Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Hi Wilkie

Thanks for that.
But I am not prepared to drive 45km to Greame with a sick alternator.
Also, my alternator is of the Lexus kind.

Alex Roux wrote:Hi Wilkie

Thanks for that.
But I am not prepared to drive 45km to Greame with a sick alternator.
Also, my alternator is of the Lexus kind.

Alex,

I drove about 60km to Graham with a sick alternator quite recently. Live on the edge a little

I charged the battery overnight, turned off everything that could draw juice in the morning and drove through.

Granted - I kept the revs a little higher than I normally would. This was because, when checking the voltage across the battery poles with the engine running, it seemed as if I was generating almost 13V at slightly higher revs. ie: not enough to charge the battery (one needs a minimum of 13.6V IIRC), but perhaps enough not to drain it completely. I measured the battery voltage again (engine off) after making it to Graham's place, and it had not even dropped by much.

Nevertheless, a little bit of a stressful drive. Also, not sure if Graham would have Lexus-alternator spares, so under your circumstances, I hear you.

Ian

is yours dbl v-belt or a single rib belt this alternator is a fong-kong aftermarket and fits almost perfectly on a 4.5tb,even the wires just clips in and is a 90 amp
autozone did sell them for R1000.00

that pulley is also interchangeable

Thanks Errol

Ian,
Also note, having trickle-charged the batteries overnight, even though far from fully charged yet, I probably could have made the distance.
But it is still much more of a hassle (taking the train back to Jhb, getting picked up, assuming Gream have excess capacity this week) compared to going to the nearest battery centre, where an auto-electrician is on hand next door.

Problem seems to be with the stator in the alternator.

excellent, hope your ride is up and running shortly

Sheez, was this a source of frustration...

Firstly the Lexus 1UZ alternators are not that easily available as you might think.
The engines outlast the alternators, and they get imported whole as one set-up. So free alternators are getting scarce.
Found one at last from good old Bet at BG Autofit.

On Wednesday morning I brought the new (newish) alternator to replace the old one.
The old one's stator will be rewound and put together again as the spare.
Once the Alternator got replaced though, the car would not start.
The crank turns and all, but I know what the petrol pump sounds like before starting, and it does not pump.

So, hopefully this is just a fuse that gave up the ghost during the replacement.
My 2004 GRX trolly has three fuseboxes. One below right of the steering wheel, and two in the engine bay, close to the crank battery.
All checks out fine. Still no fuel pump pumping.

Call the guy who built the conversion. There must be a little fusebox installed, with two relays close to the Spitronix ECU.
No fusebox. Me and the auto electrician search. Still no fusebox.
So eventually the guys have to close shop and I go home very puzzled. What was not working and why? I did not sleep much.

I called Graham (Pathmaker), he says three things:
Search for the fusebox, or else the pump died. Which either means replace it, but before that, hit the main tank hard with a rubber hammer, while the crank battery turns the engine. That might just do the trick. Where the fuel pump sits inside the main tank, it may just need a firm nudge to work again.
And the guy who built my conversion sends me a picture of what the ECU, with fusebox and two relays should look like. These items comes standard as part of the kit. So no reason why the fusebox cannot be found!

The standard picture of the engine conversion kit looks as follows: Mine looks like this: As from this picture, having taken off the cover just below the steering wheel, one silly innocent looking little fuse is found (see the red wire).
Now this picture above was taken after the auto-electrician moved it down from where it was. It was high up, right next to the steering wheel.
It was blown and once replaced, the pump worked again. But this fuse operates the ECU.
So for the record, I still have not found the phantom fusebox. I will make a strip to car builder to show me. That will be interesting.

Where the fuse used to be, it is certainly not the best place to hide a fuse, unless you do not want it to be found!

So, moral of the story:
This is the thing about conversions:

There is no manual that can tell you everything about your car anymore....hmmm all those hardline nay-sayers of conversions. Have your field day. I am being honest here.
No hiding here.
But my car is fixed and the V8 hums beautifully again. I am happy again!

Good to hear you are going again man.....jip always something new to lean on a car hey.....

Just glad you're back on the road.

Alex.... I love that sound of your Patrol, and when a man is down, we will stand together !!.... I'm chuffed you got Witblits back up and running.

I think that is the tricky part of any conversion, but now you have some Daddy/Patrol time to find the illusive fuse box.....hahaha.

We all learn something.... keep us posted !!!