Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Hello all, 1st off thanks for accepting me to the forum.
I am here for some advice because I don't know which way to go anymore.

This past weekend I installed a Spitronics Mercury 2 ECU in Richards Bay with the Altitude sensor.
Now after the Dyno and everything she ran like she never ran before... I could feel more power, More Responsive
and everything!

On my way back to Vryheid where I stay she ran good again, no issues what so ever. The next morning she started smoothly but I had no power.... Like you know when driving an automatic and u press the pedal flat then u have to wait like 1 or 2 seconds before something happens? Just like that.. only difference is when it does happen its spitting and not going anywhere..

Does anyone here know who I can go and see to try and fix this issue?

Welcome here
Please explain a bit more on what you are trying to achieve?

I've got a bunch of friends with Lexused Hiluxes where I stay. A large proportion, from what I gather, do not put in spitronics chips, as they seem to have a propensity for throwing away their "maps". I cannot remember what the preferred chip is (as I don't do chips), but I will find out this afternoon and post here.

In your case, this is what it sounds like - your "map" is gone.

I'm personally not a big fan of installing an after-market chip on Patrols (my vehicle is stock standard that way), but different strokes for different folks...

Hi Louis

Just to be clear
You have a 4.5 manual Patrol, running on a Spitronix ECU.
Presumably the standard Nissan ECU gave up the ghost at some point?

The Spitronix system is commonly used for engine conversions, rather than on an existing standard engine set-up
So the preference should be to use the standard Nissan ECU on a Nissan engine.

Once set up on the Dyno, I do not see how the Spitronix can lose its settings that easily.
I do not know about the TB45 engine, but on the Lexus I have, the problem you mention can happen if the TPS pump fails. Then the engine is unresponsive (or slow to respond) when pulling away from standstill. This function can be compensated for (replaced) by the ECU, but it needs to be set up to do so.

iandvl wrote:I've got a bunch of friends with Lexused Hiluxes where I stay. A large proportion, from what I gather, do not put in spitronics chips, as they seem to have a propensity for throwing away their "maps". I cannot remember what the preferred chip is (as I don't do chips), but I will find out this afternoon and post here.

In your case, this is what it sounds like - your "map" is gone.

I'm personally not a big fan of installing an after-market chip on Patrols (my vehicle is stock standard that way), but different strokes for different folks...

Ian, when you saw me yesterday on the road, I was on my way to the Dyno.
I will post the results and some explanations on a different thread once it is emailed to me.
I also upgraded the spitronix software, which is claimed to be more robust.
The older Spit software did have a history of sometimes (sometimes, rather than a "propensity") losing its settings when e.g. going to the coast and back. I.e. different altitudes.

But when the settings go out, the result would not be as severe as Louis explains. Or rather, what he explains, is much more radical than what I have heard of.

Alex Roux wrote: Ian, when you saw me yesterday on the road, I was on my way to the Dyno.
I will post the results and some explanations on a different thread once it is emailed to me.
I also upgraded the spitronix software, which is claimed to be more robust.
The older Spit software did have a history of sometimes (sometimes, rather than a "propensity") losing its settings when e.g. going to the coast and back. I.e. different altitudes.

But when the settings go out, the result would not be as severe as Louis explains. Or rather, what he explains, is much more radical than what I have heard of.

I look forward to seeing the results... :)

As I mentioned, I know very little about the chips.

But several Lexused Hilux owners I know have had issues.

One, believe it or not, baulked over the weekend (I was chatting with the owner late yesterday afternoon) this happened to an acquaintance of mine. It was all the map, and the symptoms were very similar to Louis.

I also believe that this is one of the reasons that "Riaan" (I've met him on a number of occasions, but cannot remember his suname at the moment), who is well recognised in performing Lexus SFA conversions, uses another brand.

Anyways, as mentioned, my engine management is standard. And I know nothing of chips and similar apart from what I've read and heard. So I am probably completely wrong.

See this is how it all went bad. I thought the Nissan ECU was messed up because the car was not performing like it should. So
i had my friend order me the Spitronics ECU to install. Paid for everything. Then when we started installing it we saw hidden under the centre of the dash an old Unichip from Dastek which i did not even think of looking for when i bought the car....

Now i have all ready paid for the thing so i thought oh well might aswell put it in right.. How ever before we started putting in the Spitronics we bypassed the Chip back to standard nissan ECU cuz the chip is just a piggy back. And then yeah that's where i messed up, should've sent back that ECU to Spitronics and left it standard.

But yeah now the ECU is in so i guess i just have to set it in properly.
And yes it is a Manual with TB45E

Louis a small bit of advice .....pull both chips out and get the car to perform properly with its own ecu ....then if you feel the need put the chip back .....seen it happen lots of times ......chips make problems even more so if there are other problems that is not correct. ...in other words make sure the car goes 100% on its own . Check feul pressure,maf reading ,throttle position sensor ect ect ......cant fix those with a chip

That seems like the best option, who would you recommend for this job? Schalk from Dyno Logic?

Graham cumming understands a 4.5 patrol he is the man ....he is first and foremost a very clever auto electricain. ....the certificates on his workshop walls shows that.
Let him have a go and then see.....chips dont make more power all round you loose when you change altitude ect ....give him a call