Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

In the german-speaking Delica forum there IS a history of gearbox breakdowns on the V5M21/KM145-B manual 5-speed.

That is (they say) because it is originally a 4-speed-box where a fifth gear was added later. So 4th gear is direct, 5th gear (with the highest load on the gearbox) is using the auxiliary shaft.
Usually the bearings of that auxiliary shaft go bang at 200.000 km or later - especially when the clutch is being replaced without replacing the bearing in the flywheel - its a MUST to replace that. Otherwise the shaft will get extra play in the long run, which will destroy the bearings in the gearbox plus the gearbox housing. A guy in above forum needed 3 gearboxes to find out that not the box itself is the problem, but that bearing in the flywheel (which is a kind of external gearbox bearing).

If all gears exept the 4th gear are noisy, especially 3rd and 5th, it is definitly time to have a good look to prevent damage ...

Unfortunately, as the transmission ratio is very short, you drive a lot in 5th gear, especially on highways, to keep the motor revving low. Which will ruin the gearbox faster if you let the engine work in 5th. On any ascent or acceleration I use 4th gear to reduce the load on the gearbox.

The V5M21/KM145-B was (to my knowledge) used in:

Pajero 2.6 petrol,
Hyundai H100, H1 2.5D and TD,
L200 Diesel und maybe TD,
Pajero 2.8 Diesel,
L200 2.4 Petrol,
Pajero 2.4 Petrol,
Galloper TD,
Galloper Diesel,
L040 TD,
Galloper 2.6 Petrol,
L400 2,5D und 2.5TD.

All TDI models (I = Intercooler) have a more modern gearbox.

Unfortunately the L300 has a special gearbox housing, as it is a forward control design. So if you need a complete gearbox they are rare and expensive, and can not be used from other models. Its either this 5speed manual, or the auto box ...
The innards of all the V5M21/KM145-B gearboxes should be the same from the above model list.

One important topic is the right oil for that gearbox.

Mitsubishi recommended Veedol MTF 18-2 in the beginning to make the gearshifts easier (thea were hard to handle in the beginning) - but that one seems to be too thin and gearboxes using this type of oil wear out quickly.

Hyundai (using the same gearbox in some models) says you should use Castrol SMX-S 75W85 GL 4. (which is a very good full sythetic gearbox oil for approc. 12 Euro/litre).
After having a few years of experience with that gearbox, they should know ...

Other full sythetic gearbox oils with that spec 75W90 GL4 or GL4+ should be OK as well
(e.g. Motorex Unisynth SF 75W85 GL4 or Shell Spirax GSX 75W80)

Castrol TAFX 75W90 is a more modern brand of the Veedol MTF 18-2 type, but it is GL4-5 - NEVER! use a GL-5 type oil in thet gearbox as it will ruin the synchronizer rings.

Luna-Sea wrote:Cool thread Felix,

Hey djjack do you thinks these are a worthy investment?
http://www.ns-micro.com/~tuffpans/index.html

Right on!