Power

[Bax84]

Just trying to get a feel for power that d22's have.

I have a 2006 3L and I think it's had a bit of a rough life, I feel like it's a little underpowered now, I took the steel tray off a while back and that definitely picked things up. But it's just feeling lacking.

It's got an old exhaust on it, which I'm yet to measure, but I'm assuming it's standard. The muffler is rusted to bits and I'd assume any other exhaust bits would be the same.

Cruising on a highway on flat and downhill sections 100km/h is no problems. But uphill, even if it's slight. I find myself dropping back to 80km/h no matter how much I plant the foot. Dropping it into 4th does nothing as it's out of the power band (too high in the revs) and 5th seems to be too low.

Is this the same for everyone? I'm putting on bigger wheels/tyres soon, and adding a bit of extra weight back too the back of the tub with a steel canopy. I'm just a little worried I'll be back to struggling on the highway again.

If this isn't the norm, what do you guys suggest I do to fix it up. I'm going to hack my muffler off one afternoon and I'm planning on getting a snorkel soon to get some cooler air directly into the car.

EGT mod has been done. What's the little filter before the main air filter? I could pull that off?

Don't really want chips or expensive exhaust setups or anything just yet.

 

[happy john]

Sounds like a minor boost issue that motor is damm good and should provide good power to lug 2.2 tonne i know of a good mechanic that has tuned thousands of them best bet put it on the dyno and diagnose the issue it will cost you about $140.
John

 

[Bax84]

Cheers John, I'll see if I can borrow a boost gauge off a mate and throw it on there for a second just to get an idea of what it's doing. 15psi is the stock boost pressure apparently.

It's due for another service and I'm thinking I'll drop it into a mechanic for a good once over. As I said I think it's had a tough life, it's 2006 and 210,XXX km's, but the first 200 have been tough.

 

[mitch92]

Any reason can't go alloy canopy?

 

[Bax84]

Nope, none whatsoever, and in all honesty that's probably what I will end up putting on.

 

[rabbit-chop]

might be more like 13psi standard.

 

[Farmer Joe]

How long since the fuel filter was changed??

 

[Bax84]

The last service Joe. There's a smaller prefilter though? I haven't changed it

 

[bods]

Smaller pre filter for the air intake or fuel system? You can make the air cleaner pre filter disappear, but if it has a smaller fuel filter on there that could be causing a fuel restriction....

 

[2greedy]

Bax84 i had exactly the same problem and to this day still not happy with it and i have modded the thing to the hilt!

 

[Rumpig]

It's Nissans shite mapping thats the problem.

 

[jack2840]

All luck of the draw some motors go hard from the start others are bits of lemons doesn't mater what it is car or truck

 

[jason-navara]

get the EGR cleaned (if not blocked), as suggested earlier get a dyno run done and see what the power band is doing.

ive never put the foot to the floor in my 04 ZD30 there is no need to, get a boost guage and a EGT guage and watch what happens when you put your foot harder down nothing happens but the EGT temps go through the roof so be careful when putting your foot to the floor.

My EGR isnt blocked, when i had it blocked my car was doing exactly what your saying, it would sit at 100km ( boost sitting at 11PSI) on the flat but come to little hills it would drop speed so fast ( boost would only go to 15PSI), my father towing 2.5T with a V6 Rodeo was pulling away from me. i unblocked the EGR and the car has been great ever since( 4-5 PSI @ 100km boosts to 16PSI). Last trip i got 10.1 litres per hundred.

 

[slugger]

Yeh sounds a bit underpowered to me. I very rarely have to change out of 5th gear at 100k (though I usually drive at 90), and where I do id say most cars would be knocking back a gear.

 

[gadgets]

All the turbo diesel 4x4s ive been driving for the last 10 years have needed to be dropped back to 4th on hills to keep at the speed limit unless i hold it flat to the floor in 5th. Some of the auto turbo diesels handle it a lot better. The newer 4bys are a completely different story though !

 

[baitfish]

mate, with over 200,000kms on the clock i reckon there is a very good chance your Neutral position switch (NPS) is stuffed.

There is a few threads on here about it, best way is to let the car idle and turn on the high idle switch. In neutral the revs should pick up, when you put it into gear the revs should drop back down. If the revs don't drop down, the switch is not working properly and this will cause the ECU to reduce the power output.

My ute had this problem from the day i got it, i disconnected the switch and she has be fine since.

Thats not to say you have other issues mate, could be boost, (mine runs around 15 to 17) could be blocked injectors or restricted air intakes?

the NPS is an easy and cheap start but!

 

[glc]

G'day mate,

From my experience, you may have a problem with the following:

Neutral position switch (search for the nps test in this forum somewhere)
Boost sensor. Unplug it and take it for a drive, if you have no less power than you do now, that might need replacing
Clogged inlet system due to egr. Take the egr to inlet manifold off and check for how much black gunk there is.
Injectors. Need a pro to test these.
Turbo. Get a boost gauge and measure. Should be around 15 or so psi.
Throttle position sensor calibration. To reset the sensor, start the car and let it idle for ten minutes (sounds like bs but this is the method in the manual)
Air leak into fuel system somewhere. Check the pump primer, these often fail.
Check brakes aren't grabbing

After you have done all that and no improvement is made, my honest advice would be t get rid of it. I say this because I had the exact same issues, i was never able to find it. A mate of mine had the exact same vehicle as mine and his was so much better to drive. I put on exhaust (don't let anyone tell you this is worth it, complete waste of money), chip (only top end improvement, not really usefull in most situations), intercooler, maybe slight improvement.

I wasted all that money on it, don't do the same. Once it's in your mind it is sluggish, it is always sluggish. Like someone said above, some are just lemons with no power. There may be a fix I never found, eventually I just gave up and bought an amarok and couldn't be happier.

So, if you can fix it with any of the above, great! If you can't, then don't waste money trying to polish a turd. If you can handle the sluggishness, that's also good as they aren't a bad car. And ultimately if none of the above applies, cut your losses and move onto something else.

 

[Bax84]

All the turbo diesel 4x4s ive been driving for the last 10 years have needed to be dropped back to 4th on hills to keep at the speed limit unless i hold it flat

1/10th throttle and flat doesn't make a difference really.

The last ten years I've been lucky enough to drive a wide range of diesel work utes, hilux, rodeo, rangers and cruisers. The non turbo cruiser was about the only one that struggled. So its been a bit of a surprise.

the NPS is an easy and cheap start but!

Cheers mate I'll check it out. Easy fixes are the best kind.

 

[Bax84]

Idle doesnt drop down with the heater switch on and put into gear.

 

[mitch92]

Neutral position switch may be buggered?