Hoping for some info on what to lookout for when buying a patrol?

I will be getting a diesel, are these engine reliable?

Thanks

As long as you are buying the TD42 version 6 cylinder 4.2 L and not 3.0 L 4 cylinder ZD30 Diesel. Especially in that year bracket.

ZD30 engines really have a bad reputation for expiring early and costing heaps to fix. If you have spare 10 grand in case the engine blows up than go for it. They don't call em "grenades" for nothing. Here is a news flash for you; Nissan dealers have a national shortage on crated ZD30 replacement motors at the moment (they've run out currently) what does that suggests, you be the judge!

These engines require extra modifications and extra care to handle/deal with. When they work they're OK but that uneasy feeling will remain.

So if you are into fitting boost gauges, exhaust gas temperature probes and gauges, fitting bigger exhausts, blocking EGRs, fitting boost limiters, CCV catch cans, fiddle with adjustment of variable geometry turbocharger actuators, fitting glow plug timers, extra fuel lift pumps, fitting better intercoolers, bigger bonnet scoopes, belt tensioners, dual mass flywheels, ....... the bucket list gets quite long actually and thats on top of the regular maintence and before you start modding the usual fourby stuff like suspension lift.....

If you are not mechanically minded and handy with spanners expect to be fleeced.....

I hope I didn't scare you too much, lol

Edited October 8, 201213 yr by Rumcajs

Thanks mate

LOL scared me all right. wouldnt the 42td be heavier on fuel though? The car will be used for daily driving.

TD42 is heavier on fuel, around 14-15 L as opposed to ZD30 11-13 L. TBH I wouldn't use either as daily driver (I actually do drive it as such) its a pain

Look the Patrol engine situation is not that good. TD42 is obsolete heavy slow but reliable long distance runer and ZD30 is high tech modern but unreliable sprinter. Than there are 4.5 L and 4.8 L petrol guzzlers. I love Patrol but the choice of the engines available chits me to tears.

Cheers

Edited October 8, 201213 yr by Rumcajs

My 91 4.2 gets 12L/100 ..

Surly the new ones are better

Sent from a device which doesn't always agree with my thumbs...

thanks for the comments.

when i say daily use i travel 70ks each way to work every day.

I see alot of the 3.0td around town.

Is it just the luck of the drawn with the engine blowing up or is it the servicing of them?, Ive seen on the net for sale a few high k's cars.

Thanks again

It is a luck of the draw indeed. You can have it perfectly serviced and yet it will go bang. There are those who flogged it, abuse it, not bothering with any preventative measures and yet the engine is still going. Than there are those who look after it, not abusing it doing all the preventative measures and yet it goes bang and there are those who are blisfully unaware of the "ticking time bomb" they drive all with stock no mods engines waiting for the bang. Consider a case of TJM rep recently who's 2005 model (the ones which suppose to be cured of all those problems) with 245,000 km on the clock went bang, had no anti grenade mods stock as rock, serviced regularly, mostly doing black top runs. No warning signs, no issues to suggests anything wrong is about to happen.

Nissan told him that anything over 140,000 km is a bonus! Great customer service ay, please hand over 10 grand to have it fixed.

Major contributor is idiotic piston design and cheap alloy it is made from. Combine that with poorly designed CCV oil separation, moronic EGR system and poor/flakey engine ECU management and the results are coming in.

Nissan Patrol GU , the great 4WD let down by questionable engine.

To travel 140 km daily in the Patrol I hope you've got big fat valet or own a service station. lol

Cheers

Edited October 9, 201213 yr by Rumcajs

140 a day is not that much, thought the patrols would be good on fuel.

im doing it in a petrol v6 rodeo at the moment...

Thats 700 km a week (for 5 days) with average 12.5 L per 100 km consumption that would work out to be roughly 19 cents a kilometer if price of Diesel was $1.50 a liter, which would be $131.25 AUD a week. Staggering amount for me considering my better half is driving i30 with around 8 cents a kilometer average cost for fuel, in your case that would $52.50 AUD a week. I know which one I'd be driving lol.

Cheers

Edited October 9, 201213 yr by Rumcajs

12.5l is that the average for them or can they do better. are they a common rail engine?

Sorry for all the questions just like to know all a can before buying a car.

CrD started from 2007 onwards, the best you could ever hope for is 10 -11L but that is not easy to achieve, I've been trying, the best I ever got was 11.3 L. Non CrD actually seem to have strangely enough, better average consumption. Some CrD are absolutely atrocious around 15-18 L per 100.

Acceptable average for both is around 12 L/100.

Cheers

Would you happen to know how the petrol model go on fuel i know there not the best

I'm not really sure, but considering the size and weight of Patrol I wouldn't be surprised if the both 4.5 and 4.8 L straight sixes would drink anywhere near 15 - 22 L per 100 km average depending on the situation. Most people would put those beasts on dual fuel petrol/LPG.

Cheers

Edited October 10, 201213 yr by Rumcajs

Thats 700 km a week (for 5 days) with average 12.5 L per 100 km consumption that would work out to be roughly 19 cents a kilometer if price of Diesel was $1.50 a liter, which would be $131.25 AUD a week. Staggering amount for me considering my better half is driving i30 with around 8 cents a kilometer average cost for fuel, in your case that would $52.50 AUD a week. I know which one I'd be driving lol.

Cheers

Pffft!!

I did over 700km on a country run and back last weekend. Started with a full tank and had about 15-20L left after peddling the thing all the way up the coast and back. I came home, filled the thing up again and it all cost me less than a buck.

I love my 4.2. Costs nothing to run ( literally) and with the Pump turned up I reckon goes OK for the size and weight of the thing. Normaly I get as low as 10L /100 but still get 12L/100 on a country run with the thing loaded to the gunwhales.

Worst I ever got was on a stinking hot day towing a 1.5 Ton trailer up a couple of mountain ranges and that was 18l/100 KM.

I think it's great suburban car. I sure as hell feel a lot safer in it than the wifes or sons regular sedans.

Yeah, parking in the city can be a bitch but that's irrelevant to engine types and would apply to all vehicles of that size.

I'll put up with it rather than some easy to park shoebox that I could be killed in if a motorcycle hit me at legal speed. I can put 2x 44 gallon drums in the back without folding own the seat or throw in a pallet or 4 with ease.

As for being slow, yeah, I guess so compared to other vehicles 0-100 time but in the real world, I never arrive later than anyone else anywhere I go.

I got held up with a breakdown on the highway last weekend and when I got past it I wound the old girl up and backed out of it at 145 as the other traffic was impeding me going any faster. I think it would have easy pulled 160. How much faster does anyone want to loose their licence?

This afternoon coming home I watched this wanker in a WRX cutting up the bumper to bumper traffic and about 6 kn up the road I crept past him in the other lane. He took off again like an idiot and when I turned off the road about another 6km further on he was 2 cars ahead. So much for having a fast car!

What I really like is I can service and work on the thing myself. I don't need a computer to Diagnose it nor have to take it back to a dealer if it does have a problem that the computer codes have to be checked. Things can be got to easy, parts are cheap and despite the old girl coming up to 570K km on the original untouched engine, I NEVER have a fear of the thing breaking down or blowing up.

I am sure there is 1 or 2 3Ls out there with that sort of mileage but it is the extreme rarity rather than being nothing at all special on a 4.2.

Before you buy look in here --> Nissan Patrol complaints

Edited October 27, 201213 yr by Rumcajs

i know nothing.

i know nothing.

You have been "Glorted"