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trout1105
5th December 2018, 04:50 PM
I have recently bought a 2012 Nissan navara to do the donkey work so that my D2a V8 can live a little longer.
It's a work in progress but the verry first thing I have done is to bin the 265/70/16 Coopers Discovery AT's and fit a set of 265/75/16 Mickey Thompson ATZ P3's which made a heap of differance to the handling and the feel of the truck.
I have also fitted a gme uhf radio and some decent seat covers.
I am yet to fit the winch and wire up the spotties and fit another battery to run in parallel to the cranking battery to support the winch.
It's not a bad little truck But it aint no Disco unfortunately.

trout1105
7th December 2018, 10:43 AM
I have done 340k's in the new truck so far and the fuel consumption is only 10.5l per 100k's that's town and country driving.
Compared to 23l per 100k's in the D2a V8 I am pretty impressed so far[thumbsupbig]

Homestar
7th December 2018, 04:12 PM
That’s a small improvement... 😆👍

biggin
8th December 2018, 06:22 AM
Trout, have you checked your O2 sensors in that D2a?
23/100 is way too much. I average between 16 and 17/100.

trout1105
8th December 2018, 06:56 AM
Trout, have you checked your O2 sensors in that D2a?
23/100 is way too much. I average between 16 and 17/100.

The O2 sensors are fine.
The D2a is currently set up for touring so it is somewhat heavy with all the tools, recovery gear, rear drawers, bullbar etc etc and not towing the 1.5t boat I get about 19-20l per 100k's out of it.
Towing the boat puts the fuel usage up to 23l per 100k's.
I will be returning the Disco back to stock form all except for the bullbar so I should see a marked improvement in the fuel economy and performance due to the lesser weight in stock form.[thumbsupbig]

I have had a bit of work done on the engine about 10,000k ago which included new head gaskets, new lifters, new plugs + leads, the heads acid cleaned and the bottom end cleaned out due to all the sludge build up in it.
I also replaced the entire cooling system including the radiator, water pump and all the hoses.
However the truck has done over 270,000k's so it isn't a "Spring Chicken" any more and she tended to overheat towing the boat and carrying all that equipment in 40c+ temperatures up in the Kimberlie's and the top end/gulf country so her touring days are over, hence the Navara purchase.

Pedro_The_Swift
8th December 2018, 07:09 AM
I get around 22L/per 100 with the van on,, but thats on lpg so not strictly comparible. It does cruise at 100 so much better than the 4L did though,,,( and better still at 110[wink11])

I acknowledge LR probably did test the D2 in Deaths Valley (though probably not as thoroughly as the D1----) but i doubt they did any testing in Deaths valley with a 1.5T boat on the back!!
asking a lot really,, I would've thought the auto might have waved the white flag as well?

trout1105
8th December 2018, 07:27 AM
I would've thought the auto might have waved the white flag as well?

Surprisingly the auto worked flawlessly and still does.
To be fair the Toyota 79 series V8 got a bit warm on a couple of occasions as well as it was Bloody HOT on most of the way home.
I am looking forward to taking her out on a few of the tracks around here when I have finished stripping all the touring gear out of her and have put all the seats back in.
She will be transformed from heavy and lumbering to light and nimble again[bigrolf]
I am certain that I will get a few more years of fun out of the old girl still[thumbsupbig]

The Navara will serve me well But it is nowhere near as much fun to drive as the D2a is However the next time I head off on a trip I wont have to worry about killing my disco.

Pedro_The_Swift
8th December 2018, 07:35 AM
A few years back ([bighmmm]) there was a whole raft of posts with people killing their D2 auto's while towing "outback",,

trout1105
8th December 2018, 07:54 AM
A few years back ([bighmmm]) there was a whole raft of posts with people killing their D2 auto's while towing "outback",,
Some people have an uncanny abillity to be able to "Kill" ANY truck regardless of how good it is[bigwhistle]
My Disco did get "Warm" but I made damn sure it never went over 102C even if it meant winding the windows down and running the heater in 40C+ temps to help the cooling system out.
This is something I Never want to have to do again that's why I got this Navara because you can flog the crap out of these trucks and they never get too hot.

rick130
8th December 2018, 09:11 AM
My Disco did get "Warm" but I made damn sure it never went over 102C even if it meant winding the windows down and running the heater in 40C+ temps to help the cooling system out.
This is something I Never want to have to do again that's why I got this Navara because you can flog the crap out of these trucks and they never get too hot.

Oh god, that's brought up memories of having to do that in a GU Patrol with the TD42T. [emoji45]

trout1105
8th December 2018, 09:47 AM
Oh god, that's brought up memories of having to do that in a GU Patrol with the TD42T. [emoji45]

Yes it sure put the monikers on an otherwise very pleasant trip, I recon I lost 3kg in sweat[wink11]

trout1105
12th December 2018, 04:43 AM
I have done a bit of "Tinkering" over the last few days and have managed to take the Titan rear drawers out of the D2a and fit them sideways on the navara, i have wired up the spotties, fitted a couple of led reversing/work lights, fabricated a back rail on the tray and have given the truck a service.
I have yet to replace the oil in the diffs, transfer case and gearbox and fit a blanking plate in the EGR to stop the usual Navara "smoke ring" on acceleration.
I also have yet to fit the second battery and fit the 160w solar panel with 2x standalone 125AH batteries with solar regulator to power the 2x 12v fridges.
I should have everything done by the new year and intend to head up to the mouth of the Fortescue river for a few weeks fishing in Jan-Feb

My daughter has volenteered to detail my D2a for me, God bless her and I have organised the rear end repairs to be done at Whyatts and am now awaiting the approoval from my insurer for the windscreen and plenium to be done at Whyatts as well.
I will refit the 2nd row seats and fit the new lower temp thermostat and take the old girl out on the tracks as soon as everything is fixed[bigrolf]

AK83
12th December 2018, 06:59 AM
I'd be curious as to what temp the Navara(coolant) will sit on when towing a 1.5t load in 40°C heat too.

I dare say it'll be a bit over 100°C(if my memory serves me correctly).

trout1105
12th December 2018, 07:59 AM
I'd be curious as to what temp the Navara(coolant) will sit on when towing a 1.5t load in 40°C heat too.

I dare say it'll be a bit over 100°C(if my memory serves me correctly).

I'm not sure as I haven't towed in that sort of heat yet But my nephew has the same model/year Navara and he regularly tows a 16 foot fiberglass boat (Which is heavier than my 5.4m trailcraft ali boat) and hasn't had any overheating problems with his during our 40c+ summers.
The Disco is 15 years old with 270,000k's on the clock and the Navara is only 7 years old with only 100,000ks on the diesel motor so it has a much better chance of surviving the boat towing work.
The Disco Can do the job But it IS getting a bit long in the tooth and I don't want to kill her by making her work harder than she has to and there is no way on earth I am going to suffer having to run the heater in 40c+ conditions ever again just to keep the engine temp down.

I could do the inline thermostat mod to the D2a which would be great But I am unwilling to put anymore money into an already very expensive project that has cost me well in excess of $10,000 in repairs over the last 3 years.
The Disco will be used and enjoyed But it is No longer my front line 4WD unfortunately.

AK83
12th December 2018, 11:58 PM
I think there should be a clear differentiation between 'overheating' and running hot!
Most modern engines do run quite hot nowadays .. apparently for better emissions or something.

Before brother bought his Td5, he had a Patrol(4.8lt) and it ran consistently at just a wee bit over 100°C towing his 500kg trailer(in 40+ degree heat).
Granted it did finally burst hoses and stuff, and caused him(more so myself) grief on one trip .. but that turned out to be more about a non working viscous hub, than overheating due to normally high operating temp.

trout1105
13th December 2018, 07:32 AM
I think there should be a clear differentiation between 'overheating' and running hot!
Most modern engines do run quite hot nowadays .. apparently for better emissions or something.

Before brother bought his Td5, he had a Patrol(4.8lt) and it ran consistently at just a wee bit over 100°C towing his 500kg trailer(in 40+ degree heat).
Granted it did finally burst hoses and stuff, and caused him(more so myself) grief on one trip .. but that turned out to be more about a non working viscous hub, than overheating due to normally high operating temp.

The D2a was getting up to 105c-106c and only when I turned the heaters on and dropped my speed to 80kph did it drop to the high 90's.
The outside temps were 44c-47c and the 79 series we took on the trip didn't bat an eyelid towing a 2.5t 20 foot van and the tray loaded up to the hilt.
There comes a time in every cars life when some TLC and cotton glove treatment is needed to keep it running and for my D2a that time is now.
Running an aluminium block at consistently high temps has Never been a Great idea and the old 4l rover V8 petrol engine with its liner slipping characteristics is much more prone to failure than a newer steel block diesel engine running in adverse conditions.

I am almost certain that if I took the D2a on another 10,000k trip up the top end it would be its last "Hurrah" and I don't want that to happen to her[thumbsupbig]

AK83
13th December 2018, 08:02 AM
I understand the frustration with the D2, but you don't say what temp the troopy was at too tho.
That is, you fear 100°c temps on the LR, but I'm quite sure the troopy would have been as close to those temps, if not higher.

My now thankfully gone Holden Frontera(3.2l Isuzu V6) would run well into the 105's on a hot day(35+) .. not towing.
Never caused the motor any issue either.

When you rebuilt the V8, did you rebuild the block too.. ie. stuff like top hat liners and so on.

For me, 100-110°C coolant temps on a very hot day isn't an issue .. you just accept that. I can't imagine any vehicle under load in such conditions not running such high coolant temps.
Closer to 120°C for me is my worry, as this is too close to the boiling point of the coolant under pressure.

If you don't have an OBDII type plug in doodad, I suggest you try one. I got mine years and years ago when I had my Frontera(ABS codes issue) and gives you a good insight as to what's going on up front there.
Just get a cheapie one of ebay, more likely to work than not .. hook it up to Torque Lite app on a phone, and it should give you some gauges to work with on the troopy and navara.

ps. the reason I question your comments is that I have run my old aluminium blocked RRC many years ago .. consistently at high temps .. but unknowingly, not deliberately.
On one trip, to the Rock, car ran fine and dandy all the way up. Next day after a sleep, it decided to 'run hot' .. LR temp gauge right at the start of the red zone .. we all know .. means engine is toasted!
Anyhow, changed thermostat .. nothing. pulled thermostat .. nothing. Still had near on 5000 klms to get home.
Ran home some of the way with the bonnet partially open, ran cool. No worries I thought. got to Pt Augusta(maybe Marla) I could sense it was running cooler. so removed the box wedge propping the bonnet up .. that was 'getting me home'.

So getting home, first thing was do do some checks .. remove spotties, etc, viscous fan .. all manner of stuff, car still ran at the red zone line. Mechanics found nothing. tested the sender, changed the sender .. basically found nothing wrong.
2 years later, with the RRC still running at the red zone line!!! .. one day I was doing stuff, and accidentally rubbed my hand/arm against the rad .. expecting the usual cuts and grazing, but instead got plenty of copper dust!
Rad was done and dusted. Rad was supposedly checked by the mechanic 2 years ealier, and given the OK!
Anyhow, fitted a new rad, coolant gauge now back into the normal middle zone!.
I ran the poor old RRC at the red line for over two years .. engine never complained.
Mind you I'd estimate that the issue started at about the 400+K klm mark .. I had to park the RRC up many years later with just over 650K klms up(I had marked the 100K units inside the dash pod) .. engine was original from the factory.
Other than the odd seal here and there, I'd never touched that motor.

ps. it was finally put to rest only due to the massive rust in the driver footwell. Say under a tree once it was parked up, waiting for me to do something with it, but dad chopped another tree down, and parts of the other one fell on the RRC, smashed rear, etc.

trout1105
13th December 2018, 08:41 AM
Because my initial engine problems were caused due to overheating I fitted a low coolant alarm AND an OBD2 device so that I could monitor the engine temp in real time Not that bloody useless factory temp gauge.
The D2a IS Old But it isn't dead yet and that's the way I want to keep it[thumbsupbig]

AK83
13th December 2018, 03:42 PM
Because my initial engine problems were caused due to overheating I fitted a low coolant alarm AND an OBD2 device so that I could monitor the engine temp in real time Not that bloody useless factory temp gauge.
....

Hearing 'ya re the temp gauge.
I fitted a VDO sensor and gauge for my Tdi.
basically: from roughly 70-ish up to about 115°C .. needle sits at the same spot about half way.
At 117(hottest temp I've seen yet) it nudged up about 1-2mm .. to just over half way.
I only ran it up to 117 for about a min, maybe less .. more so to see where it'd go .. wasn't game to see it at 120! [bigwhistle]

backed off, A/C off, and it cooled quickly back to under 100 .. maybe a min or less.

Never lost a drop of coolant tho. All day, up between Cobar and Broken Hill 40-43°C, very dry heat too(I think is much worse than humid heat) .. but after I got home, checked stuff(oils, coolant etc.) and all good.
Just found one leak from the annoying vacuum pump design, one welsh plug, filled that over with some silicon goo .. and it's held well since.

trout1105
26th December 2018, 11:42 PM
I took the new truck with the 1.5t boat in tow down the coast over Christmas and beach launching and retriving was done with ease.
I dropped the tyre pressures down to 10psi front and back and the new Micky Thomson 265/75/16 ATZ p3"s had barely a bulge in them and I was a bit concerned about retrieving the boat in fairly soft sand But the Navara did the job with ease to my surprise.
The Disco is a wizz in the sand being an auto and the Navara does lack the grunt of the Disco But otherwise it is fit for purpose and so far I am pleased with the truck.

trout1105
30th December 2018, 09:47 AM
I have just done a run up the coast to Port Gregory which included a lot of hilly country and the Navara struggled on the hills towing the boat.
It didn't overheat but it is a slug compaired to the D2a for this type of work and constantly running through the gears on uphill stretches was a PITA.
On the flat or on the beach it is very capable But It's little 2.5l engine really struggles on the hill climbs when loaded up unfortunately.[bigsad]

trout1105
12th January 2019, 09:11 AM
I fitted a 160w solar panel to the roof of the Navara a few weeks back and hooked it up to 2x 125ah deep cell batteries via an MPPT controller as a "Stand Alone" power source for my 12v fridge/fridges and whatever else I want to run in the tray.
NO power whatsoever has been fed to the system from the engine via the Anderson plug I have connected to the dual batteries in the engine bay (Just in case) in this time and the 40l Primus fridge running at -2 (perfect beer temp) has ran flawlessly without making any significant dent in the SOC of the 2x stand alone batteries[bigrolf]
I did connect another 80l Waco fridge for a week over Christmas to the system and this did increase the power usage overnight and the SOC went down to about 80% But it didn't take too long next day for the solar panel to get the batteries back up to 100% SOC.
I am very happy with this setup and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg to install it either[thumbsupbig]

I also replaced the crappy little battery that came with the truck for a 720CCA one and installed a second battery tray on the passenger side with a matching 720CCA battery wired up in series.
The single 720CCA battery had No difficulty turning the piddly little 2.5l engine over But as I am going to fit a 12000lb winch a second 720CCA will be pretty handy to have was my thinking.

trout1105
12th January 2019, 09:35 AM
Some pikkies, Taken early this morning.

147408147409147410

I need to tidy all this wiring up and put the MPPT controller inside the big toolbox to tidy it up and keep it out of the weather[bigwhistle]

trout1105
13th January 2019, 08:32 AM
I recently fitted a blanking plate into the EGR system because of the black smoke on take off But after about 1000k's of use I am still getting a fair bit of black smoke still.
I am not sure it this smoke is the engine still slowly getting rid of all the crud in the intake manifold from the exhaust gasses or there is some other problem, The truck is still under warrenty

weeds
13th January 2019, 08:41 AM
Navara’s are Smokey by nature.....

trout1105
2nd February 2019, 06:47 AM
I picked up the truck from the service department yesterday arvo after they had removed and skimmed the exhaust manifold and the smoke has gone completely[bigrolf][bigrolf]
The engine also feels a bit more responsive now, I will hook up the boat when we get some decent weather and see if this has made any REAL differance[thumbsupbig]

trout1105
8th March 2019, 04:55 AM
After having such a good run with the Domi8tor 12000lb winch I have fitted to my D2a I decided to splash out the $400 and get on for the Navara.
All up it took a bit less than 2hrs to fit with the help of the Missus putting the 2 top bolts in for me while I held up the winch under the truck and that included pre tensioning the winch rope after it was fitted[thumbsupbig]
Luckily I didn't have to rotate the motor or the gearbox like I had to on the Disco because it was "Good to Go" straight out of the box and I didn't have to remove the bullbar either [bigrolf]
Fitting the control box was a bit of a PITA because there isn't that much room on the ARB bar But I managed to squeeze it in there.
As I do a lot of beach launches and use a lot of "Bush" boat ramps a winch is pretty much an essential bit of kit for me and it has got me out of some sticky situations when fishing "solo" at remote fishing spots at times.
I only have to rig up a small LED lightbar as a reversing light now and the little Navara is all setup for the next extended fishing trip to the Pilbara and the Kimberlie's in May this year[thumbsupbig]