Economy figures Patrol 3.0l diesel Manual

Hi Andrew

11.5l/110KM arount town

Sitting at 95kph 13.5-14.5L/100KM towing Jayco Dove Outback camper (about 1320KG fully loaded). At 100-110KPH drops to 15.5-16.0L/100KM

MikeF

g`day Andrew,,i tow an outback camper with my 3lt Patrol(around 800kg) and average around 14lt/100km........p.s whats this about 5th gear , i thought Patrol boxes were bullet proof !

3.0ltr GU's have a problem with 5th gear, its not a one off problem either.

Nissan have an upgraded gear shaft and gears now when they replace them.

Seems to be mainly when towing lots

Hi Andrew

The fifth gear problem, depending who listen to, exists on both the 4.2 and 3.0L, and is related to the size of the splines on the 5th gear shaft, they are too narrow. Models built after about May 2002, I believe, have the new wider 5th gearset fitted. Someone may have more up-to-date info than me, Roly perhaps.

We have no problems towing in 5th at all, however, as a rule, we don't stay in 5th below 80kph. Puts less strain on 5th. If not, the warranty will cover it. It is a known problem. Also, use of synthetic oil in the gearbox will help as well, as it does not break down under load/heat as easily as normal mineral oils.

This is all info I have gathered from this site and the Overlander forum (http://forums.overlander.com.au/ , and try a search on "5th gear" or similar). You could also try the Patrol forum (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Patrol4WD/) as well

I wouldn't worry too much. Knowledge is power, now you know what to do to prevent it. 8 Months and 16,000kms later we still love our 3.0L.

HTH

MikeF

The same 5th gear problem has been in place in Nissan Gearboxes since 1969 due to design of gearbox and gear placements....(maybe even before that but I knoiw bugger all about J and R series gearboxes. It can be fixed before it ever happens (but you'd have to pay for it since there technically isn't a fault at that time - or at least one that Nissan would admit to while they have to pay for it). That wouldn't cost much for anyone who knew Nissan boxes to fix.

The 5th gear eventually works its way loose so that when you try to shift into it and load it up it just steps out of the way - leaving you grinding a synchro but the gear's taken the previous bus and moved an inch away....

It's not even that hard to fix after the event - but by then it would be a warranty claim some years after warranty runs out. Rebuld cost is about $550-750 normally but all you need to do is pull apart the gearbox and retorque one nut....... If it's been bad for a while you need to replace that one gear and synchro (and in very rare cases the gear with the opposing face).

Usually if you use 'em hard without towing they do second gear synchro first - with towing it's normally 5th first due to synchro ratios, load, amount of use and size. In all of the 6 manual Nissan gearboxes with that gear layout that I have owned - I only broke 1 that way after 8 years abuse (and I ABUSED all of them including third gear rally slides in gravel). All the others had synchro whine (particularly 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd) and were occasionally tough to shift but none of the others ever dropped a gear.

Patrol 3.0l diesel 2000 model. 17 foot poptop > enonomy is about 6 km/l at 100 km/h. Drops to 5.5 km/l at 110. (I record fuel economy almost every tank). The 3.0 easily tows the van even up hills and overtaking at 100km/h.

As for 5th gear, I believe that the problem is inherent with overdrives. Also diesels are hard on gearboxes due to the compression and 4 cylinders are worse in this regard that 6's. The 3.0 litre puts out more torque that the 4.2 and it is easy to drive all day at 80km/h even when towing - and this is where is seems to be doing the damage (IMHO) so the problem is exacerbated with the 3.0 and has also been reported on this forum with the 4.2.

The nissan 4.2 adn 3.0 have the same box - so I think the problem may be more due to the strain/shock loadings that the 3.0 puts on the box than the box being different to other models of Patrol. The 3.0 has hydraulic engine mounts so this indicates to me that this engine VIBRATES and this is transferred no doubt into the box.

A friend of mine warned me early on about doing low speeds in overdrive (he has a hilux) and I did not believe him. Have to admit - he is right.

Sean