Extra Info on GU Gearbox's
Submitted: Friday, Sep 29, 2006 at 20:45
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Trevor R (QLD)
Hi Folks,
Just got the GU back tonight after it's gearbox rebuild. It turned out a little worse than I was expecting (read more expensive LOL!!). I had the rusty brown gearbox oil in the last change as
well as 2nd gear sticking a little (not much but noticeable). So 300 km after the gearbox oil was changed 2 weeks ago, it went into gearbox bloke here in Brissy at my request, again (in 300km) the oil was rusty brown when drained and what they found was one rusty almost stripped mainshaft and rusty 5th gear as
well as the bearings being worse for wear. All the above have been replaced and the usual seals and what not as
well. The shaft was not the smaller variety that has been noted on this
forum but still looked in pretty bad shape. The mechanic in his wisdom (and I thank him for it) has replaced the GU spacer (solid type) between 5th gear and the bearing with one out of a GQ (which has cut-outs in it). This may (in his words) allow for oil to squeeze through these cut-outs, into the 5th gear and mainshaft and hopefully prevent this rust from resurfacing and causing me grief in the future. All GU gearbox failures he has seen have had this rust evident when he has stripped them down so keep an eye on the colour of your oil. I do bugger all mud or deep
water work so I doubt this has been the cause of the rust but it is something to keep in mind when servicing your trucks. Incidentally my gear oil has been changed religiously every 40000km since new.
The clutch after 275000km come out paper thin and the pressure plate had signs of hot spots so I think I was pretty lucky on this front, it was replaced with h/duty exceedy kit. Pedal feel and response is MUCH sharper and will need some adjusting of my driving to get used to this after such a long time with a vague clutch pedal.
Also while I had the opportunity I opted for a 3.7 crawler gear to go into the transfer case. I hope to give this a real test run shortly but initial feel is a HUGE difference.
All in all an expensive repair bill that I could have done without, but one that I am glad I didn't have to make whilst on the side of the road the other side of Timbuktu.
Cheers and I hope the oil colour warning helps someone.
Trevor.
Reply By: Eric Experience. - Friday, Sep 29, 2006 at 21:16
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 at 21:16
Trevor.
When you say 'rust' I assume it is not from
water but what is called fretting. Did the mechanic talk about the cause being a lack of oil in the spline? Eric.
AnswerID:
197216
Follow Up By: Trevor R (QLD) - Friday, Sep 29, 2006 at 21:28
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 at 21:28
Eric,
No mention or suggestion of lack of oil but reading between the lines in what he did with the spacer behind 5th gear (going with the GQ one with cut-outs) that may have been on his mind??? I can call him again on Monday and ask for certain. I have the old mainshaft and 5th gear in case I run across someone with knowledge about this phenomenon that can inspect and explain what the hell's going on with these things.
Trevor.
FollowupID:
455685
Reply By: Member - Glenn D (NSW) - Friday, Sep 29, 2006 at 21:18
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 at 21:18
When my box went ,the inside had that colour oil as
well ,
I dont think that
water crossings had anything to do with it , because the past owner had done none and me only a few when it went .
I killed
mine doing an overtake , dropped back to 4th , changed up when 1/2 way around , had huge grinding noise with no accelleration .
Was ' fully ' loaded to go around OZ , guess thats the same as towing a heavy load .
Glenn.
AnswerID:
197217
Follow Up By: Trevor R (QLD) - Friday, Sep 29, 2006 at 21:33
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 at 21:33
Glenn,
I didn't want the full blown experience of 5th gear dropping out at the most inopportune time, which is why I trusted my judgement and got it done now while it was still in tact but noticeably getting worse.
I, in actual fact have rarely used 5th gear which makes me kind of ticked off that I didn't use it early on so as to have the box done under warranty. No doubt it wouldn't have been done to my standards if Nissan had done it anyway so maybe it is all for the best this way???
I agree when loaded the GU can present a big ask of the 5th gear but IMO that is something Nissan should be thinking of when producing this vehicle.
Cheers, Trevor.
FollowupID:
455686
Follow Up By: Member - Glenn D (NSW) - Friday, Sep 29, 2006 at 22:26
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 at 22:26
I got charged for my troubles , but after we got home I wrote a letter which had a couple of your ideas in it . Nissan Aust , reimbursed us which I still cant believe .
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Trevor R (QLD) - Saturday, Sep 30, 2006 at 07:38
Saturday, Sep 30, 2006 at 07:38
Nissan laughed at me when I phoned them last week cause I got 275000km on
mine. I may still write them a letter yet though, depending on what I can find out regarding this rusty mainshaft.
Trevor.
FollowupID:
455714
Reply By: ZUKSCOOTERX90(QLD-MEMBER) - Friday, Sep 29, 2006 at 21:34
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 at 21:34
G/day Trevor,good to hear all is
well again with youre g/box now,but why did you need the crawler gear if you are going off road in a" Blizzard" & not in the Patrol.
Cheer's Bob.
AnswerID:
197223
Follow Up By: Trevor R (QLD) - Friday, Sep 29, 2006 at 21:43
Friday, Sep 29, 2006 at 21:43
Hi Bob,
Possibly need to tow the Blizzard to these
places as the Blizzard is very sloooooowww. If I get serious enough with the Blizzard it may not be totally legal on the road when I am finished anyway????
Just felt like this gives me more options regarding taller diff ratios in the Nissan to suit highway work in 4th gear, larger tyres (possibly later??) and even towing the Caravan safely offroad. A whole multitude of things buzzing round in this head of
mine but no real concrete plans for one thing or another.
Also the Blizzard is still only a couple of weeks old and I will keep an eye on this car till I have faith in it before any major work starts on it, if at any stage I feel it's all too hard it will be punted and the Nissan will become top dog again that's for sure.
Cheers mate,
Trevor.
FollowupID:
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Reply By: Member - 'Lucy' - Saturday, Sep 30, 2006 at 09:37
Saturday, Sep 30, 2006 at 09:37
Trev me old Mate!
In post 38147 below Donnnnny, he (Donnnnny) established beyond all reasonable doubt that Nissan hold their 'equipment' together with sponges of all things.
When you contact Nisaan , if I was you, I would raise this issue with them and give their collective 'sponges' a squeeze and see what you can wring out of them.
I'm not too sure on the longevity of 'hold everything together' variety of sponges that Nissan use, however Donnnny's discovery brings that issue (sponge warranty) right to the fore-front of things.
I meant to ask him whether or not it was a Sponge - Bonz Ooops! meant
Sponge - BOB that they (Nissan) had used in his case , because we all know that a Sponge-Bonz is highly unreliable because it self destructs at the sight of anything mechanical and/or electrical.
You may have had an OEM Sponge-cake in yours that was eaten by Nissan gremlins.
So please enlighten us readers so that we know what type of OEM 'hold everything together' sponge to look for.
Also, I would respectfully suggest that it would behove you to ensure that the right, correct, best quality after market 'hold everything together' Nissan sponge has been inserted in your 'equipment' this time, because if not those 3.7's isn't going to do d i c k .
Luv your work
Catch you later
AnswerID:
197260
Follow Up By: Trevor R (QLD) - Saturday, Sep 30, 2006 at 09:59
Saturday, Sep 30, 2006 at 09:59
"Luv your work"
I was about to say the same thing about you. I read that post and was LOL at your responses, and have almost been waiting for something like this response on this thread.
One thing about you Yota owners, you are predictable if not anything else.
PS: the 100 series I had, had it's gearbox rebuilt twice and heading for a third when I sold it with 130000km on the clock, it is a shame I didn't have the patience to run it to the 275000km that I now have on the Nissan as I would have dearly loved to point out how many times one can rebuild a gearbox in a 100 series before the motor needs a rebuild.
Cheers as always, Trevor.
FollowupID:
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