Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Quick Update:

New rear axle fitted....H260 is truly a beast compared to the H233, visibly much beefier!

Everything bolts up perfectly, and no need to modify anything!

Havn`t driven very far yet, but all seems to be working okay except for the Diff Lock. The diff-lock light comes on as per normal, and diff is locked if you jack up the back and test by hand, but the slightest torque (i.e. more than can be done by hand) across the diff causes it to slip. I suspect that the actuator mechanism has partly seized up and is not giving the full movement required to engage the mechanism properly. Spent 20min on Saturday on gravel driving strait lines and repeatedly engaging and disengaging the diff lock in an attempt to free up the actuator but to no avail. I know on the old diff, I could always hear an audible "click" when the Diff-lock light came on and the locker engaged.....not hearing anything like that on the new one, only a "clack, clack" if you turn slightly and the locker slips.

Will go back to my local guy who did the fitting tomorrow, and hopefully we can get it going by either pulling off the actuator and cleaning it, or swopping it out for the one on the old Diff if they are interchangeable.

Anyhow, at least I have a drivable vehicle again!!

Very glad to hear your patrol is moble again
Mabe you have aa vacuum. Problem on that locker

Hi Thinus,

Yes, will need to double check the vacuum pipes to ensure there are no leaks....I guess that could also be the issue.

Okay...another update...this time not good at all

Took the van for a slightly longer drive and experienced some strange vibrations.....then happened to notice something yesterday when she was parked on a level surface in a parking lot....something just wasn`t looking quite right. Anyway, was really hoping it was a trick of the light, but went down to Tiger Wheel and Tyre this morning and my worst fears were confirmed. The new axle casing is bent.....toe on the rear axle should be zero (although a small deviation is acceptable). I`m sitting with the best part of 20mm toe in on the rear....so that (presumably together with similarly bent axle shafts) is the cause of the vibration.

There isn`t really any deformation visible on the casing as far as I can see, and its hard to imagine that something that robust could actually get bent, but this is undeniably the case. The impact of the accident that wrote off the donor vehicle must have been very severe.

Anyway, needless to say I am utterly depressed at the current situation....having spent a sizable chunk of cash and to still have a broken vehicle is disheartening to say the least!!!

Any bright ideas welcome......

That's truly horrible news

I presume transplanting the crown & pinion from the new H260 into your old H233's casing is out of the question due to the differences in size?

Not my intent to depress you further, but my old locker made the same clacking noises even when supplied with decent vacuum and having a properly working actuator. It turned out that the teeth on my locker were slightly rounded on the edges, causing it to slip whenever you applied torque to it. Once it's slipped like that a number of times, it damages itself even further and chances are that it will never work again...

Hi Christo,

Ja, I`m thinking that it is most likely that the H260 woun`t fit into my original case, but havn`t been able to test that definitively yet. Everyone is closing down now for the festive season, so will only get to investigate further in Jan.

Eish....I need a dop!

Not good news to hear mate...... I hope it can be sorted out.

dumb question.... can the side shafts not be swapped out with the replacement diff, or are the splines different? I presume the casing ( diff body ) isn't bent.

Pulling everything apart again next week, to see what is common between the two axles (half shafts etc).

The banjo (axle casing) and at least one haft shaft of the H260 diff is bent. Will see if half shafts are common between the two, and will be supplying the banjo to a specialist company to investigate whether it can be straitened.

If not, then its back to looking for another (strait) replacement unit.

Sigh!

Good luck Ross.
I hope you can find someone that can fix that issue for you.

Ross, I can't believe that the chop ( what ever the company name is ) that looked at the diff for you didn't notice the bend in the axle when inspecting it.

I'm sure that a reputable company in the Cape can heat and straighten the axle.

Maybe check with tour de frans, he might know someone that side. PM me if you need his number.