Tuesday, May 24, 2016 at 13:25
Kirk, it seems that block failures are uncommon with the YD25 engine that you have - but many other engine items seem to crap themselves regularly.
Conrod bolt failures were common in earlier YD25's, but that problem seems to have been addressed by Nissan.
Timing chain failures are a
well-known problem with the YD25. The original timing chain appears to be good for 80,000kms, and that's it.
There's a heavy duty dual timing chain alternative which appears to cure the problem.
YD25 Timing chain failure
Product Review is one site I use to do research on items I buy. The reviews are posted mostly by genuine owners.
You do need a degree of discretionary judgment to weed out the glowing reviews that are posted by people who have only just bought their vehicle - or they work as salespeople, selling Navaras!
The overall review level for the D40 Navara is 3 out of 5. This is not satisfactory. I regard reviews of anything, that rates below 3.5 out of 5, as an unreliable, trouble-prone product, and I will not buy anything that falls below a 3.5 out of 5 Product Review rating.
What amuses me with some owner reviews, is how they relate a long list of problems they've had to endure - then they give the vehicle a 4 out of 5 rating!!
They must be masochists to put up with regular problems and then report the product as being satisfactory.
You buy a new vehicle to get new vehicle performance. That means virtually trouble-free motoring.
You can buy a second-hand vehicle and get trouble-prone motoring - why would you put up with constant and major problems, with a new or near-new vehicle!?
The Navaras list of problems extends to regular clutch problems, occasional gearbox,
suspension, driveshaft, and rust problems - but most importantly, a constant and regular lack of customer/warranty support by the Nissan company.
Below is a site for a company that rebuilds YD25's. It's interesting to see the amount of modifications that they indulge in to make the YD25 provide a satisfactory level of performance - that the engine should provide from the factory - but which it obviously doesn't for many people.
The very fact that one business is making good money out of addressing the YD25 design failings is telling.
The "Products" menu lists and outlines the regular YD25 failures. What also shows up is inconsistency in the failures. This is a basically a result of inconsistencies in Nissan QC.
Many of the engineering improvements also show up a distinct failure in design of the YD-25 - from inadequate timing chains, to inadequate oil supply to numerous critical components, to poor oil pump design.
YD25.com.au
Here's the Google search results for the Navara YD25 engine problems. The resulting hits cover a wide range of Navara problems.
Google - Navara YD25 engine problems
My advice is, the simplest and cheapest solution to your current dilemma is acquiring a low-km engine from a wrecked vehicle and installing it.
The expensive and longer-term solution is to install the new short block.
Everything hangs on how long you want to keep the Navara and the time frame to recover your losses.
It seems obvious that you'd be happy to quit the Navara as soon as possible, so installing a good used engine, followed by prompt sale of the vehicle, is probably the option that will see you lose the least - and reduce your exposure to further Navara or YD25 costly problems.
Cheers, Ron.
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