tmoore4512

Thanks dude. Wild how short the VG30's are. Well, I was initially thinking about dong a simple LS swap, but then I was considering an Ecoboost from a wreck, be it a 2.3 or possibly a 3.5 the 2.7 is WAY bigger than I anticipated. Brain storming really, it is in the hopper....

Okay, no luck in search. I KNOW it is here somewhere. How long are the VG30E's? Want to transplant a modern engine in one day, but cannot find this detail...

I agree, I am certain however that the EGR tubing is going to disintegrate when I remove the stock cracked manifolds....sigh.

Sorry for delay guys. I ended up just replacing all the rubber and keeping it intact. I do plan on removing the EGR and all that nonsense when I put these headers on and redo the entire exhaust...(SAS requires it!) Just not there yet.

Yeah I concur. Gotta wait a bit for it to warm up some, no shop anymore. Will probably just rhino-line the entire thing at that point. But...I am also considering deleting the two rear side windows so might do that as well. While the forum was down this one dude kept posting things he was doing to his WD21 (I think he is sponsored by Rival Offroad maybe?) and did the same, put some flip up truck camper top type covers in there and had storage space accessible from the outside. Not sure why, but it crossed my mind.

Well, tore it down and put it back together with a new pump. The "new" one I put in was leaking pretty bad, guess the seal was bad from the get go. All is well now. Thank you for all the input gents!

That id a good idea, I need paint as well.

Okay, I am too old for this. Put everything back together, finally...after lord knows how many days, and I believe the new water pump is leaking. Either from the weep hole or...I guess the weep hole. Why did I stop drinking whiskey again? Man.

Word. It was definitely a cam seal, and it was certainly unreturnable. Of course it has been 200k since I last did this job and my goodness that extra $80 in seals, hahaha...wow. PVC pipe certainly helps tap the RIGHT crank seal in, but geez....

Okay, so I figured out why I was having such an issue. It was the wrong seal. Sigh.

Getting the old dried out cracked seal out was simple... I am struggling with getting the new one in. Even saturated with grease it is being a pain. Been a while since I have done seals, the cam seals were easy. This little crank seal is...yeah.

Okay experts, I need to replace my front seal. But the new seal is an absolute nightmare to install... Anyone have any tips? It is wild how difficult this one is. I would appreciate it.

Well, I guess that makes sense. I am neck deep in another timing belt/water pump job and I legit forgot why it was this way...hard to tell until it is all torn apart. Now I am about to make another post. Front crank seal. Sigh.

Thanks for the reply dude. Ran into the tarifff stuff too. Several places said they would not ship to the US. Ordered an OEM pump from NPD, it should be delivered tomorrow...we shall see. Had to go with a Gates belt, only one that was in stock anywhere (Rock Auto) so hopefully it will not be a bust. It has been 15+ years since I did timing on this, gunna have to dig up some old literature I guess. Whew.

Yo, all you guys who are still active in the community and have walked this very road, hear ye, hear ye.... After about 10 years, it is time again to do the water pump and timing belt. Not so much the belt/tensioner because, well it was replaced about a decade back and the mileage does not require it, but the water pump is now leaking, following the episode with that silly bypass hose, if you recall. Truck got a little hotter than I would have liked and I am pretty certain the gasket was cooked and is now leaking. So, since that is the case, the timing cover is full of coolant and the belt has been sitting in it, taking a nice little bath. Ethelyne Glycol is some not so friendly stuff to rubbers, because well, it causes what some in the older world (like me) consider a "fix" for things like ED (or not, but it was funny in my head,) so it causes swelling, softening, embrittlement, cracking, etc. Since the belt is sitting in it, I shall replace it. I digress. Where on earth are you guys getting OEM Nissan parts? I cannot locate a single part of this setup (aside from an OEM water pump gasket. I would like to get an OEM belt, tensioner and pump...but no joy as of this week. Advice?

The outer seal is just plain falling apart and clogging the drain, did not think about just removing it all together. Different perspective I guess. Part of me really hates the sunroof anyway, it is not an option I would have desired, specifically because I generally always am carrying stuff on the X rack and one of these days I will put the basket back on top as well. I guess it was always. Concern that I would somehow bust the glass out and be up a creek. The OEM shade cover thing is literally held together with some thread from the manufacturing process. It held up for a long time though so I am kind of impressed. That space would be good for several things, as it is recessed... So I am really tempted to just remove and sheet metal it as I initially mentioned. Someone did some neat stuff with the rear side glass as well, I saw it on the FB NPORA and it made me kind of miss turning wrenches on this old girl. Sent from my Armor 27T Pro using Tapatalk

Well (expletive.) Thank you for the info. I have been turning wrenches for maaaany years and my brain did not put those two together. Totally makes sense. Thank you for knocking the cobwebs off of this old head. Checking out HPS now.... WOW. How have I not found this before. Thank you dudes!!! I owe you both a FEW beers....

Good info level9, was unaware even though I have been in and around the FSM for many years. Always down to learn! What is HPS? I have been using fuel injection hose and it has been holding up about two years at a time. Sorry, Slart, the hose itself, not the metal. Super frustrating.

I did not think about 3D printing anything, great idea... Although, it is the glass mounted bits that failed not the twisty things. Regardless... My sunroof seals are in such bad shape that every time it rains it rains inside. Drains get clogged up with failed/disintegrating rubber bits EVERY TIME. Seriously considering just removing the sunroof all together and putting sheet metal in its place. Would not be difficult to do, about a thousand tacks and a few beers... Maybe it is just crazy talk for a 30-year-old vehicle. But I do hate having a wet seat. Thanks! That is an old TROY console from a decommissioned police car, worked great. Only thing I have not finished is relocating the E-brake to under the dash like a D21.

Not a lotta room to work with because of the axle, and I honestly don't think the shock tower would handle the weight of the truck. Sent from my Armor 27T Pro using Tapatalk

I have GM air shocks in the rear of mine, been there for many years. Have replaced the air hose kit twice, weakest link for sure. It does provide some lift, I would say maybe an inch or two in the rear. As for the front, even after modifying my Calmini UCA's the axle will likely keep air or spring over load shocks from fitting. Just not much room there. Plus, the front end of these guys is heavy anyway. I did have a set of those load assist shocks on my 2010 F150 but they failed after about a year. The rubber isolators between the spring and the shock body wore out and it made a gaawwd awful screeching noise when you went over bumps. No way to take them apart either. Sent from my Armor 27T Pro using Tapatalk

Well, came out to the old girl to find the sunroof cover sitting like this. The window mounted attachments just gave up and no luck finding any replacements. Anyone need a cover? Not perfect but works. Sent from my Armor 27T Pro using Tapatalk

Okay friends, let me pose a question to you: Why, on these WD21's do we have cooling circulating through the intake and throttle body? Is this a requirement or can it be omitted? I ask because the little bypass hose on the firewall side continues to die, so either I put PTFE in place with some sort of heavy duty crimps or I keep replacing this little monstrosity that is in the absolute wrong spot for someone with massive hands. Before you search guys get mad, obviously I searched, but I kid you not, when I was first a part of this group/forum the search worked much better. Not so much today. Anyway... Any of you experts have any insight? On a VG30E, what is the meaning of this? Looking at the service manual is baffling. I am about to just delete it. Open to your thoughts!

Sorry for the delay in updating this thread. It was a series of poor connections. Bottom line. Ended up finding a plethora of corrosion and rot on otherwise "good" battery cables, grounds, etc. Started at the battery and worked down, finding a mess. Was really surprised how poorly connected some of the stuff on this thing was, from the OEM side. (There were several connections I made that were bad too.) Patience. A lot of patience. Now I am about to tackle the leaking exhaust manifolds....

Been following this for a while, and it looks great! Helluva job dude!