Nissan Navara Problems

Clutches are becoming a problem with modern cars, many of which are wearing out or failing at quite low kays. The D40 Nissan is one that we often get complaints about, and 38,000 km is way too few for a clutch under normal driving conditions. Nissan’s reaction that it is a wear and tear issue, but I would say that it is not ‘fair’ wear and tear. You have two options, seek the advice of a four-wheel-drive specialist and have a heavy-duty clutch fitted that will last longer, or consider taking Nissan to court. If you choose the latter get the advice of your state consumer advice people.

We’ve had reports of clutch trouble with the D40, but we’ve also had reports of clutch failures on most one-tonne utes on the market. We haven’t heard of problems with timing chains or drive shafts. I wouldn’t get out of it on the basis of what you have experienced so far.

First thing you should do is check your owner’s manual for any advice Nissan offers for when towing. Patrols had problems with fifth gear, so you need to be a little easy on the gear. Use fifth, but don’t let the engine lug down too far, change down before the engine and driveline become stressed. I would think 2000 revs is a pretty good downchange speed.

The treatment you have received is appalling. The idea that a UHF antenna fitted to the nudge bar could be enough to crack the chassis is laughable. If the chassis of the Navara is that weak then everyone driving one should be deeply concerned. Don’t repair it; Nissan should be doing that under warranty. The dealer seems to be on your side, so enlist his help in contacting Nissan. Nissan’s headquarters is in Melbourne, their phone number is 03 9797 4111.

Clutches are not normally covered by warranty, but that assumes they wear out normally over a fairly long period of time and use. Yours, however, hasn’t done that, which suggests there is something wrong, something that is not normal. I would think you have a justifiable claim against Nissan to cover the replacement, but first you need to establish the cause of the problem. To do that the dealer has to remove the clutch to inspect it, which should determine that has gone wrong. There two possible scenarios at such a low mileage are a manufacturing fault, in which case Nissan should replace the clutch, or abuse, in which case you would have to cover the cost. If you’re not satisfied you could consult the consumer affairs people.

Fitting an extra leaf to the rear springs could help, but if you’re a tradie who runs a load in his ute pretty much all the time, even leaves it loaded overnight, the rear springs would eventually sag even with an extra leaf. Depending on what you’re doing loadwise airbags are probably the best solution. They are readily available and will set you back about $1100 from one of the suspension specialists.

Sounds very dodgy. The oil shouldn't be black so soon after being changed. The excuse that it's the configuration of the engine sounds lame. I recently did a 2200 km run in my 80-year-old Dodge after changing the oil and it still wasn't dirty.

Heavy black smoke is normally a sign of over-fuelling. You could try another Nissan dealer, as not all dealers are up to speed on diesels, or go to an independent Nissan service agent, such as Jerry Newman at Cheltenham Service Centre (03 9583 0500).

It’s probably not doing any serious damage, but it’s unusual that the synchroes should be worn as is suggested. Make sure you’re fully disengaging the clutch when you shift and try shifting a little slower and giving the synchroes a little more time to work. You could also try double de-clutching to see if that helps. If it proves to be a case of worn synchroes have the gearbox rebuilt and replaced.

I don’t buy the story that the problem is due to switching manufacturing from Europe to Thailand, they’ve been building D40 Navaras in Thailand for a couple of years now. The general rule of thumb was that manufacturers would maintain spares for 10 years after a model has left production, but with changes to the way they do things they appear to be cutting things very fine. I would keep the pressure up on the company, through the dealer and direct, and certainly have a solicitor send them a letter.