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HEPL PLEASE I think my timing belt broke


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This is an old thread but I wanted to add my my personal experience with this

issue so that others can benefit from it.

 

I have a '93 Pathy XE that was given to me by a relative when he moved to another

country. He was driving the Pathy at highway speed when the engine died.

The belt didn't break completely but one of the cams jumped three teeth.

 

Because the belt didn't break we hoped for the best and installed a new timing belt.

Here's a video I posted years ago for a different forum if it helps at all.

 

 

There's no audio as I was mainly concerned that I had the belt installed correctly.

 

When I tried to start the engine there was no compression at all. The engine sounded

like the spark plugs were all removed.

 

I had a friend come over with a Snap-on borescope that confirmed multiple bent

and broken valves so if any of you experience this same issue and you have the

same sound of a free wheeling engine, you can most likely assume you have major

damage.

 

I ended up putting a used engine (only 78,000 miles on it) in my Pathy so it's back on the

road again.

 

Hope that helps.

 

 

 

Wayne

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I have read the earlier injectors (wire clip type) are slightly more reliable than the newer ones, so I used them with my swaps. The later injectors (push clip style) are arguably easier to meter-out for diagnosis due to the connector type. It's up to you. To use the newer injectors, just splice in the newer injector harness clips from your donor injector harness.

Make sure to solder and heatshrink/tape if u go this route!

 

Mr.510s adapter makes it a fair bit easier to do the swap than the alternatives.

You need to be really accurate when you cut the factory water pump. Use your old vg33 waterpump as a template to mark length and then use a nice straight edge to mark the adjacent measurement.

 

Also make sure to grind off the tab of aluminum left over that used to make up one of the attachment bolt bosses.(the cut you make will go right through one of the tabs and leave a Sharp section).

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Make sure to tape off the waterpump bearing seals too. U dont want little bits of aluminum shavings working their way in there.

 

Also pay close attention to the timing cover plates. You have to mix and match here and there to make it all work and fit together. Double check if im right as this is from memory but I think its vg33 rear plate, vg33 front bottom plate, vg30 front top plate and you will want to cut the crank timing stub on the lower cover. It sticks out too far on the vg33e front lower timing cover plate and needs to be shortened to match the vg30 crank pulley offset. Otherwise you will have a hard time setting your ignition timing properly.

 

If anything else comes to memory, ill post it up!

 

Also you will have to grind off the lower right corner of the upper power steering pump mounting bracket (at the upper bolt hole end). This is so you can relocate it to its new home about 2" over.(gotta see in pictures, I don't know how else to describe it)

 

You will also want to use a valve cover from each engine to make the vacuum line situation easy. Use the valve cover from the 3.3 on the passenger side to get the extended filler hole and use the 3.0 valve cover on the drivers side, so your vacuum lines will fit properly. I also shaved off the unnecessary tabs from the 3.3 valve cover since they aren't used on the 3.0 engine bay but that was merely cosmetic and not required.

 

 

I'll take some pictures of my ol lady's truck when she's home from work and show you what I mean, I'm sure its hard to know exactly what I mean from description alone.

 

The vg33 swap I did on my truck is all custom with r50 accessories and relocated everything so taking pictures of that one won't help ya.

 

Oh also, I had to slightly enlarge the factory vg30 exhaust manifold stud holes with a step drill to get the new 10mm studs to fit through. I've heard some people haven't had to do this but on kats truck I did have to (run headers on my vg33 swap and I also had to enlarge the stud holes, OBX brand.

Almost looked like the factory manifold holes weren't drilled properly though (factory defect) so you may not have that issue.

Edited by Nefarious
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Make sure to tape off the waterpump bearing seals too. U dont want little bits of aluminum shavings working their way in there.

 

Also pay close attention to the timing cover plates. You have to mix and match here and there to make it all work and fit together. Double check if im right as this is from memory but I think its vg33 rear plate, vg33 front bottom plate, vg30 front top plate and you will want to cut the crank timing stub on the lower cover. It sticks out too far on the vg33e front lower timing cover plate and needs to be shortened to match the vg30 crank pulley offset. Otherwise you will have a hard time setting your ignition timing properly.

 

If anything else comes to memory, ill post it up!

 

Also you will have to grind off the lower right corner of the upper power steering pump mounting bracket (at the upper bolt hole end). This is so you can relocate it to its new home about 2" over.(gotta see in pictures, I don't know how else to describe it)

 

You will also want to use a valve cover from each engine to make the vacuum line situation easy. Use the valve cover from the 3.3 on the passenger side to get the extended filler hole and use the 3.0 valve cover on the drivers side, so your vacuum lines will fit properly. I also shaved off the unnecessary tabs from the 3.3 valve cover since they aren't used on the 3.0 engine bay but that was merely cosmetic and not required.

 

 

I'll take some pictures of my ol lady's truck when she's home from work and show you what I mean, I'm sure its hard to know exactly what I mean from description alone.

 

The vg33 swap I did on my truck is all custom with r50 accessories and relocated everything so taking pictures of that one won't help ya.

 

Oh also, I had to slightly enlarge the factory vg30 exhaust manifold stud holes with a step drill to get the new 10mm studs to fit through. I've heard some people haven't had to do this but on kats truck I did have to (run headers on my vg33 swap and I also had to enlarge the stud holes, OBX brand.

Almost looked like the factory manifold holes weren't drilled properly though (factory defect) so you may not have that issue.

 

good googly moogly you did it the hardway

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I did it the right way. What would you change to make it easier? Not doing any of those steps is the lazy way. You obviously will want to tear the donor down for new timing components, all new seals and gaskets all around. Paint the covers and block, etc,

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It doesn't matter what vehicle you pull the donor VG33 from as long as you use Mr.510's adapter. Every block is drilled the same so all of your accessories will bolt to it.

 

There are NEW Quest, er... whatever Ford's lame version was, Long blocks on ebay for $750 IIRC.

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I got mine from buying a rusted out 96 r50 from eastern canada with no papers. went halfers with a buddy and got the truck for 400$ including toe. split the cost half and half I took the engine he took the rest. 200$ for the vg33 in my truck.

 

pick-a-part in chilliwack, when engines are on sale, go for 139.99. so that's where we got the second vg33 that we put in my girls truck. hers was even from a 1999 pathfinder and it was uber clean.

 

so far 340$ for 2 good shape vg33s . you can get them cheap if you look around!

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hey guys its me again that vg 33 i just put in has a knock now so i think i will be pulling the engine today

my oil light came on while wheeling so i stoped right away and checked the oil and it was full but now it has a knock

so if any one knows a good place to get engine parts let me know

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I did it the right way. What would you change to make it easier? Not doing any of those steps is the lazy way. You obviously will want to tear the donor down for new timing components, all new seals and gaskets all around. Paint the covers and block, etc,

 

I am not Mr. 510 or even that great of a mech but here is a rough list of what I did.

striped it down to the short block replaced all seals and gaskets rings etc. used the crank from a vg30 (not required with the adapter) and bolted all my vg 30 brackets to the vg33 block. vg30 oil pump removed block off plate for oil fileter housing and the ball bearing and spring that I can't remember the name for. Used the vg33 heads with vg30 cams. vg30 headers from doug thorley (way better than pacesetters) also had to expand the holes for the lager studs. used the valve cover on the passenger side from vg33 and I think I used the valve cover from the vg30 on the drivers side would have to go look. Injectors from the vg33 with a modified harness. I think I used the lower intake from the vg33 with the upper intake from the vg30.

 

I didn't have to grind anything or make any new brackets. Everything just bolted in place. I mostly followed nissannuts website.

If anyone wants pics let me know I can get pics of what is there installed but no build pics sorry.

Edited by ejin4499
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That is the hard way! You pulled your engine apart to put a weaker crank and oil pump in? I would stick with the vg33 crank and oil pump. Grinding down a bracket and a tab is a hell of a lot easier than rebuilding half of your bottom end with weaker parts...

Edited by Nefarious
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That is the hard way! You pulled your engine apart to put a weaker crank and oil pump in? I would stick with the vg33 crank and oil pump. Grinding down a bracket and a tab is a hell of a lot easier than rebuilding half of your bottom end with weaker parts...

 

Sorry I assumed you stirpped yours down to the block. I didnt want to put a engine that I hadn't seen running and been able to check in my rig without a rebuild. Just my opinion on that part. Gotta say swapping the crank and timing gears was one of the less compicated/labor intesive parts. Kinda superfluous at this point because I would have totaly kept it if that adapter had been available like 5 months earlier. I think I even posted that in Mr 510 thread.

 

To me it was worth it to me to keep everything bolt on so that at any point I can go to a store and buy what ever part I need for a 95 pathfinder where ever I'm at. Did you put up a build thread I would love to go back and read what you did different than I did.

 

Do you happen to know what the strength diff between the vg30 and vg33 cranks and the oil pumps ?

Edited by ejin4499
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I couldn't put it down to exact numbers but I know the vg33 crank has been improved by eliminating the "thin spot" near the front of the crank behind the front crank snout. The snout is also larger. Not as much of an issue if you plan to run close to stock power levels but if you plan to upgrade (turbo, supercharger, etc.) then you will definitely want the stronger crank. The oil pump is known to flow more as well from what I have researched. EPRacing (a professional VG30E/VG33E/VG30DE engine builder states this and he knows his stuff!)

 

I actually did the swap using the whole engine/accessories from an R50 in my truck keeping the entire VG33E engine assembly in my WD21 but in my girlfriends truck we used the mr.510 adapter.

Maybe tonight I will get some time after homework to put up a thread in the members ride section for my girlfriends truck. It looks pretty much 100% stock and still uses all factory vg30e accessories with all vg33e engine components.

 

 

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