GQ Patrol Brakes
Submitted: Wednesday, Jan 15, 2003 at 22:03
ThreadID:
2979
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8834
Replies:
9
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12
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Angryant
Hi All,
I've just purchased a 2.8TD Patrol and have noticed that the brakes seem very "hard". I mean that to stop you have to push the pedal quite firmly to pull up. Is this normal for the GQ and if not would a brake bleed help to resolve the concern? Also, is there any real problems (real or potential) that I should be aware of in relation to the GQ 2.8TD?
Thanks in advance.
Reply By: kezza - Wednesday, Jan 15, 2003 at 23:54
Wednesday, Jan 15, 2003 at 23:54
Hi angry
Patrol brakes typically need a bit of pressing but should pull up very
well.
You do not mention which year patrol you have - if pre 96 or over 150,000 ks do the whole brake system. No matter what though I suggest you do
check the load sensing valve on the rear brakes - this is possibly not adjusted correctly if the adjuster is wound too far out rear brakes will not work at all - if too far in you will lock up the rear brakes in the wet or in the dry -(POTENTIALLY FATAL) When the brakes on a gq are working
well (ie correctly balanced between front and rear) - they pull up very
well with no fuss. - too many 4wds on the road are relying on the front brakes too much especially if lifted)
If just purchased I suggest you spend some time or money and
check out the disks, the pads, the slave cylinders and the master cylinder and if in doubt the vacuum assist - once done this system should be ok for a few years. The master cyl on some models is expensive to service and or replace but easy to service ($225 for a kit $350 for complete cylinder (trade)
Its a good idea do
check your brakes out on a quiet deserted road in the wet (yeah I know a bit hard in the drought) just to see whats "locks up" and how it performs in the wet. Just so you dont get a surprise in an emergency situation - you need to establish if the brakes have been serviced correctly - never leave it to chance cause once it rains its a bit hard to keep 2.5 tonnes of vehicle under control in a slide.
Good maintenence is to replace your brake fluid annually - very few do but at the price of patrol brake parts its a great saving in the long run.
cheers
kezza
AnswerID:
11361
Follow Up By: Oziexplorer - Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 03:13
Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 03:13
Kezza replacing all the fluids every 12 months is the cheapest maintainence vehicle owners can do. I doubt 3% of vehicles get their brake fluid changed every twelve months, and agree with you fully about being the greatest saving. Same with radiator coolant ethylene glycol. After 12 months it starts to go acidic (like vinigar) and by 24 months is really becoming a problem. A litre of ethylene glycol concentrate from one of the major oil companies like Mobil or
Shell is only $20 approx, and de-mineralised water from the supermarket is only a few dollars to fill the system. Much cheaper than a new radiator or expensive radiator repairs.
FollowupID:
6282
Follow Up By: Johnsy - Friday, Jan 17, 2003 at 09:32
Friday, Jan 17, 2003 at 09:32
Yep Oziexplorer very cheap to do big savings in the long run .I do
mine annually which works out about 30/40k and its pretty simple you dont have to be a rocket scientist my 14 year old did this years so he understands the vehicle and realizes preventive is cheaper than replacement maintanence .
FollowupID:
6351
Reply By: Member - Melissa - Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 00:11
Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 00:11
Agree with comment above about Patrol brakes needing a bit of pushing. Our GU is the same. I don't notice it because I drive it most of the time. Hubby only drives it on weekends and he always notices it going from one car to the other.
:o) Melissa
AnswerID:
11362
Reply By: Angryant - Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 04:35
Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 04:35
Thanks for your advice. Oh, and it's a '97 model with 84,000 km. So far I'm very happy with it except, of course, with the lack of power at low rpms.
AnswerID:
11364
Reply By: John - Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 14:33
Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 14:33
Angryant
I too own a RD28T but an old '96er. Have owned since new and done over 140,000km. Drive a Mazda Astina most of the time but love getting back into the Patrol. Prefer its brakes any day. I wouldn't say
mine are very hard to apply. Suspect you might have an issue there???? Drove my mates 2000 GU 3.0 with 75,000km and hated the brakes. Kept over shooting the turns. Just didn't want to pull up or I wasn't pushing hard enough. Maybe the extra half a tonne. No probs (touch wood) with my truck so far. Keep up your scheduled maintenance and don't forget your timing belt at 100,000. Some rumours going around about head gaskets blowing but what can you do about that. No worse than your GU doing a water pump and being at the dealer for over 5 days because they don't have a spare one. Makes you wonder. Quickly learn to live with the power (or lack of) and enjoy the capability of a top truck.
AnswerID:
11385
Follow Up By: Angryant - Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 19:00
Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 19:00
Thanks
John,
Your advice is
well received and noted.
Cheers
FollowupID:
6307
Follow Up By: Angryant - Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 21:58
Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 21:58
John, this is a bit off topic but what oil do you use in your RD28T. I've done a fair bit of reading over the last couple of days and I'm now pretty confused as to what is a good oil for the RD28T?
FollowupID:
6325
Follow Up By: Kezza - Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 23:53
Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 23:53
Angry as you do your homework include Penrite as an option they produce very high quality oils (including synthetic oils)
www.penrite.com.au
I dont use anything else personally - but make your own mind up
You can ring and talk to a tech who will eliminate a lot of confusion
They have the best limited slip diff oil for the patrol as
well (limslip 140)
do a search for some of my previous posts on oils
good luck
kez
FollowupID:
6343
Follow Up By: John - Friday, Jan 17, 2003 at 11:16
Friday, Jan 17, 2003 at 11:16
Angryant
I have been using Castrol RX Super since new with 5000k oil changes and 10000k filter changes. Keep this to yourself as I don't want to get grilled by the Synthetic oil users. Heaps of interesting reading and opinions about oils though. Never had a lab
test done and probably won't either. Nissan used RX Super when I bought the car new and the Castrol Tech Support people recommended I keep using it.
FollowupID:
6357
Follow Up By: Member - John - Tuesday, Jan 21, 2003 at 20:06
Tuesday, Jan 21, 2003 at 20:06
John if you like to e-mail me direct jlsulli@net-tech.com.au re turbo smart boost controller, I will answer all your questions.
FollowupID:
6584
Reply By: diamond - Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 19:42
Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 19:42
in respose to an aswer above regarding rear brake proportioning valve i recently did a 2inch lift on my patrol gq and didnt adjust valve silly me did that and work much better now
AnswerID:
11400
Reply By: colin - Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 19:57
Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 19:57
brake pads have a lot to do with it, metal type pads are harder to push the pedal but seem to pull up better than a softer make of pad, which are softer in the push dept, but dont seem to pull up as
well. Have been told the metal pads are harder on the rotors but have never compared on the same vehicle. Col
AnswerID:
11402
Follow Up By: Kezza - Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 20:59
Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 20:59
colin I dont know if you'd notice much diference in the "push" with the power assist. More importantly everyone should be using the new Kevlar pads available they are very fade resistant which is important if you have a 2tonne + vehicle
cheers
kezza
FollowupID:
6313
Reply By: Chel - Friday, Jan 17, 2003 at 06:12
Friday, Jan 17, 2003 at 06:12
Hi,
We own a 97 RX 2.8TD. It now has 170,000klm on clock. I do find that you need a bit of pressure on brakes. Ours is serviced every five thousound and all has checked out ok. We use a castrol oil. The only problem we have heard of is 5th gear going due to the use of in town.
The power is a problem if you have high expectation. We owned a V8 prior to the GQ so the lack of power was noticable but we drive to what it is capable of and we have no problems. It towes a 1.2 tonn camping trailer and has done efficiently. We did get a snorkle fitted along with the second battery. We did have a problem just after we got it with it pulling left quite badly, wheel alignments did not fix this we had to get another part to put in hub. Not sure what that was called but if your interested can look it up for you. We have had ours for 3.5 years and done 100.00klm without any major problems other than regular
services.
Hope you enjoy your 2.8
Chel
AnswerID:
11416
Reply By: Member - John - Friday, Jan 17, 2003 at 19:02
Friday, Jan 17, 2003 at 19:02
Angry, I have a 2.8td GQ and found that by fitting a turbo smart gated waste
gate controller, $99.00 from Autobarn, that the boost comes in approx 600 rpm earlier, and you can set the boost at factory setting of 13psi, verus actual of setting of 9psi. Very noticable difference on road and on dyno.You may have to remove blow off valve or slighty lower boost pressure. Cheapest mod available for my mind. Hope this helps.
AnswerID:
11447
Follow Up By: Angryant - Friday, Jan 17, 2003 at 19:33
Friday, Jan 17, 2003 at 19:33
Thanks for the info
John. I read that in one of the posts here and will be considering that option in the near future.
Cheers
FollowupID:
6382
Follow Up By: John - Tuesday, Jan 21, 2003 at 17:58
Tuesday, Jan 21, 2003 at 17:58
Member-
John
Is the adjustable waste
gate controller an easy
home fit or is it something a turbo
shop really needs to do? Do you adjust when boost comes in or is that related to the PSI setting? i.e If you leave it at 9PSI can you still get boost to come in earlier than the current 1700RPM (approx)? Certainly sounds good and cheap.
Mine was overboosting to 13PSI when the turbo carboned up a bit and the blowoff valve kept activating when you backed off after a heavy right foot to overtake at 100kph. 13PSI is good. Even better if you have some control over it.
FollowupID:
6576
Reply By: Truckster - Sunday, Jan 19, 2003 at 10:36
Sunday, Jan 19, 2003 at 10:36
Its funny because I say the same thing that the brakes suck. I run 33's lifted etc
But most on the Patrol List with 35's etc say the brakes
rock. ??
One mod is to go slotted rotors, and metal pads. Wears yor discs out faster but hey nothing is for nothing.
Pre 93 discs are thinner than later, by 6mm I think and this apparently makes a WORLD of difference ... maybe maybe not!
Im thinking of the new 4.8 discs, they are larger diameter, and thicker by 12mm. Involves moving calipers etc but might work.
AnswerID:
11510
Follow Up By: Angryant - Tuesday, Jan 21, 2003 at 18:21
Tuesday, Jan 21, 2003 at 18:21
Is there much cost involved to do this?
FollowupID:
6578
Follow Up By: Kezza - Wednesday, Jan 22, 2003 at 00:26
Wednesday, Jan 22, 2003 at 00:26
Truckster
Why bother??
The patrol brakes
rock!
Just read my initial post at the top of the page if they aint "rockin"
Kez
FollowupID:
6596