Nissan patrol brakes

Submitted: Thursday, Mar 11, 2004 at 18:12
ThreadID: 11174 Views:16360 Replies:8 FollowUps:3
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Hi Everyone , wanting to know if anyone out there has had any drama's with patrol brake , my mate at work has a 2001 model 4.2 TD patrol and has suddenly got a really spongy pedal , the local dealer has replaced master cylinder and bled system only for a worse result , Nissan and dealer have made the statement that this is how they are soupposed to be . When first getting in the car before starting you can push the pedal straight to the floor . Just wandering if anyone can help.
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Reply By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Thursday, Mar 11, 2004 at 18:41

Thursday, Mar 11, 2004 at 18:41
I love that reply from dealers... "it's supposed to be like that". I had a viscous fan clutch once that just would not unlock. It was going all the time until the motor actually started to overheat, then it would unlock and make the engine get even hotter. (it was a second hand car). I got the same answer from them... Der! I wrote them a nasty letter and got the fan's cluctch replaced and the radiator re-cored and it was sweet after that. It's just a cop out.
AnswerID: 49962

Reply By: Member - Tim&jan - Thursday, Mar 11, 2004 at 18:50

Thursday, Mar 11, 2004 at 18:50
I dont know about that but mine are hard until you start the engine once the booster cuts in they soften up a bit sounds like your getting the run around
AnswerID: 49965

Reply By: Wayne (NSW) - Thursday, Mar 11, 2004 at 20:47

Thursday, Mar 11, 2004 at 20:47
Fatboy,

If the brakes have to be pumped before they work,and are good for that use of the brakes, and require pumping again for a good pedal. Check the wheel bearings. The front wheels wobble from side to side, ths dics rotor also wobbles from side to side, this pushes the dics pads out, the brakes then have to be pumped to first get the pads close to the rotor and then to apply pressure to the rotor.

The dealer should have checked this first, so may be this is not the problem.

Wayne
AnswerID: 49994

Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Thursday, Mar 11, 2004 at 21:42

Thursday, Mar 11, 2004 at 21:42
Vacuum operated??

Nissan would say thats how its supposed to be, Yota, Mitz the lot would also all say the same thing..
AnswerID: 50003

Reply By: Member - Rick (S.A.) - Thursday, Mar 11, 2004 at 22:25

Thursday, Mar 11, 2004 at 22:25
Yo, Fatboy

Same pedal symptoms in my bus with only 87,000 km on it (1998 GU), except that pedal didn't go to the floor.

Therefore just had a reconditioning of the master cylinder. The new Nissan master cylinder was gunna cost about $ 600 +, so I got the old one fixed for $ 425

Does not seem much better, but I'm grateful the service sation allowed me to keep them employed!

Cheers
AnswerID: 50012

Reply By: fatboy - Thursday, Mar 11, 2004 at 22:31

Thursday, Mar 11, 2004 at 22:31
Thanksw for a few ideas guys , will be delving further into the problem tomorrow , hopefull will find a solution.

fatboy
AnswerID: 50016

Reply By: simon - Friday, Mar 12, 2004 at 12:35

Friday, Mar 12, 2004 at 12:35
I have a 99 Gu 4.2 TD have the same problem soft pedal would love to know if you find a solution.
I beleave the cars are too new to have master cylinder problems but suspect it may be a lazy cylinder piston on one of the brakes they have two point calipers from memory so thats 8 pistons, i have not had the time to look at mine.
If one of them were slow to extend it would give you a soft peddal feel.
Thats the direction i am taking at this stage anyway.
AnswerID: 50074

Follow Up By: fatboy - Friday, Mar 12, 2004 at 18:11

Friday, Mar 12, 2004 at 18:11
Hi Simon , have solved the problem today , apart from the heap of air inthe system that the dealer managed to get in there the soft feel comes from the front caliper slides seizing and trying to bend the rotor when pedal is pressed , removed the calipers cleaned and lubed slides replaced the pads and now it works like it should . The local brake expert helped us with some advice . apparently nissans are prone to this on the front and toyota has a similar problem on the rear .
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FollowupID: 311907

Follow Up By: simon - Saturday, Mar 13, 2004 at 10:06

Saturday, Mar 13, 2004 at 10:06
Thanks Fatboy
Looks like i was heading in the right direction will start with the front ones.

Cheers
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FollowupID: 311979

Follow Up By: fatboy - Tuesday, Mar 16, 2004 at 19:29

Tuesday, Mar 16, 2004 at 19:29
Hey Simon , also found problem with proportioning valve in the rear , apperently all of the property vehicles bypass this from new , not sure on the legalities of this though , also found that after fitting new pads that the calipers apear to be spread slightly as the initial wear on the pads is only contact area of about 30%, have approached dealer for replacement ,waiting for descision.
Regards
Fatboy
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FollowupID: 312368

Reply By: Member - Terry- Thursday, Mar 18, 2004 at 00:18

Thursday, Mar 18, 2004 at 00:18
Hi Fatboy,

I had a similar problem with soft/spongy brakes in my new 08/2003 3.0ltr GU Patrol Wagon fitted with ABS system. (Prior to the Patrol I had an 1985 Toyota HJ60 which had much better brakes.)
Without going into much detail, I took it into several dealers complaining about the brakes and they all tried to convince me that they were OK. (One Dealer told me they bleed them and found no air in the system.)
To cut a long story short, In the end after much insistance that they were not OK, I finaly managed to get a dealer in "Tassie" to bleed them properly. They did in fact find air in the rear brakes and there was a marked improvement after this.
As a comment: When I have worn out the existing Nissan brake pads, I will be replacing them with (Non Nissan) after market pads with the view to improving the Braking Performance even further.

My advice is, get someone to give the system a "good bleed" to ensure there is definitely no air anywhere!!

PS: Apart from the brakes, I have no complaints.

Cheers,
Terry.
AnswerID: 50798

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