Tuesday, Jan 23, 2007 at 16:38
Thanks Dave - No didn't blow smoke - just went everywhere in 3rd. If you turned the engine off and on again it would be fine for a few minutes and perform really
well but then the malfunction light would come on again (even if the vehicle was stationery) and it would have a problem. I didn't post the entire story here as its a bit long but given the interest here it is - Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
1. Drove up to
Shark Bay on Saturday 13th Jan All OK to Overlander Road House (Approx. 700 KM) towing camper trailer. Topped up half a tank with diesel at Overlander All OK
2. Drove up tarmac to Useless loop turn off All OK
3. Drove on gravel road to Useless Loop Approx. 100 KM Some corrugations All OK
4. Drove up steep soft sand (4WD 2H D – All tyres at 16PSI including camper trailer) All OK
5. Hard corrugations for a while (about 2-3KM) All OK apart from drivers side passenger door which vibrated markedly at the top. Needs adjusting to get a proper seal.
6. Next set of sand dunes malfunction indicator Light came on steady – (not blinking) Stopped vehicle immediately.
7. Consulted owners manual. Checked for water in fuel filter – drained approx. a cup full of diesel out of the fuel filter – no sign of water. Light did not come on after engine was started.
8. Drove on for two minutes over soft sand – Light came on steady. Checked for water in fuel filter – drained approx. a cup full of diesel out of the fuel filter – Still no sign of water. Light did not come on after engine was re-started.
9. Drove on for a further two minutes, again over soft sand – Light came on steady. Checked again for water in fuel filter – drained approx. a cup full of diesel out of the fuel filter – still no sign of water. Light did not come on after engine was started.
10. Drove on for two minutes over soft sand – Light came on. Stopped car. Turned off engine. Consulted owners manual and determined that this may be an engine control malfunction.
11. Observed Car’s fuel economy was very poor 25 litres per 100km!!!. The vehicle did not shift down properly and top speed was 58KMH Drove on to
camp site at
steep point (Approx. 20KM)
12. Observed right rear light cluster hanging from vehicle – self-tapping screws lost. Took one screw from LH light cluster and gaffer taped both lights in place.
13. Left the vehicle switched off overnight and started the engine in the morning. Did not engage gears or move the vehicle but the malfunction indicator light came on after approximately 2 minutes. Turned off vehicle and disconnected battery overnight.
14. Reconnected battery and drove vehicle for approximately 10 minutes before the malfunction indicator light came on. Even though the light came on the vehicle still changed down OK and all gears seemed OK
15. Found a high
Hill and called Nissan and spoke to mechanic.
16. Determined that the problem may be a sensor problem and was advised that the vehicle was OK to drive although may experience some issues. I was advised to
check the sensors wiring hadn’t come loose especially in the air intake area. Checked – All OK but also checked the air filter which was very dirty. I turned the air filter around so that the side facing the air intake was the clean side.
17. Drove back to
camp – Vehicle performed OK with appropriate gear changes but light came on after a couple of minutes.
18. On the 20th January we set off from the point hoping to get to
Geraldton to a Nissan dealer before lunchtime. Unfortunately after just a couple of minutes the light came on and we lost most of the gears, struggling to get over 58KM an hour on the gravel road from Useless Loop. Stopped several times and turned the engine off each time.
19. Eventually when we turned on the engine again and revved the engine hard (about 50KM from the Overlander Road House – still on the gravel road) the light didn’t come on again and stayed off. There was no chance of making it to
Geraldton by now but we had all our gears back and were able to cruise at highway speeds. Got back to Greenmount at 11pm. Fuel economy was still very poor.
Light did come on once or twice onthe way back down the Great Northern Highway but apart from really bad fuel economy the vehicle seemed OK
FollowupID:
477724