2001 Jackeroo 3.0 TD Warning

I bought a 2001 3.0 litre TD Jack six weeks ago.

The injector seal recall had been completed in 2005.

Last Friday it died while my wife was driving it (and I was in Darwin). A puff of white smoke and it lost power while she was leaving a car park. She stopped and called the road service.

When the RAA checked it there was diesel in the coolant and the radiator hoses had blown up like balloons.

They towed it to a mechanic who checked with Holden to see what might have caused this unusual problem. The local Holden diesel mechanic was aware of the issue which has recently arisen for the 3.0 TD Izuzu engines and Holden have just issued a technical bulletin about the problem (which I have seen but could not copy). There is a sleeve around the injectors which can erode permitting diesel from the common rail to blow past into the coolant. There is a modified sleeve available to be fitted to all four injectors.

The car yard are also arranging to have the head pulled today to check the other possibility - a cracked head. Cost to them so far $1,500 for the injector mod which could climb to over $8K if the head has gone.

Glad they are paying and not me and that it didn't happen the week before when we were camped up the Murray on vary quiet tracks and a long way from the nearest tow. The car yard have been very good about the whole thing, but they are not happy about the cost which is not surprising.

If you own a 3.0 litre TD Jack this is something to be aware of but I don't know how you could check for it apart from looking at your coolant regularly. The beast had been blowing a little smoke under hard acceleration but I was thinking it might just need an injector clean. We don't know how long the sleeve's were leaking but all the rubber components in the cooling system have been eaten away and need to be replaced.

Regards

Pete