3.0 L Y61 subtank light, brake light & charge warning light and smoke!

Hi all,

Hope you are well. I am from West OZ.

I have a Nissan Patrol 4WD 3.0 Y61 series diesel 2006 model 185,000 on the clock. The subtank light, brake warning light and charge warning light all came on at once over the weekend and again this morning. This morning I also had a strong burning smell and a good amount of smoke was coming out from under the bonnet. Wasnt quick thinking enough to open the lid and see where the smoke was coming from. I also think I could hear a turbo whining noise as it spins up . Never heard that before.

I limped back home and it is stuck in my drive. FYI, I had a new heavy duty alternator put in last year when I had the same problem then. The alternator change seemed to fix the problem- well at least all the lights went out and the car went back to normal.

I also had the car serviced about 2 months ago with no reports of anything unusual.

Any thoughts on what could cause this? Turbo dying? What else could cause the smoke?

Thanks for your help.

Cheers

DQ

Did it smell like an old smoke belching Magna or was it a really pungent attack the nostrils type smell? If the latter, and as indicated by the 3 warning lights, I think your heavy duty alternator is fried, or associated wiring is burnt. This could let out quite a bit of smoke.

Hi there,

Thanks for your reply. Much appreciated.

Difficult to say - initially I thought it was a quite pungent/acrid smell, and I thought it may be burning rubber. But then I took another whiff and thought it was more like burning oil, and the smoke was whitish. I cant see any evidence of burned oil or fried cables or fried alternator. But I will look again.

Would be disappointed if the alternator has gone- its only 13 months old. I'll put a voltage meter across it and see what voltage I get when the vehicle is running.

I did install a power amplifier and new speakers last year before the previous alternator failed. Pretty sure I did the install ok. Followed instructions to the T. Stereo wasnt actually on when the problems started this time around.

Cheers

By the way, when they changed out the alternator last year we also replaced the spring loaded pulley. Old one fell apart when the alternator was taken off.

That combination of lights is classic for a fried Alternator or, at best, no Alternator output (fuse or whatever).

Alternators can release a surprising amount of fumes if they decide to do the "Buddhist Monk" and self immolate.

Try a Voltage check as you suggested and work from there

What they all said mate. Classic Alternator Fail i reckon. call the guys that fitted it for Warranty maybe.

Definitely the alternator mate. I've had this happen in a past life with the same car as you. Easy fix at least, kinda. The alternator is a bugger to get too.

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