Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

R5,600 sounds reasonable from my recent experience.

As Ricster put it, you may curse your car and question your past decisions. But once you take it out for some testing drives, you fall in love all over again...

Hang in there russ ......
Why do you have to replace the casing???

Shot guys.

Mayfair called to say that the casing would need to be re-sleeved as the bearing had been turning in the casing, which subsequently has consequences as it wears down the actual cast iron.. I was not happy about my casing being sent off to "their engineering people" , so i have demanded a new casing be supplied. This will need to come from japan however, so 21-25 days,...aaaarrrgghh. Anyway, i feel its the right decision and the reason behind the extended warranty, if i dont utilise it for something like this and it goes again in 5 years time i will only have myself to blame, so i felt it best to demand new perts for anything in the box that looks even remotely "used"! , they have complied and things seem to be underway.

Russ,

Sorry to hear about you trouble. I understand your frustration. I have to agree with the other comments though that it is "unusual" for this kind of problem happening with a Patrol gearbox. However, it happens with the best of the best from time to time.

Even if your clutch is still good, replace it while it is open. At least you start with a zero clutch again. By the time you need a new clutch again you will hopefulle be 80 years of age.

Your frustration, and that of another 4.8 owner who contacted me looking for a throttle-body censor, emphasize my reason switching to LC. It is not about the vehicle at all, but about the Nissan and its dealers. The 4.8 in my view remains the most bullet-proof wagon available, but so much for the best car if you have to wait 25 days for a censor to be imported from Japan to get you back on the road....in you own country! We plan to do a Serengeti trip next year this time. I cannot imagine my nerves going that high up into Africa with that sort of risk hanging over my head. Yes, my LC can definately also break, but I will surely be back on the road muck quicker.

Anyway...good luck!

There is a guy in Pretoria that specialises in clutches. He does Navara and X trail clutches. He used to work for Nissan. Contact him and ask for advice and price. Say Nissan 4x4 club [ Nico ] sent you to him. Jacquis on 0714502000

JG Shields wrote:Russ,

Sorry to hear about you trouble. I understand your frustration. I have to agree with the other comments though that it is "unusual" for this kind of problem happening with a Patrol gearbox. However, it happens with the best of the best from time to time.

Even if your clutch is still good, replace it while it is open. At least you start with a zero clutch again. By the time you need a new clutch again you will hopefulle be 80 years of age.

Your frustration, and that of another 4.8 owner who contacted me looking for a throttle-body censor, emphasize my reason switching to LC. It is not about the vehicle at all, but about the Nissan and its dealers. The 4.8 in my view remains the most bullet-proof wagon available, but so much for the best car if you have to wait 25 days for a censor to be imported from Japan to get you back on the road....in you own country! We plan to do a Serengeti trip next year this time. I cannot imagine my nerves going that high up into Africa with that sort of risk hanging over my head. Yes, my LC can definately also break, but I will surely be back on the road muck quicker.

Anyway...good luck!

Indeed. I agree re the LC parts availability. However, i spend alot of time on the LCCSA forum and i've seen a very worrying change in how TSA are managing clients services and parts requests, its almost going to a point now reminiscent to that of NSA. It seems there has been a huge drop in custermer service and more importantly aftersales service. Even to a point where common parts usually readily available are near on impossible to source in SA. The LC guys are very very worried and the general comment all echo much of our sentiment towards nissan dealerships and product knowledge. This was never the case in years gone by, so alot of the old school LC boys are sitting on the fence now....

Was away in Hazyview / KNP and surrounds this weekend.... 4th gear clutch slippage i was slipping for a while during "hard acceleration" (inverted commas because no such things in td42 ) some time back but it seemed to go away, but now it's very obvious i need to replace the clutch I'm on 143k km, has her since 117k km.

Not looking forward to this as have just done a whole whack of preventative (and not cheap) maintenance, new tires etc on the other 13yr old car of mine (russ you were right dude!)

Anyway, as the patrol is my first love i will not neglect her, hopefully flywheel is still okay..

Not sure exactly what will need to be replaced, my clutch and gear changes are still precise and smooth, just the slippage while driving. I guess with the box being dropped i might as well do a complete job?

clutch plate
pressure plate
release bearing
rear main seal
front gearbox shaft seal

Is there anything else i should look at replacing (gearbox mounts if they're dropping it?)

Leaning towards going the genuine Nissan parts route, but then have no idea where to take it?

Any advice appreciated!!

Russ, you do not suffer alone!

David, I wonder considering the weight of that gearbox whether it won't be easier to pull the engine rather than drop the gearbox?

This then also gives you the opportunity to check the condition of the less-easy-to-reach water hoses (such as the heater hoses).

Also add to your list the spigot shaft bearing.

Peter, that's exactly what my mechanic said after my recent clutch/flywheel replacement - next time they're going to lift out the engine as it took almost 7 guys to remove the gearbox/clutch assembly

That's definitely something to keep in mind - just need to take it to someone who has the know-how as this is a job far outside of my present (and probably future) capabilities!