Nissan 3L head gone

Is it another blowup nissan?
Search the threads there was plenty about this a while ago.
Good Luck

What to do next?
Well, if it's the common failure, then it's likely more terminal than just the head. Do a search on ZD30.
You have a nine year old nissan with, what, guessing 150+k on the clock? I'm afraid you are up against it.
Also, Val Davis, who was the catalyst within Nisssan to get a favourable outcome, is now gone.
I don't have any direct exp. with this issue, but over the years have read enough to suggest that you need a lot of time, patience and money, only to 'maybe' get someting out of nissan, after which, you could look back & think 'for all the trouble I've been through, should've just paid for the rebuild & had the car back on the road after a week' .
toguh call, but it's your call.

I think there's a club for you guys.... Pitty about the Patrol - they used to be good

Chrisntan, You must have known about the problem when you bought it so it's a bit late to blame someone else. Yes they are grenades but you would have to live in a log not to know about it.
.

Its a shame but a well known problem.
Go to the patrol forum and read all about how many have done it and how hard it has been to get Nissan to acknowledge that the motors have a fault.
Sadly its a matter of digging deep.

I doubt if you'll have any luck with Nissan but they may help you out as an act of goodwill and give you distributor prices. It depends on the service record and how hard the dealer bats for you, but with a 9 year old vehicle I'd guess you'll have to sort it out yourself.
When my 2000 model was 5yo it also cracked the head, among other more serious things, and the head was irrepairable. It had 4 cracks and 3 the motor medic reckoned he could fix 3 but the 4th was too big. So it was a new head which was expensive. originally quoted $3000 but got it down a bit but I don't know how much as it was finally included in the total rebuild about $6500. I was really P'd off at the time but now I look at it with a bit more perspective. It wont be the worse thing that happens to me in my life. I am healthy, I am mentally stable ( I think), I live in Australia, I own a 3-0 Patrol. Belive this, "I am lucky".
When you have a busted Nissan you are sort of in no mans land. A second hand Nissan is worth nothing and a busted one is worth less! You'll have to repair it because that will be the cheapest way out. At least then you have a vehicle that runs and then you can rationally evaluate what to do next. The second hand vehicle market is flooded with cars and they are not even worth trading especially when they have a few years and kilometres on them and have a dubious reliability record.

It's a 9 year old car, how long should Nissan warranties last?

chrisntan
Has the motor been stripped down and properly diagnosed, are you sure it's just the head?

That being so is not a normal 3 litre fail. Its normally a cracked or holed piston also. And with the mileage you have it's a full motor job, big money.

If it is JUST the head, bite the bullet and repair, and then unload the car. If its more & I suspect it is, from personal experience, then you are in for an adventure.

Sorry to hear of your delema, I was there just 1 year ago.
Good luck, Colin.

PS see my blog re my Patrol.

What would be the likelyhood of sourcing and fitting a second hand head. Following this either sell or retain vehicle.???

chrisntan

Sorry to hear of your dilemma. PM me if you are close to Townsville.

IMHO you will be wasting your time trying to get Nissan to replace the head. A 'blown up grenade' is a different situation. I know! I was there myself late last year with a 2005 ZD30 (which is now fixed and running great - Now I have gauges in place to show me what a crap driver I used to be whilst towing the caravan).

A new engine is about $7500 plus labour. Not a cheap option. I looked at the Chev V8 option and @ $23,000 discounted it. I also followed project TONI with great interest. If you really analyze the number of ZD30 Patrols that are produced only a small percentage suffer the explosion. I rebuilt my engine with new pistons/rings/pins, bearings, glow plugs, all gaskets for around $1500.

I had a 2003 ZD30 for three years and never had one problem with it. Recently sold it after I fixed my 2005 model.

For anybody owning a ZD30 Patrol you really SHOULD fit it with Exhaust Gas Temp and Boost gauges. Then modify your driving style to suit the gauges. If you are reading this and the engine blows up in the future, you only have yourself to blame

I had a member contact me direct about my rebuild. I gave him advice as to what to do and where to buy the rebuild kit. He later sent me an email stating he removed the head, found #4 piston with a hole in it. Removed the small sump and managed to push the piston out. Bought ONE piston and rings and put it back together. As soon as it was running he flogged it off. Not an outcome that I would like to associate with.

Malcolm

Hi Chrisntan
Sorry to hear about your car blowing up, however I recently (last 4 weeks or so) read in the Friday's edition of the Daily Telegraph, NSW, in the vehicle motoring section under "Smithy's Advice" that a person with a 2001 3ltr Nissan Patrol blew their motor up as per the common problem which is well noted and was subsequently refused any assistance. However, he produced a copy of a previous article from "Smithy's Advice" where the matter was brought up and a reply from Nissan was forthcoming to Smithy's Advice and printed in the paper. This fellow produced Nissan's reply to Nissan and they subsequently paid for all his repairs on his vehicle.
It may be worth your while if you checked out this article on the Daily Telegraph website under "Smithy's Advice" and present it in your claim to Nissan.
I recently read that Val Davis had left the organisation, which is a shame as she was honest, helpful and good value to Nissan customers.
Anyway, good luck, you can always do what I did .... sold the Nissan and bought myself a V8 twin turbo Toyota Landcruiser.
Kind Regards

The Major