Nissan Patrol 3.0 litre engine failure

Submitted: Monday, Mar 08, 2010 at 20:44
ThreadID: 76687 Views:13528 Replies:6 FollowUps:10
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I am trying to establish if all the 3.0 Patrol engine blow ups have automatic transmissions or are manuals blowing up too?

Thanks all.
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Reply By: Member - Kevin B1 (WA) - Monday, Mar 08, 2010 at 21:05

Monday, Mar 08, 2010 at 21:05
Do a Forum search, there is plenty of info as you will see. I don't think the transmission has any influence on the engine failure.
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Reply By: Mark S (cns) - Monday, Mar 08, 2010 at 21:05

Monday, Mar 08, 2010 at 21:05
Manuals have/are going too. Problem is not related to transmission. A search on this forum will yield hours of reading.
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Reply By: ajd - Monday, Mar 08, 2010 at 21:20

Monday, Mar 08, 2010 at 21:20
What do you mean by blow ups?

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Follow Up By: Robin Miller - Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010 at 09:39

Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010 at 09:39
Hi Ajd

Nissan 3lt diesel engine failures would represent the biggest single mechanical issue out there with a mass of info from this site and almost ever other site.

It began around year 2000 and continued since then but with failure rate dropping off as Nissan improved reliability and of course later models have less mileage.

In some countries with better consumer laws a total recall and engine replacement was carried out some years ago, e.g. in England.

Very broadly speaking engines fail by 150,000km with some never failing and some at 50,000.

I only have direct knowledge of 5 people I have been driving with, 2 Patrols and 3 Navara 3lts , One hung on till 198,000km - one went at 50,000.

In each of these 5 cases issues such as carbon build up / dirty Maf sensors etc combined to make the turbo boost control system loose control and overboost.

Two of these blew hoses , and were fixed without destroying the engine.

Just after Xmas , my brother , an automotive engineer, caught one just before major failure and it was essentialy choked almost solid with internal carbon build - (it had also blown hoses which had earlier been replaced cheaply without
investigating the soucre of the problem).

During this long journey Nissan found things like inadequate oil splash to the pistions and small fixes like more oil were done which no doubt saved a percentage of the failures.



















Robin Miller

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Reply By: carlj - Monday, Mar 08, 2010 at 21:35

Monday, Mar 08, 2010 at 21:35
Usually burns a hole in number 3 and or 4 piston also the early 3lt manuals had a problem with 5th gear they Nissan in their wisdom used a smaller spline this changed at about 2004.How do I know had both go within 6 weeks total bill $11,600.
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Follow Up By: Member - Wayne B (NSW) - Monday, Mar 08, 2010 at 21:43

Monday, Mar 08, 2010 at 21:43
Nissan were assisting with cost of repairs on a pro-rata basis. I dont know if the problem extends in to the later 3lt engine. They were to have revised pistons.
Cheers
Wayne B
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Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Monday, Mar 08, 2010 at 21:51

Monday, Mar 08, 2010 at 21:51
I had a 2003 auto. It was supposed to be fixed by increasing the oil capacity by two litres.

The dipstick was supposedly shortened for this.

However they forgot to do mine as it still only took the original amount.

Also search on MAF sensors.


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Follow Up By: Member - Wayne B (NSW) - Monday, Mar 08, 2010 at 23:00

Monday, Mar 08, 2010 at 23:00
Graham
This was one of Nissans BS fixes that did not work. Wishful thinking on their part.

Engine breaking pistons. Cut 1/2" of the dipstick that will fix it. ??????

WB
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Follow Up By: ajd - Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010 at 08:45

Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010 at 08:45
Where do you get this information?

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Reply By: Dave(NSW) - Monday, Mar 08, 2010 at 22:49

Monday, Mar 08, 2010 at 22:49
Adley,
Do a check over on here http://www.patrol4x4.com/forum/.
GU RULES!!

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Reply By: Outbacktourer - Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010 at 10:10

Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010 at 10:10
I have owned a 2002 Auto since new and have of course followed these failures with great interest.

There does not seem to be any correlation with what type of gearbox. The 5th gear problem was common accross all patrols regardless of engine for a defined period.

The 3.0Di was one of the first engines on the market with both direct injection and a variable vane turbo. This enabled it to produce (for the time) class leading power and torque for this size engine.

The problems with the engine that I have personal knowledge of (mates, not mates of mates) have been both with the fuel system and engine internals.

It appears there were some early failures of fuel pumps. I have not heard of any failures for a while and my mate who had the problem put it down to the fuel not yet being up to the spec required by the engine design. (remember this was 2000/2001 and "clean" diesel was still being introduced).

The other internal engine problems, cracked/holed pistons, cracked heads, blown turbo's etc appear to me to be a case of overboosting and loss of EGR control. These seem related to MAF failure as apparently the CPU gets false readings and goes to a default mode of full boost, overfuelling and open EGR. No warnings are issued by the computer and drivers continue on to meltdown!

The 2002 models (oct 2001 build on) got a different computer and an extra sensor under the turbo but it did not seem to resolve the problem. I have heard that the later MAF's are different to the earlier but have confirmed that. I have also heard Nissan used a number of piston suppliers and some were bad, and later ones are different, who knows.

In any case I have fitted a pyro and boost gauge so I can keep track of what is going on and clean my MAF at each oil change. So far so good at 120K. The boost varies all over the place depending on load but once you learn the behavior it would be easy to spot any unusual activity. This is not an issue with the fixed vane turbo in the Navara and possibly accounts for the fact that there seem to be far fewer, if any, similar failures on that engine, which otherwise is the same.

There are others on this list much more knowledgeable about this than I, some of whom have fitted oil vapour catch tanks to assist keep the MAF sensor clear of vapour as this is regarded as a source of MAF issues.

OBT
AnswerID: 408018

Follow Up By: Adey - Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010 at 20:17

Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010 at 20:17
Thanks for everyone's prompt and very interesting responses. One other variable I forgot to ask is ... are the engine failures in the 3.0 litre Patrols experienced whilst towing? What is the ambiant temperature when engine failures have occurred.

Cheers.
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FollowupID: 678020

Follow Up By: Adey - Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010 at 20:19

Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010 at 20:19
Thanks for everyone's prompt and very interesting responses. One other variable I forgot to ask is ... are the engine failures in the 3.0 litre Patrols experienced whilst towing? What is the ambient temperature when engine failures have occurred.

Cheers.
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FollowupID: 678022

Follow Up By: Member - Si (WA) - Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010 at 03:25

Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010 at 03:25
Outbacktourer... what would be a budget cost to have pyro and boost gauges fitted. Have been thinking about for a while but not sure who in WA does them and what sort of cost to expect with out being ripped off.
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Follow Up By: Adey - Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010 at 06:32

Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010 at 06:32
I got a price from a place in Melbourne for supply and install boost gauge, pryometer gauge for around $1400.

Cheers
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FollowupID: 678095

Follow Up By: Outbacktourer - Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010 at 07:44

Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010 at 07:44
I had mine done some years ago so the memory has dimmed, Mannell Motors at Thornleigh (Sydney) did it. I don't think it was $1,400 something just south of $1000 I think. The expense is the Pyro, both the gauge and fitting are more expensive. If budget is an issue then I would just go the boost gauge, but you need something for sure.
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