Shogun flashing light when towing

[woodsieboy]

Hello,

We are just back from weekend in Cornwall and when towing in 4 wheel drive the light in the centre of the 4wheel drive display started flashing orange and the green lights went out after 90 miles. The hand book says stop the engine restart and if light goes out no problem, OK so far except after another 90 miles starts flashing again, turn the engine off and restarted evrything OK again. Drove around in 2 wheel drive until we were due to come home, no problem, light starts flashing after 90 miles in 4 wheel drive on the way home, stopped the engine and restarted all OK again.The car has never done this before, it is a LWB manual 3.2 diesel on an 02 plate and we have had it for the past 5 years, the mileage is 62000. Can anybody suggest what the problem may be,and what the cure may be. Thanks

 

[Parksy]

Hi Keith

I know that the green lights sometimes flash for a while after moving from 2 to 4 wd and vice versa but I'm not sure about the orange light. These guys on the Pajero Owners Club will probably be able to help.

 

[GrahamDerby]

Hi Keith

Go onto the Pajero site as parksy said, register and then go to forum . Put in your problem and sit back and wait. I think i saw this problem a few weeks ago crop up.

Good luck

Graham

 

[NickinFrance]

From your message, do I assume that you use 4 wheel drive when towing on the road ?

 

[Rita1]

At a guess its a warning to tell you you are in 4WD

But WHY do you need 4wd for normal driving

 

[ProfJohnL]

The obvious response is to read the instruction book about how to use the vehicle, and the reasons that cause warning lights to activate.

In the absence of a handbook, or symptoms that are not covered contact your dealer.

For accurate technical advice do not rely on third party forums (like this one), where posters are anonymous, You have no way of knowing the posters qualifications or experience, and at worst I have seen some posts that are dangerously incorrect on some subjects.

For what it is worth some 4x4's are not designed to be used in 4WD on normal roads. 4WD is for soft or slippy conditions, I do not know if this applies to the Shogun/Pajero models.

 

[Heethers]

John L it states in the Hand Book if towing to use 4x4, that's the Auto Shogun not sure about the Manual, my last one only ever towed in two wheel drive which by the way was a 2.8 manual, l am about to email Mitsubishi to ask the reason why.

NigelH

 

[woodsieboy]

Thanks to those of you who have replied, to those of you asking why I use 4WD when towing, the car has a Mitsubishi sticker on drivers door saying to use 4WD when towing trailer, and I have always used 4WD towing the caravan, which is a Bailey Senator TA.I will look at the Pajero web site as advised and see what response I get. Suggestions at work today are that there are electric switches that operate the 4WD system and one of the switches may be faulty.

 

[GrahamDerby]

Hi Keith

I am on my third Pajero and the only time it is put in 4 wheel drive when towing is on or off site if its wet not to damage the field. I have now a 3.2 auto and tow a Lunar Delta ti, why use 4 wheel drive when its not needed ?.

 

[NickinFrance]

I agree with Graham (Derby). We have a Terrano & the only time I have ever used 4wd is retrieving a couple of tons of boat & trailer up a wet slipway & to pull down a greenhouse (photos available)

If you can tow in 2wd, why add the wear & tear to the 4wd system ?

 

[Surfer]

Don't see any reaason why you should be using 4 wheel drive when a 2 wheel will suffice unless you like propping up the government. Like others, we only use 4 wheel driv if the field is muddy or the roads icy and then only where necessary. Using 4 wheel drive on long trips will really hit your fuel consumption.

 

[Denise4]

Hi Keith,

We have had this problem with our Shogun 3.2 DID Auto. The dealer replaced some switches in the transmission. I don't know the ins and outs as it was covered on our warranty, but from memory it was a few hundred pounds of work!

Also I towed some of the way home today from the Cotswolds to Cornwall and I asked my husband the same thing about towing in 4WD and apparently its because its an automatic and we have the same sticker saying put into 4WD when towing any trailer or vechicle. We always use 4WD when towing and 2WD all other times. If I can find the invoice I can let you know the name of the switches. Denise

 

[Icemaker]

my dad had this problem earlier this year with his shogun, despite a sticker also telling him to use 4 wheel drive for towing he never has and has had no problems in 5 years with the car. however earlier this year we where at the burrs when we had the very bad weather, the snow was around 8 inches deep and dad had to go home for work commitments, he left the van with me on site and i took him home in his shogun so that i had the car if the weather improved enough to risk towing the 2 vans home. i put the car in to 4 wheel drive and the green light flashed for around 20 seconds then went steady so we set off, soon after the abs light (orange) started to come on and then stayed on for the whole trip home. when i restarted the car the abs light had gone off the 4 wd light became steady and i set off back to site, then around 5 miles later the abs light came on again.

it was very strange as the light never comes on in 2 wd but always comes on if we use 4 wd, im led to believe this is actually quite a common problem after discussing it on other forums and is related to the abs sensors giving incorrect information to the ecu.

 

[woodsieboy]

Hello Icemaker and Denise,

The orange light that was flashing is not the ABS but it is in the middle of the green 4WD display and would normally be the diff lock I think.

Denise, thank you for your help, and I can confirm we have the door sticker and our Shogun is manual so probably not to do with the automatic. Since my original post I have visited the Pajero site and the advice seems to be that one of 5 switches on the transfer box may be faulty, car is currently at the Mitsubishi main dealer, and they have connected it to diagnostic computer and cannot find anything wrong, they are suggesting the computer will not pick up the fault until the light is on again, which presumably means driving in 4WD for 90 miles!

 

[Denise4]

Hi Keith,

I remember now the dealer replacing all five switches as it was cheaper to do that then change them one at a time. Me thinks as it was under a warranty claim they did the biggest job possible ! Anyhow no problems since, towed home from the cotswolds to cornwall in 4WD. Read the manaul and it does reinforce going into 4wd when towing. Must say that for a reason. Denise

 

[Heethers]

l have sent a email to Mitsi but not replied has yet, have seen somthing on the Pajero site about the oil over heating if not in 4x4.

Hopefully Mitsi will enlighten matters.

NigelH

 

[woodsieboy]

Thanks again for all the helpful replies and suggestions, got the Shogun back from Mitsubishi dealer today, they say all is working OK and cannot find any fault,suggested carrying on until it happens again, also suggested new clutch and skimming brake discs, independent dealer who services the car was not pleased when I told him as car has only done 3000 miles since full set of discs and pads, and at 62000 he thinks clutch is still OK, I wonder if the main dealer is short of work.