Nissan (Datsun) Navara 1985

You mean the 5 speed 2.4,?

justin , i had one of these when they were new and found it to be a good truck (at the time) had the petrol (Datsun 720) in a single cab then the first of the navaras in a diesel d/cab - they are somewhat dinosaurs by todays standards, however there is an old saying of 'horses for courses" - good luck - tim

I thought that '85 they were not yet Navaras.... perhaps the first models this year.... My first 'big' 4WD [I went through 5 Subarus!!!] was a 720 twin cab with the works. It had a bigger diesel motor than the hilux at the time. BUT every hilux I ever compared to outdid it! So..... go for a hilux instead is my advice. I burnt out the clutch towing and found that it really needed power steering. If you are talking about the Navara.... then I think improvements were made. A friend of mine had a Navara of near this vintage and I know she moved onto a different vehicle pretty quickly. And... as one last 'knock'.... I'd always go for a diesel in 4wd. They have way better crawling and lugging attributes and less electrics to muck up. They are also more economic. cheers Royce

Justin, I had a 3/86 model Navara 2.4 ltr running on straight LPG. Although it had a few problems it never broke down. The starter motor/ring gear would screech about 4 to 5 times a week as the bendix was faulty but if I pulled it out and lubricated it with wd40 it stopped for a few weeks. I soon got jack of lubricating it as it was not a real easy job.
The gearboxes are a weak point in the Navaras and also suffer from oil transferring from the gearbox into the transfer case (similar to a lot of Toyotas). Power steering is definately an asset as mine didn't have it and I would recommend it especially if fitted with 8" rims. Also recommend air cond. Apart from being very gutless I wish I still had it as I found it suited my needs better than my present 4x4. Lpg range was limited to 430km as the biggest cylinder I could fit was 72ltrs useable under the trayback above the tailshaft. Had over 300k on it when sold.
Rowdy

I had a 85 2.5D for 10 years and sold it with 390k. I found it had smoother suspension than the hilux of the same age due to the torsion bars up front on the 720. Had problems with the it jumping out of gear going down hills in 5th. SD25 engine is known for leaking head gasket. Had some starter problems with it not meshing with the ring gear properly. Sometimes it was hard to locate spares because they weren't a popular make, but I always got lucky. It drove really well off road and could handle a good load in the back. I like the 4wd lever being all in line. Overall it was a very good ute.