Stuck in 4Low

[mjmoo75]

There is a 06 rodeo at work push button, Must admit its easy press the button hey presto 4wd hi engaged but to get in low is slow and painful put car in neutral press button and wait for light to stop flashing big pain in arse. Thats why i love my d22 shift the stick and away you go, And its dual purpose (read main purpose) it carrys my stubbie holder every where i go.

Yeah your right, I was happy to buy the D22 not only for the price difference, but for that reason aswell. both my Hilux and now the Triton work trucks I drive have the stick shift and its so much easier then waiting for it to engage. The bigest selling point for us on the D40 was the size of the truck for the kids as they grow and the power difference.

 

[d22dave]

. The bigest selling point for us on the D40 was the size of the truck for the kids as they grow and the power difference.

As much as i love my d22 i would consider a d40 for the same reason. Kids in the back, But in saying that we are down to 2 boys in the back now more room width wise but that doesn,t help leg room

 

[nakedape]

Thats why i love my d22 shift the stick and away you go, And its dual purpose (read main purpose) it carrys my stubbie holder every where i go.

It's where my beanie lives in the off season (i.e. during summer)

 

[mjmoo75]

As much as i love my d22 i would consider a d40 for the same reason. Kids in the back, But in saying that we are down to 2 boys in the back now more room width wise but that doesn,t help leg room

I've only got 2 in the back now too, and trust me the width helps, cause they cant hit each other, pitty it wasn't a tad wider LOL. I still think the D40 still a little bigger in the rear leg room, I know there wasn't much leg room in the D22 after I put the seat right back where I sit. It didnt leave much for growing legs.
I do love the lift you get out of the D22's though, heaps around my area and shit they look tough!!! I dont like being looked down at, at a set of lights, especially since ive done the 2'' lift and some of the 22's around here make me look small.

 

[mjmoo75]

It's where my beanie lives in the off season (i.e. during summer)

That where my stubby holder sits, I know it close by and ready when im camping.

 

[Escapee]

My mechanic has found the problem. Turns out the actuator was fine all along (thanks Lander, not) but the 4wd control unit (computer under the dash) was fried. It would have been fixed a couple of days ago but when I ordered the part from Lander they sent a diff control unit instead of a 4wd control unit (again thanks Lander, not). So I got hold of Adam again yesterday as suggested earlier in this thread and he had the right part. It arrived the sarvo by aussie post and it fixed it.

Here's the interesting part though. When I spoke to Adam and ordered it first thing he said was "have you driven through water?" Apparently he has sold over 30 of these to people who have driven through deep water (which I had done). However, my mechanic said it looks like when I put it in 4Low this was the first time this car had ever been in 4Low. So naturally at 101,000km when I put it in 4Low it got stuck in and when I tried to get it out the computer didn't know what to do and burnt out.

So lesson for everyone out there. Use your 4Low often to keep the transfer case happy. And if thing's screw up after driving through deep water get the 4wd control unit tested first thing to save on labour costs. And don't bother going to Lander in Blacktown, they're useless as tits on a bull.

And finally, a huge massive big thanks to Enzo from "Enzo's Mechanical and Exhaust centre" 1/41 Kurrajong Ave Mt Druitt 96252226

 

[FatBoy89]

So lesson for everyone out there. Use your 4Low often to keep the transfer case happy. And if thing's screw up after driving through deep water get the 4wd control unit tested first thing to save on labour costs.

Or buy a D22
Someone had to say it

 

[justdrinkbeer]

Or buy a D22
Someone had to say it

Would it have got to 101,000km's then though?

 

[FatBoy89]

Would it have got to 101,000km's then though?

Ask Dave. I hear even his clutch is still going. Isn't that a soft spot with you poor D40 owners . Haha

 

[Escapee]

Or buy a D22
Someone had to say it

I had been having doubts. During my D40's down time I ended up contacting Nissan head office to complain about Nissan Lander at Blacktown and their overall incompetance. One of the questions I put to them was "why the hell have an actuator and not just a lever. You put an actuator into one of the top 4wd dual cabs available in the world and it essentiall means it can't be driven through deep water. Why not just put in a lever?" Nissan said "it's funny you should say that, because many of our owners think that a lever is old technology and prefer the switch" I said "if that is true then why do Toyota Hilux - which is Australia's top selling 4wd dual cab - still use a lever and a new Hilux costs more than a Navara and Hilux holds it's resale value better. Also if you put a lever in it gives me somewhere to hang my stubbie holder, cause right now it just rolls around the car. So maybe Nissan could think about a lever and manual hubs in the base D40 models and just go with the actuator for top of the line models. Think of the actuator as an option like electric windows. That way the Base models could even sell $1000 cheaper than they do now and you would have less warranty bills with less to go wrong" Nissan said "It's a catch 22 with most of our customers being tradies that go into complicated worksites and a smaller number having bought it for 4wding as yourself, however what you said actually makes alot of sense, I'll put that forward" then we kept talking about how hopeless Lander are and that Nissan would be investigating my complaint etc.

 

[nakedape]

Why not just put in a lever?" Nissan said "it's funny you should say that, because many of our owners think that a lever is old technology and prefer the switch" etc.

It is more likely that some women (no, I don't mean to be sexist. It's just that many women don't get along with mechanical stuff) are intimidated by the manual lever, thus will not agree to the purchase of the truck - lost sale! Have a look at the toorak tractors - all swish on the inside, all with buttons.

 

[jjohn]

My mechanic has found the problem. Turns out the actuator was fine all along (thanks Lander, not) but the 4wd control unit (computer under the dash) was fried. It would have been fixed a couple of days ago but when I ordered the part from Lander they sent a diff control unit instead of a 4wd control unit (again thanks Lander, not). So I got hold of Adam again yesterday as suggested earlier in this thread and he had the right part. It arrived the sarvo by aussie post and it fixed it.

Here's the interesting part though. When I spoke to Adam and ordered it first thing he said was "have you driven through water?" Apparently he has sold over 30 of these to people who have driven through deep water (which I had done). However, my mechanic said it looks like when I put it in 4Low this was the first time this car had ever been in 4Low. So naturally at 101,000km when I put it in 4Low it got stuck in and when I tried to get it out the computer didn't know what to do and burnt out.

So lesson for everyone out there. Use your 4Low often to keep the transfer case happy. And if thing's screw up after driving through deep water get the 4wd control unit tested first thing to save on labour costs. And don't bother going to Lander in Blacktown, they're useless as tits on a bull.

And finally, a huge massive big thanks to Enzo from "Enzo's Mechanical and Exhaust centre" 1/41 Kurrajong Ave Mt Druitt 96252226

Ok if driving through DEEP water can cause the Control Unit to fry, How? If it is located under the dash, what is getting wet that causes the damage? It seems like there must be water entering an electronic part under the car to short the Control Unit????

 

[Dion]

Fast is the Nissan parts cattledog it's downloadable from some unnamed sources and comes in two parts, the first part is the program (doesn't run on 64bit operating systems) and the second part is the parts list for all Nissan cars and it's region specific. You can search by parts or search by VIN and it's the same thing the dealer uses. I have seen it working and am in the process of getting a copy burnt but I'm sure some of you can find it on the web if you try hard enough

Krrrrafty what year of FAST are you getting? Mine is so old it says "What's a D40???".

 

[KraftyPg]

It's either 09 or 10 Dion, can't remember off the top of my head but it classes the Trol as a Safari or some such thing so it's not perfect but given I have an 09 it works for me.

 

[Escapee]

Ok if driving through DEEP water can cause the Control Unit to fry, How? If it is located under the dash, what is getting wet that causes the damage? It seems like there must be water entering an electronic part under the car to short the Control Unit????

Adam said it could be water shorting out a plug underneath that causes the computer to frizzle. Will wait and see. Now I know how to fix it, I'm going to test it as soon as I can. If it was the water it will frizzle again. If it was what my mechanic said (which sounds fairly logical) then it should be hunky dory from now on provided I run it in 4Low regularly to ensure no more ceasing. I gave it a good run today, in and out of 4Low about 10 times and not a single hiccup. Only hub deep water today though. The real test is headlight deep.

Another thing my mechanic said could have frizzled the computer too was not the fact that it was stuck in 4Low, but when the NRMA mechanic released it. There is a special way to put the actuator back on and if he didn't put it back on upside down then wind it to position first then it might not have locked in, so essentially the computer is reading it is in 4Low even though NRMA manually put it in 2wd, causing the computer to make the actuator contantly turn and overheating the computer and burning it out that way. So three possabilities really.

 

[jjohn]

Ok, it was stuck in 4low before NRMA played with it, I wonder if it was fried then?
How much was the controller?

 

[Escapee]

Ok, it was stuck in 4low before NRMA played with it, I wonder if it was fried then?
How much was the controller?

It's hard to say if it was fried then. 1 theory is the water fried it. Another theory is the transfer case ceased up and the following events caused it to fry and was totally unrelated to the water.

A new control unit would have been $1050 from Nissan with a 3 day wait but I got a 2nd hand one for $350 delivered the next day. $400 in Labour to find and repair the fault (Nissan wanted to charge me $1400 labour to find the fault) and once my mechanic found the fault it was apparently a 10 min job for him to fix it. The problem was the diagnostics kept leading everyone under the car to the transmission and transfer case with the computer saying the 4wd control unit was ok. It wasn't until the mechanic was doing the tests in order as described by the manual (that's what took all the time) that he tested the signal in the control unit and found it was blocked.

P.S. Lander Nissan were going to open the transfer case. And at $140 an hour that would have been a total waste of money. Goes to show, find a good independant mechanic, these dealer mechanics have no idea what they are doing.

 

[Old.Tony]

Ok if driving through DEEP water can cause the Control Unit to fry, How? If it is located under the dash, what is getting wet that causes the damage? It seems like there must be water entering an electronic part under the car to short the Control Unit????

Fresh water doesn't conduct 12V very well either, and a lot of the signals passed around the car are only 5V - in fresh water, you'd barely notice it and neither would an electronic component.

My guess would be the actuator control continually retrying until it overheated. These kind of circuits aren't clever, or capable of being confused. If the switch is on the bloody light works, simple as that. I also don't subscribe to the "oh the unit must have forgotten how to go into 4LO and that's what burned it out". Does a bicycle wheel ever forget that it's a circle (unless it's damaged, which is obvious)?

My personal recommendation is to fit extensions to all of the breathers, but don't worry too much about the control unit. It is entirely possible that the control unit had a component on it that was not quite up to spec. I've seen computers (lots and lots of little components in 'em) delivered that blow up on the first day. Others blow up after months of reliable use, same problem as the first one - an off-spec component finally lets go.

If it were me, I wouldn't be hugely concerned about it happening again - but if it did, I'd know what to look for!

 

[Racing_05]

wow great to hear i am not the only person who has had the problem with being stuck in 4lo. I picked up my Navara up under 3 weeks ago and love it but on the long weekend i put into 4lo for the first time and wouldn't come out(in 90,000km i think its the first time its been used). So got towed back to Nissan so it has spent the last week there and i have to say they are hopeless. They have told me there are 2 parts in freight for my Navara and it should fix it but it took them over 3 days to find a fault.

now i know what the problems are i have a friend in used spare parts and ill get hime to get me a spare to keep in the car as a just incase.

 

[Escapee]

now i know what the problems are i have a friend in used spare parts and ill get hime to get me a spare to keep in the car as a just incase.

No need to carry the spare everywhere you go. All you need is a socket, ratchet, shifting spanner or vice grips and a large flat screwdriver that you can grab with the shifter or pliers.

If you get stuck in the bush, turn the switch to 2wd, turn off the engine and isolate the battery. Climb under the car and remove plug from the actuator then undo the nuts and remove the actuator from the rear of the transfer case ensuring no dirt gets in (not too hard to clean out if it does though). Once removed you will see the 4wd control rod poking out. It has a slot that your screw driver can fit into (the same slot the actuator goes into). If it is in 4Low the slot will be horizontal or pointing to 3 O'Clock. Turn it anti-clockwise to 12 O'clock. You will hear it clunk and you are in 4High. Turn it one more time anti clockwise to 11 O'clock and with another clunk you are in 2wd. Now to replace the actuator without causing any damage it needs to be put on in the right way so as to send a signal to the computer that it is in 2wd now and not 4low. If in doubt and to avoid causing damage you can just bolt it back on for now to keep the dirt out and leave the electrical connection off and just cover it with plastic. Warning lights will flash because the plug is off but it will save any further damage until the actuator can be put back on properly by a mechanic. If you know what you are doing then Bob's your uncle and you can put the plug back on and away you go. If you're like me you can drive it home and let the pro hook it up properly.