Questions from a newbie - Which Patrol??

[petri oosthuizen]

Having had 2 previous Patrols (the 1994/5 shapes), and loving those, I'm looking at buying myself a newish station wagon.........my choices will boil down to a Land Cruiser EFI, Defender Puma, or a Patrol 4,8.Please help me with the following questions:

1) Which Patrol, other than the 4,8 in manual? Do you get a big Diesel turbo (the 4,2)?? I'm not too keen on the 3.0 diesel.

2) Any "known" weaknesses I should look out for (example, diffs/trannies/engine/etc etc)?

3) I believe your car is just as good as the guy servicing it........apart from Nissan dealers, are there any "dedicated" Patrol service stations, say in GP area??

4) Is accessories readily available, like bumpers, drawers, lr tanks, etc etc??

Thanx all - appreciate

[Herrie]

The only standard 4,2 turbo is the Patrol Bakkie.

There are no problems with the diffs, transfer cases or gearboxes - the only weak point is the earlier 3.0 TD ( up to about 2003).

Nissan does not keep a lot of Patrol spares - maybe because they don't break, but it causes a nuisance when you wish to replace some parts.

[petri oosthuizen]

Thanx Herrie

But I'm talking about accessories, not spares (I've gathered that spares are expensive, and not always readily available from the dealer outlets)........that happens a LOT, unforunately - and not only Nissan

Then - the servicing.......where do you guys take your Patrols to (except Nissan dealers - I'm talking specialists who are dedicated and qualified)

[Herrie]

Accessories are available but as usually very expensive - because it is for a 4x4.

[ChristoSlang]

Petri, as Herrie says: accessories are commonly available. My rig has everything except a long-range fuel tank, and that is available off the shelf from two manufacturers that I know of.

If you feel that you want a 4.2 station wagon, go ahead and buy it and add an aftermarket turbo. It's a bolt-on affair and does not require changes to your pistons or conrods. The 4.2 motors are very strong and have no problems with turbo-charging as long as you stay in a safe zone with EGTs. Mine has a Safari turbo & Cirrus intercooler and it works like a charm.

PS: A number of the early Y61 shape (say between 1998 and 2000) models had a weak 5th gear. This was fixed in later models, but if you do get hold of such an early vehicle I'd suggest limiting the boost (no more than 0.8 bar) and not using 5th gear for towing unless you KNOW that you have the uprated gear. A quick check (according to various forum discussions) is to drain the gearbox oil to see if it is reddish-brown in colour. If it is, you may have a weak gearbox! Here are some pictures of the weak & the improved gears & splines - thanks to the unknown person who posted them originally!

Splines - new and old

5th1.jpg (134.68 KiB) Viewed 2899 times

5th gears - new and old

5th4.jpg (76.02 KiB) Viewed 2899 times

[petri oosthuizen]

Thanx - great advise. I gather that the GRX is the luxury model, only in auto, and the GL the more basic one, only in manual?? (as the Cruiser VX is to the GX)........correct??

[JG Shields]

Heeltemal reg.

[Gerrit Loubser]

Yip, the GRX is the more luxurious version, like the VX Cruiser. Of course all Patrols still have a solid front axle like the 80 VX (and unlike the 100 VX or 200 with independent front suspensions).