fishead Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 (edited) Hey guys. A couple weeks ago, I had an issue with my Cat being blocked. Before I had it fixed, the engine seemed to get pretty hot. Now, I'm burning oil pretty bad. My dad said that I prolly cooked the heads and burned out the valve seats. Is this likely to happen? Could the bottom end be done as well? In the last 5 days I have thrown in about 5 liters of oil. I put in some "gunk, stop smoke" and it made it 90% better. Not a long term solution, I know. Should I pull off the heads? I have a little bit of mechanical experience, a few tools, and a garage. Or should I pull the engine (sounds scary), and throw in a junkyard engine? Or maybe this is a perfect opportunity to cram in a 350! Regardless, I have lined up a Honda Accord to drive in the mean time. My fuel savings should pay for the repairs to my Pathfinder!!! Thanks for all your advice! Oh yeah, its a '90 WD21, SE-V6, 4X4, Manual, 280,000+Km Edited September 25, 2006 by fishead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Oil consumption at that level probably means ring wear or broken rings, not valves. The fact that the No-Smoke additive helped a lot also indicates the same. That doesn't mean I'm correct, it's just my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishead Posted September 25, 2006 Author Share Posted September 25, 2006 Hmm, thanks 88. I guess I better do a compression test then, eh? What's it like for pulling the engine on these things? I have never pulled an engine before, but am willing to give it a try. I see in the local adds a lot of pathy's for parts. I think I can get an engine for a couple hundred bucks, and if it isn't too complicated, swap it in. Also, would a '93 V6 swap right in without sensor modifications? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Should swap no problem.... Worse case is you use your intake up..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 i would suspect rings more than valves like 88 said...i believe heat cooks rings a lot more than valves and valve seals...but you could always pull the covers off the rockers and pressurize the cylinder and replace the seals... a swap is not bad...its a lot of work...i know on the manuals and prob the automatics too...about 3 6" extensions and some U joint swivels make the top bolts on the tranny a lot easier to get in and out... having the right tools is half the battle and i have learned this over time...the only thing im missing that would make the job a lot easier is a tranny jack...but i have devised a system of 2 2 ton jacks on a creeper with some rope up thru the shifter hole to balance it out...some people say u can do it without dropping the tranny...i tried and it didnt work for me and ive also tried to do it by not dropping the front axle and that didnt work for me... if ure around charlotte NC and need some help i might be able to lend a helping hand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishead Posted September 26, 2006 Author Share Posted September 26, 2006 (edited) Hmm... is 2,890 miles (as the google flies) close? Thanks anyhow, Western Canada for me :-) Talked to my mechanic, he agrees with you guys. Prolly the rings. You make the engine swap sound scary. Is it going to be that much more difficult with a slanted driveway? I found a '92 with no transmission for $800 that I might pick up. It is close enough to my house that my buds and I are thinking of buying it, then towing it in the middle of the night using my plates and a buddy's truck. Anyhow, any advice is appreciated. Any links to "how-to's" would be nice too. I have tried searching this site and others, but haven't had much luck. How much is a JDM engine, anyhow? I don't REALLY need all the spare parts that come with a complete truck. Thanks, Chris. Edited September 26, 2006 by fishead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 (edited) all the extra parts can always make u some money back if u part it out... the swap is not scary...unless the axle falls on ure finger so dont do that (that was just me being tired and careless i had done it about 6 times b4 that happened... but like i said its not scary...just a generous amount of work but if u have time its not a big deal...it depends on how slanted ure driveway is but if it were me i'd like to be on a flat surface... is ures auto or manual (i might have missed it) but for my manual 87 to get my engine out (not in the correct order)... ~jacked her up and put it on jackstands ~loosen t bars and eventually dropped out cross member ~disconnected cv's from the front axle ~unhooked the front axle bolts up front then the 2 cross member bolts and dropped out the axle ~ loosen up the bolts on the tranny...remove the starter and the 4 bolts that go from the engine side into the tranny ~removed slave cylinder ~remove rear drive shaft ~remove down tube ~dropped tranny out ~undid the 4 motor mount bolts after ~removed radiator and fan and ac compressor ~removed and tagged all the electrical coolant and vaccum lines ~slowly jacked the engine out ~hood...u have to pull that bad boy too and im sure im missing small stuff here and there i can try to go to kinko's sometime if u wanted and copy the pages out of the FSM for u or maybe get the gf to scan them up at the engineering building if its an auto the biggest thing is getting the torque converter loose before you pull the engine out if ure going to reuse it and u have to rotate the engine by hand and hit each of the 4 bolts individually thru the starter hole... heres everything that i removed to get her out (minus the heads those were the maxima heads waiting to be put back on the other block: Edited September 26, 2006 by unccpathfinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishead Posted September 26, 2006 Author Share Posted September 26, 2006 Wow, that looks pretty serious. Not sure if I can get a flat spot to work, and driveway is definitely too steep to sit on jack stands. I have the manual transmission. I didn't know I would have to pull the axle and transmission to get the engine out. Maybe I need to re-think this. Thanks for the run down. If you could get the manual, that would be fricken sweet. I have a Haynes, but find they tend to be lacking in detail sometimes, usually when you really need it. Taking her off the road tonight and going to be driving a Honda Accord until I get 'er done. Might get a quote from a mechanic. chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 I was able to pull and replace my motor without touching the front Axel.... Auto vs Manual.... Slick??? My JDM was out of a Max, supposed to have less than 35k on it... $790 delivered 2 days later... Runs like a champ, just has a nasty tap... Appointment Wed with the engine guys to verify parts or another new motor.... My 91 with 33" tires will eat my 95's lunch for power.... I will do it again if I have to... well maybe a 3.3 block, 3.0 crank and heads.... Anyone got a VG30DE Cheap??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 *sighs* *grunts* read...... http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=7681 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted September 26, 2006 Share Posted September 26, 2006 also i dont know how many of yall have BL's but i believe if u had that u dont have to touch the axle...i just know from my experiences both 87 and 95 that i could not get the engine out with the FA still in place...the oil pan hit that and the intake caught the lip of the firewall... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishead Posted September 27, 2006 Author Share Posted September 27, 2006 Thanks Slick, very interesting read. Talked to my mechanic last night, and he said that it would be about $500 labour to swap engines. As much as I would LOVE to do it, my driveway is pretty much the only place I can work, and it is too slanted. Maybe if I buy a house one day... I'm thinking JDM engine too. For the same amount of money, I can buy a parts truck with 250,000KM. As much as I would LOVE a spare... everything, having a young engine would ROCK. Thanks for your help guys. Chris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 good luck...keep us posted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 My engine was from a company in Lynnwood WA... No location in your profile... Dont know if this would be a good source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishead Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 Hmm... I added myself to the Frapper Map, guess I better look in my profile. Thanks. I am about 100 Miles (as the crow flies) north of Lynnwood. I could easily borrow a buddy's Diesel Dodge Ram and go pick one up. I contacted one company, and they wanted $195 to ship it to me. The Cummins TD would cost about $30 to drive down and back. Do you have the name of the company by any chance? I emailed several and got responses varying from $500 to $2400. I would like to go with one that I have heard something about. My wife wants us to wait for a few months before we fix the truck as the Honda I am driving in the mean time gets about 30mpg. That friggen car has 435,000km on it and runs perfectly. My buddy just took it through Air Care and it passed perfectly. Problem is, it has 2" of clearance if even... I wonder if it would make a good Radio Control project... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Forgine Engine 800.552.9889 Alan did the Sales, Fabion does the warrenty stuff... Comes with a 12 month unlimited warrenty, I would also suggest the Maintance Warrenty incase you have some little quirks like mine... Other then the tap, which we now beleive to be a bad replacement lifter... it would pay for a % for a mechanic to dive back in and change something out.... While your at it, new studs for the exhaust, Thorleys $340, Oil filter relocation kit 30-50 100 miles north... Ferndale?? or farther??? Wait you said Crow... some where up the Skagit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 (edited) That would put you in Canada... Nevermind, just checked and found that you updated your profile.. so yeah, that places you in Canada Edited September 28, 2006 by RedPath88 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishead Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 Yup, Canada. Vancouver area, Maple Ridge to be more precise. About 25 miles further then Ferndale. I was gonna say "I just DID the exhaust bolts", but that would be on my old engine. Doh, I gotta do them again? I am thinking it would be easiest to drill them out while it is in the back of buddy's truck, eh? Thorleys and oil relocation... I so wanna, but am borrowing for everything already. I guess I would have to do the T-belt though, huh? The water pump on my old one is only 6 months old, so I will prolly just steal that. I am gonna call those guys some time next week. Thanks Casey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatguy03 Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 fishead hey a fellow canuck and so close im just over in pitt meadows Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 I dont know if they will give you any grief taking it back across the border???? You will most likely get a Engine from a MAX, I had to swap my flywheel, just do it, trust me... Depending on the Oil Pump Housing, it may or may not have that one little timing cover bolt on the bottom, if it does not, and you use your timing covers, with out the bottom bolt makes a hella noise...... It will mostlikely come with a 2wd H2O Pump... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishead Posted September 29, 2006 Author Share Posted September 29, 2006 Dood, right on. I drive past you every morning at about 6:25ish, and park on that thing we call a bridge on my way to Port Moody. We should go fishing some time. So... talked to my mechanic, and he called up his junkyard. They have a VG30E from a super clean looking '94 with 150,000 KM on it for $995 Canadian. I don't think I could get a JDM for that much after exchange, and duty. Plus, this engine comes complete. I wouldn't have to pay for him to swap intake manifold, injectors, or anything like that. I am going to get the engine on a pallet, and haul it into our office with a pallet jack (we share a parking lot with them). That way, I can pull off the exhaust manifold in STYLE!!! Oh man, I just realized that 2 months ago when I drilled out 5 broken studs... waste of time. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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