Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

My back diff ( GQ 1995 ) at the wheel hubs and the nuts/bolts are getting very hot when I travel a distance of 50km+, is this the first sign of wheelbearing failure or could there be another problem. The left feel more hot than the right , but even the right one feels to be more hot than normal.

Its either the bearings or the brakes that are not releasing properly.

Hi Jules,

I have the same problem. Right hand side is geting very hot. At the last service, SAC's checked all the bearings and brakes, and found nothing wrong. My understading is that their is a brake bias valve on the troll and this could be a problem.

I have booked the troll in at a Nissan dealer on the East Rand to investigate further. Will post findings.


Regards

Let us know if you came right otherwise you must contact Mark White of Mark White Nissan in Fourways 0837087364. Even Glynn Demer that used to be part of Nissan Marketing use to sent all his problem vehicles and that of the customers to Mark.

Grant, the brake bias control valve only splits the braking between front and rear, not left and right (designed to load up the rear brakes more once loaded) so that should not be the problem...
I would tend to go for a brake or handbrake problem rather that generates the heat. Bearing failure should only be experienced on higher km / older vehicles and one hardly experience such on the rear... (that is for normal wear and tear - if one had an accident - pothole / pavement or the like, different story)

I have seen when we replaced the back brakepads that the left side sweat much more than the right actually rather clocked up.According to my mechanic not a major problem since our trucks etc at the quarry shows similar sweating, I have already inspected the diff breather but that is open no problem there. Possibly seal that have gone to greener pastures?

The smell is that of a brakepad getting stuck.

Groete
Jules

Hi Jules,

Not sure if the GQ has the same setup as my GU (i.e rear disks)? On my GU, the rear brake callipers are of the "floating" (self centring) type (I think that the correct terminology?). I recently had an issue with my rear brakes where due to my love of mud, the floating mechanism had seized, causing the inner pad on the drivers side rear wheel to drag, and wear out quicker than the outer pad. I didn`t specifically notice a heat issue, but the dragging must have caused some heat build up. If your van has a similar system, then it may be worth checking to see that the mechanism is moving freely.

Regards,

Ross

Hi Gents,

My Troll is in and Phillip (Service Manager) called me today to inform me that the left rear disc brake has excessive wear on the inside, side. Also the disc is slightly warped ( clunking sound when driving) and a combination of the two problems caused the heat build up on the wheel.

Costs are a follows,

R 1,500 a disc.
R 750 for brakes pads per side.

I have asked them to source pads locally as Nissan do not have stock in SA. I cannot complain as the Troll has 337k on the clock and this will be the first replacment discs on the rear.

Regards

Grant

Hi Gents

Just got my troll back and drove home. On inspection the problem had not been solved. When driving sloly you can hear a scraping noise on the left rear disc.

Its on its way back to Nissan. Will keep you posted.

Regards


Grant

Jules

I changed the discs, pads and found the calipers in order. To my disgust the problem had not gone away. After cleaning the bolts holding the caliper on, I found one of them to be catching ever so slightly. Below is a pic. Changed the bolts an bob's your uncle.