Nissan patrol 4WD for towing caravan in outback areas

I will extend on the "running hotter".

I had a 2006 4.2 GU IV towing a 3t Kedron and I could not keep the temperature from going through the roof. I had a 3" system and EGT gauge fitted and found it hard to keep the EGT's in check. The high EGT's would be closely followed by the water temp climbing.

This was everywhere we travelled, Birdsville, Cunninghams Gap, Toowoomba Range, Cooma etc. Got too stressfull thinking I was doing damage to the car.

I think I made a mistake running 33" tyres as well. Now I have the V8 76 Series cruiser and the car pulls the van like a trojan and EGT's stay in check and water temps follow suit. Very happy. :-)

Just my experiences guys.

The possible reason is with the larger tyres and if you were towing in top gear you would have the engine "lugging" which would cause the exact symptoms you describe.

My cruiser does that if I drop it into OD. The EGT goes up from about 325 to over 400 and the engine temp rises as well Drop back to 4th and no more probs.


Keep them in the sweet spot which in a Cruiser TD is at about 2400rpm.

It is not uncommon to see my towing EGT's running at 400c and peaking to 550c on climbs like that of the Toowoomba range where care is required to prevent coolant temp overheating. But for me these temps have not seen any detrimental effects to longevity as one rig now has nearly 400 000km on the dial of which a solid 250 000km has been towing and loaded to the eyeballs. The other rig has 230+ thousand of which 100 000 has been under my control and again worked very hard for its money.

Nowhere on this continent would I be worried about taking the higher kilometer 4.2 due to breakdown factors. I still regularly bolt the van on the back of this 400 000km old unit and head off into the sunset without prior prep, it is still that reliable.

Cheers, Trevor.

Depends on whether you are talking pre turbo temps or after turbo temps.

Mine is after turbo and I would be extremely hesitant to take it much over 500. That would put cylinder temps at about 700 and Z30's melt pistons at not much over that..


Its yours you can of course drive it how you like.
Cheers

Hey Guys,

Agree with everything you have said. Believe me, I went through all of this when I had my 4.2. What I did manage to find out is that the 4.2 block has been around since Jesus was a boy and the water jacket is not suited to the turbo charged modern variants.

Tried everything to try to get the engine temps down. In the end it was just too stressfull knowing I "may" be doing damage. Having said that, I have always heard these engines to be bullet proof. Now I just jump in and drive, check the EGT's every now and then. But no stress.

Besides this issue, the car was excellent. If I didn't have to tow I would still have it. Perfect tourer. You don't see too many Patrol 4.2's towing on the road. All cruisers!!

a mob called "cost effective maintenance" advertise a fix for overheating patrols that they claim is simple but they do not say what it is you have to ring them. Cheers

Graham,

My EGT's are post turbo too but the 4.2 copes OK with these. The 4.2 dinosaur is a bit like the 6.5 Chev's, very "old school" mechanical indirect injection which causes both to run hotter than modern electronic direct injection donks but on the flipside they both cope with higher temps a lot better than the newer engines by design.

ptnuske,

I too was worried sick in the early days about cooking my 4.2 in some unforgiving part of the country but after so many attempts to do so the old girl keeps on rattling along no matter what I do to it. I have at times really flogged the guts out of mine with serious loads and serious temps but still it won't give up the ghost. This is partly why I asked the original poster if the 4.2 and 3.0 GU's were the only two vehicles on his/her shopping list, as it is my belief there may be less "worrying" options out there?????? but of the two Nissan's the 4.2 would be my pick.

Marny,

I also have heard of mobs "claiming" to fix the o/heating 4.2 and some have even opened up my wallet in the attempt to "cure" the age old problem. The way I see it now is it is only a "problem" if and when it stops my vehicle dead in it's tracks but it never has and now with so many k's on the clock I can't really whinge too much even if it does eventually die on me.

Hope this thread is helpful to someone, somewhere.
Regards to all,
Trevor.

And the 4.2 is a better driving 4wd....

Especially in the high country. Just walks up and down hills all day, where as the 3ltr needs to be held much higher in the rev range.

All the coppers and CFA boys want their 4.2's back.

I tow a 1.6 tonne off road camper with mine & a 1.8 tonne boat. Never had any complaints. Doesn't matter whether it's outback or in the hills.

They aren't a car, so I don't expect car performance, or I'd have kept the Gen III Berlina.

Dave