Nefarious

Pulled torsion bars for reindex, pulled diff. Pulled motor, then pulled oil pan. General stuff to get vg33e ready to put in.

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hey everyone just thought i would update a bit and show you guys how far i got. engine is out!! got the pan off and set it down on some blocks. now to find a xterra oil pickup tube... don't really want to weld that piece... http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/380500_10150938244265504_764055503_21562490_861376921_n.jpg http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/388920_10150938244360504_764055503_21562492_1409248717_n.jpg http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/380015_10150938244480504_764055503_21562495_1300471198_n.jpg http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/379595_10150938244735504_764055503_21562501_197717516_n.jpg

that sir is a fantastic idea lol... got the diff out today and the motor out as well! mucho successo. It was fun as I have a gravel driveway which i was doing this in so moving an engine hoist is pretty damn hard once the weight is on it. I had my 240 with a tie strap to the tow hook and the base of the hoist. hahahaha. Worked great though and just slipped right out!! trying to track down a used xterra oil pickup tube now then im ready to drop in the 3.3. I snapped some pics which ill post in my vg33e swap thread. once i figure out where to host the pics...

Perfect thanks for all the info guys. I just found the factory service manual online and downloaded the pdf file so I got that now. Thanks for the oil pan reference. I have the t-bars out already as I need to reindex them for my 3" lift coming soon, figured now is the time while im under there. We'll see how it goes tomorrow! I'll get some pics of my pathy up soon it's got a few custom things done.

ok thanks man ya i have the t-bars off already, i will just try unbolting the 2 front diff mounts and the cvs like you said. i do have those 4 front bolts out that hold in the front crossmemer , i just moved the control arm down a bit and i was able to get both bolts out on each side so the front crossmember should be loose but it wont budge. so yeah maybe ill just try unbolting the diff from the front crossmember mounts and cvs and try sliding it out the rear...the engine is on the hoist and is sitting as high as it will so i have lots of room underneath..

Hey guys i am currently swapping in a 3.3 to my truck but first i need to get the old motor out. what is the best way to take down the front diff??? i have the t-bars out already as im gunna reindex them, i have the 4 bolts out in the front holding the front crossmember up. i have the front diff rear crossmember detached and sitting loose, sway bar is detached from the front crossmember. the rear crossmember drops down a bit but i cant even get the front to budge. should i not be taking out the front crossmember??? i was trying to drop both crossmembers/front diff in one piece so i could leave the cvs hooked up. should i unbolt the 2 front diff mounts that attach to the front crossmember instead, unbolt the cvs and leave the front crossmember alone?? will the diff come out from the rear without removing front crossmember?? please someone who has done this help me, i got the hoist rented and want to return it by tomorrow. thanks!!

hey okay now I gotcha. Thanks for clearing that up. Yeah I have a 3" BL in my truck as well so there is ample engine bay space to relocate lines/res tanks to make the r50 accessories work. I could definitely see in a z31 that would be a lot harder to do with the much tighter space confines. Actually my moms boyfriend is building a z31 though and I believe he is looking for a 3.3 as well. I will let him know you make an adapter as that would probably make his life a lot easier. Is it released for the public yet or are you still on prototype stage??? billet aluminum?? what about the damper? any issues known with vg30s and running no damper pulley? I guess it's a pretty well balanced v6 so I couldn't see it being too bad.

but im planning on using the entire vg33e engine/accessories the same as it was assembled in the r50 and adapting the power steering lines instead of using the vg30e accessories. why would i have to touch the water/oil pump??? im confused.

excellent ya thanks man I ran across that afterwards. Going to look at the local jap scrap yard tomorrow for a 4.6 lsd and manual lockers on that note.... what is going to be the easiest way to swap the LSD into my truck??? Never done any differential work before... Is there just a cover to take off and slide out the axles and take it out?? or swap the whole 3rd member would be easier? lots of questions I know but I want to get this right... thanks

I would definitely check the maf. Had a similar problem on an old sentra.. wouldn't rev past 2700. New (used) maf from the junkyard and viola. Like previously mentioned the MAF test is super easy to do with a multimeter.

oh really, haha. that must be some tough plastic then indeed! ill keep an eye out for that magical sticker as well as some oem manual lockers. it is any hardbody 90 something and up right?? 28 spline is what i am looking for am i correct?? anyone know which years the hardbody went to 28 spline front??

Yeah I think I will use an external cooler, I might as well now that it's all apart. My auto shifts a little hard into 2nd sometimes but other than that it's fine so hopefully it will hold up for a while. If not I'll swap in the 5 speed from a pathy or hardbody. Hey on another note I am going to swap in a LSD 3rd member. Is there any way to tell just by looking at a truck if it has one?? I know to look for a sticker but I imagine a LSD OIL ONLY sticker might be worn off after the years... What should I look for on the door tag? Thanks everyone this place is awesome.

So you think the r50 pump will be strong enough to power the wd21 box?? Cause that would be the easiest route for me as I have all the lines from an r50 to hook it up in my wd21. Only thing i will miss is having my alternator a little higher up from water.

So I did some research and found out the early xterras vg33e has the power steering and alternator on the same side as the vg30e. as opposed to the vg33e pathfinder which has them swapped to the opposite sides (the engine i have). does anyone here have an xterra to confirm or take a picture that this would work? if i got xterra ps pump and alternator and bolted them to the 3.3 that i have then just hook up to my existing lines... hmmm just ideas anyone with a 3.3 xterra on the forums??

Also I was going to throw in an aftermarket transmission cooler while I'm at it, any tips for this?? Will it make my auto shift nicer or just last longer?

thanks for the reply. I am getting it all laid out next to each other to see what I need to swap over. I will definitely try swapping the brackets, you are right it would make life a lot easier. I'm gunna leave the a/c alone for now too since I noticed it doesn't move locations so hopefully it will just bolt up and then i will just need to modify the bracket to be offset since the rest of the pulleys will be off-set from the rest of them... oh wait maybe I will have to do that for all of them if I use the old brackets, since the crank pulley belt grooves are not in the same place.

Hi all I am in a rush to beat the snow and pulling my current VG30E from my 1993 pathfinder. It was piston slap, bad compression on a cylinder and lifter noise. Needless to say the previous owner was pretty damn hard on it and it needs to be replaced. Anyways the engine is half out of the truck at this point I am only a few hours in really but I wanted to know if anyone else on here has done this swap without touching the internals of the VG33E? Reason I'm asking is I got my 3.3 from a 1996 Pathy which I got in excellent running order (but rotted out unibody) for 400$ which I split with a buddy as he needed the transmission, so I only paid 200 for everything. I pulled the motor and all of the accessories and lines. I grabbed all a/c lines, power steering lines, etc. So my plan is to swap the motor and all accessories in as well, to avoid any mixing and matching of engine parts and generally dismantling the engine down to the crank... not what I really want to be doing. Most of the pump lines look like they will bolt right up and they all seem to go to the same general areas on the truck even though some of the accessories swapped sides. My question is, does anyone have any insight on this and if it will work? lol. The power steering pump should still power the steering box as opposed to the rack in the r50 right? The lines go to the right spot and look like they will fit right on with the banjo fittings. The a/c I'm not really worried about losing as this is mainly a winter truck but I did grab all those lines as well and they also look like they will bolt up as well to the wd21 ac components for the most part, if I ever want to charge the system. Anyways any help or advice is appreciated thanks!