2012-13 GU Diesel Patrol

[Ronweisley]

Hi fellow Patrol owners, I'm new to the forum.

I've owned a patrol since 1997 and have now up graded to 2013 ST Diesel. After reading some great reports about the new Patrol I have come across many posts about "Blown" pistons or refering to Patrols as "grenades". I find this very concerning given that I just spend 42,000 on a patrol with 45,000ks on the clock. I'm wondering if all the problems with the 3.0 engine have been ironed out? I have always found Patrols to be worthy bush chariots and as tough as a Leopard tank.

I would like to hear from other Patrol owners who have unfortunately experienced this problem. Or patrol owbers who are completely happy with their new puchase.

Yours in 4wdriving.

[threedogs]

Hi mate and welcome early 2000-2003 models had problems.
Read up on NADS ,
and jump in anytime and enjoy

[Hodge]

Welcome aboard mate.
As threedogs said, most of the grenades are the early Di model 3.0L diesels. All the patrols after 2007 are 3L common rails.
That is not to say there haven't been cases of them blowing up either. Just not as common.

[Avo]

welcome matey,evnjoy the info and advice..

[4bye4]

Welcome mate. I have 2005 GU4 with 3.0l motor, 185,000 km ish and no issues as yet. Seemed to be up to series 3 that had the main problems. I am going to fit NADS anyway in the next 6 months or so.
Tony

[Majestic]

Welcome to the forum mate. Great to see another new member. :D

I did my research when buying my Patrol and I heard that the 2.8 and 3.0L did have a shorter life span than the 4.2L. I was originally looking at a 2.8L GU and instead went with the 4.2L GQ. Apparently the smaller engines weren't design to pull the heavy 4WD's or something to that effect and so are often over worked even on-road. Most needed rebuilding at around 300,000KM. I don't know how accurate this is but it was just too much of a risk for me and felt saving some $$$ at the fuel station wasn't worth it in the long run.

Best of luck with your Patrol, keep us posted. :D

[4bye4]

I am going to fit NADS anyway in the next 6 months or so. and 2'lift and and and

[threedogs]

Fitting NADS will give you good peace of mind, plus you take the thinking away from the ECU,
An added bonus is you can drive to your gauges, and monitor
whats happening under the bonnet whilst driving along

[happygu]

Welcome to the forum mate. Great to see another new member. :D

I did my research when buying my Patrol and I heard that the 2.8 and 3.0L did have a shorter life span than the 4.2L. I was originally looking at a 2.8L GU and instead went with the 4.2L GQ. Apparently the smaller engines weren't design to pull the heavy 4WD's or something to that effect and so are often over worked even on-road. Most needed rebuilding at around 300,000KM. I don't know how accurate this is but it was just too much of a risk for me and felt saving some $$$ at the fuel station wasn't worth it in the long run.

Best of luck with your Patrol, keep us posted. :D


I believe it has nothing to do with the size of the engine, or them being overworked but it is more to do with the fuel control system.

Most failed engines have failed due to cracked heads and/or pistons, but when the engines are pulled apart the bottom ends are still like new, and most still have hone marks in the piston sleeves - even at high mileages.

[Semmo]

Welcome you will find a lot of great info on this forum

[MEGOMONSTER]

Welcome mate, surely the best forum on the net. If you need it, you can get it, if you want to know it, just ask it.
If you want to find it, go to the search bar for a universe of information.
Enjoy the sights and sounds of the greatest show on earth.

[Stropp]

Welcome to the forum mate, as has been mentioned early models have been an issue but if I had one I would do nads for peace of mind, even on my 4.2 I have egr blocker and a catch can.

[Ronweisley]

Thanks for the warm welcome Threedogs and others, and for the reasurance that the common rail Trolls engine problems have been somewhat ironed out. It does seem a real shame that even though I have a relatively new 4WD that one needs to fit Nissan Anti Detonation modifications for piece of mind. If I told my Toyota mates about NADM or my dad for that matter, I'm sure they would have enough ammunition to trash talk me for the next 100 years. ( We all know about Toyota owners)

I'm wondering if anyone has costed the DIY NADM modifications and if any reputable 4wd companies such as ARB carry out such modifications? I'm not the most mechanically minded fellow, and was hoping this could be done relatively cheaply by someone who knows what they are doing. I've already spent quite a lot of money on the Troll since purchasing, much to the dismay of my wife!!!

I've already fitted rear drawers, ARB bullbar, Rhino roofracks, Snorkel, light bars, cargo barrier, 3"lift kit and 285/75R Mickey Thompson P3's.(which are the best tyres I've ever owned BTW) 5000ks travelled on them and the nobs haven't even worn off! Plus they are fantastic on the red stuff) I plan to tell the wife/accountant that these NAD mods need to be done to make the Troll more fuel efficient!!!!!

[Sherro]

G'day Ron welcome to the forum mate.

[the evil twin]

Hiya Ron,

I will put this here so that if you don't read this humungous post at least you read this bit which is...
The very first item which is worth its weight in gold and is easily the singular most important thing you should purchase for a CRD is a Scangauge
At less than or around $200 depending on version they are an awesome assistant to enjoying your patrolling

I recently sold my '07 CRD with 160,000 on the clock.
It was heavily modified IE DP chip, EGR block, 3 inch exhaust etc etc and also weighed in at near GVM with all the extras IE steel bar, winch, long range tank, draws, fridge, dual batteries, full roof rack etc.
I did a fair amount of harder offroad work and towed a camper around 1250 Kg for quite a lot of those K's.

My personal view is based on my experience with that vehicle and the fact that probably 90 percent of people with Patrols driving the aussie highways have never ever heard of NADS or extensively modified their truck.
Forums like this one are awesome (I have been here almost since inception) but the active membership tends to be predominatly made up of vehicle enthusiasts with an interest in their vehicles above that of the average turn the key and drive person (thankfully) and also people who like to, uuummmm, tinker shall we say.

Sooo, to get to the point...
IMHO if, I stress IF, you are not modding the vehicle for different performance parameters then there is no need to do any NADs mods or similar.
The factory systems and regular servicing is quite OK except for maybe the need to clean the MAF sensor every 20,000 K's or so (10 minute job).

NADS is almost entirely made up of a method of controlling the engine when mods are made that will 'trick' the ECU and/or affect engine operation or the ECU outside it's programmed parameters.
My vehicle went like stink (for a 3 ton Patrol) and had no NADS gear fitted and I didn't even have a catch can.
I did change the turbo actuator adjustment to compensate for the modifications which is essentially an alternative to NADS.
Either adjusting the turbo actuator or NADS is definitely needed if you block the EGR and fit a chip as you will get boost issues otherwise.
I did buy a Dawes valve etc but never had the need to fit the gear as my vehicle was fully instrumented with EGT gauge, boost, fuel flow, etc and never exhibited any abnormal operation under ECU control

I also never fitted a catch can because mine did not get very much oil in the intercooler or plenum and also didn't use much oil between changes but Catch Cans are a good idea and I sure as shyte wouldn't drive my 6.5 Chevy Patrol without one.
My CRD didn't need it, just lucky I guess.

I personally know of no Patrol CRD's that have grenaded but there are a couple of members on here who have had theirs fail.
I do know personally of a Ranger and a Navara that did so I don't think there is any abnormally high circumstances of it happening in Patrol CRD's over other marques.

Bottom line is I totally agree that NADS works as a manual control, I totally agree that you either need to NADS or adjust the VNT control of the Turbo however I disagree that it is necessary on a 'factory' CRD engine UNLESS you get one that uses excessive fuel however that is a seperate issue.

Let the animated technical discussions begin... (just jokin')

[Ronweisley]

G'day TET,

I read all of your thread 3 times! I'm sure many more people will see this as very valuable information.

Thanks for a very imformative and sensible reply, and what I think will leed into an interesting technical debate/discussion.

I now feel very much assured that I don't have to heavily modify my CRD with NADS. I had played with the idea to block the EGR given that I did'nt like the thought of all that soot going back into the engine, plus I thought that it may give me some fuel savings. I was unaware that one would need to adjust the turbo actuator if I did this!

A quick bit of reseach on the above mentioned scanguage appears to be a worth while and important investment. I was particularly interested that it gives you the ability to track your vehicles performance over short periods of time, distance and acceleration and providing real-time data about your vehicle’s performance. More importantly, it appears that the gauge will give you the ability to know what is going on “under the hood” so you can catch issues early before they become more expensive problems. I think most 4wd enthusiasts would be interested in identifying mechanical issues early, especially when one plans on a trip to isolated areas.

Thanks to your experience and opinion, I'll be leaving my factory CRD alone for now, and will simply enjoy 4wdriving in new Troll.

[the evil twin]

Great plan, drive her for a while then work thru the mods slowly slowly to suit your driving.

A few points just to be clear.

NADS will void any warranty you have.
Performance chips are a bit more cloudy as afar as warranty issues go but be prepared to have to duke it out.
Nissan knew I had a chip on mine and I had no problems getting issues fixed under warranty but other people have and it seems to vary from dealer to dealer.
EGR blocking is illegal but not all that easily detected.
If you block EGR you will need to do something (NADS or VNT adjustment) on the sly as the dealers won't have a bar of it.
Scan gauges et al are a huge help in that they will read any fault codes for you rather than having to go to a mechanic
They also help if you totally block EGR as that will usually throw a random P0401 check engine fault unless you drill a small bypass hole in the blanking plate

[TazManiac]

From one new member to another, welcome. Hope to get more involved myself.

You should be ok with a new patrol as most of the issues were fixed in earlier models. Still doesn't hurt to look into NADS (funnily enough it's what bought me to this forum).

[Dhuck]

Welcome to the forum mate