Gu 30. litre Intercoolers

Go to Nissan, go direct to Nissan and do not take "that's normal" for an answer.

The intercooler is after the turbo and the only place oil can enter the intercooler is from leaking turbo seals.
Further to this, if there is oil on the external surfaces of the intercooler, the intercooler is leaking.

Geoff.

Don't know the answer DavidT but let us know when you find out...

cheers

The oil could be coming from the crankcase recirculation plumbing but with the history of these things the turbo heads the list of possibles. Good luck, you will probably need it.

Nearly every 3.0 litre I work on has oil in the intercooler. It is more than likely from the breather.
It shouldn't be there so its not normal but they all have it.
Please let us know what Nissan say.

Hi David
Having owned a GU 3.0L TD (2000 model) I'm familiar with what you see when you're looking in there
To answer your questions the best way I can :
1- The intercooler is basically a pressure vessel,ie- it should hold pressure
2-These are air to air intercoolers -The air being forced through the scoop on the
bonnet is used to cool the pressure air provided by the turbo in the intercooler as the vehicle is driven along
3-The air induction system should be dry internally,the engine is not designed to have oil pumped in on top of the pistons
The only things that should be there are clean air and fuel
4-The oil where you describe it means two things :
The intercooler iis leaking and there is oil where it shouldn't be
The seals on the intake side of the turbo could be passing oil,a blocked air cleaner could cause this or the engine is pumping oil up through the breather, these problems are not that good as far as the dollars go, I had an intercooler replaced under warranty and the mechanic at the Nissan dealer told me it was worth around $1100,dont know what a turbo repair wuold be worth
So if you've got some warranty now's the time to get it fixed
Hope it works out for you

Regardless of whether the oil is coming from the turbo or breather they are a separate issue but your intercooler is leaking for sure. This seems to be a common problem now and they seem to fail where the tubes go through the header plate assembly. If it's under warranty all well and good, if not there are 2 ways around it. 1st is new intercooler from Nissan which may go the same way. 2nd is to have a custom intercooler core built and cut off both endtanks on your current I/cooler and weld them on the new core. From memory a new core is around the $330-$350 mark plus the work involved in cutting and welding the endtanks.
Regards Andrew.

mine had the same problem 2003 it was changed at 55000 kms its a problem with the interccoler itself , if underwarranty go get it changed to the dealer

mine (2001) has the same problem-

nissan dealer put it in writting to me that its "normal".

I also got a 2nd opinion from a diesel "expert" & they say (in writing) its normal aswell.
They even showed me a 100series cruiser at their workshop that had a heap of oil in its cooler pipes.

I dont think its normal but havn't got a warranty or the time to worry about it.

Nissan also recon that i have to replace my glow plug seals & rocker gasket as they are leaking oil onto the rocker cover - $285?????? Anyone else had this problem.