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3 Litre diesel engine advice for Nissan

Tech Talk for Nissan owners.

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3 Litre diesel engine advice for Nissan

Post by Rob_McLachlan »

Mines a July 2003 and its done 135000km, with no problems. After a bit of reading, I assume I should do the following to keep t going a few more years.

Use the correct oil SAE 10w-40, over fill the dip stick a couple of mm, and fit a boost gauge and EGT temp gauge. Does this sound like the way to go? Apart from the usual changing oil and filter every 5000km.

Cheers,

Rob
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Re: 3 Litre diesel engine advice for Nissan

Post by bogged »

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Post by macneil »

sell it buy a 4.2




nah just keep an eye on egt's and pray every day..
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Post by chpd80 »

dont drive it and you will be fine. :D :D
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Post by 300WinMag »

Donate it to the army to be used as a target for tanks.
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Re: 3 Litre diesel engine advice for Nissan

Post by bigbluemav »

Ditto.

Go to the GU section and follow the link to the Patrol Reference Document. The site also has HEAPS of good people with HEAPS of helpful info on ZD30's, including what goes wrong, why and how to prevent it.

The bible if you will!! :D :D :D :D :D

DO NOT listen to the nay sayers. Keep your car.
Big Dave, Scarborough, Qld
Loose Screws 4wd Racing Team
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Re: 3 Litre diesel engine advice for Nissan

Post by bogged »

bigbluemav wrote:
Ditto.

Go to the GU section and follow the link to the Patrol Reference Document. The site also has HEAPS of good people with HEAPS of helpful info on ZD30's, including what goes wrong, why and how to prevent it.

The bible if you will!! :D :D :D :D :D

DO NOT listen to the nay sayers. Keep your car if your rich.
Fixed.
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Re: 3 Litre diesel engine advice for Nissan

Post by KiwiBacon »

bigbluemav wrote:
Ditto.

Go to the GU section and follow the link to the Patrol Reference Document. The site also has HEAPS of good people with HEAPS of helpful info on ZD30's, including what goes wrong, why and how to prevent it.

The bible if you will!! :D :D :D :D :D

DO NOT listen to the nay sayers. Keep your car.
I just downloaded that for a read. I don't trust the authors explanations. For example; more boost does not make your engine hotter. It is also impossible to overheat a diesel without overfuel. Overfuel results in a lot of power which needs to be used.

The stop he's changing on the VNT turbo is the position for vanes closed. It only sets how soon the turbo can spool up, but he's using it to attempt to control boost?
Winding it in the way he does can only reduce boost during spoolup. Once the ECU decides to move the vanes, it has no effect.
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Re: 3 Litre diesel engine advice for Nissan

Post by tweak'e »

KiwiBacon wrote:
I just downloaded that for a read. I don't trust the authors explanations. For example; more boost does not make your engine hotter. It is also impossible to overheat a diesel without overfuel. Overfuel results in a lot of power which needs to be used.
correct, to a point. winding the boost up usually helps cool the engine, until the turbo starts to go horribly inefficient and the added heat from the turbo offsets the cooling done by the volume of air.
The stop he's changing on the VNT turbo is the position for vanes closed. It only sets how soon the turbo can spool up, but he's using it to attempt to control boost?
Winding it in the way he does can only reduce boost during spoolup. Once the ECU decides to move the vanes, it has no effect.
hes not trying to control boost. (thats what dawes valve is for). adjusting the stop is just help cancel out the extra push the turbo gets due to the egr being blocked. ie low revs the vanes are closed to increase exhaust gas speed (and backpressure) to make higher boost. adjusting the stop opens the vanes a bit so the backpressure and gas speed is low enough so it doesn't make more boost than normal. the ECU is a bit dumb and doesn't adjust for the extra push the blocked EGR makes.
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Re: 3 Litre diesel engine advice for Nissan

Post by KiwiBacon »

tweak'e wrote:correct, to a point. winding the boost up usually helps cool the engine, until the turbo starts to go horribly inefficient and the added heat from the turbo offsets the cooling done by the volume of air.
With no intercooler, that point is somewhere past 30psi. With an intercooler (which I'm pretty sure the patrols have) it's more like triple digits of boost. I'm quite confident he's barking up the wrong tree there.
tweak'e wrote: hes not trying to control boost. (thats what dawes valve is for). adjusting the stop is just help cancel out the extra push the turbo gets due to the egr being blocked. ie low revs the vanes are closed to increase exhaust gas speed (and backpressure) to make higher boost. adjusting the stop opens the vanes a bit so the backpressure and gas speed is low enough so it doesn't make more boost than normal. the ECU is a bit dumb and doesn't adjust for the extra push the blocked EGR makes.
Oh right, the description in the pdf didn't make that clear. The VW guys tweak the same screw to keep their turbo from surge at the expense of some low end boost.
But why is it necessary? A low rpm boost spike isn't that big a concern is it?
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Re: 3 Litre diesel engine advice for Nissan

Post by tritontray »

KiwiBacon wrote:
tweak'e wrote:correct, to a point. winding the boost up usually helps cool the engine, until the turbo starts to go horribly inefficient and the added heat from the turbo offsets the cooling done by the volume of air.
Does this mean I can up the boost a little bit, without winding the stock fuel up a bit, and therefore reduce temps a little? If so, is it easy to wind the boost up?
99 Nissan Terrano II TDi, 2" lift, 30's, UHF, Hellas, Bull Bar
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Re: 3 Litre diesel engine advice for Nissan

Post by KiwiBacon »

tritontray wrote:Does this mean I can up the boost a little bit, without winding the stock fuel up a bit, and therefore reduce temps a little? If so, is it easy to wind the boost up?
Yes. But there may be electronic engine management stopping you from doing it easily.
If you have a variable vane turbo, to increase boost you need to fool the ECU into giving it to you. There is no simple mechanical or pneumatic adjustment.
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Post by 5upaMav »

You don't have to be rich to prevent engine damage to the ZD30, maybe just to rebuild one. $35 for a dawes valve, $220 for a new MAF, EGR block is free. You can do lots more, but that is the case with any engine.
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Re: 3 Litre diesel engine advice for Nissan

Post by Skegbudley »

tritontray wrote:
KiwiBacon wrote:
tweak'e wrote:correct, to a point. winding the boost up usually helps cool the engine, until the turbo starts to go horribly inefficient and the added heat from the turbo offsets the cooling done by the volume of air.
Does this mean I can up the boost a little bit, without winding the stock fuel up a bit, and therefore reduce temps a little? If so, is it easy to wind the boost up?
Yes it is easy to do.
Go to patrol4x4.com and search for a Dawes valve.
It may even save your motor.
GU Patrol with go better bits added
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Re: 3 Litre diesel engine advice for Nissan

Post by tweak'e »

KiwiBacon wrote:
tweak'e wrote: hes not trying to control boost. (thats what dawes valve is for). adjusting the stop is just help cancel out the extra push the turbo gets due to the egr being blocked. ie low revs the vanes are closed to increase exhaust gas speed (and backpressure) to make higher boost. adjusting the stop opens the vanes a bit so the backpressure and gas speed is low enough so it doesn't make more boost than normal. the ECU is a bit dumb and doesn't adjust for the extra push the blocked EGR makes.
Oh right, the description in the pdf didn't make that clear. The VW guys tweak the same screw to keep their turbo from surge at the expense of some low end boost.
But why is it necessary? A low rpm boost spike isn't that big a concern is it?
yes it is. ECU is realy slow to react and they can get 30psi spikes ie blow the hoses off and/or trip safe mode.
not to mention the huge amount of backpressure it should be putting on the motor to spin the turbo up. i wish someone would actually measure what the backpressure does.
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Re: 3 Litre diesel engine advice for Nissan

Post by tritontray »

Skegbudley wrote:
tritontray wrote:
KiwiBacon wrote:
tweak'e wrote:correct, to a point. winding the boost up usually helps cool the engine, until the turbo starts to go horribly inefficient and the added heat from the turbo offsets the cooling done by the volume of air.
Does this mean I can up the boost a little bit, without winding the stock fuel up a bit, and therefore reduce temps a little? If so, is it easy to wind the boost up?
Yes it is easy to do.
Go to patrol4x4.com and search for a Dawes valve.
It may even save your motor.
It was a question about my 2.7tdi in the Terrano II. I am sur eits not a vairiable vein turbo. It always runs hot, cooling system is in perfect order. Once I read this thread I thought I could maybe try to up the boost (I have no idea how much. But if someone knows and could let me know) and therefore bring temps down a little when I put my foot down.
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Re: 3 Litre diesel engine advice for Nissan

Post by KiwiBacon »

tritontray wrote:It was a question about my 2.7tdi in the Terrano II. I am sur eits not a vairiable vein turbo. It always runs hot, cooling system is in perfect order. Once I read this thread I thought I could maybe try to up the boost (I have no idea how much. But if someone knows and could let me know) and therefore bring temps down a little when I put my foot down.
Your TD27 will have a wastegated turbo, so you can either cut and thread the wastegate arm or install a boost controller like all the ricers use. Pretty simple to do and cheap too.

But while coolant temps and exhaust temps (EGT) are related it probably will only help, but not cure your heating problem.
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Post by tritontray »

Thanks Kiwibacon. Sorry for the long Hijack fellas.
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Post by stevejl »

What alot of pepole don't know is that the main reason alot of the 3l motor shit them selfs is because of the mass air flow meter. when the maf gets dirty or dies the engine will kill number 3. only two screw hold the maf sensor in give it a clean at every service if looks a bit shitty replace alot cheaper than a rebiuld
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Post by tweak'e »

stevejl wrote:What alot of pepole don't know is that the main reason alot of the 3l motor shit them selfs is because of the mass air flow meter. when the maf gets dirty or dies the engine will kill number 3. only two screw hold the maf sensor in give it a clean at every service if looks a bit shitty replace alot cheaper than a rebiuld
and what causes the MAF to get dirty is oil from the engine breather, hence why they fit catch cans.
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Re: 3 Litre diesel engine advice for Nissan

Post by tweak'e »

KiwiBacon wrote:
I just downloaded that for a read. I don't trust the authors explanations. For example; more boost does not make your engine hotter. It is also impossible to overheat a diesel without overfuel. Overfuel results in a lot of power which needs to be used.
sorry i was reading it another way.
your quite right i think he miss quoted that in the doc.

however one thing to consider, the patrols have lot of problems with leaking intercoolers and leaking hose pipes (due to over boost).
because the fueling is only done by the MAF which is read BEFORE the air leak, the air leaks cause the motor to run richer.
more boost = more air leaking which = richer fuel mix.
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Re: 3 Litre diesel engine advice for Nissan

Post by KiwiBacon »

tweak'e wrote:however one thing to consider, the patrols have lot of problems with leaking intercoolers and leaking hose pipes (due to over boost).
because the fueling is only done by the MAF which is read BEFORE the air leak, the air leaks cause the motor to run richer.
more boost = more air leaking which = richer fuel mix.
Just like a ricer with a snort valve. Blowing black clouds with every gear change. ;)
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