How Old is old for a 3.0L Diesel Engine

[jackwalks]

G'day Guys & Gals,

After only buying my first fourby about 6 months ago & perusing the forums over the last couple of days, I have noticed that there are many Patrols here with hundreds of thousands of kilometres on them.

Been my first diesel with 260k on the clock, what is old/ warn for a turbo diesel??

If the engine is looked after with sevicing and such, will they just go on & on & on & on &.......you get my point??

Thanks for any replies & look forward to reading the comments

Adam

[MudRunnerTD]

Hey Jack that is a very Tough question mate.

If you were asking about the mighty TD42 then pumping out a Million kms is reasonable but alas its the ZD30 your asking about.

I think i posted something in one of your threads last week? might have been your intro even?? The ZD30 from 2001 through to 2003/4 is a Disaster mate and will be a legacy of Nissan forever. A disgrace and Nissan should have stepped up to the table and taken responsibility for what is considered a Lemon Engine.

I understand from reading a response from you the other day that yours is an original engine and still seems strong, thats great but be very very aware of it. It does not really matter how well it has been serviced they were a Dog. Do all that is written in these pages to protect and prevent destruction but many would consider a ZD30 from 2001 with 260,000kms to be on Borrowed time my friend. Sorry.

[the ferret]

Hi Jackwalks, the ZD30DI motor in your patrol does not have a good track record sadly.
You have one of the earlier ones that had a few problems.
If your motor has not been rebuilt by the previous owner and is original, now is a good time to start saving.
There are a few mods you can do to try and keep her going and you can find all that info on this forum.
Having said all that, some ZD30's blow up at 90 thousand and some are good for 300 thousand.
A 4.2TD is good for half a million K's.
Regular and thorough servicing is the best way to extend the life of your's or any motor.
Cheers, the ferret.

[Rusty86]

Unfortunately, some (particularly early) ZD30s still failed after being looked after their whole life, but most are fine.

I couldn't find it sorry, but there is a list on the other forum (Patrol4x4) put together by some of the experienced members and ZD30 owners to check out what kms people were up to and to document failures. The numbers were not as bad as some people make out, especially the later years '02+. I think there were around 70-80 documented failures though of the 00-01. This was from forum members from both Patrol forums and also legitimate stories of failures from other 4x4 forums and from owners outside forums. I'll try to find the link, it's quite interesting.

There were a couple of verified ZD30s that had done over 500,000km, some over 400,000 and quite a few over 300,000. I think it may be luck in some cases as to whether engine conditions over the life of the car end up in a blown engine, looked after or not.

Like the fellas said though, over 250,000km be very switched on to the warning signs and do all you can to looked after the engine and monitor it in the future.

Cheers,

Rusty

[blackhooded]

Unfortunately, some (particularly early) ZD30s still failed after being looked after their whole life, but most are fine.

I couldn't find it sorry, but there is a list on the other forum (Patrol4x4) put together by some of the experienced members and ZD30 owners to check out what kms people were up to and to document failures. The numbers were not as bad as some people make out, especially the later years '02+. I think there were around 70-80 documented failures though of the 00-01. This was from forum members from both Patrol forums and also legitimate stories of failures from other 4x4 forums and from owners outside forums. I'll try to find the link, it's quite interesting.

There were a couple of verified ZD30s that had done over 500,000km, some over 400,000 and quite a few over 300,000. I think it may be luck in some cases as to whether engine conditions over the life of the car end up in a blown engine, looked after or not.

Like the fellas said though, over 250,000km be very switched on to the warning signs and do all you can to looked after the engine and monitor it in the future.

Cheers,

Rusty

i like to say thank to rusty i look at buying a zd30 patrol 2003 and it nice to read most are fine and good car you will get the odd lemon like you will in most car
and 1 more thing if you haven't had first hand 1 blown up you shouldn't post saying there bad, it might be 10% are lemon but someone hear there bad and tell someone how tell someone and seem like it a big thing, i sorry if some people here have had 1 blown up

[Rusty86]

i like to say thank to rusty i look at buying a zd30 patrol 2003 and it nice to read most are fine and good car you will get the odd lemon like you will in most car
and 1 more thing if you haven't had first hand 1 blown up you shouldn't post saying there bad, it might be 10% are lemon but someone hear there bad and tell someone how tell someone and seem like it a big thing, i sorry if some people here have had 1 blown up

Yep, it seems for every legitimate failure, there's 10 more stories of a mate's mate's sister's cousin had one blow up etc. haha And 100 4.2 owners rubbing it in ;) I'll keep looking for that post and get it up.

I bought an '04 GUIII with 180,000km on the clock, I specifically stayed away from 00-02 because they do have higher chances of having problems, 03 should be fine, just be aware as mentioned and do NADS straight up if not already done.

Cheers

[Rusty86]

Found the link to the survey. It's pretty big but worth reading the whole way through. It documents a lot of people's different experiences and solutions too. Check it out here:



The results must be in another thread, I'll post it up when I find it.

Cheers,
Rusty

[Rusty86]

Early survey

[macca86]

Be careful of putting links to patrol4x4 my computer yelled at me as it's full of malware and alike

[Rusty86]

Yep sorry guys, it looks like the other forum is STILL having issues, my bad for posting those links. Hopefully it'll be sorted soon because there's some great info on there, especially in the survey mentioned above.

Cheers and sorry again if those links got your computer angry ;)

[chev_1973]

Interesting topic.

When I was shopping for my patrol I couldn't afford newer diesel and i didn't want to buy 01-04 3.0 diesel so i bought 4.5 litre patrol GU.

It's got 350 000 on the clock and it's runs like a dream.

I did 30 000 with it, it's also running LPG.

how many km can 4.5 litre engine do? I was told that they can do easy 500 000?

[Bob]

Interesting topic.

When I was shopping for my patrol I couldn't afford newer diesel and i didn't want to buy 01-04 3.0 diesel so i bought 4.5 litre patrol GU.

It's got 350 000 on the clock and it's runs like a dream.

I did 30 000 with it, it's also running LPG.

how many km can 4.5 litre engine do? I was told that they can do easy 500 000?

i HAD A 1991 4.2 PETROL THAT HAD OVER 550,000 K'S ON THE CLOCK WHEN i SOLD IT. ORIGINAL ENGINE WITH NO MAJOR REPAIRS. STILL RUNS WELL

I NOW HAVE A 4500 GU WITH 295,000 K'S AND I EXPECT IT WILL ACHIEVE 500/600 THOUSAND AND POSSIBLY MORE IF SERVICED CORRECTLY

[Clunk]

Interesting topic.

When I was shopping for my patrol I couldn't afford newer diesel and i didn't want to buy 01-04 3.0 diesel so i bought 4.5 litre patrol GU.

It's got 350 000 on the clock and it's runs like a dream.

I did 30 000 with it, it's also running LPG.

how many km can 4.5 litre engine do? I was told that they can do easy 500 000?

Timbar's 4.2 Petrol has just clocked over 600k and still going strong

tap tap tap with me hammer

[myzathreeby]

I defence of the zd30
I have no idea of any real statistics, but I spend a fair bit of time on the road and always note the patrols.
I would say that 8 out 10 patrols I see are the 3.0 litre diesels. Very few petrols and 4.2's
No car gets that kind of popularity if they are not a bloody good car.
There is always a percentage of breakdowns and faults with any car. The reason why we hear about a larger number of faults on the xd30 compared with say the 4.2's is simply because there are 4 or 5 times more of them on the road. (my theory only)
If it size that's important, Just remember, the 4 cyl 3.0 litre has got bigger pistons than the 6 cyl 4.2

However, that's not to say I wouldn't have had a 4.2 litre if I could have afforded it.

[twisties]

I've just bought an 02 ZD30 and while I cannot yet attest to it's longevity, with a thorough clean of EGR buildup and installation of NADS, I'm hoping it's going to prove reliable.
Time will tell but there's no way I could afford a 4.2

[the ferret]

All the best with it mate, I hope you have a long and trouble free run out of it.
Cheers, the ferret.

[chev_1973]

At the end of the day , it comes down to how the car is driven and how well it's been serviced.