Member - Eric replied:

I would stay away from the 2.8 . Nothing but dramas after 160,000 kms , there also gutless . The 3. l td has a good wrap , good power ect , I would rather the 4.2 td , people will say that the power is the same , but the 4.2 will last longer.Venus Bay

Phil P replied:

Hi Angelo,

I have a 2003 GU Patrol with the 3.0L TD engine. I have done just over 21,000 klm and so far no problems.

The economy that I was quoted by the dealer has NEVER been achieved.
I was quoted buy the dealer to be able to easily achieve 1100klm of distance out of the 2 tanks. The very best I have had is 1050 (only once), but average 850-950klm.

The 3.0L TD is not gutless, but at the same time not as exciting to drive as the V8 version.

If your buying a new car, you can extend the warranty to 5 years & 150,000klm. Which takes the worry about major repair cost's for the duration of the 5 years.

Phil P

cokeaddict replied:

Thanks Phil P & Eric for your replies.
First off to you Eric, I will stay away from the 2.8. I had some doubts about it as far as long life goes. I also heard of the "good wrap" about the 3.0, but with what i had in mind from my past expierences with the 4.2, I think I will just try and hunt one down for as long as it takes and just pay the extra few grand. after all, if the next patrol i get does what my present one had done then i just cant go wrong. And just for the record, Apart from an alternator which i accidently cracked while trying to use it as a lever, my 89 GQ has NEVER been repaired Mechanically or broken down ever on any trips... not bad for 600,000 kms, and to be fair to landcruiser owners, I have all the respect for them too, both the patrol and landcruiser are increadable machines. But i will stick with what i know and get myself a Patrol. Thanks again guys, hope to see you out there somewhere sometime.

zigglemeister replied:

Hi Angelo,
On the Patrol list there has been a lot of mention of problems with the earlier 3.0 litre turbodiesels basically blowing up - a number have had the complete engine replaced. From what has been said there I would be wary of the 2000 models, but they say the later ones have had the problems fixed. The Patrol4WD group on Yahoo can give more specific comments - suggest you try them.
Tim

Mick replied:

Save yourself some headaches, and stick with what you know.
Dont expect to get the same life from the 2.8 or 3.o litre engines.
Drive trains are similar, but the early gu's had minor problems with gearbox problems.
I own a gu ute, and my father owns the 3.olitre wagon, he's looking at a trade in on a 4.2 now after many fault lights coming on the dash whilst on a trip to WA.
My last 4.2 sold at 500K and still goin.

cokeaddict replied:

Thanks to zigglemeister & Mick,
Ok I will stick to my original plan and just find myself a 1 owner 4.2 TD GQ 1996/1997. I know they are out there, just have to be looking when the adds go up. Thanks again for your input.

Mick replied:

You have been EXTREMELY lucky coke, judging by all the Patrol problems which are posted on this forum. Just from my readings alone on here I would be very careful about the 3.0l. I'm sure there are people who are happy with them - the failure rate is not 100% of course but it seems high enough to be a concern.

joshinthecity replied:

I love my 3.0 Gu dearly.
But if I was able to get 600,000klm out of it, I would kneel on the ground and thank the baby Jesus...

Josh.

cokeaddict replied:

Hi again Eric, Yes there are some 4.2 TD out there, the hard part for me is finding a 1997 GQ 1 owner. Now that is extremely rare to grab as the car yards hunt them down before most of us have waken up that morning.

In reply to you Mick, "Lucky" well maybe so, but i have to say that common sence was a big part of it. When i purchased my car way back then, I looked at it as a huge investment, so with investment comes a few expensive saftey products like after market fuel filters and extremely good oil filering systems. They were very expensive at the time but in the very long run, they paid themselves off amny times over in many ways. My patrol was fully serviced every 5000 kms, a bit extreme for most but i just wanted to make sure it was "spot on" for when i was out there. After all most of us can drive them almost anywhere, but how many of us could really survive a breakdown out in the middle of nowhere. I for 1 sure would never want to have to expierence that.

joshinthecity..... If your planning on keeping your 3.0 L mate , then maybe you should consider the above and invest in the after market filters. Not cheap but then again, maybe you may end up kneeling down and thanking Jesus. Who knows. Of course at the time when i purchased the GQ, my main concern was weather someone was going to steal her (the patrol) Because the after market filters were not on my insurance policy. But luckily for me, the patrol was not on the hit list. So it all paid off.