Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Hello!

The 3.0TD Patrol, is it really THAT bad?
Specifically the 2003 model, with 125,000km on the clock.

I have searched Google for hours and hours, and all over the show you get forum entries with okes saying do not touch, stay away, they blow up etc, but I cannot find many forum entries where actual OWNERS are complaining about issues?

What is the power delivery like, enough for that vehicle?

Then with a used vehicle, is there any way to determine if it was abused in its past to avoid future problems? These oil dns tests that available, will that help to predict?

Then finally, if it is that bad, and it goes bad, what exactly happens? I read about over fuelling and pistons burning and so on. What is the cost of repair then?

I really want a patrol but cannot afford the fuel for the petrol models.

no its not there is a lot of info on this forum just speak to groot seun and oom mac

Tinus lotz wrote:no its not there is a lot of info on this forum just speak to groot seun and oom mac

Thank you, I have spent a lot of time here already ready, but it is so difficult to put it into context.

Unfortuneatly you can never say in what condition it is or how the previous owner drove it
The biggest killer on these are excessive fuelling causing higher than expected EGTs 700 degreess and higher and you start seeing piston failure

In my opinion no they are no that bad - i drive a 2001 and she has no clocked 260 000km with no trouble although only 10 000km is in my possesion

As for power i have only fitted a better intercooler and got 100kw and 365nm on the wheels with an autobox and 285/75/16 tyres and i average over 9 kmpl on the open road and EGTs under 600 when under load

I doubt oil dns tests will help you here as the biggest problem cracked pistons and cylinder heads

Freddie, firstly welcome here.

This is my opinion: I unashamedly prefer petrols, but the much lower fuel consumption of the diesels, and particularly that one, is very attractive.

I doubt they really are as bad as it would appear in print, but of the five people I personally know who drive these, two have handgrenaded. However, I very much doubt even 10% of these cars have issues.

Having said that though, my concern is that there is no way to tell what condition the pistons and head are in when buying a second-hand example, and it is extremely expensive to fix. Driving with that kind of axe hanging over my neck all the time would be liable to spoil my fun entirely, but many Land-Rover products have got problems that occur with at least similar regularity.

They do however have enough power to get any job done, except perhaps if the job is winning races, and they make exceptional long-distance cruisers. As a compromise between fuel consumption and power, they are matchless.

I have been very verbal in my dislike for these cars, but If the choice was 3l Patrol or some other type of 4x4, I would rather take the Patrol.

Further, it must be noted that my dislike for diesels stems not so much from their reliability or otherwise, but from the noise they make, and the fact that most owners feel the need to idle them excessively (which to be fair is really not a diesel issue at all, but a turbo issue), particularly when in sight of game. I like being able to switch off immediately when I stop, and drive off immediately after starting up.

Freddie,

drive between the "lines" and the diesel will take you everywhere! As Dirko, aka "grootseun", has said keep the egt's low and you should not have any problems! This is truly an amaizing 4x4 and you will go far to get any beter!

Phillip

Thank you gents, so the main problem is determining the condition of the insides when looking at a used vehicle, I guess there is no way of doing that.

Expensive to repair when they blow up, what is expensive? What total cost are you looking at?

Freddie, i have been told you could easily be looking at a R60k bill.

Speak to Alex Roux, he is the most recent victim on this forum?

Hi Yabbadabbadoo

Yes it is costly to repair.
There is not much difference in cost between getting the engine repaired and a newish recon engine reaplcement. So I went for the latter.
I would consider a ZD30 engine though if I know I can prevent it from handgrenading. And I think it can be prevented, because the precautions that can be taken do seem effective in managing the tempratures down.
The only snag is you don't know how much damage has been done to date and it is not worthwhile to open up to have a look.

Thank you, so this is really a difficult one. I pity those people who buys these Patrols not knowing about that issue.