Newbie from Finland with a few dumb questions

[Oddball Matt]

Hello all apparently I've registered to the forum during the ownership of my last 4x4 Nissan but never made any posts so here I am again as I just today got me an another one.

https://i.ibb.co/NCXXvys/IMG-20201227-230320.jpg

It's a 1999 Terrano 2 diesel automatic, not sure if it's still the 2.7L "unbreakable" engine as this seems to be a facelift model from the previous one I owned. Was a bit of a rush buy as I'm a private contractor delivering mail in a rural area and my trusted Fiat Scudo van lunched a wheel bearing last monday just in time for every single repair shop to be closed over the holidays and I gotta get to work tomorrow, been eyeballing this particular car for a long time since it's automatic but couldn't get to the seller to see it so decided what the heck and gave him a call asking if he'd be willing to deliver and the very polite young man in the other end actually agreed to make it happen! So I bought the car basically without seeing it, paying him what he asked for it and actually slipped in an extra 300 for holiday home delivery.

Haven't driven it that much yet, just a few laps around the block to make sure it works and all, has a few niggles like a busted rear hatch lever and such but nothing I cannot fix or jerry rig. Seems pretty tail happy even with 4x4 engaged but I suppose that's mainly because of the non-studded winter tires. Speaking of 4x4, does the facelift model come with automatic front hub locks as the older '97 I had, hsd the twister knobs on the front hubs and this one doesn't.

https://i.ibb.co/JtKGRgx/IMG-20201227-225916.jpg

Also would like to ask about these. I know full well they're self fitted so they can do pretty much anything but if anyone would hazard an educated guess based on some popular mods people do to these what could these switches do as they don't seem to be doing much at all right now (the last one had some sort of a fuel feed mod that had a switch there and it was supposed to give it more torque but basically all it did was make the truck roll coal)

There's also a three way rocker switch at the right side of the steering wheel with the letters A/T in the middle and the symbols S on top and a snowflake on the bottom, I'm assuming this is to modify the transmission behaviour for summer and winter (so why is there a center position as well)

I know most of these could be answered with the regular RTFM answer but yes I checked and it's lost somewhere to the static of cosmos over the years.

Wow that came out longer than intended. Anyway have a goodun folks really hoping this one will be a keeper as I've lost a TON of money on POS cars this year that were supposed to be ship shape (cough cough hyundai santa fe)

[Flying Torquewrench]

Welcome to the forum! :clap:thumb2

[elty001]

Welcome along:thumb2
A 1999 should be fitted with auto hubs that engage when the transfer is put into 4wd.
Being tail happy is a sign that the rear diff oil is ready for a change.Needs to be LSD oil.
After market switches are anybodies guess to be honest but a bit of wiring tracing might reveal what they are supposed to do.
The rocker switch for the auto transmission has 3 settings.S is sport mode which holds the gears slightly longer,centre position,AT is normal driving mode and the snow flake will use a higher gear to pull off to avoid wheelspin.
Looking at your picture i can see the bonnet scoop for the intercooler is dead centre so will be the 2.7tdi motor.

[Banshee]

Welcome mate and what a great write up and introduction.

I hope the Terrano looks after you, they are such great vehicles and we have the best wealth of knowledge on this forum in the UK, if not the world :naughty

As for the extra gadgets, like Elty said, you're going to need to just trace the wires back. As you're in a cold country, could it be an electric engine pre heater such as a Kenlowe HotStart etc ?

Looking forward to seeing and hearing more

[Oddball Matt]

Awesome info guys, first post and already actually learning stuff! So a bit of wire tracing and a diff oil swap are both within stuff I can easily do at home myself, I`m a trained electronics tech though never worked one day as one, and fairly skilled with the wrenches I just lack a garage big enough to get this beast indoors as I`ve dedicated my tiny garage for motorbike maintenance and metal work.

Probs just getting to know the truck for a time before deciding what needs to be done first but based on prior experience one of the first upgrades will be interior lighting as the original is juts ridiculously poor and I need to be able to sort out mail in pitch black darkness outside so a roll of LED strip will be coming my way fairly quickly.

I`ll see if I can find pics of the old truck, it was a bit of a sight to see with a lifted body, Sahara knobblies, all metal sideskirts & bumpers and a bright orange paintjob :D

[Oddball Matt]

Welcome mate and what a great write up and introduction.

I hope the Terrano looks after you, they are such great vehicles and we have the best wealth of knowledge on this forum in the UK, if not the world :naughty

As for the extra gadgets, like Elty said, you're going to need to just trace the wires back. As you're in a cold country, could it be an electric engine pre heater such as a Kenlowe HotStart etc ?

Looking forward to seeing and hearing more

Well the clock thingy says DEFA which is an interior heater blower manufacturer so I reckoned since it has the electric block heater AND the battery charger, the display thingy is most probly a clock to conrol the interior heater socket. Never seen one before but that seems logical.

[Oddball Matt]

Right, a full day of trucking behind me and I did find quite a lot of things about the truck, not all that pleasant...

-The truck is most defintely very tail happy, and the reason for this without a doubt is that the 4WD is NOT ENGAGING at all! Based on some further studies the front hub locks on these apparently tend to seize open is unused for long enough. If there`s an instructional thread somewhere here or elsewhere about how to inspect and service the locks I`d be most grateful as this is something I haven`t done before. If not a new set of manual locks seem to go for around 200e so not a bank breaker if it comes to that.

-There is a fairly loud whistling sound present when I give it the wellie so I`m suspecting a leak in a turbo hose somewhere

-When the engine gets hot it develops a galloping surge at idle almost like I`m pumping the throttle (^ possible link to previous as a vacuum leak?)

-If the lights are turned on automatic only the driver side headlight will lit up, however when turned to manual both work.

-When indicating a left turn the indicators blink normally twice then start blinking fast even though all work (wrong sized bulb? grounding issue?)

-The indicator stalk does not return a left turn (^possible link to previous?)

-rust damage to right rear quarter at the rear door frame

-Driver door does not sit right, wind howling between window frame at highway speeds, door clearly leaning outwards (driver and rear doors swapped from a donor at some point)

-90% of dasboard lights out

-Loud robotic drone from the ABS unit whenever ABS engages (no warning lights, brakes work. Sign of unit priming to cross the rainbow bridge?)

There`s probly more I don`t remember right now but those are currently the main issues, the biggest one being the front hub locks so any help there is greatly appreciated. All and all, considering the truck is 21 years old, it drives decently, gears work as they should, no howls from the powertrain etc, it`s a proper car just apparently been on poor service of late having served as a kid carrier for the family wife from what I heard, just needs some proper TLC but she`ll be right.

[elty001]

If you look at the top right of the page you will see quick links.
11516
Click on that then scroll down to workshop downloads and there is a how to guide to stripping and cleaning the front auto hubs.
Also loads of other useful ones����

[Oddball Matt]

Not appearing for me, assuming that`s a paid subscription only option. Planning to do that but a bit thin on the cash front til new year. Already found a few youtube videos and apparently the main cause is a broken plastic (!) thrust washer Nissan no longer makes. This is my work truck and it NEEDS to work so probly gonna order the AVM manual hubs after new year, I`m hopping in and out of the vehicle all day anyway so don`t mind twisting a few knobs here and there.

[elty001]

No plastic parts in the auto hubs.
A set of brake rings and a spring.
Sometimes they seize up or get over packed with grease.
Really easy to check.
No need to remove the wheels,just 6 allen head bolts and off they come.
Clean them out with a bit of solvent to see the state of things.
If nothing looks broken,give them a light coat of grease or oil and fit them back on.
11517

[Oddball Matt]

Ok so the hubs I had seen in the youtube video had slightly different insides so it appears the guy didn`t know what cars the parts fit.

Here`s where I`m at now, pnky promise gonna do that paid subscription as soon as the year turns and I get more monies but IF I could get your thoughts once more I`d be very grateful. Don`t laugh my methods are a bit... ad hoc but you gotta work with what you got right?

I took the hubs off and apart, found no fault in either, in fact judging by the way they were pretty thoroughly greased they looked a lot like they`ve been recently visited. Nothing obviously broken in either.

I lifted the passenger corner up and did the wheel spin, axel spin dance to try to get the hub to engage, it did not.

I then dug out my tow strap and hooked it onto the back of my van, backed the Terrano to face it rear first, hooked the tow strap on both cars, put my wife on the helm and told her to let er rip (remember the driveway is all ice and I have studless tires)

-Front prop shaft is turning
-RIGHT front CV axle is turning
-Left is not.

Is it just because the front diff is leaking all power to one side (shouldn`t the left axel be turning backwards then?) or is my front diff broken?

Asking because based on the answers the next thing will or will not be to order those AVM manual hub locks.

[Oddball Matt]

^^ Looking at the parts fiche picture again... I`d have to go in and check but I remember thinking well this shaft is awfully loose in here, and I`m not entirely sure but there`s a possibility the part named "drive flange" was not present which would explain things...

[solarman216]

That part labeled "drive flange" is a fixed hub variant, you could simply have lost drive to left side due to the diff, it is easy to check your auto hubs, with the motor on the ground turn one drive shaft it should lock in about half a turn then turn it the other way and it will unlock, continue and it will lock again, Rick

[Oddball Matt]

Tried that, it didn't work so my suspicions are heavily on the hub locks. And of course there seems to be 27 AND 28 spline versions available so I need to pop one end open again and count the splines over the weekend.

[solarman216]

I might have that wrong, try it with the wheel off the ground, memory is not what it used to be, Rick

[Oddball Matt]

Yep it was off the ground. The cv axle turned back half a turn then hit a stop, however the locking hub did not engage. The evidence is heavily suggesting bum hubs so going to order the manual ones anyway, only as said need to take one off first and count the splines to make sure I got the right ones.

[Oddball Matt]

Just took one hub off and it seems I got 27 spline shafts so a pair of AVM 452:s have just been ordered, reporting back once they come and get installed if they did a thing (I reeeeally hope they will, been stuck at work for five times over the last two days in the stupidest places, really gotta plan where to park)

[Oddball Matt]

OH! BTW, seems there`S a newbie no-edit on this forum so had to do an another post, the switches. The toggle switch seems to control the aux high beams on and off when high beams are selected, still trying to figure out what the rocker switch does.

And an another thing, there doesn`t seem to be an OBD system on this truck? Had an intermittent check engine light today and would like to see why but seems I cannot connect an OBD reader on such an old truck. Though I`m fairly confident it`s linked to the galloping idle surge and the godawful whistle at full throttle so a turbo hose inspection is somewhere in the near future as there`s quite likely a tear in some hose.

[solarman216]

No it is not OBD conformant but you can do a fault code check by linking certain pins on the diagnostic socket, it is in the workshop down loads section, Rick

[Oddball Matt]

To pass the time waiting for the hub locks I had a little rummage through old picture folders and found these. This was my old `97 Terrano 2 2.7L manual. Bought not built though, had a body lift, sahara knobblies, tinted rear windows, spare wheel delete, metal doorskirts, box section sideskirts, side exit exhaust and lights like in a coca cola truck.

https://www.customfighters.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=192 0,fit=scale-down//media/img_20200328_171006-1-jpg.58198/full

https://www.customfighters.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=192 0,fit=scale-down//media/img_20200328_170907-1-jpg.58201/full

https://www.customfighters.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=192 0,fit=scale-down//media/img_20200328_170927-2-jpg.58200/full

https://www.customfighters.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=192 0,fit=scale-down//media/img_20200328_170945-1-jpg.58199/full

https://www.customfighters.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=192 0,fit=scale-down//media/img_20200328_212508-1-jpg.58197/full

[solarman216]

Nice, Rick

[Banshee]

Yeah I like that!!!!

Sent from my moto g 5G plus using Tapatalk

[Oddball Matt]

Small update, offroad shop emailed me. Problems with the importer, locks won`t be arriving til sometime at february. No worries, bit of a bother driving with RWD only getting stuck here and there occasionally but nothing a shovel and a bag of grit can`t solve so far (been hella cold here lately, currently at -13.5c, was -23 when I left for work this morning)

Truck`s been working as expected and it`s really growing on me, totally loving this thing! The last car I`ve had that induced this level of enthusiasm in me was an Alfa GT and I`ve been through a LOT of cars. Sure it has it`s faults you cannot buy a 21 YO car and expect it to perform flawlessly but so far I have very little to complain about. When the temp gets a bit less brutal gonna need to address that throttle whistle/idle pump issue with a bottle of start spray to see if I can spot a leak somewhere but I`fairly certain this one will be a keeper.

[Oddball Matt]

Hey guys back again after a small hiatus now as a fully paid member. Shortly after I swapped the manual freewheel locks on, the truck developed what I`m hoping to be a front wheel bearing tap. It`s too thirsty to daily at work so I`ve let it sit for a good while unused, but now the Fiat van decided to start losing gears (hopefully a transfer linkage issue) I decided now that I have a four day free weekend I`m gonna try to repair the Nissan and ordered a front wheel bearing kit. Just downloaded the workshop manual and holy moly there seems to be a TON of crap inside the front hub! Some sort of a lock nut too (seems like a castle nut?), hopefully it`ll open with a punch drive and a hammer, I think I may have suitable pliers I can do the final tightening with. Wish me luck!

[solarman216]

Hi mate, jack it up and remove the wheel, brake pads, and drive hub, then you will be able to asses the bearings properly, if you get a wheel bearing kit make sure the seal is included, they are pretty much impossible to get on their own, the bearings are easy enough to change, any problems get back on here, Rick

[Oddball Matt]

Just printed out the hub assy bomb pic, seems fairly straightforward. I`m assuming I gotta remove the entire steering knuckle to get the drive shaft out and get access to the inner bearing. The kit I ordered is a FAG kit that has an O-ring, and two different sized seals with metal "cups", however in the bomb pic I can see THREE seals (A,B and C) so that`s a bit of a head scratcher but I`m assuming that will get sorted in the next couple hours one way or another.

EDIT: scratch that now I get it, the knuckle stays on and the hub comes off then just replace bearings, the third seal is behind the knuckle on the driveshaft and will not be touched

[solarman216]

Here is a pic of the hub, nut, lock ring and screws and the tool I made to fit the nut from an old box spanner, iirc it is 53mm between ctrs

[solarman216]

This is the only seal on the hub re bearings, you do need one of these as they get damaged on removeal, Rick

[Oddball Matt]

Prepare thyself, for thee will laugh, hard...

There's nothing wrong with the wheel bearing. The wheel itself however was hanging on for dear life!!! Several nuts finger tight, the rest already on their way off! What was stranger still was I also noticed the allen bolts that are holding the freewheel lock bodies on the hub were also all either very loose or already partly threaded out, even though I tightened them to spec torque! The AVM assembly instruction spesifically said NOT to use threadlock when assembling the lock units but I thought F that noise and did so anyway now (loctite 243), however only on the M8 allen bolts and left the small torx screws that hold the cap on dry.

Shakedown run done, all's well in Nissan land apart from hurt pride from not checking before and a 90€ dent in my wallet. Oh and also noticed I'll be needing fresh brake pads shortly.

[solarman216]

All is well then after all, lucky it did not decide to come off when you were driving, close call I call that, Rick