Air-conditioning in GU 4.2D

Submitted: Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 18:02
ThreadID: 42088 Views:2641 Replies:5 FollowUps:6
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Hi all, we appear to have a problem with the aircon in the Patrol, It works great normally but to get home we have a large hill to climb. Today coming up the hill a woman in a mirage (car) chopped in front of us and sat on half the allowed speed limit, now we know that to get up our hill in a diesel we have to get a run up and keep it up, but because of this 'lady' coming out in front of us we had to drop back a gear hence our problem, the aircon cut out and stayed out until we were nearly home (about 4 mins) then it started to cut back in for a few seconds and then cut out again, by this time we were home.
Now we also know that for power sake (and we usually do) one should turn off the aircon before heading up the hill but it is a bit hot over here today and we had a patient in the form of our dog in the car who we had just picked up from the vet after having chemo so it was important to keep the cool going.
This is not a one off, it has happened before. Any ideas or is there some sort of cut off switch if the engine is under load which we were not.

Thanks in advance

Cheers

Deanna


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Reply By: Member - John - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 19:05

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 19:05
G'day, from the sounds of it, your air con was shutting down due to high temp in the engine cooling system, there is a switch in the radiator that turns it off. The switch maybe faulty or it may be a true indication that the engine was getting hot. Check the switch and if it is OK, then the second option is the cause. Hope this helps.
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Follow Up By: Leroy - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:07

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:07
std 4.2 feature when the engine starts to get very hot. What was your engine temp guage saying?

Leroy
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Follow Up By: Member - Dunworkin (WA) - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:19

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:19
Hi John, Thanks for the reply, the temp in our Patrol always runs at the same, not quite half way up, no matter what the temp is outside, even pulling the caravan up the hill it still pretty much stays there, we have never had problems with the Patrol overheating and today was no exception. I don't think it was anything to do with the temp of the day even though it was about 36 degrees, we do think it is a fault with the aircon itself or maybe the switch that you were talking about, will get it checked out.

Leroy, as mentioned above the temp guage was normal, nearly half way up where it always goes to no matter how hot outside.

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Reply By: V8Diesel - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 20:00

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 20:00
What John said but I'll add a couple of other bits and pieces I did to my GU 4500.

Nissan AC's do have a tendancy to cut out when real hot. In my '98 GU I had crud between the radiator and aircon heat exchanger which caused both engine and AC overheating.

The other factor that can contribute is AC overgassing. In Karratha (hot!) they frequently let some refrigerant out of Nissans to counteract this problem. I'm still a bit dubious on this but that's standard procedure.

More importantly I hope your pooch is OK, must be rough on the poor thing. My thoughts are with you.

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Follow Up By: Member - Dunworkin (WA) - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:25

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:25
Thanks V8Diesel, interesting point there with the overgassing, we actually had the aircon serviced a few weeks ago and it has been since then that this has occurred.

As far as our furry part of the family is concerned she takes the chemo really well, we were quite concerned about going down the chemo track but she seems to be OK on it, she has to have six sessions and has now done 4 so two more to go, can't wait.

Cheers

D&B


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Follow Up By: V8Diesel - Thursday, Feb 08, 2007 at 12:16

Thursday, Feb 08, 2007 at 12:16
Glad to hear the furry family member is going well. All the best.
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Reply By: Mick - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:06

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:06
Hi Dunworkin and I hope the dog is OK. Definitely have the system checked out. Long gone are the days when you had to slow down, switch things of etc just because it was a hot day. This certainly applies to my Prado - doesn't matter how hot, how steep, how heavy the load, how fast, how slow - it always goes the same. I expect that it should be the same with a Patrol - after all having an aircon that fails only when it's very hot is like having a tent that only leaks when the rain is very heavy - when you need them most they let you down!!
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Follow Up By: Member - John - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:12

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:12
Mick, old technology, indirect injection engine, ie, Boat Anchor 4.2 Nissan TD does over heat if over fueled,ie, full throttle, fifth gear etc, up hills on hot days.
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Follow Up By: Member - Dunworkin (WA) - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:32

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:32
Hi Mick, Thanks for the reply. I agree with you on the fact that technology has come a long way since the first aircons and the one we have in the Patrol is normally fantastic that is why we feel that there is a problem with it.

As for our mans' best friend, as mentioned in previous reply she is doing well on her treatment, just hope that it works.

Cheers

D&B


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Reply By: AMack - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:18

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:18
Both 4.2 gu nissans that I am familiar with run hot also and a/c does not cope with long uphills.
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Reply By: Member - Dunworkin (WA) - Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:35

Wednesday, Feb 07, 2007 at 21:35
Thank you all for the replies and advice, it is amazing the amount of info that is this forum. We have booked the car into where we had the aircon serviced, they are going to look at it, they say that it should not be doing that.


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