Nissan Patrol Diesel Problems

There were a lot of problems with the 3.0-litre turbo-diesel some years ago, but we haven’t had any reports of engine problems on later models like the one you’re looking at.

Read the report from Howard Ramsay and see you're not alone. The claimed fuel economy is 14.3 L/100 km for your model in urban, or city driving, but it the ultimate real life outcome depends heavily on the sort of driving you're doing. I reckon the dealer is probably correct, there isn't much wrong with your car.

Part payment for the failure of a turbocharger on a car that is just five years old, has been serviced by the factory dealer and has only done 50,000 km, is not too much at all. We were able to help get a new engine for the owner of a car from another carmaker when his engine had destroyed itself after more than 200,000 km, so a measly turbocharger on a car that is almost new shouldn't be an issue.

I wouldn't do it, there's no justification for it. Some people might think there's a benefit in added lubrication of the valve train etc, but that's unlikely as diesel fuel does have some lubrication properties anyway. You might clog up the catalytic converter if you did run it on 2-stroke fuel, and it's likely to result in more exhaust smoke.

That model was known around the trade as the ‘grenade’, as it was just a matter of time before it blew up. I would suggest it could have.

The solution has to come from Nissan, so that's where you need to direct your concerns. I would seek a meeting with the dealer and express your concerns directly to the service manager, and request that a Nissan factory rep drive your car. Go along on the ride as well. The fact that your car is using more fuel than it should suggests that it is down on power.

The old Patrol hand grenade strikes again. There were fundamental flaws with that engine, it's one to avoid. But with yours now eight years old you're going to have trouble convincing Nissan to come to the party with the cost of repairs. They might, however, make you an offer of part payment if you press them hard enough, and that's what I would recommend you do.

The claimed fuel economy for your Patrol is 11.8 L/100 km on average, which is of course just a figure provided for comparison purposes and as we have found out isn't necessarily a very accurate indicator for real life economy. One carmaker has told us that their real fuel economy number could be as much as 50 per cent out. On that basis yours would fit within the possible bandwidth of fuel economy on the Patrol. Check the exhaust to make sure there isn't a partial blockage that might be restricting the flow.

Yours is not an unusual problem, and it's not restricted to Patrols. The Navara does it, and so too does the Toyota Hilux. Toyota reprogrammed the Hilux to fix it, and while that works, we know of one where it came back soon after. Nissan doesn't appear to have a fix for it, and independent Nissan specialists usually replace the injectors in the hope of fixing it. One suggested that you should take your truck to a diesel engine expert and have them check it for you.

It's obviously having a problem when working hard under load. Start by checking the radiator for rubbish blocking the core, look for leaks around the radiator, hoses and fittings. Have the dealer pressurize the cooling system to see if there are any leaks under pressure. Make sure they used the correct coolant.