GQ 2.8td question
Submitted: Thursday, Jul 02, 2009 at 15:06
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Gossy
Looking for some unbiased advice on where my future lies with my vehicle. I have a RX GQ 2.8td patrol (1996). We love the car and given it plenty of TLC over the years including sound insulation all thru the floor (wow what a difference and only approx $250 in parts and 2 weekends of my labour!!), and of course plenty of mods (spotties, roof rack,
suspension, long range tank etc etc). The engine has 244,000km's on it and most of this is touring and hard 4wding. We don't use it around the city when we are back
home. I would suspect the engine would be good for another 100,000km at least being a diesel?
Anyway if you can't tell I am keen to keep the car for a very long time BUT I have to be honest with myself and admit that the small engine won't last forever; especially if we keep doing the trips we do away.
There is a lot of info in regard to V8 diesel conversions on the net and in these fourms but there are other options.
a) A rebuild when the day comes of my current engine. Is this a long term solution or will I be going thru the same process again 5yrs later? And is it value for money? I'm assuming that the turbo would also need attention so costs start adding up.
b) is it possible to get V6 diesel conversions? I don't care too much about the power of the V8 and isn't a selling point for me. I want economy for trips like the Simpson, Canning etc but just love the whole concept of diesels in general so a smaller one would be perfect.
Any advice from someone who has gone thru the same predicament would be appreciated.
Regards,
Reply By: tim_c - Thursday, Jul 02, 2009 at 15:21
Thursday, Jul 02, 2009 at 15:21
I'd wait until I saw some obvious signs that the engine is worn out or tired...
Things like excessive oil consumption, blue smoke (either when revving the engine, or when starting off after idling a while), noisy bearings, unstoppable oil leaks (particularly sump gasket) etc.
If it's looked after (ie. serviced properly and not flogged), I'd be surprised if you couldn't get another 200,000km out of it.
I started looking at my options like you are when my car (petrol engine) had covered 300,000km, and I got another 100,000km out of it before I sold it. Occasionally there was a bit of blue smoke but it had only just starting burning enough oil that I had to top it up between
services.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Gossy - Thursday, Jul 02, 2009 at 15:37
Thursday, Jul 02, 2009 at 15:37
currently the engine is fine but during our drive
home from
Coongie Lake on the weekend the wife and I discussed what we would do when the day came.
Too many hours of work has gone into the car and it's something that I hope to see in the driveway for the next 30yrs! Much like the guys who have a passion with their 40 series landcruisers I guess.
I service the engine every 5000km's without miss and the diff's and gear box every 40,000km's as per the manual so hopefully you are right in that there is some life left in the old girl yet.
I am nervous about the gearbox though (smaller and lighter on the 2.8). We flog the car (responsibly) when away (carry heavy loads internally) and you have to work the car hard when doing the Simpson etc. I'd assume the gearbox and turbo doesn't last as long as the engine?? If so I don't see any point spending big bucks on them to only spend more money later on when the actual engine itself needs replacing/major work. When that day comes I would probably look at the engine bay as one big project rather than spending big bucks on separate items.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Louie the fly (SA) - Thursday, Jul 02, 2009 at 16:42
Thursday, Jul 02, 2009 at 16:42
Gossy, if it were me I'd be doing as much homework as I could and putting it in the memory banks. I've driven quite a few 4x4's over the years, both owned and work vehicles. All have had hard lives and have performed fairly
well. Apart from the VW Syncro dual cab my fav. was the GQ 4.2D DX's that we had for work. I liked them so much I bought one myself.
In my opinion, essentially you have one of the best 4x4's made & I'd be looking to do something with that if it's in good nick. I wish I hadn't sold my GQ.
Just my opinion.
Louie.
AnswerID:
372776
Follow Up By: Gossy - Thursday, Jul 02, 2009 at 16:46
Thursday, Jul 02, 2009 at 16:46
totally agree. Solid body, solid underbody etc hence I am looking at my options now.
Don't want to be having this discussion when the engine is already dead :(
It's obviously a large expense also so it's something I want to get done right the first time so I want to do as much research as possible so when the day does come I'm all ready.
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Reply By: Member - John - Thursday, Jul 02, 2009 at 17:04
Thursday, Jul 02, 2009 at 17:04
Gossy, I sold my 2.8 TD to a mate, he soon cooked it, the cost to rebuild it was prohibitive so he put a 4.2 TD, gear box and transfer case in. Was cheaper than a rebuild, solved a number of problems. The 4.6 diff ratios can either be kept in and get taller tyres or removed and sold/swapped for 4.1 ratios etc. Hope this helps a smidge.
John
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Mick15 - Thursday, Jul 02, 2009 at 20:42
Thursday, Jul 02, 2009 at 20:42
Totally agree with
john, (i have a 4.2D DX) and i'd reccomend that as a viable option.
The bigger gearboxes are pretty easy to come by (td42, tb42, tb45, zd30 all used the same - some didn't have the pto output and later models had a closer ratio box) but essentially all the same, you could probably get a recoed td42 for 5-6 grand at a guess.
Other option is to buy a low k GQ td42 and transfer your bits to it - a low k td42 gq isnt easy to find though.
Good thing about the td42 is that it makes the same power as an rd28t and it doesn't have a turbo, leaves a lot more room if you wanted more power (turbo it)
AnswerID:
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Reply By: ian zzr - Thursday, Jul 02, 2009 at 20:45
Thursday, Jul 02, 2009 at 20:45
hi gossy, i had a 97gq 2.8td from 88k kept it to 420k like you flogged it but looked after it, 2 adults 3 kids,has been all up and down eastern seaboard across the deserts ,long range tank, engal,l slide outs, full roof cage loaded , water tanks ,hi mount winch , etc etc never lifted the head or any major work gearbox never touched 1 clutch replaced ,and timing belts of cause, went any where any other 4wd went, but bit the bullet when a nice gu 4.2td came along a very good price, then had to go threw whole process of changing it to what previous car had been set up, dont wont to do it again, i really miss the
old car, and was still goin strong, bit
smokey of morning but not oil smoke, oil consumption was still negligable, injectors where shot , but the tow power of the 4.2 what i like and fuel economy is same at 110km as the 2.8 at 90km ,
hope this helps
there are some who bag this engine it can be a bit slow off the mark but once they spin up there fine
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Gossy - Monday, Jul 06, 2009 at 09:14
Monday, Jul 06, 2009 at 09:14
thank all. It's a shame Nissan stopped making the 4.2 diesel. It will probably be too old by my time my engine dies but other options will be available.
We have done 70,000kms in 5 years with this car (as mentioned it's only used for bush trips) so going by that rate we should get another 10-15 years out of it :)
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