Nissan Navara Problems

Surprisingly, yes it is a fairly common observation. The idea is that having the gauge tell you that the tank is nearly empty even though it has a few litres still sloshing around in it, is a great way to convince you to find a service station before you run out of fuel. In the old days, many cars had a reserve tank which had to be switched on when the main tank ran out of fuel. This reserve tank was your insurance against being stranded. The modern fuel gauge acts in the same way by ensuring you have a supply remaining even when the gauge is telling you you’re just about empty.

Normally, a car has around 50 to 80km of fuel left when the gauge reads zero (although don’t be tempted to find out the hard way). So the 20 litres remaining in your tank when the gauge is on empty is on the high side, but far from abnormal.

It depends on which engine your Navara has. If it’s a D22 with the 2.5-litre engine, the oil-change capacity is 5.6 litres. If your car has the three-litre engine, it will need 6.7 litres to complete an oil change. If your car is the later model D40 version, the 2.5-litre engine will require 6.9 litres. Those amounts should allow for an oil-filter change as well.

In each case, the recommended oil is a 5W40 semi-synthetic.

This fuse on the battery is there to protect the entire electrical system (and indeed, the car itself) from damage due to a short-circuit. It’s a good idea, particularly in a four-wheel-drive where you might be running a lot of electrical gear such as extra lighting and a fridge.

The problem with this system, though, is that because it protects the whole car, just about any electrical system on the car can cause the fuse to blow.

If the starter motor is the most recent change to the car’s electrical system, then that’s where to start looking for a short-circuit. However, the problem may not have anything to do with the starter motor. An auto electrician should be able to pin-point the problem and fix it without resorting to simply replacing components one at a time.

It could be a fuel problem, but it could easily be something electrical, or perhaps something from left-field such as a blocked exhaust system. Perhaps a sensor somewhere in the driveline is functioning properly until it gets hot and then shutting down, causing the engine to stall. Perhaps you have a bad earth point or loose electrical contact. Maybe the fuel pump is on its last legs and unable to supply enough fuel to keep the engine running.

It’s all a bit of a guessing game, but fortunately, modern cars have on-board computers which detect problems and log them until the car can be scanned. At that point, the glitches and problems should be revealed and you can start to plan how to solve the problem.

Fan belts and other rubber drive belts can squeak or squeal if they’re not correctly adjusted for tension. Usually, a too-loose belt will be the cause, and to fix it, you need to slacken off the adjuster and tighten the belt to the correct tension.

In some cases, though, you may find the noise is coming from a partially seized or worn bearing in one of the pulleys. You could try a little squirt of penetrating fluid on the bearings to see if that makes the noise go away. If the bearing is really worn, however, it will need to be replaced.

Sometimes the noise will be caused by coolant or water getting on to the rubber belt. Check the radiator and its hoses for leaks that could be allowing fluid on to the rubber and making it squeal.

The last decade of dual-cab four-wheel-drive utes have emerged as the tow-vehicles of choice, and you see them everywhere filling roles exactly like the one you have planned. Popular models include the Ford Ranger you’ve nominated, Toyota HiLux, Mazda BT-50, VW Amarok, Mitsubishi Triton, Nissan Navara and Isuzu D-Max. But there are also cheaper alternatives including makes like the South-Korean made Ssangyong and various Chinese brands like LDV and Great Wall.

Just make sure you know exactly how much you need to tow before making a decision as some of the cheaper models don’t have the same outright towing capacity and even if they do, some of them don’t have the engine performance to make towing as easy as it should be. For parts availability, the Toyota would be king in really remote areas, but any of the major brands are pretty well covered in Australia.

Meantime, don’t rule out ute-based wagons such as the Ford Everest, Isuzu MU-X, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Toyota Fortuna. These offer better ride comfort when unladen thanks to more sophisticated rear suspensions and most have as much or almost as much towing capacity as their ute brethren.

You could be dealing with a broken or worn clutch that is not disengaging as it should. This would explain the notchy shifting. But the whining noise makes me think you could have a worn or dry throw-out bearing. This is part of the clutch that allows the clutch actuator to disengage the clutch while the engine is running. If it’s worn or it runs out of grease over time, it can start to make a shrill noise and can cause iffy shifting.

This is a very contentious question and depending on who you talk to, you’ll get a bunch of different answers. Overall, it seems that Navara D22s from about 2007 to 2010 did, in fact, have a DPF fitted as standard. But only if they had an automatic transmission; manual versions don’t seem to have been fitted with a DPF. Why? Who knows.

In any case, the definitive answer can be obtained by looking under your vehicle. The DPF will appear as a large cannister, mounted next to the chassis rail, just behind the transmission and is part of the exhaust system.

This is actually a pretty common problem and there seems to be two common causes. The first is leaking seals inside the turbocharger. The turbo needs oil to lubricate it, but if its seals are leaking they can allow oil into the inlet tract and, therefore, the intercooler.

The second cause is possibly even more common and involves the crankcase ventilation system allowing oil into the intake (and intercooler). A modern engine needs to consume its own crankcase fumes and burn them (rather than vent them into the atmosphere) as part of its anti-pollution systems. But in many cars (and modern turbo-diesels are the prime suspects) those fumes can contain some oil mist which, once enough of it has accumulated, will form the oil droplets you’re seeing in the intercooler.

While a faulty turbocharger will need to be replaced, if the problem is the work of the crankcase ventilation system, it still should be addressed before the oil mixes with soot from the exhaust gas recirculation system (another emissions-control device) and forms a horrible, back gunk that clogs the engine’s intake system. If hat happens, costly disassembly and cleaning is required.

Even if you’ve caught this in the early stages (before the gunk can build up) the oil can still cause problems with sensors inside the inlet system and could cause poor running and high fuel consumption. A good quality oil catch can is the preferred method of stopping this occurring as it 'catches' the oil mist before it gets to the inlet tract.