Patrol GU 3l diesel - Problems?

gday,iI also have a 2002 patrol been going great so far . Also was losing coolant ,same thing regards warranty,3yrs or 100000 k the car had 63000 on the speedo and water pump was shot. Prceeded to get up Nissan paid for pump ,cost me couple hunrded for labour.Check the pump , no turbo probs.yet.Have tricked it up a little ,dtronic and 3in stainless system Apleasure to drive now,very little turbo lag . I tow a 21ft van no worries

I recently had the turbo replaced, thankfully under warranty with just 50,000Klms on the clock. Mine is a June 03 manufacturer and does not run out of warranty until December. I have already taken out the extended warranty with Nissan as I just want to ensure that I will not be up for any major repairs in the coming years.

This prompted me to have a conversation with my mechanic who has a 3.0 TD Patrol himself. He reconds that the motors have not been around long enough to have developed a history of its own. He said the 4.2 is well know and has certain e3xpectations of repairs, possible problems that can be addressed without too much of a worry. The 3.0TD dont have this time luxury.

There seems to have been a number of vehicles lately who have had either turbo oir leaks or head problems such as you have mentioned. I have faith in the product but do hope that there is not more problems that need to be addressed in the future.

My fingers are well and truely crossed with the reliability question as they are not a cheap vehicle to start with and I am not in the position of being able to change it in the near future to another brand.

Unfortunately, time will be the judge on the 3.0TD.

Cheers, Patrick

Hi Patroltas, Some early GU's did have a problem with the 3lt. I have a 2000 model with 125000ks on it and never had a spanner on it (touch wood). Try this site, it will give you a lot of good info on them: WWW.lonards-automotives.com.au/patrol html.
Cheers Rossco.

Try search on 3.0 ltr patrol engine on this site
Cheers
Charlie

Patroltas,

My 8/03 build GU 3.0ltr has been with my Nissan dealer since 2nd week of April while I have been "negotiating" with Nissan over a faulty cylinder head. I have been expecting it back for a week and a bit now.
The head had to be sent off to an engineering shop for testing to establish that there was a fault in the casting. The warranty expired in Nov 05 and the car had done 101,000ks when the fault emerged. I was aware of the extended warranty option but the service manager actually convinced me not to worry about it. Said they should do 500,000ks without a problem. I discovered this web site all too late !!
Nissan initially knocked me back on the repairs saying I should have taken the extended warranty. I then went into second gear and without doing my block asked for further consideration. They then offered me parts only but I had to pay for the engineers report and labour - about $2200. I authorised repairs and continued to negotiate saying I wanted the report if I was going to be paying for it. I also said I wanted the old head. At this juncture the dealer came back and said that Nissan would pick up the engineer's costs and they wanted to keep the head. They also said they would invoice me labour costs at warranty rate rather than retail. I am now expecting a bill with oils and coolant etc of around $1400.
Like you I love the truck and it has been a delight. It has circled Oz with a camper and boat including Kalumburu and GRR etc. I am grateful it didn't let me down in some of the places it could have and I am also grateful to get out of the mess I have been in for the last 6 weeks with only $1400 cost. It was looking like $5000+ at one stage.
I am now wrestling with the idea of what to do with it when I get it back. Like you I have put some bits n pieces into it that owe me more than $10k. This is my second Patrol but my first diesel. Much as I hate to admit it I think my next Nissan will wear a Toyota badge. Not looking forward to facing my mates when that happens - I have been a fierce advocate for this vehicle almost to the point of the "Toyota Recovery Point" sticker on the back. I would advocate that anyone who has the opportunity should take the extended warranty.

Kenell

Patroltas,
Unfortunately i have heard and seen too many stories with the 3ltr TD such as a mate who's car would shudder from 75km/h to 110km/h after this it was ok (but then breaking speed limit). They had everybody look at the set up of that car and could not get it right. Another acquaintance had his turbo "melt down" after a 4hr highway run with a camper trailer on the back, believe that car only had 75000 on it. I have just upgraded to the new 3ltr Prado as i have not heard of any motor issues with these cars. They are a bit dated and under powered but are bullet proof according to my research. Hope you get by for the next 10yrs.

Dont feel bad you 3 liter owners i have a 99 -4.2td which had a Short Motor Replacement at 3000km had a fight on my hands all the way with Nissan but you gotta put the Pressure on them and not back down as I did Dont Give In I love my poor mans Lobster.Im not a CRUISER MAN.

Obviously I own a Toyota and if there's ever a bleep contest, I'll pay out on all you Nissan freaks without a hesitation. Well, that was until all this 3.0L TD patrol stuff started.

I actually can't bring myself to pull the bleep out of you guys anymore, I feel so solom for all you blokes...

It's actually quite sad, I've own a few nissans in the past, Skyline, Pintara, Bluebird, Maxima. All great cars, just brilliant to drive and reliability +++

What happened?? Where did they go so, so terribly wrong? These stories just get worse and worse. At first we are told it's only one problem and it's with the older (first generation) patrols. Ok, so they messed up with a new motor. It happens. But what the hell is going on with these heads and turbo's and everything else... My god Nissan! You are even making Toyota owners cry!

When I take my vehicle into the bush, I want to be sure that its reliable enough to get me out again. So I guess its been Toyota for me.

But I love my Nissans - we have 3 pulsars, 1 skyline and now an X-trail in the family - they are brilliant vehicles, very economical and 100% reliable, but I don't think the ZD30 is in the same league.

If you're looking for a new vehicle, I'd suggest you buy whatever you are confident with that will not die in the desert.

Cheers
Phil

Yep Ive got to admitt thats what's stopping me updateing mine is all this electronic stuff, I know thats the way everything is heading but I'm obviously not earning the $$$ alot of you guys are cause if spent $50/70k on a new patrol and it shat itself I would be one pi@@ed of person and no doubt there is alot out there that are feeling just that.My old girl now has 280k on it now 2 full trips round oz and still going. Yes its annoying being gutless up the hills without been turbo'd but hey less to go wrong.We have just bought the new camper so will now be towing as well but hey I'm in no hurry (luckily) so it doesnt bother me. I knew when I bought the hilux is was slow so I just shup up and put up. Maybe when the old girl dies (hopefully not any time soon) I will go the 1kz motor as replacement or I might just put in the 5L. I could only say to anybody thinking of buying a new 4by whether it toyota or nissan is to take out the extra care warranty cause 20k is a lot of money to find when it all goes wrong. Regards Steve M

Patrick ,
by fitting dtronic and exhaust system makes it a lot smoother /responsive vehicle.Had it dynoed when exhaust was fitted ,figures of about 137 hp at the wheels.Dropped exhaust temp to around 500.celcius.Also talked to ARB about the dtronic no worries about it which they duely fitted.I have also fitted a water injection kit to cool inlet temp to turbo and aThermoGuard pyrometer to ensure engine temps do not sneak up when towing my 21ft, van Rgards Rod69

The age old issue; Boosting more power out of a small engine, the longevity is decreased. How many ks do you get out of a V8 supercar race engine or rally engine. At the end of the day to make more power reliably you must increase the size of the engine.
Hence Mercedes AMG switching to 6.2 nat atmo v8 from 5.5 supercharged v8.

How exactly, Leroy?