Which engine is for me?

Engines and Engine Systems
Post Reply
BobsCreek
Full Member
Full Member
Posts: 22
Joined: 09 Feb 2019 04:42
Full Name: Joshua Able
Nickname: BobsCreek
Home Town: McArthur
Current 4x4: 2105 Colorado
Home Language: english
Has thanked: 12 times
Been thanked: 8 times

Which engine is for me?

Post by BobsCreek »

Ok, I'm very very new to trying to figure out Patrols, and it doesn't seem to help that my forum search skills seem to suck.

I just want to ask if the following is correct.
(I'm ignoring the 3.0)

1997-2003 engine options:
4.2 turbo diesel/ 4.2 diesel / 4.5 gas

2004+ engine options:
4.2 turbo diesel / 4.8 gas

Personally I like the power of the 4.8, but am not a fan of the fuel consumption.

Which would you consider the "best" for
*Reliability
*Fuel consumption
*Finding parts outside of S.A.
*Driving in sand


I've tried searching here for discussions about the assorted motors, but I really haven't found much that...well, is helpful.

Thanks!
Josh
User avatar
Peter Connan
Moderator
Posts: 6005
Joined: 10 Sep 2010 07:21
Full Name: Peter Connan
Nickname: Piet
Home Town: Kempton Park
Current 4x4: 1996 Patrol 4.5SGL
Home Language: Afrikaans
Location: Kempton Park
Has thanked: 1065 times
Been thanked: 983 times

Re: Which engine is for me?

Post by Peter Connan »

Yes, and I doubt this will be helpful either, as we are all too opinionated.

However, just on a point of anality: herre in SA, tbe 4.2 turbo diesel wagon was never sold officially. Any 4.2 TDI you find here is either a gray import or a modification.

So here's mine:
The 4.5 petrol engine is an incredibly reliable engine. It has a relatively low power output for it's size, but delivers torque smoothly from very low RPM all the way through the rev range. It uses a lot of fuel, but the consumption is pretty much fixed, and does not depend much on usage.

The 4.8 is considerably more complex but has similar reliability. It is also considerably more powerful, and somewhat more efficient, and therefore uses less fuel when under lighter loads, but more fuel under very heavy conditions.

For an example, on a trip through Botswana a couple of years ago, my 4.5 delivered between 4 and 5km/l, while Tinus's 4.8 ran anywhere from 3.5 to 7km/l. Over all the 4.8 used somewhat less fuel for the trip though.

The normally aspirated 4.2 diesel is probably the most reliable engine of the bunch. These are industrial engines, with features like a built-in oil cooler, twin oil filters and gear-driven cam, oil pump, fuel pump etc. There is one on the forum that has obout a million km on it. The N/A diesel delivers between 5 and 7km/l and is a bit of a donkey. It is OK in river-bed sand and the ki d of relatively flat sandy roads one finds in Botswana, but is not ideal for dune sand.

Now the 4.2TDI: if you want to buy spares from Nissan in SA, they ask you for the VIN number. If that number is not on your system, they expect hou to pay 100% up front before they order the part, and the money is non-refundable. They also only have the part catalogues for those models they sold here.
But since Nissan SA are useless in terms of tbeir support for older Patrols, and stupidly expensive to boot, that is not that much of an issue. On this forum we have guys who can help.

If the 4.2TDI you are interested in is a modified vehicle, the reliability is largely dependent on the skill and ethic of the guy who did the modification, and therefore you need to know the history.

It is potentially very powerful, great in sand and the most relaxed of all these engines at freeway speed touring. It should also be the most economical option. But because they are mods, there is no set specification.

I just want to mention the 3l diesel as well. The early cars should be avoided. The mid-term models (2004 to 2011) are reasonably reliable, but the CRD's built toward the end are actually stonking motors. They will run with the 4.5's yet deliver better than 8-9km/l...

Two more points that may be pertinent: 1) I believe petrol engines are less affected by bad fuel. 2) The 4.2 Diesel's oil change interval is shorter than the others. Thus you are more likely to have to do oil changes yourself in far-off places.

Hope that helps just a little?
Mag ons ons kenniskry met lekkerkry aanhoukry.
User avatar
Peter Connan
Moderator
Posts: 6005
Joined: 10 Sep 2010 07:21
Full Name: Peter Connan
Nickname: Piet
Home Town: Kempton Park
Current 4x4: 1996 Patrol 4.5SGL
Home Language: Afrikaans
Location: Kempton Park
Has thanked: 1065 times
Been thanked: 983 times

Re: Which engine is for me?

Post by Peter Connan »

Sorry, just for clarity, the pickup was sold as a 4.2TDI for a while. But the turbo on that is really just an altitude compensator.
Mag ons ons kenniskry met lekkerkry aanhoukry.
User avatar
ricster
Patrolman 1000+
Patrolman 1000+
Posts: 5850
Joined: 13 Jan 2010 11:16
Full Name: Cedric Warner
Nickname: Cedric
Home Town: Alberton Gauteng
Current 4x4: '99 Nissan Patrol 4.2 Turbo Diesel
Home Language: English
Location: LA..... No not Los Angles ..... Lower Alberton, Gauteng
Has thanked: 591 times
Been thanked: 468 times

Re: Which engine is for me?

Post by ricster »

Yeah, Peter explained it perfectly.

Like Peter mentioned about spares from Nissan, they are not really well stocked in that department, as Patrols generally are pretty robust and spares are seldom needed/sold, and sadly they are not as popular as the rival Toyota Land Cruiser. However with that in mind, there is loads of spares easily accessible from various sources like Terrain Tamer ( Marinus here on the forum is the South Africa agent ) that can get spares way way quicker than Nissan and at a very competitive price, also David Volskenk here on the forum has a 2nd hand spares yard that has almost any part of any Patrol you may need. There are guys here like Micheal, Graham, Frans, and Anthony, and others too who are quite clued up on Patrols specifically and will happily assist you as these guys do this for a living and know how pedantic we all are about our Patrols, and they really are great people to even have a chat with and will give you their honest opinions.

We look forward to welcoming you into our country..... as crazy as it is.....haha
Regards
Cedric
Nissan Patrol GL 4.2 Diesel Turbo (Iron Maiden)
Nissan SANI 3.0 V6 4x4 (SOLD)
Isuzu KB 280 DT 2x4 ('ol Smokey) - SOLD
Suzuki TL 1000R "V twin" (Growler) - SOLD
Post Reply

Return to “09. Engines”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests