Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Please my intention is NOT to bash anyone but I feel I should atleast inform other owners of my experience.

Last year I bought my Patrol and decided to replace all oils, gearbox, diffs etc I took my car to a reputable expert, shortly thereafter I noticed the gear changes weren't as smooth and when stopping I'd hear a clunk. The same goes for switching from N to D. Anyways I drove it for almost a year and sometimes I noticed it started rolling backwards on hills. I also developed a gearbox "sweat" mark. It was due for a service and decided to take it to a Nissan Dealership. Long story short they topped up with the incorrect spec oil. Interestingly the same oil the earlier mechanic used. After almost 30 days of waiting for the correct spec oil - Matic J/S NOT Matic D / Dex 3 as used on the older 4.5 AUTO gearbox. I eventually went to Fuchs in Isando and purchased the correct spec oil. The gearbox was flushed as best we could +-9l came out. Not only was the correct oil cheaper but I spent almost half doing a 90% flush of what I spent previously doing a 40% oil "replacement".

Since then, it's been a month or so and done a couple trips. Gear changes are SUPER smooth, car holds up a hill with a loaded trailer without rolling backwards, engine is quieter as it doesn't rev as high due to torque converter locking up earlier plus my fuel consumption has got better by almost 8%. My gearbox doesn't sweat anymore either. Different beast entirely and it accelerates with refinement, it feels like it has much more torque.

I must mention that ALL the dealers in Gauteng were MISINFORMED and ONLY Nissan Upington and Nissan SA (depending on who you spoke to) knew the correct spec. I ended up printing a service bulletin from Nissan Japan to show the dealerships their stuff up.

In conclusion guys don't trust any mechanic to use the correct spec oil. Not from a deceit perspective but in that they genuinely might not know the subtle differences. I will continue to use said mechanic, as he is good.

Sometimes don't fix it if it ain't broke

Valuable info! Thank you!

Dieselfan

Was the original oil not perhaps overfilled?
The oil expands when getting hot and the resulting pressure may have caused the sweatlne.
Last time I had my various gearbox oils replaced, I checked the manual, sourced the oils myself, and then took it with me to the dealer, only for the dealer to confirm this is what they would have used. Ofcourse it is cheaper to source ypurself too.

There is a sticker on the slam tray of the 4.8 that tells you what oil to use. Did this give you the correct info or not?

Nissan dealership staff are poorly trained, unprofessional, have little-to-zero knowledge of their own products,take no responsibility for their workmanship, nor all their mistakes.

I HATE NISSAN SOUTH AFRICA

I have had my patrols serviced/troubleshooting at various dealerships between Western / Eastern Cape and as far as i have found they are all the same. Pathetic.

Russ Kellermann wrote:Nissan dealership staff are poorly trained, unprofessional, have little-to-zero knowledge of their own products,take no responsibility for their workmanship, nor all their mistakes.

I HATE NISSAN SOUTH AFRICA

I have had my patrols serviced/troubleshooting at various dealerships between Western / Eastern Cape and as far as i have found they are all the same. Pathetic.

Yeah Russ,

I have to agree here sometimes.

The million dollar question remains!!!

Will this ever change??

Russ it’s not just Nissan, I have experienced the same at Ford and Land Rover (no surprise, oh is Land Rover not Ford or Tata or .......LOL) .

It’s sad to say that your statement applies to a many of businesses in South Africa. No, I am wrong because it is in fact a worldwide problem as I experience the same with my suppliers in the UK. Customer service has gone out the window and together with it the training of staff which is why they neither know or understand their products.

Mark

If there were more Patrols in this country then maybe some more people would have had training on the Patrols!

I know that Mark White Nissan did have training on the Patrol.

Hi gents

It is for this reason that my troll visits SAC Centurion, as Gerhard knows the troll, and that is why I have 405000 km on it. I am almost sure Nissan do not have a single mechanic who knows how to service and tune my troll.

Also thank goodness we have Grahame here in Gauteng. Also excellent on trolls.

Tinus lotz wrote:There is a sticker on the slam tray of the 4.8 that tells you what oil to use. Did this give you the correct info or not?

Where do I find this?

As for the over filling I doubt that was the case as mechanic said he removed the same amount he filled. As for saving money doing it myself, I actually didn't I just supplied the proper amount of oil and saw it took barely an hour labour...