jjonez

My truck is a 2002 and in addition to needing a clutch and fixing a coolant leak at the back of the engine, it also burns a ton of oil so I figure I should think about just putting a "new" used motor in there. Motors from auto trucks are way more plentiful and have a better selection as far finding one in decent condition/low miles, so anyone know if VQ engines from auto trans trucks will swap over to manual ones without too many headaches? I know the autos have the power valves and manuals don't, but I figured I could just swap the old intake over to the new engine. Any other differences that could affect the swap?

Truck is back in my hands. $2500 all said and done which is a lot, but better than sticking an unknown used engine in there Everything is great except I think they put in a cooler thermostat. The temp gauge doesn't go as high as it used to and it failed smog today got to go back and make them put in the correct one

I may be a lucky sumbitch. The garage where I had it towed called later and said the bolt holding the harmonic balancer had backed off due to an incorrect washer being used previously. They are replacing the woodruff key and hardware and I'm having them do the timing belt water pump and front seals as well. Good opportunity to inspect the timing gear key. I lucked out that the garage is independent and has a 13 year Nissan master tech on staff who geeks out over our old trucks haha. Thanks, I sent this to the mechanic. I'm sure they'll be tired of me bugging them by the time it's all over haha. I'm not capable of the engine swap myself and having a shop do it would probably break my bank account, luckily it sounds like I won't have to make that tough decision yet!

Sorry, cross posting for more visibility: Currently sitting on the side of the highway with my 87 waiting for a tow truck. First the power steering cut out which prompted me to pull over. After I pulled over I noticed the temp was getting really hot. With the engine still running none of the accessory belts or pullies were spinning, I couldn't see if any were broken. Does this sound like the about key issue? Timing still seems ok but I haven't started the truck since pulling over. What are options for fixing if this turns out to be the issue? Upgrades available for a stronger snout key? Also wondering on the feasibility of a VG33 upgrade instead of rebuilding this guy. It's a bummer because this engine was otherwise in amazing shape and running beautifully, probably better than my newer cars. Still has the cylinder crosshatching.

Currently sitting on the side of the highway with my 87 waiting for a tow truck. First the power steering cut out which prompted me to pull over. After I pulled over I noticed the temp was getting really hot. With the engine still running none of the accessory belts or pullies were spinning, I couldn't see if any were broken. Does this sound like the about key issue? Timing still seems ok but I haven't started the truck since pulling over. What are options for fixing if this turns out to be the issue? Upgrades available for a stronger snout key? Also wondering on the feasibility of a VG33 upgrade instead of rebuilding this guy. It's a bummer because this engine was otherwise in amazing shape and running beautifully, probably better than my newer cars. Still has the cylinder crosshatching.

Hi guys long time since I've been on. I replaced my valve covers/gaskets recently in my 02 to deal with a leak and to try to mitigate oil consumption, and after putting it all back together I now get a tapping noise from the driver side valvetrain on cold starts. The colder the ambient temp the louder it is. It steadily quiets down as the truck warms up and engine sounds totally normal after about 10 minutes driving. It is most noticeable inside the car with windows up/doors closed, can barely hear it outside the car. So I know it's obviously something with the cams/buckets, maybe some crud got dropped in there during the repair. I can remove the valve cover again, but my question is what should I be preparing for when I get in there? Not really sure how to address the issue once it's all apart... Thanks for your suggestions! Side note: All my old followed content is gone. was this because I was idle for too long or did something happen to the servers?

TL;DR if your stubborn clutch doesn't want to get rid of that last little air bubble, give it a few mega stomps to coerce it. I found an instance where aggression actually is the answer! And no I'm not getting political. A few days ago my clutch master cylinder blew on the way to work and the car was basically undrivable. After a tow to the mechanic and a subsequent tow back home (mechanic wanted $500!!!!!! to fix), I ordered a new part and installed in the dark after work, but couldn't get the system fully bled after an hour of attempts. I could still drive the car with a squishy clutch so I waited until this evening to give it another go, this time reverse-bleeding using a syringe. When a few attempts of that didn't work I was pissed, and took my frustration out on the clutch pedal, giving it about a dozen nuclear powered rage stomps. Clutch works perfect now...

Very clean. Check oil pressure with a mechanical gauge. I'm on my third sending unit, and it still reads low on the dash once warm, but when testing with a mechanical gauge it's perfect.

Everyone whines about not being able to buy a new, simple, bare bones truck these days, despite the current frontier being exactly that. I've had them as rentals a few times and always enjoyed them. The cabin is spartan and gives the necessities without any fuss. The ride is smooth and handles decently, and the 4.0 gives a healthy kick IMO, with a nice predictable auto trans. It's a much more satisfying drivetrain than in the 3rd gen tacoma, which I've also rented, and I'm a total tacoma fanboy. Bummer they're updating and killing the VQ. I might not be singing the same praise next year.

Interesting. I didn't have to do any drilling for my 02 and bilsteins. Pretty sure theyre the same model. The top brackets/bolts worked perfect with the shock eyelet bushing sleeve except I used a few fender washers to take up the extra space in the bracket. I heard some people just bend the bracket inwards instead. For the bottom mount I didn't use a sleeve. The inner diameter of the bushing is a perfect fit on the mounting stud.

Thanks guys. I should have done a little googling before posting cuz I pulled up the same info about being battery-related shortly after.

Yesterday I drove my 02 to the store and it was running like normal. Then when I went to leave I tried starting the car, and it made a loud click. Similar to a dead battery starter click, but louder like the very first split second of a car starting to crank. Everything went totally dead after that. No lights on the dash, no nothing even with the key turned to on. Basically like the battery had been disconnected (confirmed later because the clock and trip odo had reset). I tried turning the key to various positions a few times but no luck. I looked at the passenger side relay box under the hood and pulled one labeled FL180A ACC IGN and looked at it. Didn't know what to look for as far is it being bad so I put it back. I went to start the car again and everything worked fine, started up without even a stutter. I've started and drove it a few times since then and it's like nothing ever happened. I feel like it may just be a coincidence that pulling the relay actually did anything. But does anyone have an idea of why this would happen in the first place? Thanks!

Sorry if it's obvious, but are you pushing the shift nob INTO the floor before pulling down into 4lo? And yes tranny in neutral, and I do clutch in too just cuz

I'd definitely pay an extra grand for a really nice example of a car I wanted if it's not a stretch financially. As for the manual VQ, I held out for one and am glad I did. It drives real nice. It does burn oil unfortunately, even without the power valve problem, but that's really the only problem it has. I just carry oil with me and check at the gas station and it's no big deal. My neighbor happened to have a VQ manual as well and his was burning oil but still running and driving at 240k miles before he traded up for a 2nd gen Tacoma (6 speed) I think with any VQ R50 it's luck of the draw, but I would go into it expecting to get an oil burner so you're not disappointed. Likely the rebuilt one you saw was run too low for too long and screwed up the motor. One thing I would look for is a black sooty tailpipe. While dirty isn't a definitive tell of an oil burner, I think if you happen across a tailpipe that is clean you've got a better chance of having a good engine. I've noticed one VQ R50 in my neighborhood whose tailpipe is clean as a whistle and I'm really jealous haha.

Huh, I always heard poly was supposed to outlast whatever vehicle they went in. I was planning for rubber on the UCA's anyways. The LCA front bushing I'm not even sure if I'll do yet, but I wanted to see if anyone has tackled it

Haha ok, its probably not too noticeable a difference in ride quality for poly in only two spots

Thanks guys! I'm guessing the energy suspension replacement is poly? Do you notice a difference in ride quality with this one being poly? I like my squishy ride.

So I've found plenty of posts about the strut rod bushings and UCA bushings, but haven't found many mentions about the front LCA FRONT bushings. It looks like they are pressed into the truck frame as opposed to the LCA. Does anyone have a proven method to remove/replace these? Thanks!

While this is up, does anyone know if this is a concern with 5-speed vq35 Pathfinders? They have the direct mechanical linkage from accelerator pedal to throttle body.

Awesome! I actually just saw a white 2-door today on my way home from a trip. How many miles/km's?

Just to follow up. The rubber boot on the inside of the brake master cylinder reservoir cap was folded over funny and was pushing on the switch in the reservoir. I set the boot straight and it's been fine

Wow, only 79k km?? I thought my 87 was a rare find at 126k MILES. Show some pictures!

That would be great! I'm in San Diego and definitely don't go wheeling enough. Mine mostly end up getting used for getting me up to the mountains for snowboarding. I'm not on Facebook. Try using an image hosting site like imgur or you can use Google photos to create a link to an image. When typing a post click the paperclip icon up above to insert a link. For example

I'll give this a try, thanks!

Really? Sounds like a fancy feature for an 80's truck. The fluid level looks good, slightly below max. I removed the center console to find that the switch harness had been disconnected by the previous owner, which explains why it wouldn't turn on when pulling the brake with key in, engine on. I cleaned up the switch and ground and put everything back together and it worked! Turned on and off as it should when the parking brake is pulled. For 5 minutes... Shortly into the drive the light came on and stayed on no matter how I fiddled with the brake. The only thing i can think of is something related to the ignition. With ignition on engine off, all the dash lights are on, right? And when you start the engine they all turn off unless they receive a signal otherwise. So maybe the brake light somehow gets stuck in "ignition on engine off" mode? What do you guys think?