Nefarious

my buddy drives those trucks he had one blow out on him while driving, he said it was like an earthquake lol.

Hydraulic press. Sockets should work for dies in a pinch. No press? BLOWTORCH!!!! Then re-install with a vise if they are press ins.

Just unbolt the MIDDLE engine mount bolts (the 2 that hold the frame mount to the rubber bit), I find them much easier to put back in after from inside the fender wells. Then start jacking up on the trans bump. Do it slowly and carefully and make sure nothing is getting caught up. I never had any issues but just be safe about it and it would help to have someone at the top to tell you when you are getting close and to make sure no wires are getting caught up or anything. You can't get the pan out of there but you can drop it down enough to re-do the gasket. It's just very tight and not much fun, but I prefer that to removing the diff!!!

Yeah putting the diff back up in place is pretty awkward and it's really heavy. A lot heavier than it looks... I jack up the engine from the bottom right on the front of the transmission there is big hump. It will lift the engine up and stuff it up to the firewall. You are jacking up the engine via the transmission (right at the front) so it doesn't interfere with the oil pan. Done it many times no issues at all. You leave the transmission attached to the engine and it just tilts up. You can leave the trans crossmember alone as well. There is a lot of flex in that bushing holding it to the crossmember.

Set the timing, cranked the bars up an inch or so over stock to clear my 33's, got wiring ready for electric fan controller, drove it up and down my driveway like 6 times since it's not insured yet and I wanted to try out the new vg33e power.

yesssss i am so excited!!! just finished my vg33e swap and intake/headers/exhaust. this is the last piece of the puzzle!! (for now, lol)

yeah you can do it but it's not very fun. unhook the engine mounts and jack up the motor as high as u can get it. undo the pan and let it drop a few inches. then you can carefully scrape off all of the rtv WITHOUT DROPPING ANY IN THE OIL PAN, and clean and re-apply the rtv silicone... it's not fun but if you do it that way u don't have to drop the diff....which is NOT fun...lol either way there is not much fun involved...sorry to say. It is less of a hassle if u drop the diff.... dropping the diff is easy..putting it back is not so easy.....

i will check the maf as well tomrorow. i did have to pull some extra slack out of the harness and re tape it so i had a bit more play cause I aimed my air intake forward to clear room for my power steering reservoir. could have jostled something. although it runs GREAT once its above 800-1000rpm.

And after you ran it a while warm the ecu learned the new air flow and went back to normal? yeah there is a HUGE difference for the computer.... it was a 3.0 with stock everything and crappy exhaust and clogged air filter, now its a vg33 with full intake/headers/2.5 exhaust... i figured it would have some learning to do!! lol

just a small update....WOW this setup has POWER. My auto pathfinder is now faster than my 5 speed 240sx.... First time I took it off I wasn't expecting it I only give it half throttle and it peeled down my driveway and spilled my drink lol. This should be enough power for anyones needs!! That's with 31s too so 33s should still have tons of get-up-and-go!!

okay so i got the timing set back to 15 degree now that its been running for a while. it seems to be fine now, no more lean pop and no more bogging per say. there is still a hesitation RIGHT when u open the throttle. not so much with no load, moreso when i move the truck. i push down on the gas and just a split second it hesitates and might rev down just a hair and then once it starts going off it takes off like a rocket ship. i mean no joke it has POWER and lots of it. i didn't really expect it my first time taking it down my driveway and it lit up both tires and launched the truck lol. I can't believe the power increase!!! It feels faster off the line now than my 5 speed 240sx and my pathy is an auto.... kind of surprising really. So I just have this annoying little hesitation left to figure out otherwise it's running great. I think i'm going to go over the engine again and check all the grounds.... I think one for the driver side exhaust manifold is not there anymore and i am suspect of grounds that come off the harness by the coolant temp sensor.

hey i had another thought... i broke the original vg30e knock sensor when i was pulling the motor down and replaced it with the vg33e one. they looked identical and the part number i could see (some was worn off) looked the same. did i assume to much in using the vg33e knock sensor... its just a microphone basically isnt it ?

ya that was my price including install at fountain tire. Ill stick with fountain as canadian tire wants 238$ per tire, i didnt ask if that included install he just said 238$ per tire and have to wait a week to get them lol. ouch. thats the second most expensive so far. i tried there just to see after u said that since mine werent installed yet and CT is a little closer to me. I just usually don't go there anymore.... lol except for the tool sales!! and yes.... you are right I did just want the duratracs the whole time..... lol

my dads buddy just had a possible suggestion... maybe whoever did the timing last has the crank pulley off 1 tooth, that would account for about 7 degrees retard would it not??

I went based off the crank pulley furthest left marking being TDC. It didn't run properly until it advanced it to the very last timing mark. There were 5 if i remember correctly. 0 - 5 - 10 - 15 - 20. It's JUST past the 20 where it seems to run right... Lol this is so weird. I'm gunna finish my e-fan controller today and fire it up and let it just run for a while and then slowly turn the timing back to 15 and see what happens.

I ended up finding the duratracs in 33x12.5 for 220 a tire, even cheaper than the cheapest bfg at in my area. i went with them, getting installed on wednesday!! i think they should suite all my needs legal winter tire too...snowflake symbol. ill just have to accept that they will be a little fatter

well ill take a look at the bfg a/t ko. they look alright but they sure aren't very aggressive looking, how do they do in the mud? lots of mud around here.. haha

hmm well ive got lots to think about now it seems. i am really trying to avoid going 12.5 wide but i would also really love 33 tall or even a 34 tall tire.. why doesnt the duratrac come in a 33x10.5x15!! argh lol

awesome thanks good tip to save for later when i do my a/t to m/t swap!! good job on finishing it man, i just finished my engine swap too! haha good timing

lol yeah it was on the number one plug. they were kind of clustered together maybe ill try and seperate it more, i dont think it could have gotten interference could it? hmm... strange. the injectors are the same between the two right ? i used the vg30 injectors.. they were the same pink tops as the vg33 injectors. the old vg33e fuel rail had one old style injector in it as well among the newer ones, spliced in. just trying to eliminate any possible issues... hmmm

this is a motor from another truck i dont know the history , i know it was running perfect in the truck i pulled it out of... it doesnt look like the crank had been touched at all. seems like nothing really had been touched too much on the engine haha. yeah i thought if the distributor was out a tooth then i just wouldnt be able to get the right amount of timing, i have full range of adjustment from tdc to 25 btdc. so i figured it was in right?? hmm.. curious... ill try again tommorrow setting it back down to 15 degrees since it seems to be running really well now. idle is right at 750. maybe the old ecu had to learn the new engine size? hmm..

if my distributor was off a tooth would it change the timing reading i thought that was a constant.. does that sound like about 1 tooth, 7 so if it was off a tooth my timing reading might be off and even tho its running with the proper timing now, it displays wrong on the crank? the cap was pointed right at #1 but it could have been off slightly maybe.. sorry im still learning!! lol

Okay am I missing something here? I finished my vg33e swap, set timing to 15 btdc initially. fired it up and it idled good but low, and also it would bog when i gave it gas. it was running okay, but when i set it to around 22 btdc the idle picked up to 700 where it should be and the bogging went away. there was also a lean pop when it was set to 15 but none at all at 22 and it sounds good. is this normal ? i thought stock timing is 15 degrees?? it seems to run well at 22 and not so well at 15... any opinions on this. want to make sure I get it right before i start driving on it! thanks

just to add, all of the vg30e accessory connectors plugged right into the vg33e accessories. haven't checked a/c yet as I am not running a/c right now but I believe it is the same as well.