Offroad-Express

A guy up the road has a Terrano R3M 2.7 D turbo, manual, for sale (1993). Can anyone advise me on the off-road capabilities of these things. I want to go up the river beds of Canterbury for hunting, so there's bound to be a few river crossings. It's unmodified.

I'd also like to know if these vehicles have any well known weaknesses in engine or running gear. It's presently done 153,000 km, imported in 2003, with present owner the only NZ owner. What do you reckon it's worth? Many thanks, and I look forward to seeing you out there.

Go to the left hand side of the page you will see Search type in Terrano and it will bring up all the post that have Terrano in it. Happy Hunting

Its a Nissan, nothing to worry about with it. Mines got me into plenty of places I never thought it woud go.

Get a snorkel for it though, first and foremost, then recovery hooks front and rear. Any other mods can go on down the line.
Just rememberd the rear dif breather will need to be lengthend, its only 6" long!

kiwipete wrote:Its a Nissan, nothing to worry about with it. Mines got me into plenty of places I never thought it woud go.

Cant these suffer from bad rust in the floors due to using a double skin?

DaveM wrote:

kiwipete wrote:Its a Nissan, nothing to worry about with it. Mines got me into plenty of places I never thought it woud go.

Cant these suffer from bad rust in the floors due to using a double skin?

yes ive heard that to and also that manual gearboxes are weak as well if abused.

I've had my 91 Terrano for nearly 10yrs.

Check under the rear seat bases for any sign of rust. they have a double skin on the under side that traps moisture and rusts the floor. It can be expensive to repair. (new floor pan or a new under panel)

The manual gear boxes can be a bit weak. They either spit the main bearing into the bell housing or fith gear falls off. (I've done both )

But in saying that I would own another one. Its been a great wagon on and off road (although it got better when it got bigger tyres) Will tow any thing you ae brave enough to put on the back.

For my money i would have a terrano over a surf of the same era. More go, stronger engine, less saggy in the back, But lacking a bit in the off road department.

P.S mines for sale for $3000ono (265K 5 door 5 speed) cause I wanted a ute and got a deal on a 06 courier with 4000Ks on the clock. Wrong end of the country for you though.

http://www.lvvta.org.nz/

See "Nissan Terrano Rust Problem"

Thanks PR - did the search and turned up lots of useful stuff including hte rust problem (thanks DaveM, Meatc). I checked that out last night and found the door sills and the rear seatbelt mounts to be rust free. I think this thing hasn't seen mud or a river.

Kiwipete - I will get a snorkel. If I lengthen the diff breather, where do I route it?

I see a bit about rebuilds on the gearbox on the site too. I'll try and avoid that modification.

Yea Meatc you are a bit far away to get into negotiations. I got this one in for AA check right now.

Hi Ahneed,
I too have a Terrano, you asked for some of the "Quirks" of this model.
Steering components are their major weak link. Expect to do tierod ends, idler arm, balljoints, centre links if you go offroading in it, and/or fit larger tyres.
Still a great entry level 4x4, and as the others have said, they go into most places
You'll have to undergo the anti Toyota training, available from any seasoned Nissan owner!!!
Cheers
Al

Allan wrote:You'll have to undergo the anti Toyota training, available from any seasoned Nissan owner!!!
Al

Thanks for the heads-up on the suspension quirks Al. I don't think I need the anti-Toyota training. I just got knocked off my bike by one My other car happens to be of the Nissan family too but I don't know that I want to detract from my limited cred by going in to details

Ahneed wrote:Kiwipete - I will get a snorkel. If I lengthen the diff breather, where do I route it?

I took mine up under the rear seat, there is a rubber bung under there somewhere. I also places a generous dose of Gasket sealer RTV, (its the black stuff in a tooth paste sized tube. I find this stuff sticks much better than standard RTV) I use it everywher now.
The tube then follows the floor along to where the plastic inner lining is where the seatbelt tensioner is. I gently prised the liner off and took the tube up as high as possible).
Is this as clear as mud?
The front breathers are all linked (on mine) up to a steel tube bent in a "U" shape on the top centre of the firewall and one other up beside the battery area. will eventualy place these through the firewall sometime in the future.
I occasionaly get a slight oil smell inside and recon this is the rear breather.............




Happy to offer any other help / assistance where needed. TXT me if you want to have a look see.

KP

Great, thanks. I'll check out your instructions when I'm under the vehicle. Interesting you note the oil smell. I got a smell something like burning? oil when I was going up steepish tracks on the weekend. Didn't notice it so much going down hill. I was in the hills out back of Kaikoura. The vehicle performed well.

If you want your 5 speed to live longer they have a built in prob with them the filler plug was cast way to low to have the correct amount of oil put into them drain ur oil n fill it up through the gear lever with the correct amount of oil n u wont have probs