Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Tinus lotz wrote:I have been longing a 4.2 pickup for a long time so if they stop making it I must buy one soon !!!!!!

Awesome! im feeling lonely out here all on my own , need more Pickups representing!

Well I'm just waiting for nissan to give me a trade on the pathy, then I'll take the disco instead for the wife...

My parents were going to trade in their disco, but the trade on these discos is atrocious. My older pathfinder has almost the same trade. As soon as I got a happy figure they'll have a patrol pickup. And guess who gets to run in the motor?? Already have trail booked and for the first time my dad volunteered to go to a trail. Clearly he knows the patrol over his disco.

Koos as you can see I might just get it. But having three disco 3's in the family it won't be my Africa car, for that I'm saving and waiting for a patrol / cruiser.

Those D3's are actually very good on the trails, packed with all that tech they perform very admirably, and may even outperform an empty patrol pickup. But add some weight to both and put them in the tough stuff and that patrol will start to work for its supper where the D3 will be bottoming out etc. D3 has become a good all rounder to be honest.

Russ Kellermann wrote:Those D3's are actually very good on the trails, packed with all that tech they perform very admirably, and may even outperform an empty patrol pickup. But add some weight to both and put them in the tough stuff and that patrol will start to work for its supper where the D3 will be bottoming out etc. D3 has become a good all rounder to be honest.

This is just it, Russ, what is the definition of Tough Stuff? Ours are VERY capable on a trail but as racist as Malema is, the next day or so the Disco has some "weird" kak caused by that trail - or just coincidence... My dad wishes he didn't have to sell, he also has an Xtrail but the decision to rather sell the Disco and keep the Xtrail was based on issues over the last 3-4 years, plus city run around costs.

The part my dad likes most about the Patrol 4.2
Big Diffs
No timing belt or chain
Pump driven by gears
175l tank
Airbags - for a donkey like this he was surprised
Chain driven transfer case
Can push start...might be an issue with a camper load

Do you think he should SAC a bit? I know it will decrease lifespan but the essentials above improve reliability so so much that it might have some give?

Hey bud. This is my opinion on your last statement...

You and your Dad searched high and low to find one of the last 4.2's available, possibly for ever, and you in a position to afford one brand new, untouched. You both enjoy the reliability of the motor in its design and proven history and hence went forth with the purchase. To then start fiddling with the motor would, in my opinion, be an idiosyncrasy to that.

I would boldly say leave well alone. Use it the way it is and enjoy it the way it is. To play this lottery , in my opinion, is just not worth it. For every action theres a reaction and i dont believe they will always be favourable when it comes to motors. Yes, there are success stories, but there are also many horror stories, and those usually rear their ugly head when you far far away from anything like a SAC garage/or otherwise.

Stick with the plan, and enjoy that vehicle for what it is. Bit slow, but you'll probably never have to worry.

I agee with russ
And there is no turbo to tune so what is the game plan????
IMHO the japs spend many a year building that motor don't try to change it......

I agree with Russ. The TD42Ti installation in the pick-up is the epitome of durability and I would not tamper with it. None of the features of the engine mentioned would necessarily make it more able to withstand the kind of abuse that would be foisted upon it by a botched "tweaking" exercise. When such an exercise goes wrong, it will eventually manifest in things such as cracked heads, blown head gaskets, holes in pistons, etc.

This is not to say that it is impossible to tweak this motor and get it right. There are success stories as well, but just know that none of the aftermarket tuners come even remotely close to doing their homework the way that Nissan or other OEMs do. The OEMs have the resources to do their development projects properly and test the results extensively in order to validate the whole system before releasing it for sale. On the other hand the aftermarket guys are invariably smaller outfits with less resources. Some of them are very good (artists, actually) and obtain good results by working their magic (more art than science), but the vast majority are not and don't even know enough to be as afraid as they should be...

Tinus lotz wrote:And there is no turbo to tune so what is the game plan????

Tinus, the 4.2 pick-up does have a turbo and intercooler these days, but it is a very conservative set-up designed to maintain power at altitude, rather than to act as a major power booster. It is bound to be a super durable set-up.

Tinus lotz wrote:IMHO the japs spend many a year building that motor don't try to change it......

...the 4.2 pick-up does have a turbo and intercooler these days, but it is a very conservative set-up designed to maintain power at altitude, rather than to act as a major power booster. It is bound to be a super durable set-up.

To illustrate this:
The highest rating that I know of for the TD42Ti motor is 114 kW @ 3600 rpm and 360 Nm @ 2000 rpm, which is already quite conservative and has proven to be durable in the Y61 wagons in Aussie. The rating for the TD42Ti motor in the SA spec pick-up is only 90 kW @ 3600 rpm and 282 Nm @ 2000 rpm.

Sorry Gerrit I thought it was one of the non turbo ones