It’s been all over the news and the internet as well as gossip on the streets, the problems with the Nissan Navara D22 engine ‘destroying itself’. So, once and for all a true summary of the problem and the solution to make sure you don’t fall victim to this.
This includes Chris Vince’s info on what the problem is, why it happens and what can be done to sort it.
Also included are sources for parts needed and associated part numbers.
Finally a brief decription of work invloved to replace bolts, bearings and oil seal
More detailed information can be found by reading the full thread:-
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=611
Also the sticky big end bearing change:-
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1983
Assuming you are in the EU and your engine number is before YD25DDT1219661 in your log book or found above the alternator on the block, then it is at risk – d22’s with yd25 2.5 tdi engine (2002-2005), especially around the 60,000mile mark. However it can happen at any mileage and regardless of full service history, so if you have a D22 of this age it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that this work is undertaken.
If you look at the engine number on a machined part of the block approx 50mm x 30mm immediately behind the alternator it will be stamped YD25 plus your engine number.
The fundamental fault lies with con rod bolts that are NOT up to the job.
I think that the bolts are permanently damaged during the angle torquing phase of their installation, also the lack of quality of these bolts means that they pass through their elastic limits (meaning that when undone they should return to their exact original size, specification and condition) into their plastic limits (meaning that permanent changes to their dimensions has occurred (due to being overstretched), and to their molecular makeup (causing graining to take place, a form of work-hardening, leading to a critical catastrophic failure or snapping after further use).
More worrying, all of the shells fitted to the rods have ‘picked up’ on the bearing surfaces whilst those in the end caps look OK apart from the fact that there is a distinct lack of a wear surface across the entire shell, the only visible indicators being in the middle of the shells other unfortunate owners suffering the same catastrophic failures they do not mention a long term knocking that was getting worse with age (indicating a slow wear rate taking place), many just state that the car was driving perfectly normally, when a loud knocking was heard (I believe this to be the first bolt snapping allowing the endcap to open up) this was then closely followed by the terminal failure of a rod coming through the block (second bolt snapping)!
My only explanation for this is the failure of the securing method i.e. the end cap bolts, even if there was wear in the big ends past the accepted limits causing the characteristic big end knocking to be heard, the end cap bolts should have easily coped with this and held the parts together!
I am sure most of us will have heard an engine with severely worn big end bearings, I have heard numerous and yet none of these engines threw their rods through the blocks!!
A rod through the side of any engine must mean that it has become disconnected from the crankshaft journal the only way this can occur is for the bolts to come undone or snap, especially so considering the reports from owners when the failure happened.
I am also starting to think that the knocking noise so many of you have written about on morning start up is the first warning sign you need to heed without delay!
the bearing linings were being stripped by hammering on the power stroke, the cause being oil starvation.
In the YD25DDTi engine the oil strainer pick up pipe is bolted to the rear of the sump/oil pan, oil then travels in cast galleries across the sump and along the full length of the sump back across again at the front of the engine until it comes to a flat horizontal orifice approx 15mm dia.
Into this orifice is placed a spigoted ‘O’ ring.
The sump then bolts back into place the top of this oil ring just making contact with the inlet orifice of the oil pump, there is NO physical fixing, sealant etc just dry contact, over a period of time shall we say 60-90,000 miles, and having endured numerous temperature cycles in a very hostile environment, it can be reasonably expected for the ‘O’ ring to change in shape, size and or malleability, thereby compromising the sealing effect.
If/when this occurs it could be reasonably assumed that air will be drawn into the oil pump causing cavitations thereby starving the engine of oil, instigating hammering on the bearings during the power stroke until an increasingly common catastrophic event occurs.
This ring is ALL that stops the engine oil pump from sucking air, then running the big ends dry, hammering and stripping the bearing linings eventually (in a very short time) putting a rod through the block!
if a big end bearing is so badly worn that it can no longer be ignored due to it’s knocking, the bolts should hold the rod together, and not snap, as is the case with the OE bolts:-
1. Replacing the big end bolts with items made by ARP. Bolts cost £63 Nissan ones approx £46
2. Replace the ‘O’ ring, using a standard one but modify the way it is installed by: Cost £1-43
a. Placing a 23mm x 1.5mm ‘O’ ring inside the top recess, to increase the surface area of seal. Pence
b. Using liquid gasket on both sides of the ‘O’ ring flange during installation
3. As the sump is already off, fitting a new set of upgraded bearing shells from another manufacturer
Nissan have postioned 2 x 6mm bolts directly behind the flywheel, so the engine/gearbox DO need to be seperated to remove the sump.
both units can remain in the vehicle, you only need enough room for a 1/4 drive socket extension
ARP bolts from co ordsport.part no 202-6005 £43.97.tel 01384216102.
The parts to modify the troubled engines cost around £150 and the engine stays in place. The job takes around 20 hours by the DIY mechanic working of axel stands but if they had a garage vehicle ramp/lift could be done in 10 hours.
Bolts: Nissan SR20 Rod Bolt Set Part no ARP 202-6005 = £64.02 + carriage
Arrow Precision
12 Barleyfield
Hinckley Fields Industrial Estate
Hinckley
Leicestershire
LE10 1YE
Tel: 01455 234200
Big end bearings: ACL 4B2626 (no filing req’d) or 4B2751 (filing req’d). Size of bearing Standard if crankshaft not damaged = £26.06 + carriage, in their Duraglide material (this is lead/copper).
ACL also do an Aluglide range which is aluminium/tin overlay, is to be avoided in a D22.
Engine Parts (UK) LTD
Unit 17, Thurrock Commercial Park
Purfleet Industrial Park
South Ockendon
Essex
RM15 4YA
Tel: 01708 890494
Oil seal: Nissan part no N15066VK500 = £1.91
You will also need a new oil strainer to sump gasket Nissan only part No. 15053-1E400 approx £2-00.
bearings– ACL 4b2751 (std) from andy at engine products bradford (01535 272271) or from ACL usa (616 956 1300 ext 107 (micheal flynn)) about £40 inc delivery.
ACL uk.phone derek andrews 01708 890494
ACL4b2751 Duraglide lead/copper in std.
bolts– arp 202-6005 from pri racing (0161 718 6721) £43+vat
bolts from JDM Performance ARP202-6005 £43inc delivery.
oil seal– 15066-vk500 nissan main dealer. £2-3
filter kit– 002042k milner off road (01629 734411) £10+vat.
You can do this job with the engine in the car.
If you intend to replace the pathetic bolts it would be stupidity in the extreme not to change the big end shells, it will take approx another 1.5 hours but you would have already done the hard work getting to the crankshaft, and will rejuvinate your engine by removing the already present wear!!
I was amazed to find that the end shells on my replacement engine with just 24K miles were almost at the upper wear limit.
Drain oil
Remove:
Engine undertray
Front diff by removing its crossmember support (leave propshaft connected to transfer box)
Air con compressor (but just enough to tie it up do NOT touch the pipes!!)
Undo the nearside steering idler from the chassis (no need to disconnect and swivel joints, let it hang down out of the way)
Disconnect rear prop shaft joint
Undo rear gearbox mounting bolts 2off (no need the remove gear levers etc)
Undo bell housing and withdraw approx 20mm from engine (just enough to get a 1/4 drive 10mm socket to the 2 bolts)
Remove lower sump
Remove upper sump
The crankshaft and big ends will then be right in front of you, the ‘O’ ring is captive in the upper sump.
The Nissan con rod bolts are an interference fit, and need to be carefully tapped out, on each rod, after removing one replace it with a slightly loose fitting tightened nut and bolt before tapping out the other, to avoid distorting the end cap.
If you use ACL 4B2751 end shells as I did, the only mod needed is to reduce the width of the tang by approx 1.2 mm with a few stokes of an engineers file.
Basically the original slot for the tang (this stops the shell spinning in the housing) is ever so slightly too narrow for the ACL bearings.
All that is involved is, you hav to narrow the ACL tang to allow it to fit the slots inthe bearing housings this is very easily done by filing it with a small file,about half a dozen passes equally on each side.
You must remove material from both sides to keep the shells central in the housings.
The ARP bolts are just about the best available, they are truly elastic and meant to be used and removed over and over again, make sure you coat the threads with the special ARP grease (supplied in the kit) before fitting the nuts.
They recommend tightening to 40 ft/lbs releasing and retightening at least 3 times to settle them in.
Do NOT worry about how to fit them, having driven out the rubbish ones, ARP engineering and the fit is just outstanding they just pull in using the thread for the last 5mm.
You will have to use a Nissan ‘O’ ring purely because it is a spigot fit and nothing else I have found is suitable, but I modded mine to give a larger surface area and increase the crush value, by placing a 23.5mm x 1.5mm plain ‘O’ ring on either side, also, I used the same liquid gasket as is used on the sump flanges to ‘stick’ the ‘O’ ring ‘sandwich’ to both the sump housing and oil pump flange.
Cost estimates:-
Parts – £100 – £150
Labour – Anywhere from £200 to £1200, depending on “mate rates” etc.
Total cost should run at max £1600
Cost of replacement engine if you don’t do these mods – £3-3500!
Piece of mind knowing you have done the mods – PRICELESS!
Thanks to Chris Vince, and all others who have contributed information
For more information and discussion on this you can find it all on the Navara forums at www.nissan-navara.net
hi there i was driving home from work tonight & heard a knocking sound cominig from my engine i slowed down to
stop but before i could i heard a bang, like something had fallen off i got out to inspect & found out that i had lost all engine oil & the conrod had come thru the block grrrrrr not good , has any one had experiance with claiming back any costs
any info welcome
regards
wayne
hi wayne had the same 4 weeks ago on my d22 54 reg with fsh,rang nissan uk i was four weeks out of warranty but was told to book it in to my local dealership,10 days later picked the truck up short engine fitted free of charge, 12 months warranty happy days so far
Hi I have just joined the nissan no engine club driving jeep full power no problems only going about 20mph in town heard slight tapping noise, before could find somewhere to pull over got a loud bang lost all power, got to the side of the road. Got the vehicle recovered to main dealer where I was informed before they even opened the bonnet that it was most likeley the infamous conrod!!! they have since confirmed this and I am now awaiting a decision from Nissan. My vehicle has done 98k and is 10 days out of warranty, I will let you know if they are going to put it right or not. I am amazed that I was never informed of this problem when it seems so common and potentially dangerous, I use this vehicle to take my kids to school and have been driving a time bomb, Nissan should be ashamed why are they waiting for someone to be killed before they act I am just please I wasn’t on a motorway when mine went, if you happen to be following a nissan make sure you leave a big gap!
hi, looking to buy my father in laws, navara 54 reg,2.5 deisel. worried about all the reported engine problems, do you know of any garages that will do the mods mentioned on this site to cure the problems, the truck has only done 13,000 miles so would be gutted if it went bang, regards dawson.
I’m real keen on purchasing a D22 on about 2003/04 as thats all my budget will allow. After reading all of the above and various other horror stories on the net, is it something I should avoid?
Is it a case of poeple only write about the negatives or should I be looking at purchasing something else? Every vehicle has some sort of horror story attched doen’t it?
I live in Essex, is there somewhere local to me that could carry out these mod’s? Cheers , Lee.
hi i have had my engine go bang…in the end nissan did do only the bottom end….everything seemed to be ok. i took it easy for the first 1500 miles as i was told the engine would be(tight)
thing is now its been over 3000 miles and i still only seem to hav half power..
i have taken my truck to 3 independent garages and they cant find a fault other than it is greatly under powered??!!!
just wondering if anyone has had any similar probe lems and what if anything they done about it…
hi
i’ve just bought a d22 on a 54 plate with 87k on clock my question is ! are all the engines affected or is it a particular batch? and is there anyway of telling ?
hope somone can help thanks Darren 🙂
slight Knocking coming from engine sounded like no. 1 top end not bottom. removed head and found no. 1 was slightly wet compared to the others. All the inlet manifolds are well oiled up. Any suggestions before I remove the sump.
the con rod problom s due to the big end bearing if you replace them use uprated and do not get them from nissan the standard nocking sound found on d22s comes from a washer in the sump which causes loss of oil pressure to the timiming chain tensionaire thus causes the knocking iv just had my engine on a 52 reconed and found the big end shells on number 3 badly damaged we caught it about 50 miles in time but they are a really good buss
My ’05 D22 with 55K on the clock, fsh and two days inside extended warranty, has just gone into Wessex, Newport, South Wales for investigation after being recovered by the AA as soon as it started knocking. I’ll let you know how it all pans out.
My Brothers 2005 D22 has just started knocking, at the garage now, can anyone tell me the current situation on warranty ? He will have had it serviced, but not by Nissan all the time. Will let you know the outcome.
Hi all i am just looking at buying a 2001 on a Y navara with 88k miles will this year be affected too?? thanks kevin.
hi ive just bought a 04 d22 & on the way home the bottom end started knocking ,, gutted ,,its got 146k miles on 1 owner full history lmao need help & some1 to rebuild it who’m knows what they are doin & would like upgraded parts to recon ,, i have just found a wed site on ebay selling reconed engines & parts etc to rebuild your d22 but they are in dubia ,,shame as i’m wanting mine back on the road ASAP tempted to try it my self help help help
hi just looked at this Y plate Navara and it engine number is TD25-068657A not a YD25 number will this be affected??? Please help, kevin
hi, i have an 04 navara and wen i am driving in 3rd and 4th gear i have a power loss like a shortage of diesel, does anyone know what the problem might be??? i have changed the diesel filter and the power loss is still there, anyone got any suggestions??? chez
Hi I am looking to buy a pick up to carry my Enduro bike, have found a d22 pickup with 90,000 on the clock and was wondering does a d22 of this age have the engine failure problems, or other issues I should watch for, Thank you for any help you can offer. Pete
Hi,
I wanted to know if somebody knows where I can order the con-rod bearings online in America?
because I’m going to do the mod on my d22.
please can someone help me?
buy d22 2001 series engines built to last seen them do 300,000k no prob
After 3 months of my Nissan D22 2008 2.5 ltr was at the dealer I finally got it back after the whole gearbox having to be replaced. Watch out for this it is a $8900 part – lucky it was covered under warrenty – there was a fault with this. Apparently it hasn’t happened before – would be interested if anyone else has had a problem. They stated that it was stuck in 4WD! and it wore down a bearing.
hi anybody help with an overreving engine not tuching the accelorator
has anyone tried putting a different engine into their navarna instead of the d22.
been offered a 56 plate navarna with 60k on the clock for reasonable amount.
or will the replacement parts recommended sort it for good.
hi, i have a 52 plate d22 with 126,000 on the clock, and the loud knocking started today my question is, am I to late for just replacing shells and bolts, or is it re-griding and polishing crack shaft? i also thought it was engine out? any info would be welcome…..
My navara has just gone bang…!! like most i didnt know about any of the well documented evidence to the fact that nissan are playing with peoples lives and its only a matter of time before someone gets killed… i am very unhappy that drivers have not been made aware of the potential problems with these vehicles.
It was only by chance whilst trying to find a mechanic to undertake the work that i came across all the blogs.. i am beginning my fight with nissan for them to put it right… Mike
my 2.5 53 plate has only done 33ooo miles and seems to be losing power mostly in 5th gear but sometimes through the gears
My 2004 navara crew cab expired on the M18, seems to be the timing chain.mileage is 145 000
very big bill, best steer clear.
Hi guys…My 54 D22 Navara on a trip to Greece just had its con rod gone through the block! Similar to everybody else’s problem here on the forum…I am in Greece, I did not have a noise until the bolt snapped….and I could not explain what happened until I read the issue with the bolts..Always serviced…so there was no reasonable explanation for me…Mine has 82k miles..
I will talk to NISSAN in the UK and I will update. Currently I toed the car to a Greek Nissan dealer waiting to see what the UK dealer I bought the car from will say.
are the? 2007 d22 affected by this,
cheers, Ryan
The 2007s use a modified version of the D40 engine therefore should not be affected by the same issues
The 56 plate will not be affected in the same way as this will be a D40 rather than the D22
hey own a 2010 navara d22 with a shudder in the front independent suspension have fitted 2″ suspension to try stop the problem but has not resolved it. Any ideas or has any one else had this problem? cheers Alex
ok guys this engine has gone AGAIN after a three grand bill 6 months ago and 16 thousand miles if this is repairable should the new modified bits stop this happening again as this is the work car. Major head ache and big bills did say to hubby run it in to the ground LOL, would we be able to go back to the garage and ask if modified parts were used is this reccomended. thanks
What can I say, not all stories end in tears I guess.
My ’54 plate went without any warning whatsoever at 100302 miles, while pulling away on a hill. Right mess, bits of engine and oil everywhere.
Hats off to Nissan who have just put it back on the road for me with their compliments.
Ok – Full dealer service history and 3 other Nissans, but hey – credit where it’s due guys.
Changed my D22 engine, lights work, doors lock but wont start any help, do i have to programe the engine with the Key, i was told it would programe its self any help out there.
We have unbolted the sump but cannot get it off can anybody help!!! Please
Hi i have a 04 plate navara which i have just brought it runs very well quiet engine etc guy i brought it from said it had been fixed . can only assume it was the common engine problem , the only issue i have is it does chuck out black smoke on accelaration , has any body got any ideas ??
Hi Everybody. I have just purchased a 2007 56 reg navara aventura with full dealer service history & showing 65,000 miles on the clock. I have spoken with many of my friends since purchasing this vehicle & have been inundated with horror stories regarding the axles failing & many other faults on these trucks. To be quite frank this has scared the living daylights out of me. I am considering purchasing a warranty insurance which i have been offered for £300 per year for peace of mind should anything go belly up. Has anybody else got any advice on this issue. Thanks in advance Ant
We have just installed a re-con our ’03 Navara after it had been sweet for 222k miles! Hey ho, I guess it owed us nothing, but it was costly!
Can anyone tell me the recommended oil for a diesel 2.5 Navara please?
Thanks
DJ
hey my problem is a bit different I have d22 yd25 engine i drove all day and turn the ignition off at night peacefully then next morning tried to restart it it just wont start no matter what, tried to bleed air out of the fuel that wasn’t the problem but i see smoke coming out of tail pipe but not starting need help plz
Hi I need help
I bought a Nissan Navara d22 2003 in 2007, the engine went bang, had SMK in yorkshire supply a recon engine, that failed they replaced it after 5 months with 12 month warranty, 14 months later problems with the engine again, SMK deny it’s there fault, it needs to be replaced, my partner is stuck out in Holland with it, can anyone reccomend a reliable supplier of a recon engine please.