Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Howzit All!

Thought I would let you all know about a little trip that proved to be a frustration from hell that was only made bearable by some of the most amazing service from Gavin at Mark White Nissan in Fourways...

On Wednesday last week we had the Patrol packed(lightly) for a quick trip down to Durbs for the Nitro Circus and then on to Clarens for the annual beer fest...
We stopped at Montrose for a quick chow and a general vehicle check (as I normally do...) but as I climed out of the car I smelt boiling coolant. I was parked next to a Toyota so imeadiatly felt sorry for the poor oke as I assumed it was another Toyota that was hurting...

To my horror the smell got stronger as I went past the front of the Patrol's bonnet!!
I opened the bonnet to check and saw that the overflow bottle was a little fuller than normal but everything seemed good and the temp gauge was as it normally is.
On to Durban and after keeping the eagle eye on the gauge and just cruising down to make sure there was no undue strain on anything we stopped at the accoms in Totti to see the Patrol leak a constant stream of luminous green coolant onto the floor.
10 minutes later, I found the leak to be coming from below the water pump...

After some frantic calls to EVERY dealer in KZN and coming up with absolutely nothing (pretty flipping arrogant from everyone except Pietermaritzburg) I tried Mark White Nissan (where I originally bought the Car from) and got in touch with Gavin. He proceeded to source a pump and Gasket from the warehouse in Pretoria and arrange to overnight it for me so that by the Friday morning I could try and replace all the leaking parts.
So true as hell, On Friday I called the courier and gave them my tracking number ( which Gavin had sms'd to me amongst a dozen update calls through out the Thursday) and was pleasantly surprised when they told me that the part would be delivered at Nissan Umhlanga before 10 am...
So I filled the fluids and took a seriously slow drive to Umhlanga (she was leaking very slowly if at all while the engine was running), picked up the part, some tools from the local Macro and some water and proceeded to the closest covered parking spot to swop out the pumps.

2 hours later and after a struggle with a air lock we were back on the road...

Still having issues with the motor and her last few small airlocks, but its now back at home and all running well.

Huge thanks to Mark White Nissan, Gavin and their staff who took it upon themselves to order, collect, pack and overnight all the way to Durban without ever asking for a cent. The only words spoken were that they trust me and will see me when I get back and I can then come and sort them out!!!
Have you ever?

So, for once, I feel I have totally gotten value out of a R3000.00 bill!!

Great

Fantastic Adrian !!...

Well done Mark White !!!

So much for a 4.8 being bullet proof then.

This patrol was bought second hand like most of the ones on this forum I dont think a waterpump on a 200000 km od engine is doing to bad????
Very cool Mark white nissan you people rock

Née Jong Tinus. 200,000 km is nothing in my view. You shouldn't need to replace a water pump at that kind of mileage. But maybe that's just me. What is not clear here is whether the pump itself failed or just a seal or gasket. In the latter case, suddenly failure is somewhat unusual as one would normally expect some minor leaking for some time before it becomes serious (?).

Hi Guys

As Tinus says, my car was bought second hand with 195k on the clock. That was three years ago.
She now has 245k on the clock and to date, other than a leaky front right trunnion seal (replaced with ease!) and a worn through vacuum pipe for the diff lock, I haven't had a days sh!t.

The pump is still in perfect shape! The bearings are true and smooth. It was the seal that went. and yes Clem, there was some leaking, but being behind and under the Fan and viscous, I would excuse anyone for missing the signs as you would basically need to strip the fan and radiator to inspect the underside of the pump.
There is no internal erosion other than a VERY small spot which I assume would have been caused from cavitation. But this is so slight that I was genuinely impressed that after a quarter of a million k"s, the inlet and outlet to the pump housing still look brand new!
This is also the original part that was assembled with the motor at the factory.

Do I love my car any less due to her transgressions? No!
As it was a dream to still be bale to do a road side repair with a 10, 12, 14 socket, a screw driver and some lip ice.
I am also gaining far more confidence in her as even with the water leak she still got me too Durban and then to Umhlanga.

On a side note, after arriving in Alberton, I went at the motor with the digital heat gun. Hottest part of the motor which was at the back of the head was sitting at a constant 92 deg's C.
Those in the know, does that sound OK?

Next up for her is a complete cooling system flush, a new thermostat, a new radiator cap, and possibly a radiator and overflow tank clean
Coz she deserves it after all the happy cost free km's she has given me!

Now all of you go give that Troll a gentle pat on the backside and maybe a quick kiss on the bonnet, coz they are still bloody amazing cars!

Thanks Adrian. Look *any* machine can give trouble.

92 degrees wouldn't be any issue I don't think. I've run engines much hotter than that with no issues.

Adrian, 92 degrees is fine, in fact it could go up to 15 degrees higher before boiling. But what was the temperature gradient (front to back)?

Clem, I believe this is one of the very first SA 4.8's. The chassis seems to be a hybrid, modified from a 3l or 4.5l chassis, and not a production 4.8 chassis, and I am not sure what radiator was used.

It is the only such chassis I have seen.

Thank you Peter. Very interesting!