New Engine

[tekno000]

So my engine is dead... I've got an '89 Pathfinder two door (sorry I don't remember the model number). I need a new engine but I don't know if I should get another '89 engine or a different year engine. I do a lot of off roading (nothing to crazy, just mud and stuff) but I also drive from northern Washington to southern Oregon and back once a month. Any suggestions?

[Roost]

I got my replacement engine from a place called Japan Direct here in NC. They may have one out there or something like it. I would not suggest anything shipped to you, as if it has any issues, your screwed about replacement or resolve. I had to go through3 engines to get the one that would work. The first one had to big of a crank, 32mm vs. 25mm. The second one was burnt on the inside, but hte outside looked great. Third time is the charm. It's a great engine and I didn't have to pay a dime for any of these issues.

 

Just my $.02, hope this helps.

 

Semper Fi

[tekno000]

Cool. I've been looking at the ones from Japan too. I'm probobly going to get one from there or just get a brand new one. I was just trying to figure out what the best year was.

[unccpathfinder]

the 3.0 engines are the same (even the car 3.0s with different bolt ons)...the best engine would be one that you see run prior to removal and/or have one pass a compression check...get it from a reliable source and you should be good...but with anything used you would want to replace a lot of parts/seals/gaskets/tb/etc but still run the risk of the oil pump being bad or a ring blowing out on you X miles down the road...but for the most part these are tough lil engines...I dont know if I would shell out the $ for a brand new crate engine and if I were I would just build up my busted one if the block is still good

 

Roost did bring up a good point...you want to make sure that the crank snout is right...

 

I have built up a pathy engine from a maxima (which is for sale) but I never got the chance to run it to check it out other than a compression check and the internals

Edited November 16, 2007 by unccpathfinder

[Roost]

Cool. I've been looking at the ones from Japan too. I'm probobly going to get one from there or just get a brand new one. I was just trying to figure out what the best year was.

 

The VG30 is pretty much the stock block for the 88-95 PF's. If you get a new one, you'll pay a lot for a brand new engine. If you buy one from Japan, you'll pay a lot less for a engine with about 40-50k miles before you do almost a complete rebuild. I would suggest the Japan engine again. Get all the advice you can, ask questions if you have them and ask questions if you have the least doubt about something. It's cheaper than doing it twice.

 

Get manuals, Chilton, Haynes and the expensive Service Manual that goes for about $100 or more. If one doesn't have the information that you are looking for, the other just might. I had the Haynes manual tell me something that the Service Manual did not, well worth the money. You can also get a CD from Ebay that has the Service Manual so that you can print one page of if you need just one page to replace one or get one really nasty, greasy and not care. I wouldn't get just the CD, even though you can get it to your place for about $8. The ink to print the damn thing would cost more than just buying the manual.

 

If you can get someone that knows what their doing to help, it's worth a lot more than you'll know.

 

 

I hope this helps.

 

Semper Fi

[tekno000]

Thanks. I've got a mechanic that is helping me. He has always fixed my cars in the past. I will do some more research though.

[Roost]

One thing that you may not notice but if you don't know about it, you'll learn the very way.

 

The dip stick tube is not located in the same location on the Japanese model as in your American model. If you try to keep it in the same Japan location, you will not be able to get the dip stick out until you remove the oil pan, which means removing the engine. Yeah!!!!

 

It's a bit of a pain to knock out the brass insert, so I took a old broken handle screwdriver and put a couple of bends in it to make it look like a crescent moon. A lot easier than removing more engine parts that are a pain to work with.