Nissan Patrol Towing Capability
Submitted: Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 10:58
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meercat
Hi fellow readers, I own a 2001 GU Petrol/Gas patrol (auto) and tow a Jayco Eagle Outback which I believe is around 1100kg. Can anyone offer some advice regarding why my vehicle struggles to tow uphill regardless of whether on petrol or gas. On the open highway I may be doing around 100-110kms but as soon as there is a slight incline, the Patrol can't handle it and will easily drop back to around 80kms. You really notice the lag on any incline and it isn't pleasant at all. I drop it back to 3rd from Drive and even use the overdrive on incline approach just to get the rig up the
hill - surely the patrol can't be this bad. Considering it is rated to tow 2500kg, I reckon if I towed something this heavy I wouldn't even make it up a
hill. I have had the gas serviced and the petrol done some 5,000kms ago. It ran slightly better but still tows like an old dog. No modifications have been made to the vehicle except a hyclone filter.
Someone suggested it is probably the fuel injectors - they could be dirtly and need cleaning. I have run a couple of tanks of optimum unleaded including the injector clean you buy off the shelf to put into the tank, but still no noticeable difference.
Can anyone offer some advice? Hopefully someone else out there has or is experiencing similar.
Reply By: Smudger - Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 14:16
Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 14:16
G'day meercat,
Mine's a Disco V8 dual fuel. I get amazingly good economy on lpg. But when towing the CT, economy goes out the window and she labours up
hill. Pulls better on petrol than on lpg. My mechanic (who is a real LPG wizard) tells me that he can fix it by tuning the vehicle exclusively for lpg. But, out there I need to have the option, so I sucks it in. I've spoken about this at length with lots of guys on the track. Bottom line is, whatever your rig, towing costs power and fuel.
Just for intersest my LPG figures: (Freeway speeds)
Not towing 16.3/100ks @ .70cents/ litre = $9/100ks
When towing - double the cost.
Compared to diesel achieving 11/100ks
@$1.50/litre = $16.50/100ks
AnswerID:
280765
Follow Up By: meercat - Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 15:36
Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 15:36
I haven't done my figures yet but on the next trip will be something I need to
check out. When the LPG was serviced the mechanic said it was running very rich but this service hasn't improved the towing capability at all. It still feels as if someone behind me is pulling me in the opposite direction.
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Reply By: Trevor R (QLD) - Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 19:31
Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 19:31
Out of interest, standard tyre size should have been 265 x 70 x 16 when your truck was new.
If your BFG's are any bigger than this, expect it to not only suck the power but put your speedo out as
well. I have 265 x 75 x16 on my GU and the speedo is out by 4-5 kph (100 on the speedo is 105 on the gps).
Can't help you with power drain as
mine is a t/diesel so my experience is useless to you.
Regards,
Trevor.
AnswerID:
280815
Follow Up By: meercat - Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 22:41
Thursday, Jan 10, 2008 at 22:41
Thanks Trevor, they are 265x70x16 and speedo according to those overhead highway devices appears to be pretty much what the odometer is saying give or take 2-3kms. GPS unit is almost dead on.
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Reply By: westozal - Friday, Jan 11, 2008 at 11:18
Friday, Jan 11, 2008 at 11:18
Hello Meercat,
I tow a 5.8m(body length) Poptop Van with a 4.5 auto Landcruiser. It is also petrol/gas. On gas i feel it loses torque(pulling power) and yes it slows on hills markedly.
To counter this I change the trans manualy to keep a few revs on board....at the end of the day a few revs wont hurt the motor as much as labouring it. Big hills I go back to second at maybe 75-80 kmph.
I find the cruiser is happier to tow with overdrive off(most auto
places suggest not towing in overdrive) but i have also fitted taller tyres (295/75/16 bfg all terrains) which artificially makes the final drive ratio taller. ie when my actual ground speed is at 95kms my speedo says about 88 kmph.
A friend of
mine owns same car as you and tows a 20 ft full offroad van with his and has no problems. His is auto and he again switches off overdrive, runs orginal size tyres.
Hope this may help you.
Alan.
AnswerID:
280948
Follow Up By: meercat - Friday, Jan 11, 2008 at 14:06
Friday, Jan 11, 2008 at 14:06
Thanks Alan, I find that using the overdrive prior to approaching incline does help somewhat but like you I mainly manually gear down. I haven't tackled any really big hills where I have had to go back to 2nd (yet!) . Does your friend with the patrol also experience significant speed reduction on hills?
It appears from the
forum response that what I am experiencing is pretty much the norm for the 4.5l petrol. I do find that a road with plenty of hills requires a lot of manual intervention and I even have huge semi-trailers overtaking me on hills - pretty embarrassing really. On the plus side and providing the road ahead is dead flat, I wouldn't even know the Camper is behind me.
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Follow Up By: meercat - Tuesday, Jan 15, 2008 at 12:29
Tuesday, Jan 15, 2008 at 12:29
Hi Alan, I must have trouble identifying my gear selection. I don't have 3rd as it is only a 4 speed auto so yes I do manually select 2nd on most
hill approaches.
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Reply By: westozal - Friday, Jan 11, 2008 at 16:23
Friday, Jan 11, 2008 at 16:23
Hello again,
Your description about how your Patrol preforms is fairly
well normal including my friends ti patrol.
One of my other mates has had two GQ patrols 1988 and 1992 models a 98 gu 4.5 man and currently a 2001 4.8 auto. I have over the years been on trips with all these patrols and probably the biggest underperformer (maybe being a new model we expected to much) was the 4.5. Very reliable unit but thirsty and less power in comparision to the 4.5 cruiser of the day.The 4.8 is another story....goes very
well but has 5 speed auto which makes a difference. Having the extra ratio makes it much more drivable.
I like my 80 but i'd love to have it running thru a 5 speed auto not the rather clunky 4 speeder in it now.
I also used to tow a offroad soft floor camper trailer with a diesel maverick, it used to find the camper a chore to tow. After I sold the camper and brought the van aside from headwinds there didnt seem much difference in towing the trailer or the van. I guess what im saying is that most off road trailers are hefty items and weigh a fair amount so your Patrol maybe doing better than you think.
Regards Alan.
AnswerID:
281016
Follow Up By: westozal - Friday, Jan 11, 2008 at 16:29
Friday, Jan 11, 2008 at 16:29
HI,
I would also add that the cruiser would probably climb the hills in third but wash off more speed in doing so. Thats why I do tend to change it manually and keep up momentum......just how I drive my car.
Regards Alan.
FollowupID:
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Reply By: zigglemeister - Sunday, Jan 13, 2008 at 03:15
Sunday, Jan 13, 2008 at 03:15
Hi meercat,
I have a 99 GU 4.5 petrol/gas, manual, and I have felt the same about it - it just doesn't seem to have any real pulling power. The only solution I have found is to drop it back a gear at the bottom of the
hill. On the Patrol
forum there were some who felt that even though the old 4.2 in the GQ is only 125 kW, it had better torque midrange and actually felt better to drive than the GU. I've never driven a GQ myself so can't speak firsthand, but I found it an interesting comment.
The injectors will of course not make any difference to the way it runs on gas, only on petrol.
I have advanced my timing from 5 degrees (recommended) to ten degrees, and this does make it run a little better on gas, but not that much, and the tradeoff is that it pings its head off on petrol when going up hills. I'm planning to put it back to 5 degrees shortly, as I'm expecting to do some travelling in areas where gas isn't available.
AnswerID:
281303