Chev V8 diesel into Nissan patrol 4.2tdi?

Can't help with the Chev conversion but registrations for the Tepon Park Muster will open once we have completed the programming.
Coupla months.

Check the Muster tab from time to time.

Bob

Grahame & Nerilee,

Redbook for the 2005 states * Private Price Guide $30,800 - $34,300
and Trade In Price Guide $25,500 - $29,000, factor in the cost of around $25k for the V8 T/Diesel 6.5 including extra's like radiator, possible diff ratio changes etc, you have a $55k - $60k investment for what would be a vehicle with known history

If that figure is acceptable to you & also comfortable with keeping the vehicle for many years as the dollars spent on engine upgrades are not always recouped when selling ..... then go for it, Brunswick's reputation is excellent on the whole.

A friend owns a 4.2TD Nissan and he changed exhaust to larger and added a water cooled Intercooler and he is happy enough towing a 21' Trailcraft.... but.... he does mention & dream of V8 Diesel's occasionally lol

I have been towing an 18' BT with a 3 litre Patrol without any worries, and it is stock standard. I suggest that you try towing your new van with what you have before lashing out on replacements or upgrades. You may be pleasantly surprised. Another thing, you probably have heard comments to the effect that your towing vehicle should be capable of towing your rig at the legal speed limit in all conditions. This is crap and trying to do this puts unnecessary strain on you, your passenger, and the vehicles. Towing 3 tons takes a bit of getting used to but after 3 months on the road you will relax and then be in a position to make good decisions. Good luck and happy holidays, Rod.

G'day Greid

We have a 19Ft BT with 5 tanks, 4 panels, 4 batteries.
We tried towing it (when is was 3 tanks, 3 panels,3 batteries) with our 94 GQ Patrol D/Side 4.2L Diesel ute, and this worked very well unless we wished to overtake an army convoy doing 80kph.
We found that 3rd gear got you started in such situations and when required to drop into 4th gear (90kph is about tops for 3rd gear) the revs were too low to give adequate acceleration torque to complete the manouvere within acceptable distance. (5 vehicle convoy took 2 km to get past with this set up.)
We then upgraded the exhaust size to 2.5" and fitted a good quality turbo.
This made a remarkable difference to the available power to the ground, but the downside was an increase in radiator coolant temperature on very long climbs, which required the radiator to be stripped and the cores cleaned. The engine block was also air water flushed with the thermostat removed. End result, a marked improvement in heat dissapation.
We still were not entirely happy and were seariously considering a V8 Chev diesel motor change over,(then priced at $18,000) when we became aware of the Gov't subsigy for conversions to LPG. (While a diesel can never run on LPG alone the combustion process is enhanced by the inclusion on a whif of LPG into the intake air, which provides a significant increase in the HP to the ground at the same time.)
We live in Qld., and are penalised within our registration fees for an increase in the number of cylinders. (A 8 cylinder vehicle being dearer to register than a 6 cylinder of the same horse power)
After the conversion to Diesel-Gas fueling of our 4.2L Turbo'd engine, we gained an extra 20 HP to the ground at the drive axle, and significant improvement in the grunt in 4th gear after chainging from 3rd.
The dynamometer test after conversion to diesel-gas suggested an equivalent HP to the ground as could be expected from a naturaly aspirated Chev V8 diesel with a considerable price difference.
We recommend that once a turbo is fitted that an exhaust gas temperature gauge be fitted and monitered to ensure that the engine operates below the maximum recommended exhaust gas temperature, as we have found with our set up that while the engine demonstrates a willingness to continue to pull on long grades or at speed into head winds, the end result of doing so could take the combustion temperature at the piston above the acceptable range for the piston and cause permenant damage.(The foot to the floor going up hill in a high gear instead of a lower gear syndrome) Easily overcome by monitoring the gauges and changing down a gear sooner rather than later.
What would we do differently?
We feel that the V8 diesel option could be a fall back position for us if our power plant gives up the ghost.
We would upgrade to a 3" exhaust system.
We recommend that as well as air water flushing of the engine, that the radiator be upgraded from a 2 core to a 3 core type. This would have to be done in a V8 conversion any way. So far we are managing with our 2 core radiator and monitoring the gauges, and have recently completed an around Australia trip with our tug and the BT without any difficulty.
Our GQ Patrol is fitted with manual locks on the front wheel hubs, and we normaly run with these in the unlocked position. This allows us, while on bitumen, to utilise the aditional grunt available with low range 1st or second gear on really hard steep pulls. (By experience we have found that low range to high range on the move changes can be accomplished successfully by allowing the peak engine revs to die right back with the lowrange gear leaver in the neutral position before engaging the high range 4X2 position.) The change must be accomplished by the double declutching method. Old square mesh gearbox truck drivers will know exactly what I mean.
It is a skill that can be aquired, if you don't already have it, by practice using the double declutch method for all gear changes weather needed or not.
To change from high 1st to low 1st while in motion requires double declutching with a rapid engine rev change while in neutral. Also a skill which can be aquired.
Hope all this detail doesn't confuse you.
We will be at Tepon for the Muster with our BT and the GQ if you want to take a peek and discuss further.
Cheers
John

Hi Grahame & Nerilee

A similar question was asked on the Members Forum a few days ago.

Motherhen

Hi

Just beware of the extra temperature the gas produces, contrary to the advice given by gas conversion company's saying combustion temp is reduced , the fact is the extra diesel burnt by the gas increases the temperature hence the extra power, more fuel being combusted more heat.As a result the head on my toyota 100 series 105r 1hz has cracked.The post Turbo ex gas temp guage is a must and should not exceed 550 deg c.I have had the vehicle to Turbo Engineering in Melbourne to have fitted a boost compensator on the fuel pump and a 3'' ex system with a digital ex temp guage.It not only runs cooler but has more power than before 80kw turbo only and 100kw with gas at the rear wheels.Tows the 20 ft b/t very well only use the gas on hilly sections.

Regards Terry Bridges

Hi,

We have a 100 Series Toyota with a 6.5 L naturally aspirated Chev V8. This was owned by Lindsay Cullen of Linquip and we have had it for 2 years. We did experience some temperature rise while towing our 19ft van when we first bought the Toyota and so fitted a PWR alloy radiator. This is a standard bolt-in replacement.

This cured the temp.rise completely including escaping Victoria in 45 degree heat on Black Saturday!

Prior to leaving on our big trip in December 08 we had gas injection fitted and trialed it for 3 months before we left. The measured performance increase was 18% torque and 20% power with no noticeable increase in heat. I understand that the heat can increase dramatically if the motor is fitted with a turbo.

Since then we have completed 30,000 km with around 25,000 km towing. The only problem we had was a failed diff and this was probably due to wear and the lunatic hill we were trying to go up near Wujal Wujal.

We averaged 18 litres per 100km towing and 12 litres normal driving. As we did not have a standard Toyota before the V8, I can’t comment on performance gains over the standard 4.2 motor but everyone that has towed with us suggest that it is far better.

Brunswick Diesel in WA have Nissans and Toyotas for sale that have been converted to V8 Diesel. Sometimes it is more cost effective to sell your existing vehicle and buy one already converted.

Pete