Nissan VK56

Nissan's 5.6-litre V8 — the engine of the Patrol, Titan, Armada and Infiniti QX56/QX80, and the largest petrol engine the company builds.

The fault that defines the early VK56DE is unusual and worth naming precisely: the exhaust manifolds crack, and on some engines the secondary air injection tubes admit debris that damages the cylinder walls. The resulting noise is often described as an exhaust leak, and the underlying damage is discovered late. On an early example, an exhaust tick at cold start deserves inspection rather than reassurance.

The later VK56VD added direct injection and variable valve lift and is a substantially different engine in service terms. Across both, timing-chain guides at very high mileage and the usual heavy-vehicle cooling loads are the remaining themes. These engines are commonly worked hard — towing, sand, heat — and duty cycle explains more of their failures than age does.