Oil pressure swiches and ballast resistor

[TNK]

Hi to all.

Bought 54 plate 3.0DI SVE Patrol recently and have begun having problems with oil pressure light staying on when engine running, however I have noticed this only happens when i've used the glow plugs. Fire up straight away without waiting for plugs, light goes out!

Have heard this is a very common fault on these engines. If so would Nissan be deemed responsible for repair or would it be hand in pocket for switches and ballast resistor?

Appreciate any advice

Cheers

 

[andrewk]

It's hand in pocket. I'm on my 4th HP oil pressure switch from new - only just learned about the ballast resistor. The switch is about £20 IIRC - no idea how much the ballast resistor is.

Andrew

 

[SPARKIEDOO]

TNK ....WELCOME M8

oil switch is very common to go faulty :sly you need to buy in bulk :lol there not worth the money :nenau

ive stopped fitting new one,s ....i just check the oil weekly :thumbs its a lot cheaper that way .

 

[Fez_uk]

no such problems with the 2.7

 

[SPARKIEDOO]

no such problems with the 2.7

no POWER / SPEED with the 2.7 :augie

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

no POWER / SPEED with the 2.7 :augie

I don't know, mine goes well enough :thumb2

 

[TimG]

no POWER / SPEED with the 2.7 :augie

Not a shed load more with the 3.0!

 

[andrewk]

I think the bloody thing has just failed again!! Awaiting a phone call back from Nissan, Oldham about replacement. Fortunately, it's less than 12 months since it last failed -- so it should be still under Nissan's parts warranty.

So far as I know, the ballast resistor has never been replaced. The service folks at Nissan went blank when I raised it. I guess that there'll be a Nissan technical note about it - has anyone seen it (does it have a reference number??)

Andrew

 

[firebobby]

Hi TNK, I had this happen on my car a few weeks ago, very easy to change and it's now viewable on the toolbox section on the home page.
Bought my new switch from a local factors £6 and like I said, very easy to fit:thumb2

 

[andrewk]

Just had a phone call back from the Nissan service desk. One of their chaps rang tech support at Nissan who said they didn't know of any ballast resistor associated with the HP oil pressure switch. Most odd -especially as there is a resistor M156 shown on page EL-4314 in the section about the wiring harness. They are going to have another look and try to bottom it. The last thing I need is to replace another oil pressure switch (even under the Nissan parts warranty) only to have it fail yet again in another 12 month's time.

The wiring harness diagram suggests that the ballast resistor may well be behind the dash and be accessible by removing the glove box. Has anyone with a Patrol got actual experience of having this ballest resistor replaced? Can you confirm where it is?

Andrew

 

[andrewk]

The wiring harness diagram suggests that the ballast resistor may well be behind the dash and be accessible by removing the glove box. Has anyone with a Patrol got actual experience of having this ballest resistor replaced? Can you confirm where it is?

I managed to "obtain" a copy of Nissan Fast over the weekend. The part code for this resistor is 24336W and from the illustration seems to be behind the radio or SATNAV's DVD.

Has no one with a ZD30 ever actually replaced one of these?

Andrew

 

[andrewk]

OK, let's try again.

Has anyone with a ZD30 engined T2 or Patrol actually changed the oil pressure switch ballast resistor (part code 24336W) when they had an HP oil pressure switch failure? If you did - why did you do it?

I have discussed this at length with the Nissan tech at Oldham and he's found a Nissan technical note dating from 2006 about frequent failure of the HP oil pressure swtich. In the replacement oil pressure switch kit, there is an OPS-Adapter (OPS = Oil Pressure Switch) which is supposed to fix the problem. It is NOT though any kind of resistor.

Any thoughts on this?

Andrew

 

[andrewk]

Actually, I'm not completely sure I'm right about it not being any kind of resistor. It definitely is not an electrical resistor - but it could conceivably be a hydraulic one. According to the Nissan tech at Oldham, its a piece of pipe with a small hole in it (I think he meant a restriction) and a fitting for the OP switch on the end.

I could imagine this reducing switch contact chattering and hence failure rates.

Andrew

 

[firebobby]

Actually, I'm not completely sure I'm right about it not being any kind of resistor. It definitely is not an electrical resistor - but it could conceivably be a hydraulic one. According to the Nissan tech at Oldham, its a piece of pipe with a small hole in it (I think he meant a restriction) and a fitting for the OP switch on the end.

I could imagine this reducing switch contact chattering and hence failure rates.

Andrew

Is the piece you are on about by the OP switch, I think my switch screwed into an extension type pipe that sat out from the block, but not 100% sure

 

[andrewk]

Is the piece you are on about by the OP switch, I think my switch screwed into an extension type pipe that sat out from the block, but not 100% sure

That does sound like what the Nissan tech described - but that isn't a "ballast" resistor, is it?

Andrew

 

[firebobby]

That does sound like what the Nissan tech described - but that isn't a "ballast" resistor, is it?

Andrew

Don't know, all there is is a plug with wires that fits onto the end of the OP switch, unless the resistor is in the switch casing.
Why don't you just change the switch again, I was quoted £25ish from Nissan but got mine for £6 and so far, it's OK

 

[andrewk]

Don't know, all there is is a plug with wires that fits onto the end of the OP switch, unless the resistor is in the switch casing.
Why don't you just change the switch again, I was quoted £25ish from Nissan but got mine for £6 and so far, it's OK

The "ballast" resistor is shown on the wiring diagram - on the Patrol it's behind the radio. As it failed within 12 months, Nissan are going to replace the oil pressure switch F.O.C. They'll fit this OPS-adapter thingie too at the same time, but want a contribution towards the labour cost. I s'pose I would have had to pay for it the first time round anyway - so maybe that's reasonable.

Andrew

 

[edgerton19]

I did a work sheet on changing the switch on a 3.0 Terrano see http://www.nissan4x4ownersclub.com/downloads/workshop/wk42.pdf one of the photos shows the extension adaptor that came with the modification kit from Nissan. The mod kit contained the new switch, extension piece and thread lock. On a Terrano it takes 15 minutes to change.

 

[firebobby]

I did a work sheet on changing the switch on a 3.0 Terrano see http://www.nissan4x4ownersclub.com/downloads/workshop/wk42.pdf one of the photos shows the extension adaptor that came with the modification kit from Nissan. The mod kit contained the new switch, extension piece and thread lock. On a Terrano it takes 15 minutes to change.

Yeah, that's the bit I was on about

 

[andrewk]

I did a work sheet on changing the switch on a 3.0 Terrano see http://www.nissan4x4ownersclub.com/downloads/workshop/wk42.pdf one of the photos shows the extension adaptor that came with the modification kit from Nissan. The mod kit contained the new switch, extension piece and thread lock. On a Terrano it takes 15 minutes to change.

Thanks for that. I'd guess that it would take a similar time on the ZD30 in the Patrol. I think access to it is the same or similar - there is a removable rubber skirt/liner in the driver's side wheel arch. So - given that it takes about 15 mins to do - and Westway Nissan Oldham have replaced the sensor twice previously and charged me half an hour (reasonable) to do it, I wonder why they told me on the phone that it would take 2.5 hours and asked me to pay for an hour's labour. Strikes me that they are taking the Michael .....

I reckon that I have a right to expect a franchise Nissan dealer to be expert on Nissans motors - if they aren't, there's no point me getting them to servce & repair the 'Troll. I might as well get a local garage to do it - or do it myself. Westway Nissan first changed the HP oil pressure switch in September 2008 when the car was only days out of warranty. Nissan UK paid the labour cost and I paid for the switch itself.

As there had been a recall in 2005 (the service chap at Westway Nissan says that he doesn't think there was) and a subsequent Nissan technical note in 2006 about it (he told me about that), then the second, third (both of which I paid for) and fourth oil pressure switches failed due to Westway Nissan's incomepetence. In the circumstances, I reckon I shouldn't pay a bean. (Just rehearsing the argument)

What do you reckon?

Andrew