There are heaps of aftermarket parts available for the MQ patrol. However as it has been out of production for some time now, parts becoming harder to find and a little more expensive. There are still some basic aftermarket modifications you can easily make, such as suspension, bull bars, lights, wheels, winches etc. Panels and doors from the MQ are the same size as the later GQ and should fit onto your MQ without too many problems. Average price of a GQ door is about AUS$600. There is also some debate of model designations.

At some point in the MQs life, it became the MK and the change is noted by the headlights going from round to square. While some companies have products listed for both the MQ and MK, some just refer to years and some Nissan employees refuse say that there was ever an MK. In general, it is the 'MQ' term that gained the reputation and relates to the model shape. Suggestions and comments are encouraged. This is by no means the ultimate FAQ file. It is based on personal experience and a lot of reading. Some of the issues I have come across, you may not, and vice versa. If there is anything that you would like to add to the FAQ, please drop me a line.

ENGINES

1. Description

2. Things to watch for

The L28 was raced by many people and appeared in the Nissan/Datsun 280ZX in fuel injected and/or turbocharged form. Many mailing lists talk about this engine and there is an internal modification cheat sheet that is available. The P40 engine was carried over from the G60 Patrol. Don't know too much about it. Sorry. The SD33 is the MQ's diesel offering. It came in both normally aspirated and turbocharged form.

The Diesels are better suited to off roading and provide better low down torque and also better fuel economy. They also command a higher price on the 2nd hand market over the petrol versions. You can still buy 2nd hand Japanese engines today. Change your fuel filters every now and then! Don't forget the little one in the fuel pump too!

3. Modifications

Porting and port matching the head will make the most of the extractors/headers as will a new cam and carburettor to suit. The correct combination of all components will give more grunt without the loss of too much bottom end power. Twin carburettors are an option and should be really easy to fit as they came out on L series engine as standard from Nissan. Electronic ignition from other models should also be easy to fit, and provide easier starting, smoother engine operation and idle. Fuel injection would be a little harder, but the head on my engine (N42) is already drilled to accept injectors. I'd like to put on a turbo, but a little impracticle in the bush. I think I'll go with KA24E pistons on L24 rods, N42 head. about 9.3:1 and just under 3litre capaciy. P40. Again, don't know much about this engine, but the same old route of compression, cam, carby and exhaust should get the thing moving.

Don't know of any common problems. SD33. Don't know much about Hmmm.... I'd get a SD33T and put it in. No question. If you can't, they tell me that exhaust headers / extractor do make a difference on a diesel engine. If it's old, take it to one of those places that cleans diesel engines internally. If they get it right, you'll notice the difference. Only other option would be a rebuild and clean up the head. I don't see why the only port'polish rules can't apply to diesel engines. SD33T.

Mike Fish from New Zealand email me and said that he has increased the boost on his SD33T from 6psi to 13 psi and this has resulted in an average increase of 25% in both power and torque. Mike has also fitted a 'FuelStar' to his fuel system and says it's given about a 10% increase in power and proformance, and also made the vehicle run smoother. See a diesel engine expert before you do anything like this as just winding up the boost is going to cause problems unless you know what you are doing. If it's worth doing right, it's worth paying someone who knows how to do it. And that's not me. Swaps There are heaps of engine swaps available for the MQ range. Marks 4x4 Adaptors in Melbourne Australia are the best here. www.ozemail.com.au/~marks4wd/ They make kits to allow the fitting of Holden trimatic and turbo pattern V8 engines, Chevrolet petrol and diesel V8s, Holden 6s, Isuzu Diesels, Ford 6s, Range Rover/Leyland V8, Oldsmobile V8 Diesel and the latest model Patrol engines - TB42 4.2 litre petrol and TD424.2 litre diesel.

Drivetrain

1. Description

The SWB Patrol had the gear box mated to the transfer case while LWB models had a remote transfer case. The drive shafts run up the right side of the vehicle and both diffs are offset to the right side. These both hang down underneath the body and are covered by two bash plates, one simple alloy, one double plate steel. The amount that the transmission hangs down is a criticism of the MQ. Many Patrols have either very dinted bash plates or none at all.

There is also one other bash plate underneath the engine that joins onto the transmission plates. The gear box is accessed from the middle of the three plates and from there you can check, drain and fill the gear box oil. Filling is a little tight so I suggest an oil bottle with some sort of hose. The transfer oil can be checked from the back of the last bash plate. The park brake is a drum brake arrangement, mounted on the rear drive shaft. It is operated by cable to the hand brake lever. This mechanism looks a bit weak and I don't think it could stand up to being used for hand brake turns. I once had a mate (no longer) who tried pulling on the hand brake at about 100 km/h on a freeway and while it didn't break it, it didn't lock the wheels either. So I'd suggest to go easy on it and only engage it once the car has fully stopped. The gearbox also had provision for PTO equipment and a PTO winch is mentioned in the service manual.

2. Things to watch for

With a broken pivot, the cluch will disengage by about 99% when you push the pedal so sometimes it still has engough contact to keep the gears spinning. This can cause you to crunch between the gears. Usual replacement time is about 6 - 7 hours. Some people will drop the gear box to replace the clutch, others think its easier to remove the engine. The seal on my PTO cover started to leak. I had to make a new one from a sheet of Do It Youself gasket stuff from the local parts store. The oil seal on the front diff on my car cracked and the oil leaked out. This actually happened before I bought the car from my brother inlaw. He and my sister managed to drive it with no oil in the diff and you can guess what happened. AUS$1200 to fix. Lucky I got it at a reduced price because of.

3. Modifications

While Marks makes their gear boxes, I have been told that a genuine Nissan box from a light truck will go in with minor mods. Again, check out Marks 4x4 adaptors at www.ozemail.com.au/~marks4wd/ Two wheel options were available on both short and long wheel base Patrols. The normal 16x6.5 'skinny' rims and a few different sizes of tyres, or 10.5R15 LT wheels on 15x7 white rims. The 'wide' wheels were part of a factory option know as a 'wide wheel pack' and consisted of the wheels and tyres, metal flares, chromed steel side steps and a swing out tailgate mounted spare wheel and jerry can holder. In Australia at least, the wide wheel pack meant that the indicator lights were moved from the corners of the chassis down to the bumper bar. This was to comply with local design regulations that stated that you must be able to see the indicators with out obstruction. The new location of the spare was considered to cause an obstruction. The spare wheel on the 'skinny' models was mounted underneath the rear of the chassis, covering the fuel tank.

When buying second hand, watch out for people selling 'wide wheel' packs as a feature. Many are either rubber of fiberglass flares, alloy side steps and a single spare wheel carrier on the back. These are not factory wheel packs so don't let them fool you.

Brakes

1. Description

2. Things to watch for

I managed to go through a set of rotors in 30,000ks due to uneven wear. This was fixed by a caliper overhaul, although they are playing up agian. An overhaul is never as good as a new one, Unless you find a brake guru. The firewall also flexes slightly when you use the brakes hard, and can lead to other parts breaking or wearing out like the master cylinder and brake lines. I have not heard of this leading to sudden or catastrophic failure, just a bit of added wear.

3. Modifications

Suspension

1. Description

2. Things to watch for

A nice bloke sent me dropped me a line to say that his Patrol had the same wheel shaking, but it was the bearings in the front wheels (knuckle bearings and connected other bits). Come to think of it, I had these replaced when I had an adjustable knuckle bearing put in. (refered to as a king ping bearing in Oz.) The front left suspension geometry is also a problem as is with most 4x4s. It is termed the 'steer left' syndrome in Oz where the car doesn't like roads with camber. After market king pin bearings are made with an adjustment in them to allow correct alignment. These are sometimes prone to breaking if punished, this is because they offset the bearing seat, and this means that one side of the seat is thinner than stock.

Leaf springs also sag with time and lose their spring. Many Patrols sit low on the right side as that is where the driver sits and all of the running gear is also located along the right side. Aftermarket kits are set a little high on the right side to counter this. Australian steel is supposed to be better than Japanesse steel and is a selling point of my aftermarket springs. But I'm an Australian so I'd have to say that.

3. Modifications

Body

1. Description

The bench seat folded up and out of the way to increase the load carrying space at the rear. Later SWB models had a wider bench seat that sort of turned up at the ends to negotiate the rear wheel arches, thus allowing 3 rear seats, allowing 5 in all. About '84-'85 the head lights went from round to square and it's this feature that will be asked about if someone is trying to work out if you have and MQ (round) or MK (square). Suspension seating was also introduced in '86 and the resin canopy went metal and non removable in Australia. In other countries, the resin top was still available. Most models had volt meter, oil pressure gauge, tachometer, 4WD indicator, park brake, temperature and speedometer.

The wide wheel packs had a spare wheel carrier mounter at the back that was secured with two catches, metal flares and chrome side steps. The metal flares were all black in early models but later came out color coded, about the same time as the metal canopy.

2. Things to watch for

Radio reception is awesome and kicks the butt of even the latest model pasenger cars with aftermarket mega steroes.

3. Modifications

I will have one sub woofer right back at the rear, and two smaller speakers behind the front seats. This sounds better than having two at the front and two full range right at the back. You can really notice the distance between the front and back speakers. The two in the middle will fill this sound void. The standard radio is easily removed and a replacement fitted. A CD player skips too much for my liking and tapes are just a little more rugged. Tinted windows make these 4x4s look good. I've also seen the rear canopy with a single piece of glass along the side instead of the normal two piece sliding windows deal. It was in northern Queensland, was tinted and looked really slick.

Electrics

1. Description

However the wiring loom should cater for either. The external regulated ones are marked LT and the internal ones are LR. So you get LT150 (50 amp) and LR160 (60 amp). The Wide Wheel Packs had slightly different wiring for the bumper mounted indicators at the back and had simple red tail lights in the place of the standard models indicators lenses. Wiring is also there for fog lights and air conditioning, if you didn't get it fitted from the factory.

2. Things to watch for

I don't know if it was just lots of use or the fact that the wiring has been changed to drive relays instead of globes. I wouldn't expect relays to draw more than the standard 130 watts of high beam load. Anyway, the metal contacts in the switch unit in the steering wheel carbon up and don't work properly. This caused the highbeams to come on by them selves, not turn off when you wanted, even turning all lights off. This came be fixed by pulling the steering wheel off, and the switch unit and cleaning the contacts inside it gently with a points file. I've done this twice.

3. Modifications

It was then modified for higer out put by doing something tricky like joining two of the winding together. The plus of doing this is that Bosch bits are easily and cheaply available, and came out in Australia on other Nissan cars with L series 6 cylinder engines. So, mounting brakes are easily available, and cheap. The alternator cost me $25 from pick-a-part, and the braket was $6. (I broke a bolt off in my braket.) Bosch parts are used in Australian made cars also, so you could be fairly sure that you could get parts in the outback if you break down. The modification to the alternator cost me $100 but I'm sure that you could do it yourself if you knew what to do. from looking inside it looks like about 10 minutes work and no parts needed. It did however measure an output of 110 amps. The downside of this modification is that the output is lower than an unmodified alternator when the revs are very low like at idle. The External regulator must be disconnected and one of the wires from the original plug into the back of the alternator need to be connected to the new alternator, and the other wire is not used. I think it's the fatter wire that is not used, but play it safe and take it to an autoelectrician. Once you've done this, wire your spotlights directly to the output of the alternator so you don't put too much load on the fusable links between the batter and alternator.

References/Bibliography