Sick QD32

[Jajb94]

G'day all
I brought a '98 model, 4x4 D22 with a QD32 in it, when I got it serviced, the mechanic said that it was the slowest navara that he had ever driven. I was not too fussed about this because I didn't buy a ute to go hooning around town. But in the last couple of weeks, It's got dangerously slow all of a sudden. I can't get it to drive above 70km/hr on a flat!

The ute has 340,000kms on it's clock and I don't know any prior servicing or mechanical history.

The symptoms that it is displaying are;

Slow, I mean, I can not get it to rev over 2100rpm on a good day!

On occasion, blows a significant amount of dark blue smoke.

There is a sharp rattle from near where the injector pump is.

EDIT: the power/speed also has a surge in it when I hold the accelerator to the floor.

To try to fix these symptoms I have, removed fuel filter. blown the fuel line back into the tank, replaced with a new fuel filter.

That made no difference.

I then used the priming button on top of the fuel filter holder to get some fuel pressure up, The rattle stopped, and I was able to get it to rev to 3000rpm, However, as the fuel pressure lowered, with the throttle in the same position, it tapered back down to 2100rpm and the rattle started again.

What I would like to know is if anyone else has experienced this problem? how did they fix it? and what exactly the problem is?

Cheers.

 

[Old.Tony]

Welcome to the forum.

There are a few things that can cause the engine to appear limited, one of the most common in the D22 is the neutral position switch located on the top of the gearbox. You can either unplug it and see if things change, or hold the shift lever to one side or the other to see if things change. If they improve, replace the switch.

It's also possibly air in the fuel system (and this is what I'd suspect first). There's an easy way to tell. Let the car sit for a couple of hours then go and prime the pump. It shouldn't take a lot of pumps before it becomes firm. If it does, it's likely to be an air leak somewhere - and it could be anywhere from the tank pickup to the pump. Usually it's around the filter, but there has been one instance were the spigot on the tank developed a crack and allowed air to be drawn in.

 

[Jajb94]

Due to the fact that it can rev high when I prime the pump, I'm inclined to rule out the neutral switch for my main problem, although it may still be an issue, if I can't get the engine to rev above 2k, then there isn't really a easy way to tell.


You mention air getting into the fuel lines, what is the best way to investigate this problem?

 

[Old.Tony]

Start with the priming attempt after the car's been sitting unused for a few hours and count how many presses it takes to get firm. More than a few = air leak. Yep, I'd doubt the NPS as well, but it's a possibility and just as cheap to test.

 

[nedm1989]

Sounds like i wasn't the only one having issues with my QD32, mate another thing to check is a small filter in the banjo bolt where the fuel line goes into the injection pump, I pulled the bolt out of mine and couldn't find it, but I gave the nav to some diesel guys and they said they found it in there.

Also put clear line on both sides of your filter housing sounds like you could have some air in there.

 

[unkn0wn]

Due to the fact that it can rev high when I prime the pump, I'm inclined to rule out the neutral switch for my main problem, although it may still be an issue, if I can't get the engine to rev above 2k, then there isn't really a easy way to tell.


You mention air getting into the fuel lines, what is the best way to investigate this problem?

QD has a manual injector pump, no ecu control.
means, its simple, and it does not have any of the fancy neutral switch issues of the ZD or Yd engines.
/ so that's ruled out.

if you prime the pump and can rev the motor without fault. then you defiantly need to look into your fuel lines. What your doing is creating artificial pressure on the fuel lines to the injector pump, forcing out any dirt/clogs or air-bubbles in the way - temporary.

i would remove your fuel lines from the injector pump to the metal lines - replace them. worn fuel lines can introduce air pockets....do the same for the other side where the metal lines join the fuel filter.

while the fuel lines are off the injector pump, fish out the gauze? filter from between the banjo fitting on the passenger side of the pump (fuel feed) clean this thoroughly and then put it all back...

re-prime the system and see how it goes. if its still an issue, look into your water trap...there was a guy here that had missing issues and he found his water trap was letting in air...causing the car to stutter above 2k. i think he said he glued it in place, so that's a semi decent option.

G'day all
I brought a '98 model, 4x4 D22 with a QD32 in it, when I got it serviced, the mechanic said that it was the slowest navara that he had ever driven. I was not too fussed about this because I didn't buy a ute to go hooning around town. But in the last couple of weeks, It's got dangerously slow all of a sudden. I can't get it to drive above 70km/hr on a flat!

The ute has 340,000kms on it's clock and I don't know any prior servicing or mechanical history.

The symptoms that it is displaying are;

Slow, I mean, I can not get it to rev over 2100rpm on a good day!

On occasion, blows a significant amount of dark blue smoke.

There is a sharp rattle from near where the injector pump is.

Cheers.

QD was the last of Nissan NA diesel motors as far as i know. naturally the slowest of all types of motors, but when there good there good, reliable workhorse. I put a turbo on mine, now its easier to tow and catch-up to traffic....defiantly should have been turbo from factory....but there still good motors regardless. even in NA form mine would rev happily all the way to redline....if you had the patience to wait that long...its a torque-y motor and mine rarely goes over 3k.

If your injector pump is rattling, it could be ****ed? missing teeth on the drive wheel? dislodged part? who knows.
can you make a video and upload, so it is easier to understand the noise?

i got mine at 310 thou, and its done about 330 now, i dout shes ever had any previous work, but she clunks along just fine.
I have a mate with a ute QD and his is the same, 335ish kays - regular service and trouble free motoring (slow but trouble free).

get onto the fuel system in a big way, make a video of the noise and report back.
keen to hear how you go, if you have any questions feel free to PM me directly. Always willing to help a fellow navara owner out, especially a fellow QD owner!

cheers

 

[Jajb94]

with the pump rattle, it doesn't rattle after I have primed the fuel lines, until the fuel I have primed into it is used, and the pressure lowers. so I think the pump may be okay ( could be air getting into the system as suggested above).

Where abouts is the banjo filter on it? as I may remove it and clean it out before I try replacing any parts, as I am a apprentice, money isn't the most abundant thing to come across.

 

[unkn0wn]

with the pump rattle, it doesn't rattle after I have primed the fuel lines, until the fuel I have primed into it is used, and the pressure lowers. so I think the pump may be okay ( could be air getting into the system as suggested above).

Where abouts is the banjo filter on it? as I may remove it and clean it out before I try replacing any parts, as I am a apprentice, money isn't the most abundant thing to come across.

When your on the drivers side, looking at the injection pump.
Follow the fuel lines in, one goes to a hard line, then curves around to the side of the pump (opposite side of the pump from where your looking / between the pump and the block).

this hard line is connected with a banjo....inside the banjo is a little filter.
It might not come out when you pull the banjo out, so you will need to fish it out.

check you banjo washers and make sure they are clean an undamaged..otherwise replace..there fairly cheap copper washers anyway.
when you put it back in, do it up most of the way, then prime the fuel system, while its still letting air out..this makes it easier to prime. then tighten the banjo, and prime again.

 

[Rumpig]

Fitting an electric fuel pump near the fuel tank is always a good idea. It makes it easy to prime after filter changes too.

 

[Jajb94]

I had a quick crack at priming the fuel system this morning, after having not ran it in 24 hours, and it was firm to start with, so I believe I can rule out any air leak into the fuel system,
I guess all that is left is check the banjo fitting and clean it out and have a go, otherwise maybe another injector pump is in order.

Any suggestions where to look for a good pump? or if the problem could still be something somewhat cheaper than a pump?

 

[Old.Tony]

Fuel pickup in the tank might have something obscuring it. Could have a pinched fuel line too, that happened to someone here after fitting a long range tank (the fuel line was crushed against the underside of the vehicle).

It could well be the injector pump. You should try Niss4x4.com.au for a second-hand one if you do decide it's the pump - personally I'd still be looking over the fuel delivery.

 

[Jajb94]

Well, I blew back the fuel lines into the tank with compressed air, replaced the filter, and then primed the system, and ran the engine again, with no difference what so ever, so that leads me to believe that the issue lies on the engine side of the fuel filter.
I will have a go at the banjo filter on the weekend, and see how I go, if that doesn't fix it, then I presume it's gotta be the pump? or could the injectors cause the problem? (I suspect not as the fuel pump is making noises like it's not getting enough fuel through it).

What does the plume of blue smoke mean? not enough air? not enough fuel? too much fuel? too much air?

 

[Old.Tony]

Blue smoke is oil.

Try this: disconnect your PCV hose from the air intake. It's the hose that runs from the top of the motor (usually at the rear) and connects to the air intake. Block off the hole in the air intake, and aim the PCV hose towards the ground. Start the engine and see if there's a lot of smoke.

Injectors can be a cause of trouble but given the noise at the pump it's less likely to be those.

 

[bods]

If the pump hasn't been touched in those km then it could very likely be the problem... Could be the banjo bolt filter, could also be a slight air leak into the fuel filter. Blue smoke is oil, but it could just be worn out valve stem seals given the km more than anything else.

As was mentioned before, there's not a lot to those motors. An electric lift pump, while it may help is only masking the problem... Have you got a genuine fuel filter on it? Although the older motors don't seem to be as susceptible to leaking air in near the filter as the newer motors, that's not to say it isn't causing issues...

I used to have a patrol with an sd33 motor which I put a turbo on. Had a similar issue a few times, except it would die off to nothing and start missing, turned out to be an almost completely blocked banjo filter, cleaned that out and it was fine..

You probably don't want to hear it, but personally I think the injector pump is dying. If you don't want to dish out for what could be a suspect second hand one, get yours rebuilt and either a recon set or get your injectors checked and rebuilt... It will be a good couple of grand, but you know it will be all good for at least that many km again.... Either that or look at engine swaps, I think there are a couple of mobs that do commodore gen 3 and v6 conversion kits for them, probably cost the same as a rebuilt pump and injectors.....

 

[Jajb94]

So, I bit the bullet today and decided to fit a 12v electric lift pump to help the injector pump get enough fuel.

It made an instant difference. I can now happily rev all the way to 3500rpm (probably higher, but I didn't bother going higher).

The pump cost me 120 bucks, so I'm pretty happy that I don't have to get the pump rebuilt, at least for the next while.

I am aware, that this won't fix the problem that caused it to rev low, only compensate for it.

 

[reel-sensation]

Hi
On my QD it was the throttle lever on the injector pump had worn the round hole to an oval hole in the top cover and was letting in air. The throttle lever is the one connected to the throttle cable. Cost me $200 for new cover.

Alan

 

[Rumpig]

So, I bit the bullet today and decided to fit a 12v electric lift pump to help the injector pump get enough fuel.

It made an instant difference. I can now happily rev all the way to 3500rpm (probably higher, but I didn't bother going higher).

The pump cost me 120 bucks, so I'm pretty happy that I don't have to get the pump rebuilt, at least for the next while.

I am aware, that this won't fix the problem that caused it to rev low, only compensate for it.

Do i win a prize?

 

[nedm1989]

So the banjo filter was not blocked??

 

[Jajb94]

Didn't check the banjo filter.

 

[nedm1989]

They have been known to cause a lot of performance issues, i was chasing my tail for just over 3 months, tried sooooo many things, ended up taking it to a diesel shop and it was the banjo filter, my brother and I checked it twice even but could not find it, but they did.

The car has never run better, well especially now because i turbo'd it about 3 weeks ago haha.