Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Hi All.
I have just returned from Johannesburg where I bought a 2005 Patrol 3.0 GL. It has 180K on the clock and had a complete engine overhaul 5K ago. Everything was going well until I reached Pinetown. I stopped at a robot and the engine started to misfire and white smoke came out the exhaust. I discovered that it idled perfectly and only when I put it into gear that it did the hunting thing. I thought perhaps it was a loose vacuum pipe but could push the clutch in and out ( dont know about other Trolls but the 3.0 has a booster for the clutch) without the idling being affected in any way and only when I engaged a gear, any gear, did the idle change. I also think it only does it when its hot but will check that out today.
I have racked my brains as to the problem but have come up with nothing. I took the car to Nissan and they diagnosed the turbo as being faulty. Yea right. I continued to my home in Hibberdene and the car went well, the turbo doing its job but had to keep it in neutral at any stops.
Kind regards.
Barry

Hey barry is it a crd motor or a zd30?

It could be a faulty clutch booster allowing brake fluid to be sucked into the engine when using the clutch.
Best way to check is to remove the vacuum pipe between engine and booster , block off both ends and see if the problem disappears.
Loss of brake fluid from reservoir will also be indicative.

Christo, Im not sure about the ZD30, but if I am not mistaken the older ZD30 also has a vacuum pump on the engine below the power steering pump so in theory it will not be able to get brake fluid into the engine........this is now only if the Patrol has a vacuum pump.

Is there any other abnormalities like loss of water? Do you have an EGT gauge to confirm that its not an injector over fueling?

Hi Tinus and Chris. Its a ZD engine and not the CRD although I would have loved to have the CRD. I was thinking that if the clutch was involved in any way it would cause the problem to arise when I pushed it in and not even engaged a gear but will try blocking it and see what happens. What connection, sensor wise, does the gearbox have on the ECU and why? Wishing now I had followed Cedrics advice and gone for a truck without a brain.
Regards.
Barry

Hi Michael. after the hand grenade and the overhaul I was very careful on my trip home to watch everything. The chap who sold it to me was from Melvill and Moon so not so mechanically minded. He is still to email me the things done to the engine. I spoke to the mechanic that oversaw the rebuild, Fanie, and he said it was an injector issue causing the melt down. He also said the job was in the region of R60K so I assume it was done properly but the jury is still out on that. I went to Mad Man before leaving Jhb but only came away with the probe as they were still awaiting the unit and the rest of the stuff.
I have always believed that over fueling would be noticed at the petrol station, ie bad consumption, but it gave me 11.8 to the 100k at 110k to 120k. I know this is very unscientific. Other than that, I checked oil and water and every thing was good. The problem, I feel, has to do with a connection between a sensor on the gearbox and the ECU. I also checked to see if all the pipes visible were not perhaps leaking as a hunting engine at idle is often a vacuum problem.
Regards
Barry

Wow Barry check oil level because it sounds like turbo seals are gone and that turbo will suck your sump dry very quickly
also check if you have a wet oily ring around the tailpipe of the exhaust

+1 on what Wilkie said...... what is concerning to me is the white smoke

Something is burning other than the diesel.

Turbo gasket -- replace that first. Make sure you torque correctly andfollow Bogeyman's advice

Thanks guys for all your input. Errol, I checked the oil level and that seems fine and the pipe seems quite dry. Also, the white smoke is only when the engine hunts and at no other time so quite sure not the turbo. Oompie, you are quite right about the turbo gasket as I think that was what threw Nissan in Pinetown. When I engaged a gear and the engine started to hunt, there was white smoke escaping from the turbo gasket as well as the exhaust pipe. So the gasket will have to be changed. But I strongly feel that this is only a symptom and not the cause as it does not smoke at all when driving.
Today I visited Nissan in Port Shepstone and the guy there said he had seen this before and was convinced it was the neutral switch in the gearbox sending wrong messages to the ECU. I will disconnect it tomorrow and report the findings but it seems too simple.
Regards.
Barry