HELP: Nissan Patrol Transfer Case Shifter (hard to shift)

[OTEP R]

I just noticed this afternoon. It's an '02 Patrol GU A/T with an aftermarket 4x4 system from HPI (Hummer Philippines, Inc.) consisting of the shifter, manual AVM front hubs, front driveshaft and indicator relay. [4x4 was not standard in that year due to a tax loophole]

I tried testing the system twice. Once with both hubs locked and once with both hubs unlocked. Also tried shifting in different A/T gears but as per manual, shifts should be done in neutral.

Shifting from 2H to 4H and back is uneventful.

Shifting from 4H to N, N to 4L, and vice versa produces some very nasty grinding/meshing sounds and the transfer lever is very hesitant to go in. But when it does go in, there's a loud thud.

Once in, the grinding/meshing disappears and the vehicle is driveable...I also tried shifting it with the engine off and the A/T lever in Neutral. Not surprising, there were no grinding sounds.

Any ideas?

[badger]

have to ask, did you hve to car in neutral?

[evil_hitman]

also have to ask. was the vehicle stationary when you were doing it?

It sounds like something is moving in there and it shouldn't be when changing range. I'm guessing A/T is automatic Transmission, in which case try doing it with the shift in park rather than neutral (just a stab in the dark)

Matt

[rOd]

have to ask, did you hve to car in neutral?

x2

[love ke70]

is it the sort where you ahve to push down, pull into 4L then lift up?
maybe a little more down is required.
failing that how long has it been since 4L has been used?

[ozy1]

in the auto the transmission needs to be in neutral, and i have found it needs to be one swift movement, so practise makes perfect, the first couple of times it made alota noise, now its next to none

[Pixie]

yep, instructions say one quick single movement while in Neutral

[j-top paj]

try it with the engine not running?

[OTEP R]

Thanks guys.

Ozy1 takes home the bacon. Yep, it was my shift action that was wrong. Stupid me. 4H to 4L and back should be done in one fell swoop without trying to stop midway (where N would be). Maybe I just got so used to the shifter action on my former rig (GEN II Pajero diesel).

Yep, I was trying to shift it whilst the A/T lever was in N (neutral). With the vehicle stationary and both parking and wheel brakes engaged.

Also tried it with the engine not running. No noise [obviously]

Thanks guys. Time to practice my shifting technique, I guess.

[ausoops]

whats doing with the non-4x4 standard? was it only that year on patrols only, or was it for all 4x4 vehicles that year. also how did they not have it 4x4? did they just leave the transfer and front shaft off? manual hubs open?

cheers

[OTEP R]

whats doing with the non-4x4 standard? was it only that year on patrols only, or was it for all 4x4 vehicles that year. also how did they not have it 4x4? did they just leave the transfer and front shaft off? manual hubs open?

cheers

'01-'03 (or was it '04?) was a time when 4x4's were considered as 'luxury cars' and were heavily taxed (100%). A way to circumvent the tax was to make your vehicle eligible in the AUV (Asian Utility Vehicle) tax bracket.

AUV's are vehicles specific to our region (Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and some other countries). At that time these included the Mitsubishi Adventure/Kuda, Toyota Tamaraw FX/Revo, Isuzu Hilander.

To get your traditional SUV to fit into the AUV tax bracket, you had to delete the 4wd system and come up with a diagram that shows it can seat 10 passengers.

Nissan simply yanked the front driveshaft, front freewheeling hubs (replace them with the non-free wheeling hub from the base model), dash indicator relay, and shift knob out (replaced the shifter with a flimsy fiberglass cubby box) and put in troop carrier (side facing) rear jumpseats and came out with a drawing that showed it can seat 2+4+2+2.

Mitsubishi also deleted the 4WD of the Pajero but to a more radical extent, deleting the front axle and t/case altogether.

Isuzu didn't have much problems with the Trooper as they really sold a Trooper 4x2 variant.

Biggest joker of that time was Honda, claiming their CR-V seats 10.

[Hoppy11]

Love it, do you have any pics of the interior with 10 seats???
Hoppy

[OTEP R]

Love it, do you have any pics of the interior with 10 seats???
Hoppy

Of the Patrol?

It still looks like your standard issue left hand drive Nissan Patrol but with side facing jump seats in the luggage area instead of the front-facing jump seats on 7 seat models. I think there is an illustration of this in the owner's manual.

On the techincal drawing they showed the Patrol as having a 2+4+2+2 seating arrangement. But there were only three seatbelts in the 2nd row (no seatbelts for the jumpseats).

My rig has front facing rear jumpseats (with all the other necessary stuff like seatbelts and grab handles). They were added by the previous owner after the vehicle was bought.