Help help help gu 3l just blew up

[Diesel-Mate]

Thanks Johno thats what I want to hear, The Nissan dealer says you cant get the sump off without taking the motor out? And I ve got the starter out and can see the flex plate, we can see it flexing in and out slightly when we tried to turn the motor over with a bar, my hope is the flex plate is half off and jammed like you said. I needed that little bit off light to give me hope Thanks again.

You can take the sump out with the engine still in the car, sounds like the Nissan dealer wants to take the easy more expensive road. If it does come down to a blown engine definately go for a td42 motor they just have a lot more to offer and don't rely on computers to run.

[happygu]

The easiest option will be to take the engine and auto out as a single unit, and then try to get them apart.

Even if you manage to pull the sump off the bottom, and find the crank OK, you will still need to get the trans and motor apart to fix....

Mic

[craigv]

Thanks, You know, The point is if its the motor again Im not paying Nissan anymore money if they cant build a modern motor thats reliable. Its great for Nissan dealers to make money out of rubbish they sell,
I was assured the problems were fixed in the later motors but what you read they havent, since taking the chance on a new motor I converted It to a dual cab thinking I would be keeping it for the next 10 years but now it looks like ive got a dual cab with a bung motor and trans because of a crap engine.

[89gqpatrol4x4]

real bummer mate! I feel for you!

[Yendor]

My fingers are crossed for you mate, hopefully it is just the flexplate.

[Parksy]

Really hoping that it's just the flex plate. Do U know if it's a genuine nissan unit? Helped a Mate install a heavduty flex plate on a holden 308 and within the first or 2nd start it chipped a tooth. Heavy duty or not if it's not genuine it's a bigger risk.
When doing up the bolts for the flex plate, they are done up the same way as you would do a car tyre, in a criss cross patern. It's possible that some young apprentice has just quickly chucked it on without torquing everything down properly. Same with installing the engine onto the transmission. The stall converter should be installed onto the gearbox as far as it will go, then engine bolted to the transmission. The stall converter should turn freely otherwise there's problems. Should be no binding. Then of course the stall converter is bolted to the flex plate.
If not done in this order, can only spell disaster.

The fact that you've spotted trans fluid is a good indication that the seal between the transmission and torque converter is gone. I'm thinking more a gearbox change as opposed to a busted engine. Though you might get lucky and only need a new seal for the tranny.
If this is the case, then it's a sure sign that the installation wasn't done properly.

Never heard of a crank giving up, but there is always one.
Fingers are crossed for you.

[mudski]

Sure doesn't sound like the donk to me. Never heard of a crankshaft busting in one of these engines. As for the TD42 conversion. While its a better motor its also a crap load more in $$$ to do over a ZD30 rebuild. Yes the TD42 is a better motor but in some cases the cost just outweighs every factor.
Good luck OP in your findings.

[craigv]

No its all genuine,The worst part about it is the NISSAN dealers service department dont seem to care that a motor they supplied has seemed to have gone in under 60000km.

When I had it installed I had to chase them to find out what oil to use and how to run it in, when the 20000km warranty was nearly up I called to see if I should bring it in for a check they said its not needed and dont worry about it.
When they first said it was the trans I was happy how nuts is that !They say you should have your Nissan serviced and repaired at a NISSAN dealer, yeh so they can cover up all there mistakes and work out how to blame something else.

[mudski]

No its all genuine,The worst part about it is the NISSAN dealers service department dont seem to care that a motor they supplied has seemed to have gone in under 60000km.

What do you expect them to do? Its out of warranty.

[Rumcajs]

I personally also don't think that it is a broken crankshaft, however the issue here is that it is costing you money either way.
Patrols aren't cheap cars to maintain especially if having no mechanical skills or right friends and paying dealerships premiums than have lousy techs or useless apprentices with attitude
working on your pride and joy.

Nissan hasn't fixed anything, the truth is that ZD30 is not known for reliability and quite known for high cost of repairs, it seems it works out for Nissan in a handy way to maintain nice profits on a dreadful/questionable product (engine). They also generally don't care what they sell as long as they have "folks" coming and buying the "cool aid".

Nissan should have been burned for ZD30 saga long time ago but thanks to lousy consumer laws in this country they are getting away with it. Mind you it is not just Nissan who is getting away with chit like this, look at the other car makers and shenanigans they're up to.

Saying that: "it has always been serviced at Nissan or according to Nissan specifications" means/is misnomer basically it means nothing.
I feel sorry for you but like it or not you gonna have to produce some cash again. That is the nature of the beast.
Cheers