03 Patrol issues.

[dpetersen]

G'day guys, just brought my first Patrol and I have a few issues and questions I am hoping you can help me with!
I have a 2003 Patrol wagon, GU||| ST diesel 4 cyclinder. 285000Ks, manual.

So I picked it up last week private sale, $13700. I start my new job in the Kimberleys on the 16th of Feb so I am leaving Melbourne on the 2nd of Feb. I am going to do the Oodnadatta track on the way, then head over to Alice and travel via the Mereenie loop to Kings canyon so I can see a few friends, then head back to Alice and take the Tanami track up to the Kimberleys!

The car is pretty stock, it has a snorkel and spotlights, alloy front bar and ladder racks. I had a second battery fitted a few days ago to run my WAECO fridge and had a UHF installed.

I will be towing a small 4x6 tradies trailer with me and will hopefully be able to find a second rim and tyre this week to take with me for the car.

So a few issues/questions.

1. I went away camping this weekend with the car towing a trailer and the check engine light came on not long after I hit the dirt road. I checked the water and oil and everything I could but couldn't find any issues. Turned the car off for 5 minutes and it went off and comes back on after a few more minutes of driving. Not sure if it is just a censor or what, any ideas? It is due for a service and will be getting that done this week.

2. How do I know if the hubs are on auto or lock? Is it best to just leave them in auto? If they are in auto does that mean if I put the car into 4wd I don't need to get out and lock them?

3. When I had my Ford the "recommended" tyre pressure was 32PSI, I ran them between 36 and 38. Ride was not a comfortable but tyre had better grip and lasted longer. What is the best PSI for the Nissan? What is the best PSI to have for dirt roads?

4. What fuel consumption should I expect? The trailer isn't heavy, (about 600Kgs), I don't "flog" my cars and expect to be sitting on about 100KPH with the cruise control set.

5. Issue with the back door, when I go on bumpy or dirt roads the censor or something must be loose because the light on the dash comes on to say a door is open, which is also obviously causing the center light to go, off, on, off, ect. Has anyone else had this issue? Apart from just turning the door light off is there anything else?

Cheers in advance guys, Daniel.