View Full Version : Are the GU 4.5L Engines good or not.
mudnut
23rd March 2024, 08:16 PM
Hunting around for a tow horse with a bit of comfort and a bit more towball down force capacity than my Old Trol. I have seen many 4.5s for sale. Most are lpg/petrol which would be ripped out anyway. Are they fuel hogs, power houses or just big lazy donks. Is it worth bypassing the 4.5 and stepping up to a 4.8 instead?
Plasnart
23rd March 2024, 08:30 PM
Hunting around for a tow horse with a bit of comfort and a bit more towball down force capacity than my Old Trol. I have seen many 4.5s for sale. Most are lpg/petrol which would be ripped out anyway. Are they fuel hogs, power houses or just big lazy donks. Is it worth bypassing the 4.5 and stepping up to a 4.8 instead?
Warning: The following advice comes from someone without first-hand ownership knowledge of either.
G’day Muddy! I knew a bloke who had a 4.5 and told me it drank him out of house and home. He just put up with it, not being a off-roader, or heavy tower, basically just a country daily driver, he had no real love for the vehicle in particular, or for the Patrol brand in general.
In light of this, given the choice between a 4.5 or 4.8, I would go large mate!
If you’re going to burn fuel, might as well burn it well through an 4.8 and bloody enjoy it!
mudnut
23rd March 2024, 09:31 PM
Thanks, Plassy. Next question is if I got either a 4.5 or 4.8 port and polished and fit headers, would the electronic fuel injection be able to handle it?
I know that Carby engines benefit greatly from those three mods.
jay see
23rd March 2024, 09:45 PM
Hunting around for a tow horse with a bit of comfort and a bit more towball down force capacity than my Old Trol. I have seen many 4.5s for sale. Most are lpg/petrol which would be ripped out anyway. Are they fuel hogs, power houses or just big lazy donks. Is it worth bypassing the 4.5 and stepping up to a 4.8 instead?Yes they are fuel hogs..
Speaking of 10 years of experience.
Mine was a daily while on an injected gas system up until about a year ago. Now retired to camping trips on straight petrol. With over 550,000 ks on it I'm confident in its reliability, it's a basic engine pushrod engine and a simple ECU. They are known as heavy on fuel, but bullet proof engines, most now have a lot of kms on them and are tried as is mine, chags along good on the flats but needs a few extra revs on inclines. Put a bit of weight on them and you might notice it mainly on the hills.
I've put about 300,000 on mine and haven't needed to do anything to the engine except tappet adjusted, however I've changed alot of other parts around the engine.
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jay see
23rd March 2024, 10:12 PM
And on fuel usage, I put in 100 liters today and did 410 km with 1/4 tank left. Tank is long range 148 litres. Mainly sitting on cruise at around 2300 rpm .
Hope is helps.
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jay see
23rd March 2024, 10:31 PM
Thanks, Plassy. Next question is if I got either a 4.5 or 4.8 port and polished and fit headers, would the electronic fuel injection be able to handle it?
I know that Carby engines benefit greatly from those three mods.Don't know about the port and polish, but I've put a full manta exhaust system on without any efi issues.
Haven't done any fuel consumption comparison as yet.
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Cremulator
23rd March 2024, 10:36 PM
And on fuel usage, I put in 100 liters today and did 410 km with 1/4 tank left. Tank is long range 148 litres. Mainly sitting on cruise at around 2300 rpm .
Hope is helps.
Sent from my Pixel 7 using TapatalkAnd is this on unleaded 91, U95 or U98? [emoji848]
https://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2024/03/29.jpg
jay see
23rd March 2024, 10:45 PM
And is this on unleaded 91, U95 or U98? [emoji848]
https://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2024/03/29.jpg91 this time..
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BrazilianY60
24th March 2024, 09:06 AM
LOL, that lady on the meme is a brazilian actress, LOL.
My impression with the 4.5 is that it drinks more than it delivers. It is very torquey at the lower revs but loses that powerful sensation once you reach the 3k rpm area. In comparison, I have an LC 105 with a 4.5 DOHC 24v 1FZFE engine, same displacement, and the TB45 is nicer on the lower revs, but when the 1FZFE reaches 2.5k rpm, it feels like it unleashes a monster. And it drinks less as well.
For this reason, I BELIEVE (no evidence on this) that the TB48 being DOCH 24v would behave just like the 1FZFE, because of the design, with a bonus of a slightly bigger displacement. Makes me dream if my GU had the TB48 instead of the TB45.
mudski
26th March 2024, 06:42 AM
If the budget allows. TB48 all the way. 185Kw out of the box. I still remember the TV ad when the TB48 was released of it dragging the TB45 backwards in a tug of war.
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