madcow replied:

Shame to hear of your problems Dave. I would ring Nissan and try to find out when and if it was replaced by Nissan in the past. I think you would find if they did repair it it may have been with a replacement box anyway that had been repaired from another vehicle as it would be quicker to get you going again and they can fix the buggered one at their leisure until another one came in.

Kumunara (NT) replied:

The problem was with some patrols in 1999 and 2000. It was that there was a fault in manufacturing of the shaft and it was too short. One rectified it should not occur again. It is the first time I have heard of it reoccuring and I would suspect that it was not repaired correctly.

If you ring Nissan Customer Service with the VIN number they are able to tell you details as to whether the vehicle was repaired and if in fact it was a vehicle with the faulty shaft.

The 2001 ute gearbox should be okay. Get the VIN number from the vehicle and give Nissan a ring just to make sure.

kiwicol replied:

if you replace gearbox i would be looking at a earlier GQ box as they are proven and bullit prove. Col

joc45 replied:

Hi Dave,
This was a problem with, as said, 1999/2000 gearboxes. Related to the spline on 5th gear and mainshaft (spline too short and it gets chopped out). Nissan fixed mine at about 115,000km and over 2 yrs on, it's been ok since.
If the job had been done properly, a replacement (upgraded) main shaft and 5th gear (plus a few minor bits) should have fixed it permanently, so a subsequent failure makes the earlier repairs sound sus.
Recall the bits were approx $1300 for mainshaft and a few hundred for the 5th gear, plus the small bits and labour. Most of the bearings were sealed, so should not have been affected by the crud in the oil.
The main difference with the patrol ute g/box would probably be ratios, but this would not be a big issue. I know that the ratios were different for each of the turbo 4.2, standard n/a 4.2 and petrol model wagons, so expect some difference for the ute. The 4.2 turbo was the highest gearing in 1st.
Otherwise, these gearboxes are pretty bullet-proof, so a 70k box should be just run in. If the price is right, that might be the best option. You might need to retain your speedo sensor gear if you change gearboxes.
Gerry

Member - Dave .. B (SA) replied:

Hi All thanks for all the replies so far .....the gearbox that i have been offered is actually out of a 5th month 2002 , so i rang Nissan and queried wether these boxes actually had the dreaded 5th gear problem as well ...his answer was yes ..so does anyone know if this is right or is this guy having a lend of me ?? of course he wanted me to drop my 4by in there and have the box rebuilt at a cost of anywhere between $2000 - 4000.......so i still dont know wtf to do .......any advise would be muchly appreciated .........cheers ......Dave

Member - Shane D (QLD) replied:

Hi Dave,
My fathers GU 5th gear failed on his 2000 3.0 (approx 200000k) and he was lucky to have relatives, near where it failed,(ironically Port Lincoln!) who knew a good wrecker and was able to source a '04 g/box AND transfer for $3300.
donor vehicle was showing 36000k so he replaced it, lock stock and barrel.
as far as I know the change over went smooth(no mods)

Shane