Has anyone broken a crank shaft in a GU 3L engine

Hey, it would be great to know if anyone has or has heard of a crankshaft braking in a GU 3L engine. Surely I cant be the only one in Australia. I dont even think Toyota s do that?

Have you had confirmation that it is your crankshaft thats busted?

We try not to use that "T" word here,


I'm visiting shops all the time and haven't heard anything about busted cranks

Surely you've removed the gear box and had a look at your flex plate by now. Never heard of the crank breaking

It is all speculation and without digging into the guts it's just guessing..

It is possible to break a crank (not sure if this is your problem) as with all mass produced machinery there is always the chance of imperfection .

When I was looking to buy a 3L GU one of the trucks I had a look at had a new engine in it,
When I asked what happend to the old one he said broken crank, not in half or any thing like that,
had somethig to do with the front where the pulley goes.
Nissan dealer said he had never seen that before.

Thanks its interesting to hear that someone has heard of it,I hope you didnt buy a 3l its not worth the worry and amount of effort to keep them going as I found out the hard way twice. The NISSAN dealer dosnt seem to have anyone in at the moment that is qualified to determine if its the trans or the engine.The mechanic at the trans shop with 30 years in the trade is 99.9 percent sure its the crank.

No Im to busy looking for another car so I can go back to work, I think Ill be selling this one: For sale Dual cab Patrol,front and rear ARB lockers ,2 x long range tanks, ARB bullbar 9000lbs Warn winch and side protectors, ARB roof rack, dual batteries, 60l water tank, new EFI springs & shocks with 2inch lift , poly air bags, safari snorkel , 16x8 mags with 285 tyres very well cared for never driven over 3200rpm , 60000km on the new motor....... oh and blow engine!

How much?????????????

I did buy a 3l DI, and I love it I have had no Problems at all.
I think broken cranks a very rare.
Do not trust a Nissan Dealer take it some where else.

Seems plenty of zd30s have made the distance and been reliable for many a member here been some horror stories but mostly just servicable issues. Its a shame what happened to you im sure this issue can be sorted with the info you have here and the fact you haven't found out what the problem is yet. Pull the box out and see what it is. It probably is a gearbox problem of flex plate.

Thats great to hear, both my motors didnt miss a beat and never towed anything over a 7x4 trailer about 500kg and serviced on time and not hammered , I just havent heard of one lasting 300000km and they just seem to let go.

Best offer over the next few weeks, Ill put it in the for sale section with photos.

Seriously what do you want for it I want a project car

Well I was offered $13000 for it last time and that was before it was a dual cab, so I dont know what it would be worth this time round???
Ill be looking at what I can get if it doesnt look like it going to go in my favour.

Is the conversion engineered????

380,000km on the motor in my tick tick patrol =]

The company i work for, we do exchange recon engines, never seen a broken crank, i see alot more holes in blocks.

Yes and passed through govt inspection and is now registered as a ute, Ive questioned the ute part but they say thats how it comes up.
Raa car insurance seems to think it ok to cover it.

Well you are the first one Ive heard that has and that is great to hear, did you have to install or re arrange anything to make the distance and what year engine and what type of oil have you been using, and it would be great to hear more people to really find out what is going on.
Ive had 2 x Nissans that just kept on going without all this ( you have to do this or put this in and watch this) I know for a fact that Ive been treating my engines a lot better then others because I was paranoid and I havnt been towing anything heavy.

Just out of interest what type of exchange engines and holes in blokes are you talking about?

No my patrol is completely stock,

Running fuel conditioner everytime i fill up, oil change every 5k, maf sensor cleaned...

Will be looking at a rebuild soon, cheap as chips =]

Mostly anything Diesel we do parts for, Engine *Block* not blokes lol... conrod out the side.

Shit that's embarrassing .......bit stressed lol to you to xxxxxxxxxxx

The final outcome is the crankshaft and the flexplate have gone which damaged the torque converter so I cant tell what went first anyway, but a couple of trans shops tell me its quite common for the flex plate to go, so everyone should install a heavy duty one if they have the trans out for anything,
The only thing I can say I did notice a very very slight knocking sound taking off coming from under the drivers feet area for a while but every time I had someone check it they couldnt hear it and looked at me like I was mad?.......so beware.