GU III TURBO DIESEL - ANY GOOD

[esp22]

Hey, loking at purchasing one of these pretty soon in the 3.0i turbo diesel. A lot around the 170000kms mark, should i stay away from these?are they going to be in need of a rebuild soon?What other problems are known...Thanks

[Jacked]

[GU-ish]

i simple search would show they go "chitty chitty boom boom"

[whitiepatrol4x4]

i simple search would show they go "chitty chitty boom boom"

Another simple search would show that there is nothing wrong with the series III motor other than the need to install an EGT (must have) and Boost gauge (optional) to make sure the electronics are doing the right thing (which all new high tech diesels should have on-board anyway).

A member from another forum that has had the top end of the motor rebuilt after 250k (cause he unfortunately did not have an EGT gauge on-board) has reported that the insides were in near new condition:

wear in bore - too small to measure
twist in head - less than 1/2 thou
intake and exhaust manifolds also less than 1/2 thou twist.
big ends - not run in yet. Numbers still readable on shells.
mains - identical with the new ones, thickness, ovality and yaw. no wear there at all.


I would as a precaution suggest getting the standard stuff done on whatever diesel truck you think might be the one you will buy - a leak test, an oil test and just to be sure, an exhaust gas in coolant test.

Cheers,
Whitie

[IN24BZ]

decent truck , scary engine... some work some dont.. they are pretty reasonable to drive just make sure u can afford a rebuild "if" it happens to you. that aside , good fuel mileage , decent power... and relatively trouble free besides that.. exhaust leaks are a bit of an occurance and cracked egr tubes. nothings too serious.

[mkpatrol]

Maybe we should make a ZD30 sticky so all of these posts can go in the one spot. That way maybe it will reduce the amount of times this question is asked (BTW PLEASE SERCH BEFORE ASKING, THIS MEANS YOU ESP22).

Im sure whitiepatrol is getting sick of saying the same thing, day in dayout


I really dont like being a search nazi but this question is being asked so many times lately that it really is getting old.

[bogged]

PM Big GQ and make sure you get yourself one of these

[whitiepatrol4x4]

Maybe we should make a ZD30 sticky so all of these posts can go in the one spot. That way maybe it will reduce the amount of times this question is asked (BTW PLEASE SERCH BEFORE ASKING, THIS MEANS YOU ESP22).

Im sure whitiepatrol is getting sick of saying the same thing, day in dayout

Unfortunatelly it seems that the usual agitators do not tire of muddying the water whenever someone enquires about the ZD30.

It is obviously just too difficult to give them up to date advice, come to think of it, if it was 1999 and we were talking about the early series II, I would be on the bogged band wagon also

Later series II onwards, the motor was updated and just needs the EGT gauge to provide many happy Kms to its owner.

Cheers mkpatrol

[bogged]

Series II onwards, the motor was updated and just needs the EGT gauge to provide many happy Kms to its owner

yes.... they were all fixed then

[RoldIT]

Maybe we should make a ZD30 sticky so all of these posts can go in the one spot. That way maybe it will reduce the amount of times this question is asked (BTW PLEASE SERCH BEFORE ASKING, THIS MEANS YOU ESP22).

Im sure whitiepatrol is getting sick of saying the same thing, day in dayout

Unfortunatelly it seems that the usual agitators do not tire of muddying the water whenever someone enquires about the ZD30.

It is obviously just too difficult to give them up to date advice, come to think of it, if it was 1999 and we were talking about the series 1, I would be on the bogged band wagon also

Series II onwards, the motor was updated and just needs the EGT gauge to provide many happy Kms to its owner.

Cheers mkpatrol

Series 1 GU = 2.8TD
Series 2 GU = 3.0TD = Grenade with 3 second fuse
Series 3 GU = 3.0TD = Grenade with 7 second fuse
Series 4 GU = etc, etc ...

[mkpatrol]

PM Big GQ and make sure you get yourself one of these

That is so 2008

[whitiepatrol4x4]

Series II onwards, the motor was updated and just needs the EGT gauge to provide many happy Kms to its owner

yes.... they were all fixed then

You are a funny man bogged / truckster, remind me again, do you have egt and boost gauges in your truck?

RoldIT, thanks for picking me up on that, post fixed accordingly - BTW, I have one of those 7 second jobbies and could not be happier with it

[IN24BZ]

i just got a 4.2 and nothing goes wrong at all ,couldnt be happier.. bit more out of pocket up front but ill be the one seeing 700,000 kms before i need to do anything major. =] oh and btw today a series 4 got towed in to work with hole in piston syndrome and a perfect service history...... just thought it was some topic to the post.. 98,000 kms always on time for service. still shit its gear.

[patrol man]

I think if you own/drive/buy a ZD30 you need to have the 10k ( closer to 12k) in your back pocket for "WHEN" the motor blows, it is not a question of if it will happen more a question of when! ( patrol or navara).
I haven't seen a common rail ZD suffer the same failure yet but give it time!
To fit a EGT gauge and think you will know when something goes wrong is
an underestimation, how often do you look at gauge, I think you would need a buzzer or warning light as well.
Is there any feed back from somebody that has fitted an EGT gauge and stopped or backed off when it got to hot.

[*cruiser*]

i just got a 4.2 and nothing goes wrong at all ,couldnt be happier.. bit more out of pocket up front but ill be the one seeing 700,000 kms before i need to do anything major. =] oh and btw today a series 4 got towed in to work with hole in piston syndrome and a perfect service history...... just thought it was some topic to the post.. 98,000 kms always on time for service. still shit its gear.

Awsome you must have a 1 hz !!! Will be just run in at 700,000

[dat383]

To fit a EGT gauge and think you will know when something goes wrong is
an underestimation, how often do you look at gauge, I think you would need a buzzer or warning light as well.
Is there any feed back from somebody that has fitted an EGT gauge and stopped or backed off when it got to hot.

This is a very valid point.

Considering so many of these patrols are "mum's taxi's" and driven by women on a day to day basis.they won't look at or understand an EGT or boost gauge.hell they don't even watch the tacho or temp gauges!
let alone be able to react quick enough to prevent engine damage.(this also applies to plenty of blokes as well!).


Sorry to burst your bubble Whitiepatrol,
but we have been seeing gu series 4 common rails in our shop with engine problems,and not one has had more than 98000km.
our local engine reconditioner has them on his bench every week i go down to say g'day.

Just a bit of "up to date advice" for you.

To the original poster,mate,just don't do it to yourself.they are not worth the drama.

[Skegbudley]

To fit a EGT gauge and think you will know when something goes wrong is
an underestimation, how often do you look at gauge, I think you would need a buzzer or warning light as well.
Is there any feed back from somebody that has fitted an EGT gauge and stopped or backed off when it got to hot.

This is a very valid point.

Considering so many of these patrols are "mum's taxi's" and driven by women on a day to day basis.they won't look at or understand an EGT or boost gauge.hell they don't even watch the tacho or temp gauges!
let alone be able to react quick enough to prevent engine damage.(this also applies to plenty of blokes as well!).


Sorry to burst your bubble Whitiepatrol,
but we have been seeing gu series 4 common rails in our shop with engine problems,and not one has had more than 98000km.
our local engine reconditioner has them on his bench every week i go down to say g'day.

Just a bit of "up to date advice" for you.

To the original poster,mate,just don't do it to yourself.they are not worth the drama.

Mabee your workshop is using shit oil and that is causing so many failures in such a small cluster.
I bet that none of them has got a EGT gauge or a Dawes valve.

For the uninformed. Whitie and others on the patrol forum have done heaps of work towards bulletproofing the ZD30.
Adding a EGT & boost gauge is cheap insurance. If you have other people that drive the car and don't watch gauges then get a electronic one that has the ability to set off an alarm. easy. I would go one step further to say that if someone is not going to watch gauges then they are not going to drive my Patrol.
As a matter of fact I have had my exhaust temps go up due to a boost failure and reacted by reducing throttle input. Not very hard to do.

As far as I am aware. Nobody that has taken the steps to protect their ZD30 has had it blow.
The ZD30 is not unreliable compared to other engines. Walk into any engine reco place and you will find engines from every manufacturer.
I have personally seen two 200 series diesels blow up already. Does this mean that the motor is no good or that all owners will have issues?

[dat383]

Mabee your workshop is using shit oil and that is causing so many failures in such a small cluster.

These are not cars that we service,these are nissan customers.

But nice try to spread the blame to us.

Why are zd30 owners in such denial?

Why do zd30 owners blame everyone else for their bad decision?


In my opinion the bad engines are only the tip of the iceberg of why not to buy one.

[Skegbudley]

Mabee your workshop is using shit oil and that is causing so many failures in such a small cluster.

These are not cars that we service,these are nissan customers.

But nice try to spread the blame to us.

Why are zd30 owners in such denial?

Why do zd30 owners blame everyone else for their bad decision?


In my opinion the bad engines are only the tip of the iceberg of why not to buy one.

Hate to tell you but we are not in denial over the issues with the ZD30.
Being proactive in protecting our investment is better than sticking your head in the ground. As previously mentioned. there are a couple of simple things to do to the ZD30 to make them reliable.
"Tip of the iceberg of why not to buy one." Yeah right mate. What other problems do GU patrols have that makes them a bad buy? They are arguably the toughest and most capable 4WD on the market today.

Before you carry on about things that you are obviously uninformed about. (Do you even know what a Dawes valve is?) Try visiting the Patrol4x4 forum and have a look at what has been done in respect to ZD30 issues. I challenge you to show me a holed piston from a ZD30 Patrol that has boost, EGT gauges and a Dawes valve fitted.
Did I mention that that for every 150000km you travel in a 4.2L patrol. You would save aprox $10,000 by driving a ZD30 powered Patrol.

More power. Better fuel ecconomy and Half the service costs of a 4.2. I will be keeping mine for a while.

[whitiepatrol4x4]

Mabee your workshop is using shit oil and that is causing so many failures in such a small cluster.

These are not cars that we service,these are nissan customers.

But nice try to spread the blame to us.

Why are zd30 owners in such denial?

Why do zd30 owners blame everyone else for their bad decision?


In my opinion the bad engines are only the tip of the iceberg of why not to buy one.

Not denial, just cutting through the BS...

I and others are making people aware that this motor is run by a computer with sensors attached to it, all new diesel motors are the same - this is not a Nissan thing. Electronics can fail due to various reasons which provide bad information to the Computer, the computer just carries on its merry program and can as a result overboost, underboost, overfuel or underfuel the motor. Unless the ECU already has an EGT probe on the exhaust, you need an EGT gauge!

For anyone to drive these high tech motors that do not have EGT sensor feedback to the computer without an EGT gauge is as bogged displayed on another post - playing on the roulette table. With the EGT gauge installed, you will be able to ensure that you get many k's out of this, or any other high tech motor barring any real mechanical problems which have been rare in the 3ltr from Series III onwards.

Should the guy with the holed piston on the series IV have had the EGT gauge installed, he would not have a hole in the piston as he would have known that he was driving the motor beyond the accepted 550c post turbo - taken the truck to be sericed and they probably would have found a faulty MAF sensor.

As Skegbudley mentioned, for those who are not interested in looking at gauges, there are EGT gauges that provide outputs for buzers etc which cost the same as an ordinary gauge.

Most people unfortunatelly do not know about these features of a high tech motor and anyone purchasing a new car does not have a choice - they are all high tech motors. Manufacturers have gone high tech cause they typically provide power and torque curves of much larger motors whilst being more fuel efficient and environment friendly - get used to it as there is no going back.

I am just asking those in the Patrol comunity to change their focus from slinging mud to helping out fellow Patrol owners by making him/her aware of the importance of the EGT gauge on the high tech 3ltr.

These gauges are typically not required for the purely mechanical motors (such as the earlier 4.2s) but as soon as you start to modify them and ask them to put out a bit more power, the EGT gauge is one of the first things that any diesel shop will have you install.

Cheers

[whitiepatrol4x4]

Is there any feed back from somebody that has fitted an EGT gauge and stopped or backed off when it got to hot.

I am a perfect candidate to answer this.

After owning my truck for a few years (series III since new), I noticed that my economy was gradually getting worse and I was getting the ocassional black smoke out the tail pipe.

This prompted me to do some reading and I was fortunate enough to find the patrol 4x4 forum. Some of the members there were talking about the need for an EGT gauge and some more reading later, I found a lot of reputable diesel shops were saying the same thing.

Anyway, I found that the problem was a failing MAF sensor, replaced it and the truck was good as gold again. I finally got around to installing the EGT gauge (truck had approx 70k then) and all was fine until I went for a trip on the highway. I was shocked to find that the EGTs were easilly going over the 550c and heading to 600c and beyond under light-medium throttle and high rpm (highway cruising over hills).

On seeing this, due to having the EGT gauge, I just backed off on the hills and got the truck home in one piece - no harm done! Without it, I have no doubt that I would be like the chap with the holed piston.

Two and a half years later, my truck now has 130k on the clock and is going better than new (thanks to a few minor mods).

That story is the reason why I am so passionate about telling people about the EGT gauge - it is a must have for any high tech motor.

The motor is fine, the electronics are what can let you down now but thankfully, that is easy to insure against

[mkpatrol]

I will give you one thing Whitie, you are patient & persistent to you.



Disclaimer: this is not intended as criticism, I actually admire your patience as you have been flamed pretty well here for your posts on the subject.

[Reddo]

sticky this post? and or link it?

[whitiepatrol4x4]

I will give you one thing Whitie, you are patient & persistent to you.



Disclaimer: this is not intended as criticism, I actually admire your patience as you have been flamed pretty well here for your posts on the subject.

Thanks mkpatrol.

It is much easier to flame, ridicule or post a cute picture than to explain why you say what you are saying. I find that when you have provided sufficient additional information backing up your statements, most people usually come away with at least a different perspective on the subject.

There are those however that although they know what you say to be true and even proven, will still engage in poking and proding just to see if they get a reaction (not naming names here....)

Unfortunatelly, people come to their own conclusions regarding these agitators and then tend to filter out anything they have to say on any subject. In my mind, I find that to be a real shame because when they are not flaming, ridiculing or posting up cute pictures - they usually have a wealth of knowledge to share.

Cheers

[dat383]

Clearly we have very different opinions of these terrible engines.
But thats ok,we are allowed to have different opinions.

I was simply giving my advice to the original poster.

But you go right ahead and fit your gauges and valves and buzzers,
and hold your breath everytime you start,rev,flog or hear a noise.

some people like living on the edge of there seat,so good for you!

[whitiepatrol4x4]

Clearly we have very different opinions of these terrible engines.
But thats ok,we are allowed to have different opinions.

I was simply giving my advice to the original poster.

But you go right ahead and fit your gauges and valves and buzzers,
and hold your breath everytime you start,rev,flog or hear a noise.

some people like living on the edge of there seat,so good for you!

No worries dat, different opinions are what make the world so interesting to live in. It is up to each individual to sort the wheat from the chaff...

I will keep on enjoying my truck with its boost and EGT gauges and be content in knowing exactly what the motor is up to (BTW, these are the same gauges that bogged uses to protect his motor with also - cause he is one smart cookie when it comes to looking after his own investment ).

"if you are not living on the edge - you are taking up too much room"