RB30 patrol - pros and cons

[islandvitara]

hi all am very interested in buying a patrol - thing is it has the RB30 engine. whats the go with these motors? are they ok? what are the issues with them? do they chew fuel ect?

also a swap to a 4.2D later is fine yeah? does the 4.2D fit the rb30 gearbox? or should i just keep searching for a diesel patrol?

the rb30 patrol has come up cheap that is all...


thoughts?

[shanfab]

Lot's of work to do it .You have to change the gear box and everything . Youd be better of waiting for a 4.2d or if you want power , stick a hair dryer on the RB30

[islandvitara]

thought so...yeah have read a couple of threads about a turbo rb30 patrol with decent power too - 200kw's!!!

how do they go stock standard? if i get this patrol it'll be used for bit of highway driving between bundy and brissy, fishing and as a daily...basically wanting a bigger 4wd than my sierra.

have read some good reports about them besides having littel power which can be fixed with a turbo setup later i guess...

for what i want to use it for - 4.2D or RB30? keepingin mind the rb30 is up for $2500 no rego ect...

[coxy321]

The RB30's are ok with EFI and/or turbo, but in stock Patrol spec (carby), they're not either powerful of efficient. IMO if you're after a diesel, save up and get one. If you can't wait, why not look at an EFI TB42 (4.2 petrol) - cheap as chips and very easy to mod. It would make a TD42 transplant a bit easier too.

[cooki_monsta]

or they make good turbo bases

[islandvitara]

im just trying to think if its a good buy or not. i dont know anything about them which is why i posted the topic...im open to any 4x4 at the moment need a 4x4 ute asap!!! have $2000 to throw around and came across this patrol just tryin to sort out if its what im lookin for...hav ebeen lookin at hilux which is what i want unless a patrol or something comes up cheap too...

$2000 for a 91 GQ RB30 Patrol wagon

-aircon, power windows, steering, bullbar,towbar ect
- no rego or rwc as is where is


its in good condition by the looks of it..

[mat_p]

they go just as hard as their 4.2 bigger brothers, thanks to the extra rpm the rb30 can spin.
as already stated, they are easy to turbo.
don't expect economy from any petrol patrol.
engine parts are a dime a dozen, which means cheap repairs.
i love having a rb30 in my patrol, apart from on steep hills as the carby can drain out and you stall, but efi or gas fixes this problem
if i had the choice again to buy a rb30 or a 4.2 petrol, i would pick the rb30 hands down...but if you're really keen on a diesel just save for one of them as a conversion is alot of money and even more work.

edit: i spin 35's with the standard 4.3 diff gears daily...i get about 20-22L/100km, and im not overly gentle on the thing either.

[juffy]

I had a rb30 in my patrol. am just finishing a rb25det conversion, which is really a straight forward swap with a few wiring mods.
before the rb30 died it had over 400k's on the clock and didn't miss a beat till the timind belt let go.......
Just remember that it is a 4wd and not a vl commodore so expect around 20/100 on the road and 25to 30/100 in the bush.
I paid 1500 for mine... left alittle in the the bank for some extras.


juffy

[grinch2]

the best thing about them is they are light to rip out and fit a 5.7 ls1
i had one in mine i fitted efi, then aftermarket ecu, then turbo and gas, as soon as i fitted the efi i started having reliability dramas and no matter how much money i threw at it, it was never reliable up till the day the motor blew. i ripped it out and fitted a ls1 and commodore auto and never looked back, has been reliable, makes twice the power as the turbo rb30 and uses half the fuel. if your going to go on a power hunt dont waste your money on the rb30 as you will never be happy.

if your going to buy one keep it std or rip it out and fit a decent motor, yes they are gutless and on steep hills off road they are bad as they dont have any low down tourqe and the carby keeps flooding, having said that if you keep it std and just want a daily driver and do a bit of touring they are a good cheap reliable truck.

[jonesy01]

I just bought an rb30 patrol, it currently has 3.6 diff gears and 33's, the first thing i did was remove the heating element in the inlet manifold made a difference. As it is it can beat a 4.2D single cab with an mtq turbo kit in a drag (35's standard gearing though), both engins having 200k on the clock. So town driving is a easy as it is faster than most cars off the mark, highway driving is abit crap though can cruize at 110 easy enough but don't expect to pass anyone. Has 85% transffer reductions so that solves the tourqe issues. For $2500 you would have plenty of cash to splash up your sleave on mods, seems a fair deal. As for the carby flooding i have never had any trouble and ive taken it up steep river banks and sand dunes.

[tna racing]

4.625s, and 85% reduction gears plus 33's that would he hell low!!! (way to low)

ours has same combo and 36s and it compression locks up in 4th low range!!

rb30 + boost =

[jonesy01]

Is good when you wanna go slow, can get about 40kmh in 5th how much faster would you want to go in low range haha.

[mat_p]

if you can make a rb30 patrol move in 5th gear at 40km/h something must be wrong (good) with the car
cruising at 100+ is fine in 5th...so long as an incline doesnt get to big or to long...in fact, i hardly use 5th anyways (with the 35's on), it only drops your rpm by like 400 or thereabouts, so it makes little difference.

[jonesy01]

I meant that is top speed in low range 5th gear, i was refering to tna racing saying it would be to slow, after driving with the reductions i would never get a car without them.

[mat_p]

ahh, sorry about that.

[THICKNICK]

i have an rb30, it is a good reliable car. but yes the slowness is starting to get to me. so will be probably be whackin a turbo on soon.

[mat_p]

they arent that slow...you just have to rev them a little bit more.
turbo would be the best thing ever for them though.

[nzdarin]

Goolge RB30det and you may change your mind on what you should do? Think GTR Skyline but more torque.

[nicksamaniac]

i've got a 91, st30 wagon, paid $3000 for with 210,000km on it.
ripped out the carby parts, bought a 2nd hand vl rb30 with harness & ecm ($200 on ebay), put the inlet manifold and dizzy on my engine, wired up the eccs, used a r31 skyline fuel pump, ($80 from wreckers, the top mount is the same as the patrol tank, you only have to extend the pump bracket so it reaches the bottom of your tank).
this set up has been super reliable so far, it hasn't been tuned as i'm still getting together my turbo parts, (so i can get it dyno'd all in 1 go).
it makes pretty good power on 33's and 4" lift, it uses about 14/100 round town, bit less on the hwy, it'll just do 100 up hills now, but when it was carby'd it was 70 & 3rd gear full song up hill!!!

i am very happy with mine so far, i've spent about $300 all up on the efi conversion to date. its cheap as if you do the work yourself!!!!
if you want to know anything about what i've done just email or pm me.

[chunks]

if your going to go on a power hunt dont waste your money on the rb30 as you will never be happy.

Plenty of RB30's making 300, 400, 500 even 600rwkw. Very strong motor with a shitload of potential.

[nicksamaniac]

if you research the RB series engines, the RB stands for "race breed".
the RB30 was designed for forced induction, just look at the block, it has provisions for oil & water lines to a turbo, full girdle bottom end. you can push big HP out of a stock engine with only minor mods and they love it.

i've seen a modified one (RB30 block/26 head hybrid) make over 1250HP at the wheels in a R34 skyline with 4WD! although this was heavly modified internaly, it was still just a RB30 block from nissan.
just goes to show how strong the block is!

[NutterGQ]

if you research the RB series engines, the RB stands for "race breed".
the RB30 was designed for forced induction, just look at the block, it has provisions for oil & water lines to a turbo, full girdle bottom end. you can push big HP out of a stock engine with only minor mods and they love it.

i've seen a modified one (RB30 block/26 head hybrid) make over 1250HP at the wheels in a R34 skyline with 4WD! although this was heavly modified internaly, it was still just a RB30 block from nissan.
just goes to show how strong the block is!

RB is not for race bred that's a myth.

only series 2 holden blocks, and of course R31 and patrol blocks have all the provisions so not entirely true.

yeah they have a girdle bottom end but they also split bores before you reach the limits of the girdle and crank.

It was an RB30 most likley resin filled and full forged motor in the vicinity of 40-50 grands worth. like anything if you have that budget it will make that power.

[BigrigCQ]

RB30 great power potential! But honestly go with the 4.2D, later turbo it and gas injection conversion (Government CASH Hand out) plenty of balls, great fuel economy compared to RB30 Turbo economy.

Stanard TD42 goes just as hard as a TB42. when pushed tho!
Better bang for buck in the long run!
Excellent for towing a big boat!

[nicksamaniac]

if you research the RB series engines, the RB stands for "race breed".
the RB30 was designed for forced induction, just look at the block, it has provisions for oil & water lines to a turbo, full girdle bottom end. you can push big HP out of a stock engine with only minor mods and they love it.

i've seen a modified one (RB30 block/26 head hybrid) make over 1250HP at the wheels in a R34 skyline with 4WD! although this was heavly modified internaly, it was still just a RB30 block from nissan.
just goes to show how strong the block is!

RB is not for race bred that's a myth.

only series 2 holden blocks, and of course R31 and patrol blocks have all the provisions so not entirely true.

yeah they have a girdle bottom end but they also split bores before you reach the limits of the girdle and crank.

It was an RB30 most likley resin filled and full forged motor in the vicinity of 40-50 grands worth. like anything if you have that budget it will make that power.

the "race breed" myth comes from nissan itself so it could very well true! but all the same it could be a myth, sound good but.
the block i spoke of might well of been a big money one but it was still an rb30 block as in dimension's and shape etc.
you of all people know how good these engines are, your build is where i got my insperation to build mine into a turbo rig!
theres nothing from japan that roars like an RB engine.

[NutterGQ]

Im all for it, if I built another pooey it would be RB30 without a doubt, my one has given me 4 years of fun and embarrassed some serious looking cars in that time.....all while having stock idle and appearance.

[aubinator]

i have a rb30 one its my third one now first one injected with carolla clutch super charger was good flogged the crap out of it handled it fine second one injected with standard vl turbo set up was very good prefered first one due to smooth power less wheel spin and bogging road was funner tho one i got now just straight injection it deserves a medal for the abuse it takes its been raped actually feel sorry for it and still runs spot on if you want cheap and tuff grab it then inject it will serve you well think its slow your not driving it properly give it more they need and enjoy it very tuff motor i dont like diesels yeah there good but dont suit my driving style there boaringly slow non turbo ones my car wot poo on them! i have never not been able to get anywere that my mates diesel can if anything can go better just hit it let it valve bounce up the hill

[coxy321]

i have a rb30 one its my third one now first one injected with carolla clutch super charger was good flogged the crap out of it handled it fine second one injected with standard vl turbo set up was very good prefered first one due to smooth power less wheel spin and bogging road was funner tho one i got now just straight injection it deserves a medal for the abuse it takes its been raped actually feel sorry for it and still runs spot on if you want cheap and tuff grab it then inject it will serve you well think its slow your not driving it properly give it more they need and enjoy it very tuff motor i dont like diesels yeah there good but dont suit my driving style there boaringly slow non turbo ones my car wot poo on them! i have never not been able to get anywere that my mates diesel can if anything can go better just hit it let it valve bounce up the hill

Care to buy some punctuation with that?

[mhgill]

Dont we want torque at low revs not 400 horsepower at 6000rpm?

As said, if you on a budget get the RB30 but if you really want a 4.2D get the 4.2 or you will be disapointed.

[aubinator]

Care to buy some punctuation with that? [/quote]

clearly i dont

[coxy321]

Dont we want torque at low revs not 400 horsepower at 6000rpm?

As said, if you on a budget get the RB30 but if you really want a 4.2D get the 4.2 or you will be disapointed.

x2, and high rev's mixed with high power tend to break stuff easier too. Horses for courses though.