Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Thanks, Checked that - just a series of plugs? All seem ok. Will keep digging. It has got worse and is now making a "Ping" noise with the flashing lights...

The vehicle will ping if you're travelling over 20k/h with difflock engaged. It may not be engaged, but it could be that the ECU thinks it is engaged. I'd suggest:

1: Make sure difflock is not engaged - perhaps it is (refer point 3 then). Sandy road, turn full lock and see if one of the rear wheels jumps a little. Or jack the backend up and turn one of the back wheels. If the lock is engaged, both wheels should turn in the same direction.
2: Check the plug and loom on the difflock actuator itself (it is on the back of the rear diff - difficult to miss).
3: It could be a vacuum problem. I've never had to get that far in terms of troubleshooting difflock things before, but swapping one of the vacuum pipes on the difflock solenoid (against the firewall on the passenger side) one way or the other will mean the difflock engages or not. Not sure of the details, but I seem to recall Mr. Robertson (Graham1 here) had issues with this in the past. Send him a PM and ask.

I personally think the problem is electric (ie: bad connection), but it could also be mechanical.

suggest you start with the difflock circuit.

when the diff lock is activated (normally in 4L but you can override it) the diff lock light flickers until lock, the ABs will also flicker to indicate it is in active. The bing bing normally goes when the speed is above 40km/h.

maybe previous owner disconnected the ability to only switch on in 4L. not sure if diff lock is on dedicated fuse , maybe you can pull it?

Thanks, I'm pretty sure it is an electrical problem. I vaguely recall it was previously a loose earth strap. I've had the vehicle for a long time, so pretty sure its not something the previous owner did... I checked the vac hoses, all seem ok. Inspected all connectors on the diff lock and abs circuits.
Maybe time to visit Mr Forgey... Will pull the diff lock fuse so long...

Update - Tested the solenoids, working fine, the lights have stopped flickering now that the car has had a week or so to dry out. Seems like there is water causing a short somewhere along the wiring, so short of pulling all the wiring out to try and find where the problem is, I guess i'll just have to live with it next time I do a lot of river crossings...

Do you have the electronic manual with all the circuit wirings?

Unkredible wrote: ↑11 May 2022 13:54 Tested the solenoids,

While you're messing with the solenoids, spray some sort of lube into them, specially the bottom one. It gets rusty inside

AndriesS wrote: ↑11 May 2022 14:54 Do you have the electronic manual with all the circuit wirings?

I's sure I have it sometwhere - but its pretty obvious where those circuits are...

Hi All,
The issue has surfaced again - intermittent flashing diff lock lights, ABS lights and Alarm warning.
Checked vaccuum, all working fine. Checked hoses, replaced one as it was a bit loose.
When testing the system, it seems the actuator on the diff doesn't do anything.
I lifted a rear wheel , and it seems diff lock is engaged! Which is strange as I haven't used it for a while.
Any suggestions???

Silly question, but was the main gearbox in neutral?