View Full Version : Which GU 3.0lt are the good ones? , if any.
udm
11th October 2017, 08:35 AM
Hi guys, got here hoping to find some help.
We come from having several 80 series landcruiser and are now jumping ship, and cant seem to find at what year the 3.0lt stopped having issues, as no matter what i look at, it has either had the engine replaced, or the head replaced, or the turbo replaced, or the pump replaced, etc, and if it has no records of having any mechanical issues, what are the odds it will blow up on me, or would you suggest i skip the 3.0lt all together?
We are planning a trip for this coming march and and have never had any let downs with the cruiser, and dont want to start now with a wrongly chosen GU.
Cheers
mudnut
11th October 2017, 04:08 PM
Hello and welcome to the forum. Please head over to the introductions section and say G'day.
There is plenty of information regarding the ZD30 and the CRD on this forum.
Your choice of Patrol depends on your budget and planned use.
udm
11th October 2017, 04:47 PM
Hi mudnut, it's not about the budget, its about knowing which years the 3lt should be skipped completely.
mudnut
11th October 2017, 06:05 PM
Fair enough. Pay the extra and snag a good TD42T.
GQtdauto
11th October 2017, 06:06 PM
Supposedly after 2003 , ours is 2002 and when bought 4 years back had every receipt ever spent on it and had been meticulously serviced .
It's been round oz three times pulling a two and a half tonne van and god knows how many trips from Wodonga to the Gold Coast .
Doesn't like the hills pulling a load but apart from that only minor niggles , no nads fitted and goes like the clappers , very impressive compared to my GQ but zippy isn't everything .
happygu
11th October 2017, 06:45 PM
I have never had any problems with the four of them I have owned, but I would try to grab a CRD Model if you can .... a little less zippy than the later model Di's, but not many problems that have surfaced like the earlier Di's, and there are some later model Di's that have still had issues.
I think half the replacement parts are actual misdiagnosis and not problem parts ..... but that is my humble opinion. The amount of people telling others, even trusted mechanics, that their engine has blown up, only to find it was a minor problem to begin with - is quite a number
4bye4
11th October 2017, 08:07 PM
I have a 2005 GU4 done 240000k with no major issues. New intercooler but that happens on all the crimped I/C's. Oil leak from the rocker cover gasket at about 200000, and a couple of alternators when I drowned it in puddles. So Far so good
MudRunnerTD
11th October 2017, 09:07 PM
Hi guys, got here hoping to find some help.
We come from having several 80 series landcruiser and are now jumping ship, and cant seem to find at what year the 3.0lt stopped having issues, as no matter what i look at, it has either had the engine replaced, or the head replaced, or the turbo replaced, or the pump replaced, etc, and if it has no records of having any mechanical issues, what are the odds it will blow up on me, or would you suggest i skip the 3.0lt all together?
We are planning a trip for this coming march and and have never had any let downs with the cruiser, and dont want to start now with a wrongly chosen GU.
Cheers
to be safe i would chase a CRD 3.0 Common Rail started in about 2007. before this was the DI Direct Injection motor and although they had supposedly fixed it there are members here that had a 2005 blow up soon after purchase. If i was going to buy a GU 3.0 it would be a CRD.
MB
11th October 2017, 09:20 PM
We had a stock rocket 2002 for between its say 150-250k life and did truly love it. Only small issue within that 100k was as above being the intercooler split seams. Did down/upgrade truck/donk size to a 2001 4.2TD for mountain towing horse float hauling needs increasing. Recently put an EGT gauge in the 4.2 workhorse and are quite shocked at what we must have been putting the poor old 3.0L through in its day. Keep em well under 550D EGT on consistent runs gurus on here and elsewhere do seem to recommend.
udm
11th October 2017, 10:25 PM
Thanks guys for all the input. Seems crd or 4.2 would be the way to go. Wouldn't mind crd as I have a 2013 crd hiace and that little engine is awesome to drive, I do understand a patrol is heavier lol.
Would you say $22k is a realistic budget for something good with quite a bit of touring gear?
Thought I'd also ad, our camper weights about 2ton empty.
udm
11th October 2017, 10:27 PM
Is the 550 before or after the turbo?
MudRunnerTD
11th October 2017, 10:31 PM
Thanks guys for all the input. Seems crd or 4.2 would be the way to go. Wouldn't mind crd as I have a 2013 crd hiace and that little engine is awesome to drive, I do understand a patrol is heavier lol.
Would you say $22k is a realistic budget for something good with quite a bit of touring gear?
Thought I'd also ad, our camper weights about 2ton empty.
For $22k you will probably find a 98 - 2002 TD42. You should be able to find a later CRD for that kind of money to id have thought although i have not been looking.
Is the 550 before or after the turbo?
Post Turbo.
MB
11th October 2017, 10:34 PM
Bloody good question mate, dunno where her sensor was installed :-) EGT/Turbo gurus out there anyone?
MB
11th October 2017, 10:36 PM
Good work MudRunnerTD :-) !
AB
12th October 2017, 06:08 AM
Bloody good question mate, dunno where her sensor was installed :-) EGT/Turbo gurus out there anyone?
Yours was installed post turbo mate.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
udm
13th October 2017, 10:20 AM
Thanks guys.
So a new issue popped up while researching common rail patrols, "fuel consumption" , is this so?
the evil twin
13th October 2017, 10:31 AM
Thanks guys.
So a new issue popped up while researching common rail patrols, "fuel consumption" , is this so?
There is a fuel consumption thread on the forum with heaps of real world figures.
I found that my Patrol was better than some and worse than others overall to any of the similar vehicles in our work fleet.
FWIW I averaged 12.5 LPH out of my series 5 over more than 200,000 K's.
My camper was approx 1200 Kg tho.
The vehicle was chipped and 3 inch exhaust with EGR blocked
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.2 Copyright © 2025 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.