Malfunction light comes on intermittently?
Submitted: Wednesday, Feb 05, 2014 at 09:23
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Member - Peter G20
I have a Nissan GU Patrol 1998 with the 2.8 diesel. Had it since new and covered 300k of faultless running.
Now on a trip around Oz towing a camper trailer.
1 week in and found the malfunction dash light symbol has come on for a few hours and when stooped with engine switched off has not reappeared again!
It came on briefly at the very beginning of the day but went off when I shut down the motor.
The only recent modification to the vehicle recently prior to the trip was the installation of a 2nd battery.
Could this be affecting the computer as it charges through the Anderson plug to the trailer battery?
Has anyone experienced this problem and if so what was the cause?
The engine is running beautifully so I don't believe there is anything wrong.
Cheers
Pete
Reply By: Notso - Wednesday, Feb 05, 2014 at 09:45
Wednesday, Feb 05, 2014 at 09:45
The later 2000 onwards GU with the 3.00litre motor had an issue with poor earth connections that caused a similar fault. Although you'd imagine it might have shown up earlier in your case.
It might be worth a try to identify where the ECU earth points are and give them a clean and shine!
AnswerID:
525782
Reply By: Shaker - Wednesday, Feb 05, 2014 at 09:57
Wednesday, Feb 05, 2014 at 09:57
It also might pay to get the codes read, in case you get stranded somewhere!
AnswerID:
525783
Reply By: Member - tojofixa - Thursday, Feb 06, 2014 at 21:24
Thursday, Feb 06, 2014 at 21:24
It may be worth getting the alternator checked. If it has done in excess of 300,000km the brushes are probably almost worn out and lifting of the slip rings at certain times.
As the malfunction light and other warning lights, such as battery, fuel and air filter lights rely on a signal from the alternator to extinguish them under normal circumstances, one or more of these warning lights may come on if there is a fault in the alternator.
Regards,
Sags.
AnswerID:
525877
Reply By: Mudguard - Friday, Feb 07, 2014 at 09:16
Friday, Feb 07, 2014 at 09:16
Hi Pete, We also have the 2.8 and use ours above the manufacturers limits (we're in a 4wd club) the problem could be related to anything the 2.8 is a temperamental beast, clean every electrical connection for example the crank case sensor lead bottom plug is behind the crank pulley and sits upside down so is subjected to a lot of neglect from engine oils, degreaser, water so if your 4wd just stops 1 day that's the cause. You can get the codes and the hardware to read the faults also patrol.com has a LOT of reading, oh and I haven't had any Anderson plug issues
AnswerID:
525904
Follow Up By: Member - Peter G20 - Saturday, Feb 08, 2014 at 23:00
Saturday, Feb 08, 2014 at 23:00
Thanks mudguard.
We continued on our way and have arrived at
Ceduna via
Esperance and the
Balladonia Road.
It was very rough in the last 60ks at the
Balladonia end!
The malfunction light did not come on again and the beast ran perfectly.
It's been a dream machine reliability wise.
Have been getting 16 l per 100ks towing a 1.5 t camper trailer.
Putting it down to a minor glitch!
Thanks for your input.
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