ZD30 Patrol: Your guide to the Nissan Patrol ZD30 engine

Optional on the Patrol station-wagons as well as the tradie/farmer-oriented cab-chassis line-up, the ZD30 was not just a four-cylinder engine, ... Clear Browseover9,000carreviews Abarth AlfaRomeo Alpine ArmstrongSiddeley Asia AstonMartin Atlis Audi Austin AustinHealey AutomobiliPininfarina Bedford Bentley Bertone BMW BMWAlpina Bolwell Borgward Brabham BUFORI BUGATTI Buick BYD Cadillac Caterham Chery Chevrolet Chrysler Citroen CorsaSpecializedVehicles CSV Cupra Daewoo Daihatsu Daimler Datsun DeTomaso Dodge Eunos EVAutomotive Ferrari Fiat Fisker Ford Foton FPV FSM Geely Genesis Giocattolo GJM GMC GMSV Goggomobil GreatWall GWM Haval Hillman Hino Holden HoldenHDT Honda HSV Humber Hummer Hyundai Ineos Infiniti International Iso Isuzu Iveco Jaguar Jeep Jensen JMC Kia Koenigsegg KTM Lada Lamborghini Lancia LandRover LDV Lexus Leyland LIFAN Lotus Mahindra Maserati Maybach Mazda McLaren Mercedes-Benz MG Mini Mitsubishi MitsubishiFuso Morgan Morris N.S.U. Nissan OKA Opel Panther Performax Peugeot Pininfarina Polestar Pontiac Porsche Prince Proton Ram Rambler Renault Rivian Rolls-Royce Rover Saab Seat Simca Singer Skoda Smart Ssangyong SSC Standard Studebaker Subaru Sunbeam Suzuki Tata TD2000 Tesla Toyota Triumph TVR VandenPlas Vauxhall Vespa Volkswagen Volvo Wolseley Zeta ZXAuto adventureguide ZD30Patrol:YourguidetotheNissanPatrolZD30engine NissanPatrol NissanSUVRange SUV NissanPatrolReviews Nissan AdventureAdvice NissanAdvice Adventure Adventureadvice Diesel NissanZD30engine-Whatisit? DavidMorley ContributingJournalist 5Nov2020•6minread It’softensaidthatyouhavetochallengeperceptionsandtraditionsinordertoachieveprogress.SowhenNissanmoved,in2000,tofititssuccessfulPatrolfranchisewithanengineotherthananinlinesix,Patrolenthusiastseverywherewereallears.OptionalonthePatrolstation-wagonsaswellasthetradie/farmer-orientedcab-chassisline-up,theZD30wasnotjustafour-cylinderengine,butamuchmoremoderntakeontheturbo-dieselenginetheme,completewithtechnologysuchasbalanceshafts,doubleoverheadcamshaftsandevenfourvalvespercylinder.Itshouldhaverepresentedadefinitestepforwardintermsofefficiencyandfueleconomybut,intheend,theZD30wasrememberedneitherforthoseattributesnorremotelyfondly.Onpaper,itdeliveredmoreorlesswhatpeoplewereexpectingofthe2953ccunit.Powerwasaclaimed116kWat3600rpmwithbeefytorqueof345Nmat2000rpm.Youcouldchooseeitherafive-speedmanualorfour-speedautomatictransmissionandthelatterwasparticularlygoodinoff-roadconditionssuchassandandmud.Butevenwiththosenumbers,youneedtorememberthattheengine,asfittedtoaPatrolwagon,wastuggingalonga2.3-tonnepayloadandthatwasbeforeyoufilledthe125-litrefueltankandaddedpeople,luggageandabulbarandwinch.ReadMore:CheckoutAdventureGuideNevertheless,thosepowerandtorquefigureswereactuallyahandfulmorethantheoldfaithful4.2-litreturbo-dieselsix-cylinderthatsoldalongsidetheZD30-poweredPatrol(thefour-cylinderwasseveralthousanddollarscheaperdependingonspecification)soitwasclearlytunedreasonablyaggressively.Andperhapsthatwaspartoftheproblem.Longbeforetheyshouldhavebeenstartingtoblowup,theZD30wasconfrontingownerswithcatastrophicenginefailure.Thebulkofthefailurestendedtoinvolveeithernumberthreeorfourpistonwitheitheraholeinthepistoncrownoracrackthroughthetopringland.Eitherway,itwasahugefixandamountedtoacompletebottomendrebuild.The3.0-litreturbo-dieselengineproduced116kW/345Nm.Typically,theNissanfixitindustryreactedquicklyandprettysoon,ahandfulofpotentialcauseswerebeingproposed.Thefirstofthosewasthattheactionoftheexhaustgasrecirculation(EGR)valvewasplayingmerryhellwiththefuel-airmixtureswithintheindividualcylinders.Inextremecases,themixtureinacylindercouldbesoslewedthathotspotsoccurredonthepistonandinthecombustionchamber.Ifthetemperaturegothighenoughforlongenough,thosehotspotscouldcausethepistonfailurethatcharacterisedthebulkofZD30enginefailures.ThesecondcausethrownupwasthattheMassAirFlow(MAF)sensorwasbecomingcontaminatedwithoilintheinlettractduetotheprocessofthecrankcaseventilationsystem.Byventingthecrankcaseintotheinletmanifold(wherethegasesgothroughtheengineandarebrunt)therewasalwaysthepossibilitythatoilfumesfromthosecrankcasegasescouldcontaminatetheMAFsensor.Ifthathappened,theMAFsensor(whichisresponsiblefortellingtheon-boardcomputerhowmuchairisgoingintotheenginesotheECUcantailorthefuelsupplytotheinjectorstomatch)couldsendanerroneoussignaltothecomputerwithanincorrectfuel-airmixtureasaresult.Onceagain,thatcouldincreasethecombustionchambertemperaturesbeyondthesafezone.Andtheregoesanotherpiston.TheZD30enginewasusedrightupuntiltheendofY61productionin2016.TheotherproblemsufferedbytheZD30wasdowntotheactualengine’sslowresponsestocommandsfromthecomputer.Typically,thatmanifestedindamagingboostspikeswherethecomputerdetectedanoverboostsituation,buttheenginehardwarewastooslowtoover-ridethesituation.Theresultofthatwasthepotentialforaseriesofdamagingboostsurgesthathavealsobeencreditedwithgrenadingpistons.ButitseemstheZD30’sproblemswereevenabitmorefundamentalthanthat.Somehow,Nissanmanagedtospecifyanincorrectoilvolumeintheengine’sspecifications,listingsixlitresastheoilcapacityoftheengine.Butquestionsbegantobeaskedwhenownersstartedexperiencingoilstarvationeventhoughtheoillevelwasnotcriticallylowonthedipstick.MuchheadscratchingledNissantochangeitsmindandalterthepublishedoilcapacityto8.3litres(ahugedifference-38percentmore!)andinstructeddealerstoshortenandrecalibratedipsticks.ReadMore: NissanPatrolGUY61UsedReview:1997-2015Upto2006,theZD30usedaconventionalfuel-pumpsystemtodistributethefueltoeachcylinder.Butatthatpoint,theengineswitchedovertocommon-railinjectionwhich,dependingonwhoyoutalkto,helpedwithsomeoftheenginemanagementissuesthathadbeencausingboostspikesandincorrectfuel-airmixtures.Butbythen,thedamagewasdonetotheengine’sreputation.Thatdidn’tstopNissancontinuingtousetheunit,though,andinfact,itsurvivedrightupuntiltheendofY61productionin2016.ItwasalsotheonlyenginetobefittedtothePatrolbythen,butinreality,thoseverylastY61swereonlymarketedtoappeasethehard-coredieselfanswhocouldn’tcopewiththepetrol-onlyY62thathadlaunchedin2013.ReadmoreNissanPatroladvice:- TD42engine:YourguidetotheNissanturbodieselmotor- G60Patrol:YourguidetotheNissan4WD- MQPatrol:YourguidetotheNissan4WD- Series4Patrol:YourguidetotheNissan4WD- SWBPatrol:YourguidetotheNissan4WD Relatedcontent Backinblack!2022RenaultKoleospriceandfeatures:NewBlackEditionjoins... ToyotaLandCruiserPrado2022review:Kakadu-off-roadtest KiaSportage2022review:GT-Linelong-term Howfuelefficientisthe2022NissanQashqaiePowerelectricSUV?NewToyotaC... Stayuptodatewiththecarsguideweeklynewsletter Relatedcarsforsale POWEREDBY carsguide ::h1:: ::location:: ::price::::priceSuffix:: NissanPatrolcarsforsale Viewcarsforsale carsguidestories&articles adventureguide ToyotaLandCruiserPrado2022review:Kakadu-off-roadtest 8March2022·MarcusCraft ToyotaLandCruiser2022review:GRSport-off-roadtest 27February2022·MarcusCraft NissanNavaraPro-4XWarriorvsIsuzuD-MaxX-Terrain20224x4utecomparisonreview 12February2022·MarcusCraft NissanNavara2022review:Pro-4XWarrior-off-roadtest 31January2022·MarcusCraft seemoreadventureguide tradieguide IsuzuD-Max2022review:1.9-litreSXsinglecab-chassis4x2auto-GVMtest 2March2022·MarkOastler ToyotaHiAce2022review:LWBdieselautoGLPackage-GVMtest 23February2022·MarkOastler NissanNavara2022review:Pro-4XWarrior-GVMtest 2February2022·MarkOastler VolkswagenCaddyCargo2022review:GVMtest 18January2022·MarkOastler seemoretradieguide expertguide BMWiX2022review 5March2022·TimNicholson Mercedes-BenzC-Class2022review 3March2022·ByronMathioudakis Mercedes-BenzC2002022review:snapshot 3March2022·ByronMathioudakis Mercedes-BenzC3002022review:snapshot 3March2022·ByronMathioudakis seemoreexpertguide familyguide KiaSportage2022review:GT-Linelong-term 8March2022·MattCampbell HyundaiKonaElectric2022review:StandardRange 7March2022·RichardBerry Peugeot20082022review:GT 15February2022·MattCampbell IsuzuMU-X2022review:LS-T4x4long-term 14February2022·MarkOastler seemorefamilyguide Relatedcarsforsaleoncarsguide ::h1:: ::location:: ::price::::priceSuffix:: NissanPatrolcarsforsale Comments