Hole in sump

Hi guys.
This is my first post and I'm sure it won't be my last.
We have a lovely 2010 patrol zd30 manual.
Which has only done 160000 kms.

We are on holiday down in albany, parked up on chaynes beach we decided to move to a new beach,
I started the patrol and get out to let tyres down more when my Mrs noticed a big puddle of oil on the sand.
I looked under and noticed a hole about the size of a 20cent piece towards the front of the sump, it looks like something been pushed out..

I managed to drive it off the beach quickly and turn it off.
It showed no symptoms, still running on 4 cylinders.
Rac are happily going to tow the car and caravan home 450kms for a 600 excess.
Thank God for roadside assist.

I guess now what?
We are planning on doing a trip around Australia next year, I have now lost trust in the patrol.
Do I debuild the zd30 or put in another motor.
Petrol 4.8? Cummins? Ect?
I wasn't happy with the low end power of the zd30 in sand.
Sitting on the beach at 6am contemplating what to do lol.

Welcome Aboard @Damo76 Mate!
Sorry to hear about your woes of late on relaxation holiday time much deserved no doubt.
When you mention on the sump hole “looks like something has pushed out” do you mean the metal has flared outwards and definitely not an inwards foreign object penetration from the tracks driving in to camp?
Only mention as if it appeared running good still on all 4 cylinders hopefully it’s an easy sump replacement fix for you [emoji120][emoji120]
In regards engine swaps, sounds like you do a lot of beach driving which is most suitable and cheaper for high horse powered petrols like an OEM 4.8L GU and or LS1 5.7L Chev for around $15k drive in drive out on the Chev. (parts galore Australia wide too)
Some Legends are having great performance installing Ford Turbo Barra engines also but I’m unsure of their price, similar $15k I believe drive in out.
Unfortunately the big horse power diesel conversions required for sand start at around $30k and upwards, skies are the limits such as 6BT Cummins / 6.6 Duramax etc..
Could possibly be worth buying a Grandpa/Grandma well looked after 4.8L GU and transferring all your goodies over to it starting fresh too?


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Forgot to mention also @Damo76 Mate.
The OEM 4.8L petrol variants also have a 3.5T towing capacity legally placarded out of the factory I believe? It might have only been the manual 4.8L and not automatic though to keep in mind.
Any conversion you may end up doing off your 3.0L platform will still retain the 2.5T placarded capacity unless further modifications like brakes and further engineering certification is done I think [emoji848]
Fingers crossed it’s just an easy sump puncture from outside and the ZD30 Gurus on here can help you gain more ponies and torque out of it with some bulletproofing mods they know and trust [emoji123][emoji123]


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FWIW: I haven’t bothered mentioning an OEM 4.2 diesel variant vehicle purchase above as they stopped making them late 2006 early 2007 and the current GU TD42/T/i market is ridiculously overpriced for even bog stock 500,000km + ones. Converting a stock 4.2 diesel into your 2010 will cost around $20k +++ if you can even find a low mileage engine and then budget for another say $10k for turbo/intercooler/pump/engineering to reach sand driving capability you need.


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Must add a spare sump pan to my box of spares.