Duramax Engine Swap

Patrol given new lease of life

When Nissan launched the GQ Patrol in 1988 it set a precedent for the Japanese four-wheel-drive market, with coil springs all round and a soon-to-be-realised reputation for rugged reliability.

In 1998 the rugged reputation carried forward to the next model - the GU Patrol. However, a few could argue that the lack of a powerful diesel engine has let the Patrol down in recent years.

The tough-as-nails driveline and live front end are still favourites for outback touring but, without a decent engine to match Nissan's arch rival in the full-size 4WD market, many long-time Patrol fans have jumped ship and bought LandCruisers.

Toyota's high-tech common-rail V8 diesel engine has raised the bar in the performance stakes.

In America, sophisticated diesel engines have taken the full-size SUV market by storm. Ford's Power Stroke, Dodge Ram's Cummins and Silverado's Duramax are all high-tech electronically controlled engines producing awesome power and torque.

These are the next generation of V8 diesels, in particular the Duramax which has replaced the ageing 6.5-litre Chevy diesel.

Recently, I decided to see if replacing the TD42 engine in my 2005 Nissan Patrol could be a viable conversion after seeing several similar projects being completed in the Eastern States.

I bought a second-hand Duramax engine with 70,000km on the clock and six-speed electronically controlled Allison automatic and set about grafting the engine and transmission into the engine bay.

With help from my staff at work I took the cab off the chassis and removed the existing engine and transmission. A new output shaft was fitted to the gearbox and an adaptor plate was used to mate it to the Nissan transfer case.

With the pair bolted together the whole assembly was placed between the chassis rails and the cab refitted. We soon found out that was the easy bit!

Our in-house fabricator, Shannon Harris, took care of the daunting task of fitting the engine and plumbing to all the piping for the air inlet, intercooler and exhaust plus a heap more. Scott Murray took care of the mechanicals, although all those at Robson Brothers 4WD helped.

Progress was frustratingly slow and, as with any new conversion (we were the first to do this type of swap in WA), it cost twice as much as had been budgeted, took three times longer than predicted and was a great deal more difficult to achieve than anticipated.

But the end result made it worthwhile.

Duramax swap int NBS

I found a 2003 duramax that was wrecked, but the engine,transmission, interior and drivetrain. well they want 6500 for it, Im not real sure if this is a good price. anyways I am contemplating a duramax swap into my 2004 1/2 ton z71. My semi plan is to get get a two inch body lift to clear engine/tranny (mainly tranny).After I make engine mounts then I can start swapping, changing all the electronics under the hood and behind the dash, then swap over the fuel tank and fuel delivery system.After all that I would swap over the hydroboost brakes, install intercooler, probably change out transfer cases and get a custom driveshaft for that t-case to my front diff, im guessing touch ups are next. Im 100% positive that I am missing some key steps and I would like some opinions so I can hopefully make this swap work out alot better.

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