Hi chaps.

[Babau]

Hi, I'm Dave, live in Sydney and popped in to get some info on Navaras in general.

I'm after a 4x4 ute and the Navara seems to be the best bang for your buck out there.

I'm looking at a dual cab, or the extended single cab that still has the 4 seats (xtra cab?). Looking to keep it cheap as it's a second vehicle, do most of my commuting and travelling on the pushie or the motorbike. Also, if it's cheap I won't feel bad about working it hard!

My question is, I know jack all about diesel engines. Given that my budget sees me looking at late 90s models with north of 200k on the clock, is petrol or diesel a better bet? I don't need it to be fast, I won't be towing or carrying big loads often, I'd like to do a bit of offroad work, I would like it to be competent on the freeway, I love the idea of the range you get out of a diesel. Most of all, I want to be reliable and ideally easy to work on myself.

Any advice much appreciated!

 

[Jason]

Hi Dave, welcome to the forums.

Diesel without a doubt.

 

[Old.Tony]

Hi, and welcome.

I used to drive petrol. Driven many, many miles - across Australia twice, been driving for 27 years now.

I've been in a diesel for (counts fingers) 2 weeks and I am now a firm believer.

All except the fuel bowsers. For some reason there's not a single diesel bowser between here and Gloucester/Taree/Scone that doesn't have diesel all over the handle.

And then I gotta get back in and drive. Ugh.

Going to get me a rag and use that to grab the stupid things from now on. Apart from that, it hauls better, uses less fuel ... we just did our first short run with our van to test the Nav's legs (almost got 3,000km on the clock now, we picked her up on 26 Oct). Very, very impressed.

Older ones won't have the computers or widgets. Simple, solid, reliable. I don't expect mine to be unreliable, but you have to acknowledge that the more bits there are, the greater the chances something will go bust.

 

[KraftyPg]

All except the fuel bowsers. For some reason there's not a single diesel bowser between here and Gloucester/Taree/Scone that doesn't have diesel all over the handle.

Welcome to the life of a truck driver, it's why all truckies carry gloves in their kit. High Flow bowsers are generally worse than low flow but a pair of leather fueling gloves should be the first accessory anyone with diesel gets.

 

[Dion]

Welcome to the life of a truck driver, it's why all truckies carry gloves in their kit. High Flow bowsers are generally worse than low flow but a pair of leather fueling gloves should be the first accessory anyone with diesel gets.

What's so bad about it?

 

[KraftyPg]

I never had a problem delivering bread with diesel all over my hands cause I'd refueled the truck before entering the store but you'd be suprised how many people did

 

[Old.Tony]

Frankly, I bought my Nav for work and touring.

I don't want the oily residue over everything, nor do I want the smell hovering around me. I'm going to get me some welding gloves and put them in my door.

 

[KraftyPg]

Frankly, I bought my Nav for work and touring.

I don't want the oily residue over everything, nor do I want the smell hovering around me. I'm going to get me some welding gloves and put them in my door.

I agree, nothing worse than a long trip with the stink of any fuel. I plan on sticking my gloves in the tub even if they just get chucked on to of the battery box but atleast the stink will be in the tub and not the hut.

 

[Old.Tony]

I was just thinking about that, and thought the same too. Was about to edit my post, but you got in first, so I'll leave it stand and correct myself here. In the tub, for sure. I have a toolbox in there at the moment (amongst other gear), I can add this to it.

 

[KraftyPg]

Just gotta remember to take the gloves off before you shut the fuel lid since those of use who paid extra for our Nav's didn't get remote lids and we need to use the key.

 

[Old.Tony]

I was a little surprised at that. Top of the range model and it needs a key to open the fuel. I suppose that's part and parcel of having a separate cargo area that's not actually part of the main vehicle.

Still, it shouldn't have been too difficult to hook up a wire to flip it open?

BTW, sorry to hijack your welcome thread with this random convo, hope we haven't turned you off diesels already!

 

[Jason]

Diesel can give some people Dermatitis as well. 9 years spent on a diesel refuelling ship with over 11 million litres onboard may be classed as 'excessive exposure' though.

 

[KraftyPg]

Like any fuel, Diesel can cause skin problems and depending on the person can cause a lot of problems even in the small amounts you can get off a servo pump but if you take a few precautions you can limit the exposure.

Even with the supposed diesel shortage which is going to see us all out of fuel by Chrissie I still wouldn't be looking at getting rid of a diesel

 

[Dave]

Cheap reliable diesel is the QD32 powered D22 by far, make sure its been maintained and it will serve you well.

Good luck.

Dave.

 

[Babau]

Thanks for all the input, guys. So the D22 is definitely worth going for over the D21? I'll keep that in mind.

Next question, any common issues I should be looking for with these units? Common engine faults? Notorious rust areas? Any existing guides out there that I haven't found?