingham and a missed connection delayed proceedings by an hour, which was annoying. The seller was a really nice chap, who showed me round, talked me through the LPG and 4WD aspects of it, gave me a cup of tea while the paperwork was done, and then patiently chatted while we waited for the 'Faster Payment' transfer to work its magic.... If ever a name was wrongly applied....
However, I was eventually on my way back up the A1 in a 150k mile 3.0l V6 petrol/LPG truck. What can I say about it...... Handling? It has a high centre of gravity and is on all-terrain tyres - it makes the AX fell like a poly-bushed race car. Speed? Well it gains momentum when the auto box gets the message, but mostly makes a delicous V6 noise rather than gaining actual pace quickly. Fuel Consuption? Thank whatever deity you prefer that it runs on gas at under £1/litre in the right places.
I love it.
It's an unpretentious thing that while might have been aiming for the luxury end of the market 20+ years ago, cannot hide the fact that it's a truck in fancy dress. It has more toys than the AX (what is this withcraft called ABS....? Air con-what now?) and was a comfortable place to spend a couple of hours. It's my wife's car and I suspect I won't actually be driving it much, but I'm not going to object if I have to spend time in it!
Plans? Some servicing, some rust prevention perhaps, and a couple of new tyres on the horizon at some point. Oh yes, and extensive use of the Autogas app, to make the £20 of actual petrol I put in it last for the rest of the year....
Obligatory refueling shot (an outragous £1.09/litre...)
I do love the fact it has gauges too!
Much as we both loved the Volvo 940 (I will always have a passion for estates), the towing capacity of that while technically good enough for a single horse and trailer, elicited a whiff of clutch at the prospect, and that was probably a deciding factor in its departure.
A Monday idle browse of eBay (sorry PH classifieds, but we're definitely swimming in the cheaper end of the pool) revealed some prospects. A bi-fuel vehicle with a good towing capacity was the goal, and 'LPG' in the search turned up some interesting things. I loved the airbrushed wolf bonneted Honda for some reason, but it was unlikely to tow anything, and various broken Land Rovers and Range Rovers held little appeal. However, a fresh listing for a Mitsubishi Shogun....go on, lets have a look....
Hand on heart - 'SUVs' leave me pretty cold (see previous comment about estate cars), but something described as 'Agricultural' in various 1 Star reviews? That I can get behind.... It's a truck with a car body? You have my interest.....
Having agreed to buy it, I elected to work in the office yesterday to be a little closer to the prize. I'd love to say it was a smooth experience getting there, but a late train to Nottingham and a missed connection delayed proceedings by an hour, which was annoying. The seller was a really nice chap, who showed me round, talked me through the LPG and 4WD aspects of it, gave me a cup of tea while the paperwork was done, and then patiently chatted while we waited for the 'Faster Payment' transfer to work its magic.... If ever a name was wrongly applied....
However, I was eventually on my way back up the A1 in a 150k mile 3.0l V6 petrol/LPG truck. What can I say about it...... Handling? It has a high centre of gravity and is on all-terrain tyres - it makes the AX fell like a poly-bushed race car. Speed? Well it gains momentum when the auto box gets the message, but mostly makes a delicous V6 noise rather than gaining actual pace quickly. Fuel Consuption? Thank whatever deity you prefer that it runs on gas at under £1/litre in the right places.
I love it.
It's an unpretentious thing that while might have been aiming for the luxury end of the market 20+ years ago, cannot hide the fact that it's a truck in fancy dress. It has more toys than the AX (what is this withcraft called ABS....? Air con-what now?) and was a comfortable place to spend a couple of hours. It's my wife's car and I suspect I won't actually be driving it much, but I'm not going to object if I have to spend time in it!
Plans? Some servicing, some rust prevention perhaps, and a couple of new tyres on the horizon at some point. Oh yes, and extensive use of the Autogas app, to make the £20 of actual petrol I put in it last for the rest of the year....
Obligatory refueling shot (an outragous £1.09/litre...)
I do love the fact it has gauges too!
Cambs_Stuart said:
What a fantastic purchase. I do like a properly utilitarian machine with potential for post apocalypse family transport.
Looking forward to seeing how this goes.
Do these rust? What's the interior like?
Cheers - utilitarian is a good word! A check under yesterday when I met the seller and a check of the MOT history didn't show any obvious horrors. It was about as crusty as you might expect something 20 years old to be, but the arches etc. seem all good. A power wash of the underside followed by treatment is on the cards - as soon as I can work out how to fit it into the yard at the back, it's a little...bulkier than the AX.Looking forward to seeing how this goes.
Do these rust? What's the interior like?
The interior is comfy, and I can see the market they were aiming for. Some fake wood, seats are leather, dials and gauges cover oil pressure, coolant temperature, speed, RPM, charging state of the electrics (a healthy 14v with the headlights on), digital ODO and trip. I shall get some photos next time I'm in it, or dig out those from eBay,
There's space for a double DIN head unit, but I have an older school plan for the existing (aftermarket) Pioneer CD player....
The headlights will need a treatment kit I think, so I'll add that to the list, along with finding out whether this is belt or chain and arranging a replacement accordingly.
My wallet will report back on the MPG on Autogas in due course although that's difficult to tell, as it always starts on petrol first.
darkyoung1000 said:
Cheers - utilitarian is a good word! A check under yesterday when I met the seller and a check of the MOT history didn't show any obvious horrors. It was about as crusty as you might expect something 20 years old to be, but the arches etc. seem all good. A power wash of the underside followed by treatment is on the cards - as soon as I can work out how to fit it into the yard at the back, it's a little...bulkier than the AX.
The interior is comfy, and I can see the market they were aiming for. Some fake wood, seats are leather, dials and gauges cover oil pressure, coolant temperature, speed, RPM, charging state of the electrics (a healthy 14v with the headlights on), digital ODO and trip. I shall get some photos next time I'm in it, or dig out those from eBay,
There's space for a double DIN head unit, but I have an older school plan for the existing (aftermarket) Pioneer CD player....
The headlights will need a treatment kit I think, so I'll add that to the list, along with finding out whether this is belt or chain and arranging a replacement accordingly.
My wallet will report back on the MPG on Autogas in due course although that's difficult to tell, as it always starts on petrol first.
Get on the rust protection and under treatment - the Shogun Sport is on the L200 chassis which can get bubbly quite quickly. The interior is comfy, and I can see the market they were aiming for. Some fake wood, seats are leather, dials and gauges cover oil pressure, coolant temperature, speed, RPM, charging state of the electrics (a healthy 14v with the headlights on), digital ODO and trip. I shall get some photos next time I'm in it, or dig out those from eBay,
There's space for a double DIN head unit, but I have an older school plan for the existing (aftermarket) Pioneer CD player....
The headlights will need a treatment kit I think, so I'll add that to the list, along with finding out whether this is belt or chain and arranging a replacement accordingly.
My wallet will report back on the MPG on Autogas in due course although that's difficult to tell, as it always starts on petrol first.
bobthemonkey said:
Get on the rust protection and under treatment - the Shogun Sport is on the L200 chassis which can get bubbly quite quickly.
Absolutely - I've heard the horror stories about mid-chassis collapse and if we get some good weather, a free weekend will see the liberal application of rust killer and undeseal!Cambs_Stuart said:
What's the interior like
I hope you can see what I mean with my earlier comments about the market they were aiming for - lots of space though!laserboy said:
Good work on the thread title
I thank you. I spent far too long thinking about that to be honest...Having a day off is the perfect time to take stock of things to do, which I'm compiling here so I don't forget....
Oil and filter
Can of tyre weld (no spare due to gas tank)
Dog guard (£30)
Timing belt (£400)
New tyres (£117 each fitted)
Find spare wheel and mounting location (strap to interior boot?)
Tool kit
Rust treat, paint and Waxoyl chassis
The good news is that there is a BIG stack of history and stamps in the service book. I managed to look at the timing belt history, and it was last done at just over 100k miles (although that was 11 years ago...)
Definitely due on age, so I'll get that booked in as I probably don't have the time to do it myself. An inspection of the visible inch of belt showed no obvious cracking at least.
The book of lies doesn't cover the 3.0l V6, only the 3.5, so some more reading will be required on the 6G72.
Edited by darkyoung1000 on Friday 21st June 12:55
It was a bit of an unexpected buy, but towing capacity was the deciding factor!
We have just got back from camping in The Lake District for a couple of nights, where we faced every off - road driver's worst nightmare - wet grass.
'Penny' as my wife named her (short for Penelope, based upon the number of pitstops she will need for fuel), managed a return trip to Ullswater on a single tank of LPG. That is 70l to cover the 292 miles though (I've done the maths, it scares me).
It was a comfortable place to be listening to a V6 burble away and dog and camping equipment all comfortably stowed. Playlists on USB sticks were the order of the day!
A few more things for the list of works have made themselves known...
At least one of the front wheel bearings is humming.
The engine light is on which is apparently an occasional quirk of the sensors getting confused by the gas.
A brake light is out.
The Toad alarm is effective but annoying! Must find a manual for it....
We have just got back from camping in The Lake District for a couple of nights, where we faced every off - road driver's worst nightmare - wet grass.
'Penny' as my wife named her (short for Penelope, based upon the number of pitstops she will need for fuel), managed a return trip to Ullswater on a single tank of LPG. That is 70l to cover the 292 miles though (I've done the maths, it scares me).
It was a comfortable place to be listening to a V6 burble away and dog and camping equipment all comfortably stowed. Playlists on USB sticks were the order of the day!
A few more things for the list of works have made themselves known...
At least one of the front wheel bearings is humming.
The engine light is on which is apparently an occasional quirk of the sensors getting confused by the gas.
A brake light is out.
The Toad alarm is effective but annoying! Must find a manual for it....
darkyoung1000 said:
So here we are again - a second car to supplement the AX's astounding ability to turn it's hand to pretty much anything. Nontheless, there's no getting away from the fact that a sub 800kg hatchback is ill suited to towing (unless it's a Peugeot 306....), especially if the load involves a horse that's only a few hundred kg lighter than the car….
Well ha and indeed ha.Unfortunately, having dug through the Shogun’s history and discovered that the belt was due on age if not mileage, it was booked in to have the cam belt done on the 15th.
While on the way home having been running a few errands around town (a tip run mostly), there was a failure to proceed which I think was as a result of the cambelt going. It was then towed to the garage by the very same ‘unsuited for towing’ AX.
We await the diagnosis and whether it will be financially viable to carry out repairs, or whether we cut our losses and begin the hunt again.
There are other things that had cropped up in the brief period of ownership that will require attention if we hang onto it as well. I the coolant system has a leak, I think the radiator is holed at the bottom as it was running hotter than ideal (99 degrees) in going across town. I think I was detecting a grumble from the front wheel bearings too, although that may be my lack of familiarity with the sound of all terrain tyres on the road.
We’ll see what the diagnosis is on Wednesday and go from there….
With a list of to-dos like that I would probably try some escapism and buy a new driver's seat!
As always, the first year of ownership is the trial... hope you get it under control. List looks doable given your expertise and likely willingness to not have to track down another candidate. Perseverance before panic!
As always, the first year of ownership is the trial... hope you get it under control. List looks doable given your expertise and likely willingness to not have to track down another candidate. Perseverance before panic!
Spinakerr said:
With a list of to-dos like that I would probably try some escapism and buy a new driver's seat!
As always, the first year of ownership is the trial... hope you get it under control. List looks doable given your expertise and likely willingness to not have to track down another candidate. Perseverance before panic!
Thank you for the encouragement. It has been a tough week of decision making (there have been spreadsheets...) on top of work being, well, work.As always, the first year of ownership is the trial... hope you get it under control. List looks doable given your expertise and likely willingness to not have to track down another candidate. Perseverance before panic!
The verdict is in however, and, deep breath. an engine swap is on the cards. I've found a lower mileage engine (and gearbox) to put in (with a new timing belt kit to be done as well of course). The learning curve will be a steep one, but potentially less than stripping an engine in situ and looking for damage I have no experience in identifying.... I can always do that later!
In order to do this, there had to be some rearranging, as this is going to be a back yard project. To that end, there was the eviction of motorbikes from the internal garage, and the moving in of something more substantial...
In doing this, I of course managed to drop my wife's Triumph, so I'll add getting the tank repainted to the list of tasks and future spend.
Spinakerr said:
Yes! Definitely the right decision.
Gearbox...
Is it.... manual ?
Sadly no, manual ones are rather rare, and given the scale and cost of the team already, I (sensibly...?) decided to keep it simple (relatively speaking) with a straight swap. Gearbox...
Is it.... manual ?
Cambs_Stuart said:
I know the first year can be tough, but an engine swap on a big lump like that is going to be hard work.
Absolute best of luck to you.
Thank you, I am going to need it....yesterday was a busy day and not without it's challenges.Absolute best of luck to you.
The Shogun was recovered from Batchelors with the assistance of a friend (it turns out that an XC90 is better suited to towing than an AX).
Hire van collected, it was off to Liverpool to meet a really sound guy called Mike. I came away with an engine, gearbox, exhaust, radiator.... and a new front seat (well a less worn one). I also came away with a slightly better sense of perspective having seen the projects he has on the go. Jings. He also has a really tidy Shogun of his own.
He helped me load it in (let's face it, it's not a solo job).
All strapped up
Back across the Pennines... via Stalybridge to buy a 2t engine crane. Which was brand new, and not used as I'd been expecting, this was marvellous in some ways, but probably where the wheels came off the schedule somewhat...
I spent 2 hours assembling the crane, then had to tackle the removal of the engine in the dark after a long day on an inclined surface. Removal was not quite as straightforward as fitting. However, with a public apology to my neighbours, we were eventually left with this.....
After a bracing 3 hours sleep, I have returned the hire van and am ready to face the day. Light duties I think....
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