Thread: Question for owners of high km D4's

I was thinking about changing the vehicle out, but when push came to shove, I would have had to lay out somewhere around $50 to $60k mark to get into a later model equivalent vehicle and remember that it is not a new vehicle we are talking about. That 'deal' could either be fantastic or it could be a nightmare ....used vehicles can be a bit of pot luck!

My D4 has done 322,000km over 11 years of ownership since brand spanking new. Now I am hoping it will last another 11 years, by which time my need for a vehicle of this size will no doubt have reduced. My outlay for all the work being performed is around the $13k mark and will give me the confidence to continue to use the vehicle well into the future. Mind you the auto trans might need to be rebuilt at some stage but at this time its doing the job just fine.

So by my reckoning I am way better of rebirthing what, is to my way of thinking, a terrific vehicle.

Exactly... I aim to keep 'routine' costs as low as I can by careful sourcing, and doing the 'interim' oil and filter services myself, but then every once in a while you hit a big service. Spreading the load across that sort of mileage, and looking at the cost of an equivalent replacement vehicle, you're ahead financially - and your point about the risks of a 'new' second-hand vehicle is spot on. It hurts, but the alternative is not necessarily better if the vehicle is meeting your needs...

I’m surprised that no one yet makes an aftermarket silicone hose coolant pipe set for D3 or D4. Would be a useful update.

Originally Posted by PerthDisco

I’m surprised that no one yet makes an aftermarket silicone hose coolant pipe set for D3 or D4. Would be a useful update.

Would it? Cooling system hoses are pretty much the one element I don't recall anyone ever having an issue with. I had a pin-hole in my EGR intake hose, but that was caused by a previous mechanic using a ill-placed worm-drive clamp on there.

Plenty of other parts of the cooling system fail, but I don't recall anyone mentioning losing a hose.

Originally Posted by BradC

Would it? Cooling system hoses are pretty much the one element I don't recall anyone ever having an issue with. I had a pin-hole in my EGR intake hose, but that was caused by a previous mechanic using a ill-placed worm-drive clamp on there.

Plenty of other parts of the cooling system fail, but I don't recall anyone mentioning losing a hose.

Agree but it would nice to have an economic high quality replacement for these things as how long is too long? Same for radiator you rarely hear of a failure. A Mishimoto all aluminium one would be nice if they did one.

Originally Posted by BradC

Would it? Cooling system hoses are pretty much the one element I don't recall anyone ever having an issue with. I had a pin-hole in my EGR intake hose, but that was caused by a previous mechanic using a ill-placed worm-drive clamp on there.

Plenty of other parts of the cooling system fail, but I don't recall anyone mentioning losing a hose.

My service agent tells me that they have not replaced a D4 hose.......some D3 hoses are in question though. That said, the hoses on my vehicle seem to be in pretty good nick. None the less I thought that 11 years and 300,000 plus kms is pretty good so I opted for a change out even though they are expensive and it was not suggested to me, in my discussions with the service agent.

I would rather not be the crash test dummy for hose longevity.

Originally Posted by LGM

My service agent tells me that they have not replaced a D4 hose.......some D3 hoses are in question though. That said, the hoses on my vehicle seem to be in pretty good nick. None the less I thought that 11 years and 300,000 plus kms is pretty good so I opted for a change out even though they are expensive and it was not suggested to me, in my discussions with the service agent.

I would rather not be the crash test dummy for hose longevity.

Not disputing that, and frankly if I were in the same situation I'd do the same thing. I'll probably do mine in the next couple of years just because they're approaching 15 and on other cars I generally do them at 7. I was more talking about the viability or reason for creating an aftermarket silicone hose set.

Frankly if there was an aftermarket set, I'd probably still opt for the originals at twice the cost purely because they're a known quality. With the Volvos, I always buy genuine Volvo hoses at 3 times the price of the aftermarkets, purely because they last at least 3 times as long and it's several orders of magnitude cheaper than a cooked motor.

Originally Posted by PerthDisco

Agree but it would nice to have an economic high quality replacement for these things as how long is too long? Same for radiator you rarely hear of a failure. A Mishimoto all aluminium one would be nice if they did one.

I replaced mine with a nissens one from AF and the price delivered was not expensive, after 14 yrs of the original in the tropics I thought a replacement was a good option. You can clean out the I/C doing the change over which I found was full of oil. It's a cheap but effective change if you can order from the uk and change yourself.
Cheers Bulletman

Originally Posted by PerthDisco

Agree but it would nice to have an economic high quality replacement for these things as how long is too long? Same for radiator you rarely hear of a failure. A Mishimoto all aluminium one would be nice if they did one.

All aluminium construction is more susceptible to vibration in offroad use though and often leads to a point of failure.

Silicone hoses used in coolant applications use a thin layer internally to prevent reaction with coolant - another at risk failure point to be aware of.

Sometimes the old school is the best choice.