I know this is way off topic, but can anyone tell me which of the following would be best for repowering my Nissan Patrol(medium sized 4wd)



Late model low kilometre 6500 optimizer Chev Diesel Engine
Price starting from $5,500.00


or


Low Kilometre Ex Military 6.5 Litre Chev V8 Turbo Diesel Engine
Warranty : 12 Months or 20,000kms.

Plenty in stock. Prices start from $7700.00


Or any other sugggestions would be welcome, and it has to be diesel because of availability in outback Aus.

 

Have you looked at a VW V10 Toerag option? I understand they are going a bit cheap just at the moment.

 

That would be my first choice and I would run it on whale oil but neither seem to be available at the moment.


I am looking at repowering even though expensive it will still be cheaper than trading in on one of the newer weaker vehicles avail in Aus.

 

What engine is in there now?

That diesel is probably close to 1000lbs., you'd probably need to significantly beef the suspension up to handle the weight. And, what transmission and transfer case are you going to use? Does your rig have a lift? You may need it just to fit the engine in your patrol

 

I have already beefed up the suspension (Airbag Man with cab control).


I would look at a 4L85E for a tranny and keep the Nissan transfer case.


These are a pretty common fit to Aussie Patrols.


I mainly need the upgrade to increase my towing capacity and reliability I am going to cross the Simpson Desert in the next couple of years and my 3.0 ltr is now in the blow up range at 100,000klm on the clock.


I have seen a 6.6ltr Duramax in a patrol but it looks too tight with compromises to make it fit.


So any suggestions or reasons why the above ones are no good would be great.

 

My first thought Jarvid would be fuel consumption. Those big V8 Diesels have huge power/torque and generally a good thirst to go with it.

I looked at one of the Chev Diesel V8 conversions from Melbourne ( Brunswick Diesels) and decided against it based on fuel consumption. I have even avoided turbos because when outback I want absolute simplicity with my engine so I can (in the majority of cases) repair it myself.

My old Landcruiser - BJ73 - may be slow, but even towing just under a ton in the camper, gets me there. It's only a 3.4 litre 4 cylinder Diesel.

I always ask my passengers if they like scenery - because it takes a while to go past

I'd look at freshening up your current motor or possibly sticking a turbo on it if you need more power.

My 2.2c (incl GST)

Cheers, SB

 

Seb, my Patrol is the GU year 2000 Direct Injection tubo intercooled 3.0ltr, it runs fine only 100000k on the clock but is prone to blow up, they are nicknamed hand grenades around here.


I have heard these big diesels are about on par with mine as far as fuel consumption is concerned when towing a heavy load and I want a 3.5 ton caravan.


Brunswick Diesel is located in WA, a bit far for me to go but they do sell and freight parts Aus wide.

 

What are the laws there concerning engine swaps. Some states in the US say that you can't use an older engine than your vehicle's model year. Is there anything like that?

Some the older 12 valve 6BTs are really reliable, make gobs of power, and run forever...

 

^ Here in NY, the yearly inspection requires the vehicle to be hooked up to a device (with a length of wire where the vehicle has to be inside the shop) where information goes directly to the state computer. All codes are read and pass or fail is sent from the state computer before the mechanic looks at things like brakes or tires. So the state knows what kind of vehicle it is and the matching computer for that engine. Motorcycles are exempt. If you pull your battery, it takes 50 miles or more to reset the codes to pass.

 

No such rules here, pretty well anything goes as long as you don`t let the vehicle run out of rego it never gets checked.


My CBR had to be checked when I purchased it and the only fault they could find was a wobbly peg and I had to explain to the drongo doing the roadworthy that it has rubber mounted pegs that are meant to `wobble`


Your pollies have some weird ideas, save lives by choking vehicles but let any
redneck buy automatic weapons ... go figure