Some ZD30 Maintenance Questions !

[Limmy]

Hi guyz

Couple of questions

GU IV 2005 zd30

Q.1
I've been using Caltex delo 400 oil for a while now. Caltex depot near my house is closed down, so i cant get any cheap 20L drums
What other oils can i use ? i'm looking at purchasing 20L drums. What are you recommendations ? pros and cons ?

Q.2
I want to replace to glow plugs in my truck. its just clicked over 200,000kms . I've seen a few diff type on ebay. Which are the most reliable that wont break ? I've seen NGK , BOSCH , E-techno 1 , HKT ?

What are the pros and cons of metal ones. I want some that wont break and stuff me engine up. I don't mind how much it cost either to keep the zd30 happy !

thanks heaps

Limmy

[mudski]

Oils not sure mate. I always used Magnatec 15w40. And still do now. When I did the conversion and the workshop pulled my old motor down they commented on how clean the inside of the motor was. So it must be a good thing... But the largest it comes in is 10ltrs.
As for glow plugs, get metal tipped, and NGK, Bosch or HKT's are all good. Those would be the three brand I would look for.

[4bye4]

Always used Penrite product in all my cars work truck etc and never had an issue. Again always used NGK spark plugs and glow plugs, again without fault. I have improved the running of the small motors I work on by removing the Champion spark plug and replacing it with an NGK. No other tuning required.

[threedogs]

Using Penrite 5/40 every 5K great results,
just fitted some Bosch metal tipped glow plugs.
easy enough job to do.
Only tip dont over fill the motor,,, keep it just under

Edit;; My glow plugs went about 210K

[Daveyboyjunior]

I can't comment on the oil, as we don't have Delo or Penrite over here.
I use a 15/40 which conforms to the Nissan requirements (acea/cf and all that), but change the oil twice a year.
I replaced my ceramic tipped glow plugs with metal NGKs.

[Daveyboyjunior]

66160Here ya go Limmy,
The difference between a ceramic NGK that wears down and a metal NGK that doesn't!

[bsteveo]

Sorry, newbie question, would you replace the glowplugs in the same way you would replace your spark plugs in a petrol car? i.e at the same intervals, with a regular service, etc

[Daveyboyjunior]

Bstevo, you only need to look to replace glows if you find you're having starting issues particularly in colder weather.
They have a much longer life than spark plugs and are more expensive.

[bsteveo]

Bstevo, you only need to look to replace glows if you find you're having starting issues particularly in colder weather.
They have a much longer life than spark plugs and are more expensive.

Cheers for that

[Rumcajs]

You're well advised to think twice about only replacing glow plugs when hard to start!

Metal tipped ones are cheaper for a reason, their life span is about 20-40K where ceramic ones are about 100 K under ZD30 operating regime which is total lunacy! That stupid system puts them on even when ambient temperature is 40 deg C so the notion of fraud (emission control) is/can be perpetuated. Glow time is dependent on 2 things: max time of 5 mins or coolant temp reaching 70 deg C whichever is first. Nissan scheduled servicing calls for glow plugs replacement at 100K....

Fit metal tips glow plugs and you'll be changing them more often then spark plugs in the "Falcodore" car variety under such operation.

ZD30 will start fine without "glow" at 10 deg ambient...... so advice is to hack the system and either install extra timer for convenience or simply do it yourself when and if needed if you are going in to trouble replacing glow plugs, you will: prolong the life of them as well as improve the chances of the engine not going South.....p

So in theory changing glow time to just 30 seconds and limiting it only to cold (under let say 15 deg C) mornings the ceramic glow plugs should then based on that duty cycle last easily over 250K km.

I don't want to change glow plugs again so I replaced the ceramic ones with ceramics and control glow time as needed to start the engine only when cold not to confirm to fraud emissions standards!

Ceramic glow plugs heat up faster and hotter too.

Regards

See here --> ZD30 DI glow plug timer mod (http://www.patrol4x4.com/forum/zd30-di-engine-3-litre-71/zd30-di-glow-plug-timer-mod-320650/) how it is/can be done.