Petrol or Diesel?

Care to elaborate on why not the Jeep?

I agree on the diesel - but the new CRD Jeeps are a nice bit of kit.

because out of 6 jeep owners which i know,, 5 of them have had problems which have cost them large $.........
out of the jap 4x4 owners i know,, they have the usual costs,, fuel, tune ups, etc,,, the odd water pump but nothing over serious..

so if there happens to be a minority of happy jeep owners,,, good on you..

but as brockie has stated he wants to go to some pretty remote places...

taking a jeep through remote places is like taking the same chance as taking a jap 4x4 through the csr without taking a spare._____________________________________________
Countin the days till July 5th. *Cape York Trip*
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Hi Jonny, There is a little more to the arguement than just the fuel price, Diesel is more reliable, more economical and you can get diesel at ANY fuel stop or farm, Petrol is more dangerous to carry inside a vehicle.
Some outback fuel stops now dont carry petrol because of the Aboriginal kids sniffing problems so you need to carry even more dangerous fuel. You can park diesels in long grass without fear of igniting the car(no cat converter), Diesel is the way to go and you get a vehicle with SOUL!!!

Best regards Michael

i thought there would be more to it than that but as my dad new more of my situation thats all he advised me. i wish i knew of this forum 2 or so months ago as i would of found out more info and may have gone the diesel but have a petrol and have learnt a lesson to research the subject a bit more.

Hi Simon, I dissagree with you on the ,, ofroad no difference on fuel economy, thats where the real difference is. In a diesel at low speed, up hill and down dale, you can drive all day on tracks and trails and hardly use any fuel. My petrol friends dont do anywhere near as well as the diesels. My experience only. regards Michael

Hi Tristjo, I agree, even the new Patrol 4.2 intercooled has no computer. I know the magazines said that it had a computer controlled mechanical pump but its not true, It has only an EGR valve thats controlled , thats all. same old pump, it even has the hand throttle still and thats the first thing that goes when the electronics come on board. Cheers Michael

Bloody hell, Tristjo, how long does technology have to be around before you accept it as reliable? Computer engine management systems have been around for 15-20 years. My '89 Commodore has been the most efficient and reliable car I have ever owned, thanks largely to its EMS, and it's not a patch on the new systems.

Do you still carry a crank handle in case that new-fangled electric starter motor breaks down "in the bush"?

Stephen.

StephenF, mate, you say you drive an 89 Commo, so do you have a fourby aswell?? Do you regularly travel to the scrub?? If so, you must have been blindfolded every time you've passed a servo, cause if you opened your eyes, youd see that computer sytems are not all that reliable. You say that, quote: "computer engine management systems have been around for 15-20 years". Now, i'm not doubting the fact that they have been around for years, but that does not automaticaly make them reliable! One of my cars is an 83' Nissan Bluebird, and it has been bloody reliable, except for the bloody computer managed electronic ignition! It has been a bastard! I have seen to many holidays ruined by computer controlled engine failure, and am just adding my 2 cents, so if your happy driving a computer insted of a car, thats fine, but if it stuffs up in the bush, dont expect the average jo blow like me to be able to help you, because the only thing we will be able to do for you is BOOK A PLACE FOR YOUR CAR ON THE NEXT TRAIN HOME. Tristjo.

Hi Chris, I just would like to share one of my past experiences with you in regards to damage to Petrol engines as a result of high water levels during river crossings. You mentionedremoving spark plugs and cranking the motor over a few times and of you go!
Well, consider yourself lucky if you get away with that, as for myself, I had a different experience with a petrol cruiser in the early seventies.
I got stuck in a river because the engine stalled after taking in water, however, it was not as simple as you are suggesting. The water which entered the cylinder, created a hydaulic lock-up, because as we all know water is not compressable, hence it bent one of the connecting rods and as a result the engine could not be turned over anymore, the cylinder head had to come off and the bent con-rod had to be replaced before the engine could be started again and this could happen to any motor, doesn't matter whether petrol or diesel!
At the moment I own a 2002 Jackaroo Diesel and couldn't be happier!

Cheers Urs

As I said, "more often then not" you'll drive away - not every time. In the 1991 Shell Borneo safari the ozzie team who were driving a petrol V6 forerunner took a load of water down the snorkel because they failed to face it backwards when going at high speed through a deep crossing. Watching that one, they were lucky it was a petrol.
I was merely making a statement that a diesel has a higher chance of suffering more damage than a petrol when it comes to ingesting water. It's a fairly well known fact. A diesel relies upon a hell of a lot higher compression to generate the heat to ignite diesel hence a higher probability of bending a conrod when water enters. A petrol would need to be doing some pretty high rpms to do the same thing. Apart from that, when my petrol eventually sh*ts itself I'll probably get a diesel transplant but that won't be happening until I can afford the $$$$$ plus for the turbo to make it worthwile which means a big wait.
Regards

Hi Brockie,

I have been into fourbies for about 30 years now and wouldn't go past a Diesel, I started in PNG in the early seventies, in those days we had Toyotas and Nissan Patrols, they were all petrol powered in those days, Toyota was the first one to introduce a diesel, they were an instant success in PNG, Nissan followed a bit later.
I had a couple of naturally aspirated Troop carriers and HJ60 Station Wagons, while they were very reliable, I felt that they were underpowered. When I came to Australia in 1990, I bought one of the first Landcruisers from the 80 series (a Diesel of course), it was OK but when the turbo charged version was released 6 month later, I traded it in for one of them, it made a big difference, in 1993 I decided to give the 4.2 litre GQ Patrol a try and I loved it, it was much easier to drive than the 80 series Cruiser, it handled like it was on rails, I drove from Brisbane to Cairns in 22 hours, this includes a 2 hour nap at a rest place and I felt great when I got there, in comparison I drove the 80 series to Sydney and it was hard work, I found myself correcting the steering all the time and got to Sydney worn out.
In 1997 my wife thought ewe should give the new released Prado a try, they advertised that the Prado (3.4 litre petrol), if driven with a light foot it would use only 10 litres/100km, hence we traded our beloved Patrol for the Prado (VX Grande) but soon found out that we made mistake. The 10 litres/100km proved to be a lot of crap, even with a light foot, we could not get any better than 14.5 litres/ 100km and we didn't like the handling either and subsequently we sold it after only 10 months of ownership. Following that we stayed with 2 wheels until just recently when I got the itch to give the Jackaroo a go. The Jackaroo in my opinion, is a highly underrated car, probably due to lack of proper marketing by Holden. We bought a 2002 SE turbo diesel automatic and we love it to bits, it is economical, has plenty of power and it is easy to manoevre with a turning circle of 11.5 metres and the driving position is the best in it's class. We don't go rock climbing with it, therefore it doesn't matter to us that the transfercase is a bit lower than the chassis rails.
I don't know what your budget is but you could get a 2000 Jackaroo turbo diesel between 30-35 K's, there are plenty of ex-dealer owned cars sitting at Holden dealers, with low mileage and no off road work.
If your budget is limited, I would go for the GQ Patrol 4.2 litre diesel, forget about the petrol versions they are just too thirsty and that includes the 3 ltre model as well. On the one I owned, I had the cast iron exhaust manifold removed and had extractors and a bigger diameter exhaust fitted, it made a huge difference, the engine was able to breathe easier (reving freely without restriction) and stayed a lot cooler, also it would go up hills in 4th gear where before I would have to down shift to 3rd. I reckon the GQ Patrol was one of the best fourbies ever made but the choice is yours Brockie!
Whatever you finally decide, don't rush into it, there are plenty of second hand cars around, go for test drives and see what you like, I hope my pas experience can help you a bit,

Good luck!

Cheers Urs