High Km on GQ Diesel - how many too many?

Gday mate,
A lot will depend on how well it's been looked after and serviced over the past 15 years. I am of the opinion the td42 engine is good for 1,000,000 klm if it has been treated properly. By that I mean regular 5,000klm services/filter changes; not flogged and not used as a rock hopper or for other extreme aspects of off-roading.
Do a close under-body inspection to see if it has been abused off road. Check carefully for oil leaks around power steering pump, fuel pump etc etc.
If it has been a "town car" and has never been off road or used in 4 wheel drive mode, that could present some problems too. If the front drive-train has not been used on a regular basis (even if that simply means locking up the front hubs and running around on bitumen for a week or so every month without having the transfer case in 4x4) then the front tail shaft, diff etc can wear a flat spot on bearing surfaces etc.
Check for rust along the sliding window sills on the side windows of the cargo bay as well as any other likely places.
I would imagine a good example of a vehicle this age should go for just under $10K
, but that would depend on a lot of factors.
Good luck
Roachie

With 450,000km's on a GQ I'd be looking at pretty much everything that hadn't alredy been renewed.

The body will be loose.

The suspension will need to have been replaced at least once (springs and shocks).

The diff's will probably be okay. Nissan diffs are tough and long lasting.

On probably it's third clutch already.

Lots of suspension parts should have been replaced - bushes etc.

Engine will be getting tired, but still should have miles left in it if it's been looked after.

Gearbox and transfer case may be noisy, but an oil change will probably shut most of that up.

All in all, it really depends HOW cheap it is...

That's my two cents anyway. Hope you find the info useful.

Cheers,

Anthony

Go and have alook at Trucksters site for the good oil on GQ's

www.gqpatrol.com

purely depends on history of the servicing..
mate ripped the head off his cause of a top end rattle at 560,000klms. you could see the cross hatchign in the bores from new.
Thats Rimula-X oil and filters every 5000klms.

Mine has done 490,000 km, same model as what your looking at. Its had some suspension bushes replaced, new springs and a new clutch recently. The drivetrain is still in excellent condition. The rear LSD is still tight. The 4.2 diesels have gear driven cams, a large sump capacity, dual oil and air filters and are extremely heavily built for the power they produce. This all adds up to an unstressed engine which lasts a long time. The gearboxes are the biggest you can find in a conventional 4x4 and the diffs almost never give problems in normal use. Some bodies will have developed cracks and all will have rattles by now, depends mainly on how many km of corrugations its seen. Look for rust in the firewall in the horixontal seam where the airbox below the cowl joins the firewall - water gets in through the cowl vents and eventually causes rust in this joint. Its easy to remove the cowl and spray some fishoil around in here - it will penetrate into this seam.
I'd spend the $100 and get a compression check done by a diesel specialist, if this checks out OK and your happy with the way it drives you will get a lot more life out of it yet. I've owned or driven for work many different 4x4's and while the Maverick/GQ 4.2 diesel may not be the most refined or powerful vehicle, IMHO its the most durable and best value on the market for around $10k. There are some relatively inexpensive things you can do to freshen them up such as replacing body mounts and suspension bushes. The fan clutch may well also be tired but is not a big job to replace. Keep up the 5000k oil and filter changes and change your gear/diff oils if/when you buy it.