Recently my faithful 1996 GQ TB42efi Nissan Patrol finally, after 290,000km, mostly pulling the equally aging 2.4T 21'6" Jayco Westport, let me down.
When accelerating it would suddenly loose power then regain it, repeating the on / off sequence until I got off the accelerator. It was a scary feeling with power completely off then full on with resultant excess strain on the transmission. ie full off/full on/full off/full on etc.
I was able to limp home by just running at a very low almost idle speed.
After waiting a couple of weeks to get an Auto Elec to visit, he diagnosed the problem as probably the ECU (Engine Control Unit .. an old technology unit on a printed circuit board with lots of surface mounted components). A couple of capacitors were leaking.
Another wait of about 4 weeks for a specialist to look at it & at a cost of about $1600 the repaired unit was installed.
VOLAR! What an improvement. The old girl hasn't run as well for at least a decade.
For a long time at idle there was a slight miss that I suspected was a clogged injector or perhaps a plug but never got round to fixing. Now it purrs like a kitten .. at all revs.
To make things even better, it even seems to drive even smoother than it has for a long time. I suspect that the ECU has been getting progressively worse over many years reflecting through to how it handles.
Funny thing, in recent months I have often driven at walking pace through a section of heavy traffic at a road works on our access road & I could never seem to get it in the right gear, constantly going from 1st to 2nd & back again. Now I think that in fact the faulty ECU was causing the engine to surge creating my problem.
I have been using it as a daily driver for the last couple of weeks & it is almost a pleasure to drive. Smooth as ...
I'll take it on a delayed Vanning trip down the NSW coast after XMAS & the School holidays to check it out.
So all that research about replacement vehicles may have been for naught as the Patrol looks like having a couple more years left in it before we both hang up the keys.
Now ain't that a good news tug story.
PS .... Just had a run to the dump and found yet another improvement.
For years, about 20, the AM radio has been almost unusable because of heavy engine generated static, and the FM wasn't much better. Despite all sorts of effort like substitute aerial, suppression capacitors & chokes as well as careful examination & testing of earths I couldn't find the cause. It looks like the interference was coming from the progressively faulty ECU, which BTW is situated under the dash right near the radio. It is now almost as clear as a bell. I am an ABC Local AM Radio tragic so this is a great boon for me.
-- Edited by Cupie on Thursday 10th of October 2024 10:55:42 AM
-- Edited by Cupie on Thursday 10th of October 2024 01:33:59 PM
My Nissan is 10 years old and the thought crosses our mind occasionally whether to update or häng in there and wait for a disappointment to happen.
Yep .
We often look at replacing the GQ but she has been so reliable over the years and almost like a member of the family associated with so many great memories. It was a great disappointment when this happened but how wonderful it is now that she's fixed.
Yours is still only young in Patrol terms and almost certainly has a long life ahead.
With the freeing up of a lot of capital as a result of a Downsizing exercise, I could no longer use the excuse of cost of a replacement so the 'breakdown' was forcing us in that direction.
All the advice that I get is to hang on to the Patrol ...... except for one friend who made the transition from a great 4.2TD Patrol to a 5 cylinder Ford Ranger ... but that's another story.
pps SWMBO is now heavily into mags/sites on overseas cruising et al. now that a replacement is seemingly off the table
