second-hand 3.0 GU

Hello Phil,what problems are you referring to,havent had any problems with either a 2000 model or my current model,please let us know.happy travelling.

Phil,
The GU II 3.0l was released in May 2000. In Dec 2000 there was a recall to fit a new dipstick and oil pickup. This increased oil cap from 8.0l to 10l. Not sure of the reasons behind this although did hear a rumour about failure to keep lube pressure on steep slopes (ie was sucking air).

Another problem has been the 5th gear stripping at the mainshaft spline. Most vehicles would have had this happen in the first 75000K's Nissan have released a revised shaft & cog with an increased boss length.

Personally I would regard a turbo timer as mandatory. I believe the NSW Police force has experienced some issues with turbo bearings through quick shutdowns.

Some vehicles have had issues with computer chips - there has been an upgrade chip issued to those who complain. The air control valve has been a bit of an issue on a few vehicles.

I have also been told to watch the fitment of CAV type filtration as they are getting a few failures due to starvation caused by the finer filtration (and aparrently CAV are putting a note in the box advising not to fit to electronic diesels)

I have a 3.0l with 120ks. Have heard of one with 185k's and one 12mths ago with 155k's then.

Mine has had the sump, 5th gear and new chip under warranty. Have also had turbo replaced due to the cone actuator failing (probably a $50 part) but not serviceable and hence $6k for a new assy - fortunately under warranty. The first 75k's the vehicle went well, (5th gear done at 72k's) and since then have had issues with intermittent power loss (now fixed) but is still a little off song now. Still pursuing these issues under warranty and it has taken 45k's to get as far as I have.

All up they go well on the highway and despite the knockers the motor does lug reasonably well. Believe the motor originated from a european truck so has been around a little bit. The same motor is now used in the Navara without the Intercooler.

If doing a lot of heavy towing I would look at the 4.2l as the 3.0l requires a bit more work on the stirrer to keep revs above 2000rpm in order maintain reasonable progress.

I will be replacing mine in 4mths and will get a Nissan again but giving some thought to the 4.2l.

In all honesty I think the underlying motor is sound, however, as with all things new I thihk there have been a few teething problems.
Certainly do all the usual pre-purchase checks and check the driveability of the vehicle out in a variety of situations.

The Nissan Patrol Group at Yahoo is worth a look at for more info.

Regards


Pete G

Thanks Pete, you have answered all of my concerns and Brians question as well. I'm buggered if I know what to do at this stage, so that means I will do nothing at the moment. Ill take my time and really look around. Again thanks for taking the time to so comprehensively answer my Q. Cheers, Phil

Any 4x4 vehicle over 2 tonne with a small 6 or a 4 cylinder diesal is worth nothing under our conditions, toyota has got it right raw horse power. I drive a 92 4.2 super charged patrol which have proven to be a bullet prove donk, i tow a camper trailer and do a lot of black top driving but a lot more off road trips. Off road i keep the revs between 900 to 2000 revs which gives me heaps in reserve for the play times, have done over 250,000ks and havent touched motor or any of the driveline. I think people expect to much from the small fragile eguipment nissan is putting on the market to sell vehicles. Heavy vehicles need big donks for longtivity. The only vehicles i have trouble keeping up with are the 80 and 100 series toyota, but thats modern tecnology. Col

As Colin has pointed out some people have had issues with the non-turbo 3 litre and Nissan has now "improved" on it - time will tell whether or ot this addresses all the issues...

For "traditional" dieselists out there - come in number 23 your time is up. World emissions standards mean that diesels have to adapt to new technology as much as any other type of car - no more cam operated mechanical fuel pumps as per 60's petrol engines. Nissan met the required standards with the old 3 liter and didn't have to make too many changes to the old one to get to the new one and the new standards - it wasn't that far off the pace unlike what was suggested in this forum....

It would quite easily be possible to update the "old" 3 litre with the changed components - only consideration is how much do nissan want for the parts - probably big $$$$$$

Turbo diesel is the far better option. Actually in my view the 4.2 Petrol is the far better option, Electronic pumps, electronic ignition or direct injection are all just ways of "de-dieseling" the motor to make it more liveable. If you want that but still want diesel go the Pajero Di-D.

Howls of complaint can be adressed to: Suzuki Viagra

PS: Pushrod? OHC? MultiValve? - A pushrod engine is definately going to be OHC or there's no point in running the pushrods......... If you aint OHC you can't multivalve anyway - then it's called porting - and that still didn't prevent 300bhp per litre from sidevalve engines..... try a seven port per cylinder NSR-V 500

To all the knockers of 3lt Patrols...........
seems to me that you guys are the ones who can`t afford a new car just now and are putting down these excellent vehicles to make yourselves at ease.I lashed out for one of these Patrols because any one who has owned a Nissan of most descriptions will tell you that Nissan don`t build bleep ,,,,,either does Toyota for that matter but who can afford a 100series?,,,not me!

Yes its true they do lack a bit of low end torque and they`re probably not suited to long term heavy towing,,but bloody hell they are good value for money.Mine goes most places comfortably offroad and tows our camper trailer comfortably ,,passing many passenger cars that are towing up hills.I have owned a petrol 4wd and got sick of their piss poor fuel economy on high country jaunts and trips to the dunes of Robe,,yes i had to buy jerry cans ,,now they gather dust in the shed.Long live 3lt Patrols , i love `em

Jeremy was happy with his - Nissan didn't chnage much - hence you should be happy.

Realise that every vehicle will have unhappy customers - either due the customer not doing the required research, the salesman doing a snow job, or the occasional faulty car.

best solution is try one and see if you like it with all our feedback in mind and of course, make sure you try the direct competitors.

Overall most people (but not Hardcore crusher addicts) think the early GQ in both petrol and diesel forms was miles in front of the cruiser. Obviously Toyota did what it could to resolve this and the tables are currently reversed - all new Patrol should finally be out this year or 2004 with an option of 5.4 32 Valve V8 petrol.

I think the current Patrol is still ahead of the Cruiser - but that is my opinion and I havem' had the pleasure of testing all models over all terrains - even 4WD of the year didn't do that as the Nissan was not eligable - it was a January Model.....