Thread: NISSAN diesel's

I don't have anything specific for you, but a mate had one in NZ for a few years. They were used in the hi roof, LWB, Safari. Didn't make much power, despite the Turbo, and dragged huge weight around due to both the jumbo sized body and the very solid lump of engine so real world performance is very sad. However they were pretty bullet proof. In Japan I gather they were used extensively on farms by hooking the PTO shaft onto water pumps and sitting there with the hand throttle pulled out to fast idle for hours/days/weeks/months on end. The result was many had done huge hours without huge kilometers.

Unfortunately I remember there was a common problem but I can't for the life of me remember what it was.

the UD SD33T is bulllet proof diesel.also used by chyrsler and international.theTD42 is more modern and has more go but isnt as long lived.

much sort after in europe-spanish built patrol used these.
the RD28,RD28T replaced the SD33-australia got the 4.2-so there is not much call for these old truck engines.

SD33T is a common conversion with rangerover but i suspect that due to tax issues these dont become advertised.smaller LD28 car engines are more common.the engine weight is over 300KG.

i have had an MK patrol deluxe diesel manual wagon, it was my first 4WD and the disco in my second.
SD33T is a motor designed by the bloke who designed the UD engine and i have driven CK10,CK40,CGA45 UD's.
engine was good, 5psi boost from what i could find out and a little less horsepower and torque than the 300TDi, mine had a straight through 2.5in exhaust and it returned 21 mpg or 13.45 l/100km on a vehicle that weighed a smidgeon less than a disco (patrol 1960kg-disco 1980kg) i would also give the disco the edge in take off as well bearing in mind i drove it pretty sedately and hardly over 2500rpm which gave you 100kph in 5th
bit of a pain to work on in the Nissan especially after i did 3 alternators in 3 years @ $300-$500 a pop they had the vacuum pump on the back of them for the brakes and what a lovely job to replace them NOT
it was under the turbo and you had to squeeze in between that and the battery carrier (without the battery) and a milk crate to stand on, and the adjustment for the fan belts was a variable adjustment you did with a spanner BUT you could only get 1 flat at a time to adjust and it took forever to tighten the belts after every change of alternator
AFAIR the turbo motor was 12volt but the N/A motor was 24volt.
1 trick i heard that was done to the engine was a properly mandrel bent dump pipe into a good exhaust.
hope this helps

Thanks guys any help is welcome I an just considering if it is strong enough to take over 15psi and adequet fuelling would it go good? and as strong as an isuzu or would it just be worth scrapping?

Originally Posted by c.h.i.e.f

hey guys
i just bought a old NISSAN diesel motor from what i can gather from research it is a SD33T 3.3lt inline 6cyl factory turbo diesel out of what i assume to be a MK and MQ nissan patrol.
i bought this motor for the turbo but whilst looking at the motor and seeing how large and by the looks "well engineered" it is i then started to think would it be worth keeping and rebuilding it to running order again
As most of us know the isuzu motors that some of us have are a bullet proof donk that will take ANYTHING thrown at it so i started to think is the SD33T in any league close to the isuzu? or is the 4.2 NISSAN motor the only good motor that comes close to the isuzu?

any input at all will be great

thanks

I haven't had anything to do with the SD33T, but regarding the 4.2, noway are they as strong as the Isuzu4BD1T.

The 4.2 is liked for comps because it will rev high, but it requires $$$$ for the performance and reliability.

The 4BD1T will give the performance for little cost by comparison because the internals are so robust and the injection pump doesn't require as much work - even the similar Cummins 4BT needs $$$ for internal mods to match the strength of stock Isuzu internals.

One of the comp guys in WA is building a 4BT because he doesn't want to go the Nissan 4.2 route. The comp parts he is bringing in from the USA should make it a monster.

Stretching the memory here but as I recall the SD33 engine was not overly powerful but very reliable indeed. Wasn't the weak point in the transmission where the retaining nut on the gear shaft [4/5th?] would work loose and destroy the box? I thiunk the 'fix' was a retorquing of that retaining nut to a higher than originaly specified figue but that didn't always work.

I don't think I'd be junking that engine - someone somewhere will want it. Plenty of guys hit that post middle age crisis and go on a mision of reliving their youth and that includes doing up old cars.

Isn't there some one on ALRO chasing an MK/MQ Nissan Patrol for that very reason?

I haven't had anything to do with them, but have seen quite a few landies over the years with SD33/T conversions.

The SD-33 was originally a joint-venture between Chrysler and Nissan. I'm not sure on the details, but I'd guess that Chrysler wanted to help Nissan out (this was before Japanese car companies had a decent foothold in the United States). The engine was designed originally for the Nissan Patrol, as well as forklifts, but the fuel crisis of the '70's was in full swing, and International-Harvester was looking for a small, high-economy diesel to put in their Scouts. I'm not sure why they chose the SD-33 instead of making their own engine, but that's what they did. At some point after IH started using the diesels in some Scouts, Chrysler let Nissan work on their own. To anyone who has a diesel Scout, the yellow engines were joint Chrysler/Nissan built, and the blue engines (most blue engines are SD-33T's, but not all of them) were made by Nissan on their own. I don't have a list of specifications for the SD-33, but I do have the specs for the SD-33T below. The SD-33 is lacking a turbocharger, and therefore has less horsepower/torque numbers, but otherwise, they are similar engines. The SD-33 puts out 92 horsepower, while the SD-33T puts out 101 horsepower and 175 ft-lbs of torque. Here's the information on the SD-33T:

GENERAL

TYPE: 4-cycle, water-cooled diesel
COMBUSTION: Swirl Chamber, pre-combustion chamber type
CYLINDERS: 6, in-line, vertical
BORE x STROKE: 83x100mm (3.27x3.94in.)
PISTON DISPLACEMENT: 3246cc (3.2 litres, 198 cubic inches)
COMPRESSION RATIO: 20.8 : 1
WEIGHT (DRY): Approx. 305 kg (about 672 lbs)
ASPIRATION: Turbocharger, max. output approx. 6.5psi

DESIGN FEATURES

CYLINDER BLOCK
High-strength cast iron with replaceable dry liners.
CYLINDER HEAD
One-piece high-strength cast iron; special cast-iron valve inserts are shrink-fitted.
CRANKSHAFT
Drop-forged steel with balance weights; all main and connecting rod bearing surfaces are induction-hardened.
PISTON AND RINGS
Aluminum alloy piston for high strength, lightweight and good heat conductivity; three compression and two oil control rings are chrome-plated for long service life.
CAMSHAFT
High-quality cast iron; lobes are specially processed to improve hardness and durability.
BEARINGS
Precision type, steel-backed trimetal shell; five main bearings.
VALVES
Overhead valves; one intake and exhaust per cylinder; made of special heat-resistant steel; exhaust valve with stellite-treated surface.

STANDARD EQUIPMENT

Flywheel Housing...............SAE No. 4
Flywheel.......................SAE for 8-inch drive-ring-type overcenter clutch
Injection Pump.................Bosch A-type, in-line plunger, forced circulation
Governor.......................RSV, mechanical all-speed governor, within 10% speed change
Timer..........................Automatic centrifugal type
Injection Nozzle...............Bosch throttle type
Fuel Feed Pump.................Bosch piston type driven by injection pump camshaft
Fuel Filter....................Replaceable cartridge type with overflow valve
Air Cleaner....................Replaceable dry-paper-element type
Exhaust Manifold...............Flange type, rear side-facing outlet
Oil Pump.......................Gear type
Oil Filter.....................Full-flow, replaceable cartridge type
Oil Pan........................Pressed-steel plate, rear sump type; capacity: high 5.5/(1.2 imp gal.) (appx. 11 quarts)
Oil Cooler.....................Flat-tube type
Cooling Fan....................380mm (14.96 in.)-dia. 4-blade steel fan, suction type, belt-driven; speed ratio: 1.18
Water Pump.....................Centrifugal type, belt-driven; capacity: 110/min. at 3200 rpm
Thermostat.....................Wax pellet type
Alternator.....................12-volt-35 amp.
Starter Motor..................12-volt-1.8 kW
Starting Aid...................Pencil type preheating glow plug for each cylinder

The Warden's Nissan diesel info page

Originally Posted by c.h.i.e.f

Thanks guys any help is welcome I an just considering if it is strong enough to take over 15psi and adequet fuelling would it go good? and as strong as an isuzu or would it just be worth scrapping?

You've been around long enough to know "taking 15psi" is bs with diesels, sigh....