The story
In December 1997 Nissan replaced the Y60 'GQ' with a Patrol that looked new but thought the same way. The Y61, sold as the GU in Australia and the Safari in Japan, kept a separate chassis, coil springs and a live axle at each end on the wagon, at a time when Toyota was giving the 100 Series independent front suspension. Nissan Australia sold 104,510 GU wagons and 37,112 cab-chassis between 1997 and October 2016, according to figures quoted by JDM Buy Sell, and Middle East production carried on into 2024. Few 4x4s have had a run that long.
SAME RECIPE, SQUARER BOX
Underneath, the GU is an evolution of the GQ. Wikipedia notes larger CV joints, manual gearboxes with fewer synchros, and wider axle housings to suit the new body, with the same H233 and H260 differential centres. The five-door wagon rides on a 2,970 mm wheelbase, and some markets also got a 2,400 mm three-door. Body styles were the seven-seat wagon, a cab-chassis (the UY61 in Australia), sold with either a leaf-sprung or a coil-sprung rear, and a two-door pickup. Japan also got a two-door hardtop and a four-door van.
The engine list at launch covered every taste. Australian Series I trucks offered the 4.5-litre TB45E petrol six, the 2.8-litre RD28ETi turbo-diesel six, and the 4.2-litre TD42 diesel. The TD42T turbo-diesel joined the ST in 1999. CarsGuide notes that the RD28 had a timing belt, the TD42 timing gears, and the ZD30 and petrol sixes chains. Manuals were five-speeds: the FS5R30A behind the RD28 and the FS5R50B behind everything else.
THE ZD30 PROBLEM
Series II arrived in 2000 with the engine that defines the GU's reputation: the 3.0-litre ZD30DDTi, a four-cylinder turbo-diesel with a Bosch VP44 pump, rated at 116 kW. It was cheaper than the 4.2 six and could be had with an automatic. CarsGuide says it 'has a history of breaking pistons due to poor engine management and boost spikes'. Too many engines died early, usually through a holed crown or a cracked ring land on the number three or four piston, and the fix was a bottom-end rebuild.
Nobody has published a definitive cause. The suspects are the EGR system upsetting the mixture and creating hot spots, oil from the crankcase vent fouling the mass-airflow sensor, and boost spikes from a slow-reacting turbo control. Nissan also originally specified 6 litres of oil. After reports of oil starvation it raised the capacity to 8.3 litres and told dealers to shorten and recalibrate the dipsticks. In September 2004 a Nissan service bulletin, quoted by owners on ExplorOz, also tightened the oil spec to ACEA B3 or JASO DH-1 with 10W-40 strongly recommended. Owners responded with what forums call 'engine saver' mods: boost and EGT gauges, catch cans, and in many cases a blanked EGR.
SERIES BY SERIES
Series III, from late 2001, brought the 4.8-litre TB48DE petrol six, a DOHC 24-valve engine rated at 185 kW in Australia, and later the intercooled TD42Ti. The 2003 Japanese facelift is credited to Junichi Sakai. The big visual change came with Series IV in October 2004: boxy wheel-arch flares, new headlights, grille and tail-lights, a new interior, and 17-inch alloys on the ST and Ti. There was no Series V; the next update was GU VI in September 2007.
By 2007 the TD42 was gone (4X4 Australia says 2006; Wikipedia says the TD42Ti couldn't meet Euro IV for 2007), and a common-rail ZD30 became the only diesel, at 118 kW and up to 380 Nm. CarsGuide suggests that the common-rail system may have helped with the boost and mixture problems. Dual front airbags only became standard across the range that year. By the end in Australia, the 3.0 was the only engine left.
THE LONG GOODBYE
The petrol-only Y62 reached Australia in 2013, so the GU stayed on sale beside it until 2016. It finished with the 300-unit Legend Edition: an ST with the common-rail 3.0, a rear diff lock, and $10,000 of genuine accessories including a steel bull bar with a Warn winch, a snorkel, a roof rack and a tow bar. Because the newer truck had no diesel, late GUs held their value. Wikipedia lists a worldwide phase-out in 2014, but sales continued in South Africa, the Middle East and parts of Africa, Asia and South America. Production reportedly ended in 2024.
Its rivals were Toyota's IFS 100 Series and its solid-axle 105, with the 70 Series as the cab-chassis alternative. The GU's case is simple: coil-sprung solid axles, a huge aftermarket and a truck that UN agencies and armies still drive. Pick the engine carefully and it can last for decades.
SIDEBAR · THE DESERT PATROL
Super Safari: the Y61 that refused to retire
Outside Australia the Y61 lived on as the Patrol Safari and Super Safari, built in Japan until 2024 for markets such as the Gulf. A 2017 Middle East brochure lists the TB48DE at 280 hp (SAE gross), a five-speed automatic, a rear differential lock, VDC, an electric winch and tan leather. Wikipedia notes that the TB48DE has a following among Middle Eastern tuners, and that the Gulf had special editions with names like Falcon, Gazelle and Al Ostoura.
Japan's version was the Safari, and it took a different route: the 245 PS TB48DE in the Granroad Limited from November 2002, and a rear limited-slip diff on every model from September 1999. The Safari name disappeared from Japanese showrooms in the mid-2000s, while the Gulf trucks kept going for most of another twenty years.
