Land Rover series 3 109 Safari - Nissan Patrol RD28 engine problem. A colleague who owns a straight 6 series 3 Land Rover told me about a problem he has finally overcome with a Nissan Patrol RD28 engine he recently fitted to the car. This 12 seater series 3 was originally a 2,6 litre six cylinder version supplied new in ivory white to sussex county council in 1978. I believe that it was mainly authorities such as councils who could afford to run these thirsty beast.

So my colleague wanted a bit more economy than the Land Rover petrol 6 pot could supply and he bought a Nissan Patrol RD28 engine.  These engines are quite rare in the UK as this is the one without a turbo.  The majority of Patrols sold in the UK are the 2.8 turbo diesel. Using an adaptor kit bought off eBay he spent a couple of weeks fitting the new engine.

Click here for the ex-Military video page

After completing the installation, the car was used fairly regularly during the summer without problem. However, as winter approached and the weather became increasingly colder, he noticed (well the neighbour did first) a lot of grey blue coloured smoke coming from the exhaust after start up, with a smell of unburnt diesel. This trail of smoke continued until the car was driven for a few miles and the engine warmed up, then the smoke disappeared. The amount of smoke mysteriously varied day by day, according to how cold the weather was, more smoke on colder days.  Initial thoughts were along the lines that the problem lay along the lines of the engine was not atomising the fuel correctly and attention was focused on the timing. The cam belt had been replaced shortly before the engine was removed from the Patrol from whence it came from, allegedly. A new cambelt was purchased and duly installed. The timing marks all lined up more or less perfectly, but no difference.  After forum discussion it was decided that the next area of focus was to be the glow plugs.  These are important in helping with fuel atomisation from cold. The Patrol uses 6,5 volt split glowplugs and my colleague had installed the preheat relay system complete from the donor Patrol to his Landie. This whole system was checked again and again. New glow plugs were bought, nearly 150 quid for the 6 NGK glow plugs off eBay (the RD28 uses the same glow plugs as  as the RD28Turbo, 3 x CX51 and 3 x CZ51).  All fitted in place but the result was disappointingly exactly the same.  The engine was checked through, compression good and within limits, oil consumption not excessive and level not overfilled.  Air filter replaced, new, fuel filter, new.  read more on Nissan Patrol RD28 smoking engine on start up