Guss the gas guzzler

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Craig Lord
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Guss the gas guzzler

Post by Craig Lord »

June will mark 2 years since owning our 2005 4.8 GRX patrol which SWAMBO affectionately named Gus the gas guzzler :rolling: I thought its about time to start its own thread to document its life under my ownership, I am the third owner. Previously I owned a 1997 Toyota Hilux Surf which we bought in Botswana, it had the 3l 1KZTE engine and was a great machine. The Mrs drove an Izuzu KB300 double cab. We decided that we wanted to upgrade and I spent a few months looking at various vehicles but in the end it all came down to the 4.8 Patrol or the 76 series 4.2l landcruiser wagon. I had seen and driven that patricular cruiser a few times before but I had never seen or driven a patrol. I decided to join this forum and was very quickly directed to Tinus who promptly organized for the Mrs and I to go and look at a patrol in JHB. We had no real intention of committing to a deal and the intention was to go and look the patrol over and go for a test drive and then go away and compare the 2 vehicles and then make a decission. Well after 2 hours and a quick test drive in June 2018 we decided to put pen to paper and buy the patrol. It was a no brainer and it still baffles me to this day why Nissan didnt put more effort into promoting the patrol in Southern Africa, what a weapon of a vehicle and you get alot for your hard earned money.

The patrol had a full service histrory through the dealer and then through G Tech and was completely stock asside from the roofrack and awning. The previous owner very kindly took the vehicle to Summit for me so that they could fit a BZT bullbar before I collected it from him, again Tinus helped me to organize this. The patrol had 217 000km on the clock,
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I had a full service done by G Tech and away we went. Four months later I went back to Summit 4x4 to get a rear bar fitted with a jerry can holder and a spare tyre holder as well as a snorkel. In the same week after the rear bar was fitted I went to Bilstein to replace the stock suspension with a 2'' lift amd new shocks. They fitted their heavy duty progressive load coils in the rear to help cope with the weight of the rear bar and the tyre hanging over the rear. I added Escape gear seat covers, escape gear dash cover and a spare wheel cover.
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Shortly after these upgrades in November 2018 we emigrated from KZN back to Botswana to the Tuli Block and so we went through the process of exporting the vehicle to Botswana. It was an easy enough process with the help of customs agents on both sides. We continued to drive from Bots back to PTA so that G Tech could service the vehicle when it was due, so far its only missed one service there and that one was done at nissan in Gaborone.

In early 2019 I deided to start turning the patrol into a proper touring vehicle. I started by taking out the passenger seats and making a false floor out of shutter board and rubber gym flooring which I mounted our fridges and dual battery to. We can access the fridges through the back doors, one as a fridge and the other a freezer. I run a national luna battery box that houses a 100ah BlueNova litium ion battery which is managed by the 25amp National Luna DC/DC charger. I also modified the roofrack to accommodate an AS NEW eezi awn RTT that I found abandond in the store room at work, the owner long since gone.
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The RTT only lasted a few weeks. I didnt like how it made the patrol top heavy, the tent weighs alot and couple that with the old school mild steel roof rack it was like driving a boat. Its back in the storeroom waiting for an off road trailer or a new owner. We are quite happy to sleep on the ground.

In September 2019 I started having heating troble witht the patrol. Nothing like serious overheating but the temp guage was climbing higher than normal when speeds eceeded 100kph and outside temps were more than 30 degrees. Between November 2019 and February 2020 I replaced the fuel pump with a Bosch pump, the water pump, the radiator, the viscous fan hub and all the water hoses with terrain tamer hoses amd the main engine wiring harness. I also upgraded the viscous fan hub which made a huge difference. Problem was solved, here is the link to that topic:

https://patrol4x4.co.za/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=8650

This brings us up to now, April 2020. This month I have taken the time to go through the patrol from top to bottom, I replaced all broken or missing trim clips with a kit I had in the workshop, I tightend every nut, bolt and screw that I could reach and I washed and painted the undercarriage with Durram 88. Checked the diff, gearbox and transfer case breathers and I also greased everything that needs greasing and sprayed all the rubbers with silicone. I went through the interior and made sure all the trim and pannels are tight and secure. after spending 9 hours under the patrol I was very happy to see that there are no fluid leaks from anywhere. Im happy with where the vehicle is at the moment but I have many plans for after the COVID 19 Lockdown which will mainly be engine and gearbox maintenance related. I will also be making changes to the rear suspension as it doesnt cope well when it loaded, sags quite alot and it sits lower than the front, Im thinking heavier duty coils and air bags. I will also be fitting long range tanks from Browne Davis (finances permitting) to get rid of having to carry 7 extra jerry cans to acheive more than 1000km range. This will also keep the center of gravity low down and I want to replace the rear bar jerry can holder with another spare wheel mount so that I have 2 spares. I will also be changing the roofrack and awning setup in an effor to reduce uptop weight.

The Patrol currently has 257 000km on the clock, Exactly 40 000km since I have owned it. For interest sake here are some stats from my Fulio app (I only startd recording 9000km after I got the patrol so this is for the last 31 000km:

Total fill ups: 84
Total Fuel: 6466.7
Total Distance 30 937km
Average Fuel Consumption: 4.87kmpl or 20.53 liters per 100km
Total Cost in rands: R91 100.04
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When in doubt throttle out !

4.8 GRX Patrol (sold)
Craig Lord
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Re: Guss the gas guzzler

Post by Craig Lord »

Apologies, cant figure out why some pictures are duplicated at the end....
When in doubt throttle out !

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hugejp
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Re: Guss the gas guzzler

Post by hugejp »

Great work Craig!
----------------------------------------------------------------------

You CAN with a NISSAN!

Jy KAN met 'n DATSUN!
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Re: Guss the gas guzzler

Post by Onematch »

Lekker Craig!
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Tinus lotz
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Re: Guss the gas guzzler

Post by Tinus lotz »

Lekker man great post :bravo:
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JohnBoyZA
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Re: Guss the gas guzzler

Post by JohnBoyZA »

Craig Lord wrote: 26 Apr 2020 21:31 Apologies, cant figure out why some pictures are duplicated at the end....
Sorted Craig, thanx for sharing, she sure is looking good!
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JTEC
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Re: Guss the gas guzzler

Post by JTEC »

Lekka Trol and lekka setup Craig :thumbup:
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Craig Lord
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Re: Guss the gas guzzler

Post by Craig Lord »

Repurposed an old braai grid this morning, its new life will be spent protecting the bottom of my radiator from wayward objects. I also cut some seed netting to size so I can just cable tie it on when I need it.
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I also repainted the side steps and finished off the undercarriage. Running out of lockdown projects QQQ
When in doubt throttle out !

4.8 GRX Patrol (sold)
Craig Lord
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Joined: 24 Jun 2018 08:21
Full Name: Craig Lord
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Re: Guss the gas guzzler

Post by Craig Lord »

This is of no particular interest to anyone I'm just recording a service that I did today on the patrol for record on the forum since it is one that I've had to do myself because of travel restrictions.

I downloaded the electronic haynes manual a while ago which is very helpful, I find it very easy to follow.

Anyway the details:

Last service 247 893km

Current Mileage 257 852km.

New spark plugs
New oil and oil filter 15w 50 castrol GTX
New air filter
New fuel filter
New automatic gearbox fluid (link below to post)

patrol4x4.co.za/viewtopic.php?f=45&p=111467#p111467

Genuine parts through nissan Gaborone. At first I was sent the wrong fuel filter and the gasket for the intake manifold rather than the one for the plenum or "Y peice" thats attached to the the throttle body but they were very helpful and rectified it very quickly.

Service time 4.5 hours taking it slow.

Spark plugs look ok to me they did 30 000km
Oil was not completely black, still ever slightly golden, 10 000km since last change. Air filter looks good I fitted the new on and cleaned out the old with the compressor, will keep as spare.

Extra things I've done recently was front wheel bearing adjustment and in the last 3000km was the coolant, coolant pipes
and waterpump change which I wrote about in another thread. I have recorded these now in the service log as part of this service even though they happened a few months ago.

Tomorrow, after work, I'm tackling the Automatic gearbox fluid change. Seems straight forward according to the manual but if anyone has some constructive advice that will be really appreciated.

Hope everyone is well :thumbup:
Cheers
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Last edited by Craig Lord on 16 Jul 2020 20:15, edited 2 times in total.
When in doubt throttle out !

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Tinus lotz
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Re: Guss the gas guzzler

Post by Tinus lotz »

Ok had a chat to frans the other day you undo the cooler pipe on radiator and then fill the box at same rate when the oil comes out clean all it done you use a bit more but all the oil is new not just the bit in the sump talk converter takes a lot of oil think you can only drain like 7 liters out the sump
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