Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Hi All,

Bad news today...the crown wheel and pinion on my rear diff are toast and need to be replaced. I have been trying to track down the source of the noises and vibrations for the last few weeks, so on the up side at least now I know what the problem is. On the down side the Steallers want R18k for a replacement ....and that excludes the various bearings and seals that will have to be replaced while we`re in there.

From what I can figure, its a H233B diff with a 4.111 ratio.

Still scratching the head a bit as to why this failure has occurred.....the van has 250 000kms on it now, which I know is not brand new, but I thought our trollie drive trains were supposed to be one of the toughest around, so wasn`t expecting this type of issue at this milage. Has anyone else had issues, and if so are there any suggestions of a more wallet friendly way to sort this out?

Thanks in advance,

Ross

Ross, here is a diff for sale. http://johannesburg.gumtree.co.za/c-Car ... Z429553170

Hi Traveler,

Many thanks for the lead. I have a feeling that being from a later model it may be a different ratio to what I need, but I`ll give them a call this morning...its definitely worth following up.

Cheers,

Ross

Ross
Did you get dirty oil or water in your diff?
Was your breather pipe off? Sounds wrong to me to get so little km on that diff
Did your locker not break and put some steel into the gears ?????
This is not norrmal need to get the reason for the problem

I may be wrong, but I think the 4.2 diesel diff is different to the 4.8 petrol and 3.0 diesel. I'm not sure about the 4.5 though.

This is not a lekker thing to have happen

Thanks for the responses,

The diff breather is fine, and certainly hasn`t had any water or oil contamination in the diff since I`ve owned the vehicle. Maybe something like that happened with the previous owner, and the problem has only manifest now...who knows?? I changed the oil before going to Namibia last year, and all was fine then...during the course of diagnosing this problem I changed the oil again last week (done about 25k kms in the interim), and it was pitch black with quite a lot of fine "glitter", but no large flakes or chunks of metal though. Can`t think of any incident within the last year that would explain the failure.

I`m not aware that there has been any failure in the diff lock mechanism, but will ask the specialist to check that when they strip everything.

Looks like I can get a new crown and pinion from Aus for just over R9k (including shipping), but then there`s the question of how much tax SARS will slap on it. Should still work out cheaper than the R18k that Nissan want though!

I called the guy in JHB, but they don`t seem to know the exact model that that diff came from. They are busy looking for the papers, and will hopefully come back to me. Apparently it is from a wrecked wagon that they bought for parts to fix a 4.2D Patrol Bakkie that they own. The front axle and diff from that wrecked Patrol was used to fix a their Patrol Bakkie which had a front end prang. Anyone know what diff ratio the Patrol Bakkie`s run.....that may give a clue to the ratio in the diff that is for sale??

Russ, in your Nissan booklet, is there nothing mentioned under specs about diff ratios?

Found this on the Aussie site:

The GU's had differing diff ratios based on specs

Abbreviations:

P - Petrol
NA - Naturally aspirated
TD - Turbo Diesel
Man - Manual
Auto - Automatic

GU 1 Series 1997 - early 2000 Wagons

4.5 P Man 4.111 diffs and H260 rear diff
4.5 P Auto 3.9 diffs and H233B rear diff

4.2 NA Diesel Man 4.111 diffs and H233B rear diff

2.8TD Man 4.625 diffs and H233B rear diff

GU 2 & 3 Series 2000 -> Wagons

3.0TD Man 4.375 diffs and usually H260 rear diff
3.0TD Auto 4.375 diffs and usually H233B rear diff

4.2 TD Man 3.900 diffs and usually H233B rear diff

4.8 P Man 4.375 diffs and usually H260 rear diff
4.8 P Auto 3.545 diffs and usually H233B rear diff

I got this from here... have a look, quite interesting

http://www.patrol4x4.com/forum/nissan-p ... -types-29/

Cedrick,

Just a quick question,

I've got the '96 Wagon, 4.2 D(GQ) right, and the book states that only the Pick-Up has the H260 rear Diff with LSD, like Russ has got?
Mine also has that H260 rear Diff with LSD. Now I'm confused

Maybe your pal Grant can shed some light as to what diff he's got in his GQ?

Sorry for the HiJack,

Ross,

What oil did you use in the diff? Could that not maybe have caused the "bollie"?

Cheers,

André

Sorry Ross... I called you Russ.... ( my blonde hair again)

Andre, I presume you are talking about Russ's silver 4.2 pick up?

Yeah, it is a bit confusing, and I don't quite understand it.

I was/am under the impression GQ's that were brought into SA were all the executive models and had diff lock. Grants GQ, is an imported GQ ( 4.2 TD ST) and his doesn't have a diff lock but an LSD, and that all the pick up's or Bakkie's only came out with LSD's. Then with the GL and GLX ( Y61) these all came std with diff lock but with different ratios on the different models ( 4.111 on manual or 3.9 on auto), but I thought it was the same diff ( H233 )

So, I am just as curious now...

Hi Guys,

The diff oil that I have been using is Castrol EPX 80W90, which is a GL-5 rated diff oil.

From chatting to the guys that are stripping mine currently, it sounds like my rear diff is a HG (233B) diff with the 4.111 ratio.

Does anyone know whether there is any identification on the diff or axle to enable one to determine the type and ratio?? Still trying to figure out how to ascertain what the ratio and type of the Diff in the JHB gumtree ad is......

Pity its 1500km away or I could go take some spanners and have a closer look!