ECU to Blame?

[PatrolMol]

Hi Guys, hope I'm not breaking any rules here or doing the wrong thing by asking? Have done the Intro part after joining up, so hoping someone might be able to help me now? Firstly, I have a Nissan Patrol GUII 2006 4.2 Turbo Diesel. Have had it since new. Its now got 166,000 kms on it and just love it!
Anyway, I hired a car trailer a few weeks back and after hooking it up, I lost my tail lights and hazard lights. Blew the fuses, which were easily replaced and figured that out all by myself :-)
Now the airconditioner has stopped working and also my glow plug lights as well. I assumed it was another fuse or two, so tried changing them all. No good. Figured it had to be the relays or something else, so tried a few different ones and still no luck.
By this stage I realised it was not a job for a DIY woman, so took it to an auto electrician. He spent some time with it and diagnosed the faults tracing to the ECU. He quoted me around $600 to fix it all and this included him sending my ECU to Brisbane and having it tested and repaired. I then rang Nissan and asked them their thoughts. They told me that it wasn't a repairable item and only fitted new ones... for $2200 plus labour.
Today I took the ute to another auto electrician and after spending the day there, he told me that he had been unable to get a wiring diagram for it and also suspected the ECU. All the wiring diagrams he found, weren't for my model. So basically advised me to take it to the local Nissan Dealer for repairs.
Just wondering if anyone has any advice on these ECU's and if it is likely to be the problem? I've since noticed after driving it home today, that the tacho has also now stopped working!! I don't want to shell out a heap of dollars for something that is only 'suspected' of being the problem, but obviously don't want to keep driving the vehicle whilst something is happening in the electrics :-(
Any advice forthcoming? Would be greatly accepted and appreciated

[Clunk]

Unfortunately I'm not able to help but hang tight and hopefully someone will be along soon to assist

[Bulbous]

I'm not an expert, but that sounds a bit dodgy to me. Like the guy doesn't know and just hits on the bit that will net him most cash.
The trailer was a few weeks ago - so probably not related. The fuses did their jobs when they blew.
It still drives so maybe it's just an instrumentation problem like a dodgy earth or the alternator is playing up and it's running of the battery. (this might not be such a problem on diesels? I don't know cos I've never had one)

I would look at each item separately before clumping them together and assuming it's the ECU

Check the AC just in case it's the fan and only works on the highest setting.
For sure your AC is not controlled by the ECU.
Look at your relays - many of them are identical. Check the part numbers and then swap the identical ones about - if the problem changes then you're onto something.
If the Glowplugs didn't work would it even start?

As I write this and refer back to you post, I just noticed the DIY Woman line so that makes me even more dubious - it's not unheard of for mechanics/electricians to spin all sorts of chit to women if they think that they can get away with it.

Maybe the second guy was more honest when he said he didn't know and take it to the dealers.

I used to own a BMW that twice had a completely dead instrument cluster - I was major worried and took it to the dealer the first time. Turned the car off and went in for a chat. Came back out and it all started up perfectly - the guy just said that he was lucky like that. Yeah right.

Second time it happened I just turned it off and started it again - perfect. Too much electronics in cars these days

[YNOT]

From my experience as a mechanic ECU's are very reliable and the last thing I would suspect. Most dealers will tell you ECU's can't be repaired because it's quicker and easier to sell a new one, better for their sales figures too, but most can be repaired.

Is your Patrol factory intercooled, being 2006 it may be? If it's not intercooled then you don't even have an ECU.

As Bulbous has said the faults need to be investigated individually, checking for correct power and earth in each circuit to begin with. The faults may well all trace back to a common component but it needs to be diagnosed, not guessed.

Tony

[BillsGU]

Good advice Tony - it could be something simple like a fusible link. Surely any competent auto elec with a multimeter can come up with a diagnosis - not a guess ?

[PatrolMol]

Thanks Guys for the advice so far. I ended up taking it to a 2nd auto electrician, hoping for a 2nd opinion. He had the vehicle all day, then when I called him back to see how he went, he advised that he had spent quite a few hours on it, to no avail. He said he couldn't even get a correct wiring diagram for it! Apparently my ute is the model right before Nissan went into the 4 cyls and no diagrams available. Yes, its also intercooled turbo. His suggestion was that I should take it to my local Nissan Dealer and get it checked out. I decided then that at least the first auto electrician sounded promising. I dropped the ute into him on Wednesday and he was going to remove the ECU, send it to someone in Brisbane for checking and repairs and would have it all back in a weeks time. Here's to hoping! Will let you know how we go with it, but am really disappointed that I have a ute that is so commonly seen on the road each day and that two prominent Townsville Auto Electricians, couldn't fix it up :-(

[BillsGU]

Let us know how it turns out - should be interesting.

[PatrolMol]

Well, the Patrol came home yesterday. Auto electrician said that the ECU had shown a small fault, but that he had added another part to it (think something to do with the aircond) and it was now all fixed. Charged me $506 and home I drove it. The airconditioning worked well, the tacho was working again and the glow plug light came on when I started it.

However.... as I drove it into the carport at home here, I noticed the glow plug light came on and it was surging on and off???? Just before I shut it off, it went out. Am now worried that there is still a problem, but not sure if I should ring the mechanic back and tell him about it????

[BillsGU]

RING HIM BACK !!! That is not normal and he needs to take another look at it. You don't want it failing in the middle of a trip to the Cape or wherever. Better to sort it out now.

[Bigrig]

RING HIM BACK !!! That is not normal and he needs to take another look at it. You don't want it failing in the middle of a trip to the Cape or wherever. Better to sort it out now.

X2 - definitely get it checked again (no charge as should have been done right first time).