2020 Nissan Navara Pricing and Specs

The simple answer? There are probably better alternatives. While the Nissan Navara of this era was very popular when brand-new, these days, many of them are getting pretty long in the tooth and are beyond economical repair. Throw in the fact that they weren’t the longest-living ute in the world, and you can see how you might wind up with a donkey if you’re not lucky.

Some of the Navara’s problems come from the way it was typically used, combined with its design. The radiator, for instance, hung under the bottom of the chassis, so it was pretty vulnerable off-road. But even the basic design of the engine and transmission mean that problems like clutch failures and rattling, worn out turbo-diesel engines at 160,000km are a reality.

Better options? Things like the Isuzu D-Max, Mitsubishi Triton and, of course, the Toyota HiLux all have been reputations in the trade.

This was a long running model for Nissan (in fact, two models sold concurrently with the Navara badge, actually) so there were a few different engine options in the 2012 version. So here’s how it pans out:

If your Navara is the D22 version, it will be fitted with a version of the 2.5-litre turbo-diesel engine. As such, it will have 98kW of power and 304Nm of torque. If you have the D40 variant of the Navara, it, too, could be fitted with a 2.5-litre turbo-diesel, but in this case, it’s tuned for more performance and has 128kW and 403Nm.

But, there was also the option of a three-litre V6 turbo-diesel which had 170kW and 550Nm, as well as a petrol V6 measuring four litres and producing 198kW and 385Nm.

You might find that at high throttle inputs, the car’s computer is switching the fan on in anticipation of higher temperatures. Or, perhaps it’s the air-conditioning fan that is switching itself on to keep things cool, because you’re using lots of throttle at that moment. It could simply be that the fan itself is noisier when you spin it harder (in line with engine revs) and that’s what you’re hearing in the cabin.

If in doubt, make a note of this with the service department when the car gets its first service. Perhaps it’s not a fan at all, and the noise is the result of a poorly adjusted drive belt or a leak somewhere in the air-intake or turbocharger plumbing. Any small leak in the trunking that conveys the pressurised air from the turbocharger to the engine can contribute a range of hissing noises.

Either way, it should be a simple fix at best, and a warranty claim at worst.