Hi, I have owned a Holden Frontera 2002 for 1.5 years. After its last service at 75,000 kms ( I've owned it for the last 10,000 ) the mechanic has told me to sell it as it is known to have a problematic engine.

I actually looked at trading it for another vehicle but the salesmen who is known to me and is okay found out that he would have trouble selling it to his wholesaler and that resulted in him offering a very low trade. He said it was due to the engine design and specifically to do with the high pressure injection system.

I am perfectly happy with the vehicle but am worried that I am awaiting a probably expensive engine repair in the not to distant future. I would like anyones opinion on this.
Also I have read previous forums on this site and have found it useful but would like some more clarification. As a result I will check the oil that is being used
Some more detail of my vehicle
Its a 4JX1 engine
New Zealand new
I don't know if it was always slow to start when cold but definitely after its first service with me as owner. Perhaps they used a different oil. Could this be a cause?
At certain revs the motor can be a bit rattly. Sometimes accalerating slowly low revs coming out of a corner it will be a bit noisy or rattly.
From previous posts I have some questions
-Someone has mentioned a factory recall on only japanese imported 4JX1 engines in New Zealand. Mine is NZ new. They also said symtoms associated with problems are hard starting. So does that just apply to the japanese imported ones or mine as well. What are they repairing that fixes them?
-Is mine hard to start or is it normal for its design. One posting said it is normal,ie.. cranking 1-2-3-4-5-6 start when cold and never to turn the key and crank the motor without letting the glo plug light go out. Especially not stopping half way through the crank.
- By the way I have changed the glo plugs hoping to shorten cold start time but has made no difference.

Well thats it really, just want to know if I should keep it and if so what could I do. Thanks for any suggestions.

I have had a Trooper with the 4JX1 engine for the last five years (I am in the UK). I have found it to be excellent and very reliable. The only fault has been a defective throttle body. Other than that it has not been touched (other than services).

The long starting time is normal. This comes from the common rail fuel system being driven from oil pressure. The engine has to first crank up the pressure before it will fire. At first, this seemed a bit of a nuisance but I have got used to it. At least I know that there is some oil pressure in the engine before it fires.

I live in a remote (for the UK) area and only have one vehicle so reliability is a main criteria. I would definitely have a 4JX1 again.

Thanks for your comments. Before I read your recent comments and other comments on this forum I was becoming very concerned about this motor, but now I am regaining confidence. Also I went to the garage where it is serviced yesterday. Spoke with a mechanic ( Being Saturday the guy who works on it wasn't there) who said the oil they normally use for diesels is 15/40. Even with this engine design normally taking longer to start I seem to remember that after its first service with these guys that it seemed to take even longer. So anyway I'm going to find what oil is in it and change it as neccessary, even the manual doesn't reccomend anything more than 10/-- with a footnote explaining longer starting and other negative symtoms if using using anything else. I know everything has already been said on this site so I'm really happy to have found it. One other thing I will check the injector O-Rings and sleeves are okay too. Thanks. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

A question I have to anybody who may know is that recently I have been told by one mechanic, that is of a unique design used on the 4JX1 motor where by a wiring loom is running though part of the engine block. This loom is supposedly prone to the engine heating it and causing deterioration of cable insulation over time. With this causing electrical faults. Does anybody know if there is any substance to this comment? Thanks for any comment.

Hi Bartley.
My name is Gudjon and I live in Iceland. I have a 1999 Trooper with the 4jX1 engine, it has just under 220.000 km on the clock. At 175.000 I replaced the throttle body, all was fine until last january, then I noticed that the engine oil level was above the full mark. I had received a letter from the dealer in Iceland that this was due to faulty injectors that they would change at no cost. Ok, the car was in the shop for 4 days and was returned fixed. But 5 weeks later, I noticed the oil level had risen again. I took it back to the shop and they took out the injectors, cleaned everything up and installed them again.
6 weeks later this started again. I took it back, royally pissed off and told them to fix this asap!! After a few days, I got a call and was told that the injector pump needed to be changed. I told them to go ahead, but they said they did not have it and would order it, would take 10-14 days. 10 weeks and 4 days later, they called and said I could pick up the car. The cost? The equivalent of $2900!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/angry.gif" alt="" />
Last night, after driving the car around for a week and using up a full tank of diesel, the level is a centimeter above the full mark. I don?t know what my options are, I cannot sell the car as would be liable for damage done to the engine when it crashes.<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

But does anyone know what is leaking if the injectors are not leaking?

Gudjon.

Hello Gudjon
Cool Iceland, huh?
I love forums and the Internet: I get to sit in my living room in New Mexico in North America and discuss Isuzu mechanical issues with people all over the globe.
Anyway, the first thing I would do is make sure that is diesel in the oil and not some other fluid. You will need to ask someone with more diesel engine experience, but if it were a gasoline engine I would smell the engine oil to see if the injectors are leaking fuel into the crank case.I don't know if you can smell diesel in motor oil or not. Another way with gasoline is to fill a thimble and light it, obviously diesel won't ignite, so there must be another way to tell what liquid is being added to the oil.
I hope this helps
Brian Rodgers

Gday Bartley, Another Kiwi here, Ive owned an Isuzu Wizard with the 4jx1 engine for 2 years now and have gone through the starting and running headaches with this motor and have managed to sort it out, well so far so good anyway.

Gudjon,Re the diesel in the oil, there has been a major recall on this problem in the UK, Australia and here in New Zealand. Its caused by faulty seals around the injector sleeves and this allows fuel into the sump. The danger here is that the engine has a positive crankcase venting system into the engine air intake and if the level gets to high, the oil fumes are enriched with diesel fumes end this is enough to ignite along with the injectored fuel causing the engine to run out of control and over rev to destruction.

This has happened to many 4jx1 engines, mainly in the UK so the injector sleeve seals need to be replaced.