Y62 dust in engine

[MelbAl]

I have a Y62 Series 1 which has done a fair amount of off-road driving - not mountain climbing, more touring on the Tanami, Gibb River Road, etc. Bought from Nissan new in 2014, done 170,000kms and serviced 16 times by Nissan as per the 10,000 service schedule. Started a small whine about 3 months ago which has now been diagnosed as dust in the engine, 3 cylinders already badly damaged, and described in my last Nissan service report as “this car needs a new engine”.
Has anyone experienced anything similar.

[mudnut]

Has there been a break in the inlet piping or has a vacuum hose been left off? Did a service mechanic not refit the air filter properly. Do you run a snorkel?

[MelbAl]

Nissan can’t find any damage, and can’t explain what went wrong - that’s after inspecting the car for a week. No snorkel (none available in 2014 when I bought it) but there has never been a build up of dust on the filter. There is a fine layer of dust in the filter box on the engine side.

[mudnut]

I can only think that the filter wasn't fitted properly and it was never noticed. Did it ever backfire at any stage? i have had experience of the filter housing on a Falcon popping open, after a backfire.

[MelbAl]

Never had any backfires. I can only think the Nissan filter doesn’t handle bull dust very well.

[mudnut]

The service intervals are reduced for dusty driving.

[MelbAl]

The vehicle was serviced immediately before and after every trip - for one trip it was serviced half way

[mudnut]

I am out of ideas, sorry.

[Avo]

I've seen this on a fb page,to be honest I've never seen or heard of it happening before either,

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[MelbAl]

I have just had an official response from Nissan Australia.
“The dust has gotten past the air filter and through to the engine. The engine bay showed signs of severe off-road driving conditions and was covered in dust. The case of the concern has been deemed as environmental due driving conditions”.
The current dust in the engine bay came from a trip to Arkaroola in May, about 300kms on a well graded road. But Nissan is saying their car is not designed for Australian outback conditions.

[rusty_nail]

Wow just having a read mate sorry for your troubles! I can't offer any advice, just best wishes with your troubles with Nissan. Have you got a third party opinion? One member on here has managed to get a manufacturer to come to the party with his troubles after starting legal action, however it never made it to court I believe as the manufacturer puked their head one at the 11th hour

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[MelbAl]

I would be interested to hear more about the other guy. I have an ex Nissan Techline expert on my side so I know how they play but I need to find a good lawyer who has been through this before.

[Hodge]

Nissan is saying their car is not designed for Australian outback conditions.

Is this worded anywhere in the manual? I'd be asking them to show me exactly where it says why I Can't drive my $80k "off-road" vehicle through the Aussie outback.
It's irrelevant where you got the dust from. If there perhaps is a design flaw issue somewhere, they should address it.

[MelbAl]

Those are my words. Nissan’s exact words are at the start of the post, verbatim. But if I had used a high pressure hose prior to the vehicle check by Nissan Brighton the engine bay would have been dust free, clean as a whistle. Nissan’s words do say very clearly we should not be driving in extreme dusty conditions such as the road from Blinman to Arkaroola, or the Gibb River Road. That’s not how they advertise this vehicle.

[Avo]

Those are my words. Nissan’s exact words are at the start of the post, verbatim. But if I had used a high pressure hose prior to the vehicle check by Nissan Brighton the engine bay would have been dust free, clean as a whistle. Nissan’s words do say very clearly we should not be driving in extreme dusty conditions such as the road from Blinman to Arkaroola, or the Gibb River Road. That’s not how they advertise this vehicle.Wonder how many have this problem in the middle east then...
I had the same thing asked when I went for a respray....got asked if I drove it on gravel roads...

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[MB]

Completely left field wacky possibility maybe, how plasticcy/secure are the new systems air intake boxes/systems and proximity to highest engine heat like exhaust manifolds?
I honestly have zero knowledge of the Y62 series configuration, just makes me wonder if Outback higher ambient temperatures and heavy bull dust operating temperature hauling hard through the Talcum powder may cause filter cannister lids or the like to flex open slightly and take edge pressure off the filter faces, clutching at straws maybe [emoji848]?


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[growler2058]

I hate a Current Affair,
But I would be squealing like a stuck pig to them or similar. "4wd that cant 4wd" Shame, shame shame.............Where's Derryn Hinch?

[mudnut]

One option is to find a mechanic with a smoke machine and test out the system like that.

[MelbAl]

Nissan has admitted in writing that the dust got past the air filter. They say it is my fault for driving on too many dusty roads. I figure I need a lawyer, not a mechanic.

[mudski]

Nissan has admitted in writing that the dust got past the air filter. They say it is my fault for driving on too many dusty roads. I figure I need a lawyer, not a mechanic.

Looks like a design fault to me then. I'd be seeking legal advise.

[MelbAl]

Thanks, I am.
About 10 years ago Nissan Australia paid me to fit a data logger/tracker to my Y61 towing a camper trailer across the Tanami, along the Gibb River Road, up to Cape Leveque, then back on the Tanami. I was providing data to two local engineers plus one from Japan. They obviously didn’t think it was off limits for the Y61 but now they are saying it was too extreme for the Y62. I am working on the assumption their current stance can’t be defended. Their latest marketing material clearly shows the Y62 in pics with lots of dust. The car is basically very good but the same can’t be said about their customer service.

[04OFF]

Is this worded anywhere in the manual? I'd be asking them to show me exactly where it says why I Can't drive my $80k "off-road" vehicle through the Aussie outback.


Yes agree, Id be very interested in what the OPs manual actually says about driving in dusty conditions, and what precautions and or maintenance is required by the owner ?

The owners manual is your "instruction book", so if you have in fact followed all the instructions, and as you have said, serviced at Nissan using genuine filters, then i can see how you would feel very frustrated, i guess i can also see how Nissan can not foresee every extreme condition a vehicle may be exposed to, and everything has its limits.



And just how much "dust" is "dusty", well look at Collins online English Dictionary's Definition of 'dusty' "If places, roads, or other things outside are dusty, they are covered with tiny bits of earth or sand, usually because it has not rained for a long time". sounds like a description of the majority of Australia's land mass, so seems reasonable to expect that a off road vehicle sold in AU, should be able to cope with dusty conditions pretty well ?




If im reading it correctly , my S5 service book says for normal use "clean" the Air filter every service, and only replacing it every 40k...... for "dusty" conditions it just says to replace more frequently, but does not say how often, so pretty vague if you ask me, i replaced my air filter myself at 20k (after ringing up to ask why it was not done at service as i assumed it would)








Their latest marketing material clearly shows the Y62 in pics with lots of dust.

Funny you should mention that, i always found it odd, their S5 marketing material also shows a Y62 clearly driving through ocean salt water, yet i bet if "i" drove mine into the ocean, and then complained because the car started rusting, the dealer would laugh at me ?






83942


:driving2:

[MelbAl]

The owners manual says nothing about severe driving conditions, but the service manual lists 10 conditions including driving in dust. It also includes extensive idling and driving with frequent use of brakes. 04OFF is perfectly correct in saying the service book require you to do things more often but doesn’t define what this means. For dust, it seems to be checking the brakes more often and replacing the air conditioner filter - neither of which will destroy the engine.
This does not seem to be about what’s in the book, it’s about Nissan’s approach to customer service. They seem to have no interest in the fact I did service it more frequently and this was with Nissan. E.g. the 50,000km, 60,000km and 70,000km services all occurred within 3 months with the middle one being in Townsville in the middle of one trip. I didn’t want to travel 20,000 kms without at least changing the engine oil so I had a full service at their Townsville dealership.
My original question for this forum was - has anyone else experienced anything like this?
I am also interested in whether anyone knows a good lawyer in Melbourne with experience suing a car company.

[MB]

It’s probably no help again MelbAI Mate but the Kerrigan family somewhere over near Tullamarine-Melbourne appeared to go alright with Dennis Denuto against some sort of Powerhouse endless fighting coin Corporation [emoji51]


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[MB]

Only my opinion but would imagine you’d need irrefutable evidence of how a design fault allowed the reasonable dust/particulates to physically get inside your unfortunate engine MelbAI Mate.
Second step after that I would think would be putting forward manuals/advertising having mislead your purchase etc….
A huge case if they are at design fault, fit for purpose and the like so again can only imagine they’d fight hard to protect a precedence or whatever it’s called [emoji51]


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[MelbAl]

Thanks MB, I understand what you are saying but on my side I have a official letter from Nissan saying that dust got past the filter and entered the engine. I don’t think I have to prove anything since Nissan have conceded this in writing. Whether the filter can’t cope with bull dust, or if it’s something else is not for me to worry about since they have conceded on that point. But you are spot on with the need to demonstrate their marketing led me to believe the Y62 was capable of handling trips on outback roads. Add to that the fact they paid me to carry a data logger on a prior trip to the Kimberley in 2012 in my then Y61 seems to prove to me that they had no issues with the Patrol travelling on dusty/dirt roads.

[MB]

Apologies, I must have missed the part of the letter, hopefully that’s the sealing nail in their coffin for you Mate [emoji1696][emoji120][emoji106][emoji106]


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[MB]

Win, loose or draw, and I do truly hope you win MelbAI Mate to at the least get a new motor out of them!
I wonder what their future recommendation would be for an upgraded filtration system and or whether or not there is any aftermarket mobs out there already fabricating one so some other poor buggers don’t cop the same fate as yours on their dream around Australia retirement say bucket list [emoji51]?


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[MelbAl]

After market air intake systems for the Y62 are becoming available. There is one from AVO turbo - the same mob who supplied my current exhaust system. I’ll be looking at them as well as a snorkel once I get a new engine. Thanks for your help and thoughts.

[MB]

I wish you the absolute best of luck MelbAI Mate, please do keep us posted of the hopeful good news soon[emoji1696][emoji120][emoji106][emoji106]
BTW: Thank you for the AVO lead, you may have indirectly solved a search we may future need for old diesels front mount intercoolers to assist taming EGT’s [emoji106][emoji106]

https://avoturbo.com/brz-frs-86-upgrade-3-5-front-mount-intercooler-larger-intercooler-entry-hose/


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[MB]

Apologies…Deleted…….Disregard…..Farkin Satellites Internetties [emoji341] [emoji23]

[votledge89]

It must be a mistake by the technician, it can't be fusty conditions we get extremly dusty weather here at least 80 days a year, never heard anyone complain about such a problem.
Snadbladting storm, fine dust stuck in the air we got it all!
I am sorry for your loss it must be shocking to loss an engine at this early age I hope you can resolve it in your favor.


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