1999 Nisson Ti Patrol help needed
Submitted: Friday, May 26, 2006 at 12:35
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Dash
I am hopeful that a keen Patrol owner/mechanic may be able to help me solve an ongoing mechanical issue that seems to be baffling all the mechanics.
Intermitantly whilst at highway driving speed my 1999 Nisson Ti Patrol begins to all of a sudden shake violently through the frontend and steering wheel. If I pull over and then drive off again it may or may not occur again. The problem is very intermitant (say every 200-1000km) although when it happens it is quite extreme. I have had the vehile assessed by several machanics and none seem to be able to pin point the problem. Can anyone offer any suggestions or possibly come across it before? All the usual things have been checked and the frustration level is now almost full.
Reply By: Ken - Friday, May 26, 2006 at 12:49
Friday, May 26, 2006 at 12:49
Dash, I take it you have checked ball joins, swivel pins, & steering damper.
Less obvious things could be
suspension bushes and or bolts. The fact that you can feel it so strongly through the steering wheel may lend a clue is the fluid level right or is there some issue with the steering box. Usually powersteering masks a bit of wheel shake but it could in this case be a contributer. Just a few thoughts.
Ken
AnswerID:
174888
Follow Up By: Dash - Friday, May 26, 2006 at 13:05
Friday, May 26, 2006 at 13:05
Ken Thanks for the reply. I believe the above points have been checked or replaced. The steering box has been mentioned although seems to being discounted onthe basis of the problem not being there all the time??
I am not sure if this is valid or not.
Thanks again for your help
Dash
FollowupID:
430961
Follow Up By: Ken - Friday, May 26, 2006 at 17:07
Friday, May 26, 2006 at 17:07
Dash, regarding the steering box I'm thinking possibly low fluid level may be resulting in some sort of 'cavitation' or air bubbling in the system. You're right a faulty box would be always faulty but something intermittent seems to be going on with your truck. I had a leaky steering damper once that got air into it and it caused terrible shakes. I'm just thinking the same sort of effect in the power steering could a). cause the vibration; b) be intermittent as the power steering pump sucks a bit of air momentarily. Just a thought.
It would seem unlikely any out of balance things like mud in the wheel rim, CV joint wear brake pads or discs would result in intermittent shaking.
There is a bit of stuff here about supposed Nissan shakes but I never experienced it. If these were as bad as you report there would be plenty here trust me !
Ken
FollowupID:
431013
Reply By: Zapper - Friday, May 26, 2006 at 13:30
Friday, May 26, 2006 at 13:30
Hi Dash, know what you mean about extreme, first time
mine did it I thought I was going to runn off the road. There is a lot in archives about this problem with Nissans, my ute (GQ) had it. I replaced the steering damper and I thought I had cured it, then out of the blue it did it again the other day. Am in the process of replacing the shackle bushes in the front end of
mine which are very worn (
mine is leaf spring) and am going to fit a better quality damper and see if that stops it. The 4wd
shop I go to has got some new high volume something or other dampers there which are a lot bigger and sturdier than the bleep e one I fitted. All the rest of the front end of
mine seems to be ok, cant seem to find any other worn parts to replace so I hope it cures it.
Be interested to hear what is causing the problem with yours when you work it out
AnswerID:
174899
Follow Up By: Dash - Friday, May 26, 2006 at 13:39
Friday, May 26, 2006 at 13:39
Hi Zapper,
I am not happy to hear that you have the same problem although at least someone else understands the 'undie changing' experience you get when it happens. The second last time it happened the mechanics replaced my damper with a heavy duty one that was not genuine as they believed the alternative was a better option. Unfortunately this has made no difference! They have commented on my shackle bushes being worn but nothing they would not normally expect to see. Has anyone looked at your steering box?
I will let you know if I have any success.
Cheers
FollowupID:
430970
Reply By: Member - Nutter (QLD) - Friday, May 26, 2006 at 13:41
Friday, May 26, 2006 at 13:41
Gidday Dash, I seem to vaguely recall reading in one of the 4x4 mags some time back about a similar problem , sure it was a GQ, I am not certain but I think it was the CV"s , bearings and or shims. As I say it was some time back , run that past the mechanic and see what he thinks. Hopefully another forumite with a better memory will post for you.
See ya
Guy
AnswerID:
174903
Reply By: V8Diesel - Friday, May 26, 2006 at 14:52
Friday, May 26, 2006 at 14:52
I'm afraid that Nissan's just do it. I spent many thousands of dollars and got a number of
well respected 4x4 specialists on the job with my GU. It was better, but never totally fixed.
It's
well documented, do a search and you will find numerous reports of the Nissan wobbles. Even Nissan can't fix it.
I tried....
wheels 15", 16" & 17"
tyres
wheel bearings (3 times!)
panhard rod bushes
dynamic balancing
castor kit
Koni shocks
new Lovells springs
new Bendix 4x4 brake pads
disc rotors re-machined
return to centre steering damper
swivel hub bearing preload
3 high end wheel alignments
etc etc etc.........
In the end I just sold it and bought a Landcruiser.
Probably not what you wanted to hear. Sorry mate.
AnswerID:
174924
Reply By: Notso - Friday, May 26, 2006 at 18:27
Friday, May 26, 2006 at 18:27
Nissan had a fix kit for the eaqrly GUs, Some of em were unconbtrollable replaced odd bits of the
suspension I think. Have a talk to a Nissan Dealer.
AnswerID:
174954
Reply By: Member - Charlie M (SA) - Friday, May 26, 2006 at 18:39
Friday, May 26, 2006 at 18:39
Early models from that age needed to be balanced with special adaptor and wheel nuts done up in a correct sequence.
Cheers
Charlie
AnswerID:
174957
Reply By: Barnray - Friday, May 26, 2006 at 19:14
Friday, May 26, 2006 at 19:14
About 15 yrs ago we had a mazda tabletop truck with standard coiil front end, it had a bad shimmy particularly first thing in the morning but not allways and it was bad enough that it would almost tear the wheel out of your hands.( most times it would occur after hitting a bump) I was offered a $100 if i could fix the problem. What I did was adjust the caster to increase the angle to such a point that the shimmy diisappeared then set the toe to about 4-6mm. The shimmy never came back and we did not do another "alignment" even when the engine was replaced with a diesel. Barnray
AnswerID:
174964
Reply By: rv129 - Friday, May 26, 2006 at 22:01
Friday, May 26, 2006 at 22:01
Hi dash
My dad has a 98 GU and I also have a 99 GU just so you know where I'm coming from. Dad got his new and it was soon after the first major service when they repace wheel brgs I used the car and was traveling to
Murray Bridge when we had the same thing happen. Called Nissan 24hr road side assist which was RAA. They had now idea so it was left at a different Dealer for the Weekend. When they inspected the car they found the free wheel hubs had been put on wrong and this was causing the problem. Once fitted properly no more probs now car has 170thou on the clock and now sign of trouble. I also have a GQ patrol with the standard wheel shake at 80kph but I dont think this is the same problem u have because My gq shakes every day and only at 80 after you get past 80 it stops. Hope it helps cheers Matt
AnswerID:
174998
Reply By: 120scruiser (NSW) - Friday, May 26, 2006 at 22:05
Friday, May 26, 2006 at 22:05
My old MK shorty did the same. Usually after hitting a significant pot hole.
Frightened the be jesus out of me. Put new tyres on and it was better but still did it. The only way to stop it was stop the car and start off again.
Sold it and bought a 80 series.
AnswerID:
174999
Reply By: Eric Experience. - Friday, May 26, 2006 at 22:27
Friday, May 26, 2006 at 22:27
Dash.
Increasing caster slightly will fix it, it will make you stearing slightly heavy but
well worth it. Front end geometry is a comprimise between stability and comfort. you can increase the caster by lowering the back of the vehicle, designers have to estimate the likely load when setting the spring lenghts, then you get people changing
the springs without any regard for the caster. If lowering the back by fitting smaller tyres or by adding load fixes it then you can take the vehicle to a professional truck aligment company and they will bend the front arms to correct the caster. Eric.
AnswerID:
175009
Reply By: jorgejhandal - Friday, May 26, 2006 at 23:49
Friday, May 26, 2006 at 23:49
try the stearing damper, that happened to me in an old patrol 92 2 d00r, and I fixed it by changing the steering damper, it may seem its ok put replace it and give it a try, hope it works it did for me!!!
AnswerID:
175024
Reply By: gompy - Saturday, May 27, 2006 at 16:03
Saturday, May 27, 2006 at 16:03
Do you have automatic hubs by any chance?? they got the habit of clickin in and out almost at random. next time it happens, stop and reverse if you notice a click you know one of them was locked.
It happend to me several times before I replaced them with manual hubs.
AnswerID:
175071