Scottzilla Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 First off, let me start by suggesting that it's never a good idea to let your timing belt come loose: (Terrible camera-phone picture of cracked piston) Anyway, I picked up a VG30i from a '96 (the guy said) Maxima (48k miles, $50) and am wondering if anybody knows what all I might run into when swapping it in. So far I've noticed that the shaft is smaller/shorter, so it looks like I'm going to have to keep all of the Maxima pulleys and switch to an electric fan. Looks like it should work but I don't know if I can swap pulleys on the AC compressor yet. Does anybody know of any problems in doing this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yozsi Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 96 would be a vq30de, maybe a vg30e. the maxima's never got a tb injected vg30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 i swapped over a 86 altima (maybe it was maxima) VG to a pathy VG...it's not too involved but there were some quirks and shortcuts I took...let me see if I can find my write up...if not i'll post what I remember Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 (edited) quick overview from the for sale section It is also still running the square toothed TB b/c I couldnt get the crank off... http://npora.ipbhost.com//index.php?showto...3&hl=maxima write up but for some reason it lost all of the images... maxima heads: half of the pictures I cant find now...i'll search for them and put them up on photo bucket and post'em back here...not sure how similar they are but it should be close for the amount of work... all the junk pulled from the maxima engine and returned to my buddy at the JY since I didn't want to throw it away and no bites on ebay... EDIT: Image directory...LINK...they're not in any kind of order but you can get the drift of what I went through...I guess the main thing is you will probably have some extra sensors on the maxima engine that you just wont hook up to the pathy...what I did was set the engines side by side and stripped the maxima and then as I pulled something off the pathy engine i put it on the maxima engine so everything went exactly where it came off of...hope that helps some...all of the vg engines should have the same block casting as far as external bolt hole locations...sit them up next to each other and see fi they remotely resemble one another to verify Not reading the other posts I know I had to change out all the mounting brackets, 2wd water pump b/c I used the maxima TB cover (same as 2wd HB) swapped the oil dipstick tube & location, swapped oil pans, swapped intakes and I think that was about it... Edited June 4, 2008 by unccpathfinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottzilla Posted June 4, 2008 Author Share Posted June 4, 2008 yozsi: You're right, I meant to type VG30E instead of I. unccpathfinder: Thanks for all the pictures! The blocks look the same, and it looks like my tranny will mate up just fine. The shaft is different and the dip stick is in a different location. Are those easy to move? It was getting dark and I couldn't tell what was plugging the unused dipstick hole or how easy it would be to unplug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 yea easy to move...once you pull the oil pan you can use a punch to get the plug out (pushing from the inside out) and pull the dipstick tube out and swap their locations... I had read one time about the "crank snout" length being different (mine was the same so I didnt have to do that) so if thats the case you may have to swap cranks which isnt too bad...but i'd def recommend an engine stand... while the engine is out i'd also suggest changing all the seals, head gaskets, timing belt, water pump and exhaust studs (whatever else I may have missed) b/c it's much easier on a stand than in the truck... good luck with the swap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doughboy Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 that motor is the VQ30de..... the VG was only offered until 1994 in the maxima... just fyi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottzilla Posted June 5, 2008 Author Share Posted June 5, 2008 that motor is the VQ30de..... the VG was only offered until 1994 in the maxima... just fyi I looked up the VQ30de and it looks a lot different than what I have. I'm starting to think the guy I got it from just guessed on the year of the car it was out of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottzilla Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 So basically I'm stuck on this whole long crank snout / short crank snout thing. I'm guessing that the donor engine is out of a '93-ish Maxima and it has the short snout and tooth belts. Since my Pathy is an '89 it's got a long snout and V belts. I'd rather not have to change the crank out. Is there a way for me to make the different length snout work? I don't really care which belt style I end up with as long as everything works. I searched the forums and found something about using a spacer kit, but I couldn't find much in the way of details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NissanNut Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Should be able to find a rebuilt long block for around 1k. Never know what you get with a used engine. http://www.jisengine.com/list-prices/html/23022.html dont know if this place ships, but I know oreilys and Autozone can get long blocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 where are you located? if you're interested that maxima engine i talked about is just sitting in the garage...I don't know if it will burn oil or not but I was told it didnt prior to building it up for my truck...if you're interested and close we can work out a deal even if you took it and pulled it apart and rebuilt the bottom end (since the rings are the only thing that be bad but I think they're good since it passed a comp test) I'm located at 93505 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NissanNut Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Texas now. Was CA for 2 long. I have no need for a vg30. I have one spare 94 complete motor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottzilla Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 Yeah, you guys are right. I think it's time to give up on my Maxima engine and get something that will drop in a little easier. My Pathfinder has been apart for several months now and I really want to play with it again. I'm in Bellevue, WA (98008). Ideally I'd like to find something within driving distance so nobody had to ship anything, but if I can't I'll keep you guys in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 My Pathfinder has been apart for several months now I know that feeling...mine has been half ass together for 2+ years now just thinking about it I don't think the snout will matter though if you can make the crank pulley that is on the engine work with all of the accessories... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 When I had the wrecked 89 Pathy, I found that it had a 300Z VG30 in it with the exact same problem...the guy simply strung v-belts on the grooved pulley and ran it. Apparently it worked, for a while... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Hmm... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottzilla Posted June 24, 2008 Author Share Posted June 24, 2008 Heh, that's pretty funny. I'm trying really hard to talk myself out of doing the same thing right now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 (edited) well I was saying swap the V belts out for the grooved pulley's do an electric fan swap if you can't make the grooved idler pulley work Go to a local u pull it lot get the pulley's set it up on the engine stand and figure out if it'll work...if not ebay off the parts but I'm sure you can get it to work...I[m pretty sure NAPA has the Alt and PS grooved belts so if it all lines up you're home free...you may even get that idler pulley to work but I think that would be the only hiccup and then the electric fan swap is an easy solution and nice upgrade... EDIT: I guess you still need the idler though to run the WP Edited June 25, 2008 by unccpathfinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 (edited) You can swap cranks... I have all the same junk Uncc has... Max VG30E swap to a Pathfinder... Oil pan and pick up, dipstick swap on the bottom, Max timing cover and H2O Pump (no hole on the bottom for the lower pathy timing cover) use the Max Heads, Pathy Valve Covers and everything else up is the Pathy.... intake, plenum ect.... Swap the fly wheels as well. I got my JDM from Import Auto in Lynnwood... Short drive for you... you will still most likely have to swap ^^^^ Edited June 25, 2008 by Casey.T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottzilla Posted July 24, 2008 Author Share Posted July 24, 2008 Well, I decided to limit the amount of engineering I had to do. I sold the Maxima engine and picked up a VG30I out of an '88 that dropped right in (I haven't started it yet but the install was straight-forward). I did decide to keep the Maxima alternator so I'd have a few extra amps to play with. I had to make a spacer in order to get the pulley swap to work but the mounting stuff and the connector were exactly the same. Thanks for all the help everybody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkorahil Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 Remanufactured alternator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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