Hi Guys,
Here's a tale of disaster, but I did find out a few things that every D40 Navara/Frontier owner should know.
One Navara has now chewed through three engines. Yes it's true. Maintained by different professional mechanics over it's life.
All different suppliers and installers (professionals).
One from from factory, which cooked itself 1 year after warranty and no-one has been able to provide a satisfactory explanation why (it suddenly had no coolant and no oil). Bad luck mate, but we can't help you.
One from HM Gem, which threw its single row timing chain a couple months after the warranty ran out (less than 30,000kms) - $13,000 wasted. Bad luck mate, but we won't help you.
One from YD25.com.au, which dropped its coolant from the oil cooler return hose and cooked the head. -$13,000. Bad luck mate, but I WILL HELP YOU!
Paul at YD25.com.au rebuilt my third engine with a double row timing chain and a couple other goodies to toughen it up. My local mechanic performed the installation. It honestly ran better than new. It was installed in January. After gaining some confidence with it, I took it for a country drive from Brisbane to Newcastle. It went like a rocket. Before departing Newcastle for the return leg, I checked coolant, oil, tyres - everything. Two hours later, I look down at my speed and notice the temperature gauge near the upper limit. I immediately slow and look for somewhere to pull off the road. It takes about a kilometre or so because I'm going through winding mountain roads.
But too late, as I'm pulling over it suffers a massive power loss. I've been here before, this is not good. I find myself parked thirty-five kilometres in either direction to the next town and no mobile phone coverage, on the side of steep hill. I pop the bonnet and cannot see any evidence of a damaged hose or water loss. Oil is fine. So I decide to let it cool right down because it is radiating heat on hot day in Ivan Milat country of New South Wales.
After about half an hour a kind senior couple stops to offer help. I swallow my remaining pride and give them my details for the automobile club and they drive on to the next town to make a call on my behalf - thank you.
I wait for a while before having another look. Still can't see any leaks from any of the hose that I can see in the engine bay and they all look in good condition (not swollen or soft) and properly clamped. In fact, it's an extremely clean bay, like there's a new engine - oh yeah it only 6 months old! Now that it's cooled down, I crawl under the truck and hope there's no King Brown snake already there. It's hard to see with all the grass, but notice a droplet hanging from the back of the engine. I reach out to get a sample on my finger and bring it to light. Its the beautiful blue-green colour of fresh coolant.
Many cars and trucks thunder past, but at this moment a local farmer very kindly stops to offer assistance in his fully functional Toyota Hilux with 4 million+kms on the clock.
Now I have back up, I crawl in further across the roadside rocks, but still no obvious signs of dramatic water loss. WTF!
Wait a minute, what's these two small hoses here at the bottom right-hand side of the engine? They are difficult to see looking back up through the engine bay into the midday sun. They are not swollen, they feel solid and are clamped well. I'm told the hoses are for keeping the oil cooler doing it's job. But, one tug on one of them causes hot coolant to flood down my out-stretched arm to pool in my armpit and begin the poaching process.
This really pisses me off. I've done everything I could to avoid exactly such an incident. Even if those hoses were transferred twice from the original engine, the vehicle only has 138,000kms on the clock.
After recoiling from under the Nissan, my new friend has a look for himself and decides it's worth having a go to try and wrap it in electrical tape to get me to the mechanic in the next town. I'm sceptical, but if a man of the land is willing to have a go, then I'm in too. Of course there is no access from above and it's very awkward from below. We can only get one hand at a time to the hose. Twenty minutes and one roll of red electrical tape later, we decide that's as good as we can do.
The Navara has cooled down now so he offers a jerry can of water, which the radiator swallows whole. I'm thinking that is not good.
We try to start the engine. It turns over, which is a relief, but only for a millisecond, because air and water are belching and coughing back out the top of the open radiator. So, is it a blown gasket (if I'm lucky) or warped head (if I have my normal luck) or hydraulically damaged bottom end as well (if this bloody 4x4 does what it normally does)!
Pressurised water gushes out of the hose directly into the ground. The electrical tape fails, but the mystery of the clean engine bay and how could this motor could get so hot, so quickly, is solved.
To cut this long story shorter, my senior Samaritans were able to call for a rescue party and a tilt tray tuned up after about 3 hours. In the following weeks, there was an almost comical amount of stuffing around with the country town mechanic/auto parts store/mayor and the insurance company - who did not come to the party.
However, and this is where the story cheers up, I finally find a trucking company who is willing to transport my vehicle for less than the wrecking cost. The Navara arrives back in Brisbane 4 weeks later at my local mechanic and I'm at my wits end. I've already gone and purchased another car I can't afford, but I know two things: the cost of a replacement engine is probably equal to that resale value of the vehicle and without an engine the wreckers will only give me $1500.
In a last ditch effort, I call my specialist engine builder Paul at YD25.com.au with cap in hand. The hose is not part of the rebuild warranty, but I've got nothing to lose. For some reason, he is sympathetic to my position and offers to replace and rebuild the head. What a bloody legend! I'm almost in shock that I've found someone who actually knows what he's doing, delivers real customer service and actually backs himself and his products with actions and not just words.
My local mechanic knows the Navara has been sitting for a few weeks and takes some initiative and has already removed the head to prevent any corrosion. Fortunately, it's not bad. I take the head to Paul at YD25.com.au and on initial glance it doesn't look too bad. No where near as bad as some of the other dead heads he has in his workshop. But, a closer look reveals that it's not flat and he explains (I apologise if I get this wrong) that if it gets that hot, then the alloy metal becomes literally "soft" and cannot be repaired. So, it's definitely a new head.
One week later I receive a call from Paul that it's done, ready to pick up and has thrown in a gasket kit. Like I said, what a bloody legend!
Now we have to put it all back together and fingers crossed the bottom end is OK. Any Christmas prayers thrown my way will be much appreciated.
So lessons to be learned for all D40 owners:
1. Your Navara engine is great, but fragile as glass and can overheat in minutes.
2. Your Navara engine is twice as expensive to fix as other four-wheel drives.
3. There are almost no replacement engines laying around because it is a global problem and that is why they are so expensive.
4. Contact Paul at YD25.com.au now for a double row timing chain kit before yours let's go. Under $3000 vs $13,000 - your call.
5. Change all your hoses after 100,000kms - Paul also has a hose kit that is half the cost of Nissan original and not made with plastic connectors that fail.
Good luck fellow Navarians and Frontierites
