95 Pathfinder engine swap - Need help

[PFFlier]

Has anyone seen a well documented engine swap for a Pathfinder VG30E with AT. I plan on leaving the tranny if possible. I did a timing belt a while back thanks to Dr Bill's great work and was hoping to find something along those lines. Even if it isn't a VG30E it would still be helpfull.

Thanks

[unccpathfinder]

I don't have much on pictures I don't believe but i've done this several times and can give you a quick run down...I don't think its possible to leave the tranny in but maybe if you disconnect the rear driveshaft and slide it back about 4"...if you have a body lift i think it may be possible but here is a basic run down text base:

 

~Disconnect positive battery cable

~Disconnect starter cables and remove starter

~drain coolant and remove radiator/fan shroud (there are 2 tabs on the lower shroud that will allow you to remove the lower section of the shroud so it will slide up and over the fan without removing the fan)

~unbolt torque converter through starter hole (4 bolts, rotate the engine using the crank bolt to gain access to each one)

~disconnect all wires, vacuum lines, throttle cables and coolant lines while marking mating components I typically went with a paint pen and marked 1-X on electrical and C1-Cx for coolant and V1-VX for vacuum lines

~Jack up vehicle and support on stands

~loosen jam nut on torsion bars and loosen bars, remove front mounting hardware and drop out torsion bars

~drop out torsion bar X member

~remove exhaust cross over pipe from cat and exhaust manifolds or header

~remove front drive shaft if 4x4

~loosen rear drive shaft at rear axle, don't pull the slip end out of the trans until you want to drop it b/c fluid will leak out unless you drain the tranny before hand

~disconnect any wires, transmission cooler lines and shift linkage (i've only pulled 1 auto and don't remember how that linkage is set up but I think you can pull the cable from the trans and not mess with the shifter)

~loosen transmission bolts and leave 2 or 3 in...i typically take all the top ones out since they're a PITA to get to...you will need about 18" worth of extensions, a U joint and lots of patience

~I jack the truck back up and remove the jackstands and set her on the bump stops at low rider status to remove the transmission the rest of the way, i typically use a cherry picker through the cab on a MT so I can only suggest a tranny jack for this...and drop the tranny out

~remove the motor mount bolts from engine block

~attach to factory lift points if they are still available

~attempt to pull engine...if you clear the front axle you're a lot luckier than me..if not set the engine back down....

~remove CV bolts from front axle flange

~remove front axle supporting bolts and vent tube

~drop out front axle

~now pull engine

 

everything goes back together in revers order...i'll see what pictures i can find to try and post them

[Indigent]

You most definitely do not need to pull the transmission out to do an engine swap. support the front end of the transmission, and unbolt it from the engine. You do need to drop the torsion bars. You can get to the torque converter bolts through the starter hole and the engine gusset hole. Disconnect the wires/hoses/etc. from the motor. Pull the upper intake (plenum) off, and bolt a chain to the motor and unbolt the motor mounts from the frame. Yank it straight up and out.

 

I will try to find pics of the process when I did mine back in april.

Edited October 17, 2010 by Indigent

[Precise1]

This sounds good, I need to pull the motor out of my parts truck and was hoping I could leave the tranny alone. Well, I may have to back it up to clear the MT input shaft... My question is why do you have to drop the T-bars to lift the motor up and out??

 

B

[Tungsten]

look under the truck and you will see why

[Precise1]

It's raining, quit being cryptic.

 

B

[Kingman]

No you don't have to drop the torsion bars? Is that only for an automatic? I've yarded my engine out a few times and didn't touch the torsion bars or transmission in any way.

[sewebster]

I dropped the t-bars and popped out the lower link spindles to get access to the bolts for the front crossmember, which I then removed in order to get room to pull the engine. This was a bit of a pain.

[k9sar]

You do not NEED to pull the crossmember but it may help. I swapped mine without removing the tranny, t-bars or crossmember. Mahe sure you get all the tranny bolts. There's nothing like trying to slide uyour engine forward to disengage it from the tranny when there is a (#*@!^%(@!^%@! bolt still in the top of the bell housing. If you don't trust yourself being careful, you may want to remove the radiator so you don't bust it when the engine and tranny separate. If I recall, I had to jack up the tranny front and tilt the engine a bit to gain clearance over something but I don't rember what it was. Just keep that maneuver in the back of your mind. The more you remove from the engine, the easier it will be to remove (altenator, PS pump, etc).

[sewebster]

Not removing the radiator? Crazy! But I guess I didn't remove the fan, so that would give you extra room up front

[Kingman]

Oh yeah, now that K9 mentioned it, make sure you get the two topmost bolts on the bell housing. They are a pain in the ass, and sometimes worse to torque down upon instillation.

[sewebster]

The bolt I forgot about was a short one near the starter that has the head on the engine side.

[Kingman]

The bolt I forgot about was a short one near the starter that has the head on the engine side.

 

That one pissed me off too. It can also be a pain in the ass getting the two plates between the block and bell housing to line up and get bolts through.

[PFFlier]

Thanks guys for the discussion. But the free engine I was going to swap in is no longer available as the guy changed his mind. So now I need to do a headgasket on the old one. I did one a while back on Toyota 4Runner with a V-6 so I should be able to do this one. It would be nice to find a writeup with pics on that if anybody has one. I may have to start a new topic for this.

Thanks guys.

[Kingman]

Well that's no good. Uh, yeah, a head gasket job on a Nissan MPFI V6 is cake compared to that 3VZ-E Toyota garbage.

 

As a suggestion, use only Nissan brand head gaskets. They are the strongest with metal jacketing, most other brands like Fail-Pro are a paper style which sticks to the surfaces and "tears" as the block/heads expand and contract. The failure rate for Fel-Pro gaskets on VGs is insanely high. All of their other gaskets are top notch, just not head gaskets... at least for the VG. On the L-Series motors they were the fix for the shoddy factory Nissan gaskets.

 

I haven't seen a write-up for the job, it's not a common failure really. Some members have done it before and there is a very specific torque sequence to follow for the heads.

[PFFlier]

Well that's no good. Uh, yeah, a head gasket job on a Nissan MPFI V6 is cake compared to that 3VZ-E Toyota garbage.

 

As a suggestion, use only Nissan brand head gaskets. They are the strongest with metal jacketing, most other brands like Fail-Pro are a paper style which sticks to the surfaces and "tears" as the block/heads expand and contract. The failure rate for Fel-Pro gaskets on VGs is insanely high. All of their other gaskets are top notch, just not head gaskets... at least for the VG. On the L-Series motors they were the fix for the shoddy factory Nissan gaskets.

 

I haven't seen a write-up for the job, it's not a common failure really. Some members have done it before and there is a very specific torque sequence to follow for the heads.

 

Thanks for the quick answer. I'll check into that Nissan brand. Do you know anything about "Replacement" brand?

[Precise1]

There are a few threads here that go into head removal but they have to be dug up. I know there was a discussion in one about reusing the head bolts or not; sorry, I can't recall the answer but it is worth considering...

 

B

[Kingman]

It's not difficult to do, the head bolt heads are 10MM Allens, what I've done is find a 10MM socket and a straight 10MM Allen bit, with a breaker bar to get them undone.

[PFFlier]

There are a few threads here that go into head removal but they have to be dug up. I know there was a discussion in one about reusing the head bolts or not; sorry, I can't recall the answer but it is worth considering...

 

B

Funny you should mention replacing the head bolts or not because I was just trying to figure that one out........The Chilton manual says nothing about them being stretch bolts or to discard old ones, so that's what got me thinking about it.

[Kingman]

Always replace head bolts.

[5523Pathfinder]

Here is from Alldata, but its mostly the same from the FSM...

 

Cylinder Head Removal-

 

Release fuel pressure. Disconnect negative battery cable.

 

Remove timing belt.

 

Drain coolant by removing drain plugs from both sides of cylinder block.

 

Separate the ASCD and accelerator cables from the intake manifold collector.

 

Disconnect the following connectors:

AAC valve

Throttle sensor and throttle valve switch

ignition coil

Power transistor

EGR control solenoid valve

Air regulator

EGR temperature sensor (California models only)

 

Disconnect the water hoses from the collector, the heater hoses, and the PCV hose from the RH valve cover.

 

Disconnect the vacuum hoses for the canister, master cylinder, and fuel pressure regulator.

 

Disconnect the purge hose from the canister.

 

Disconnect the EGR tube, ground harness, and air duct hose.

 

Remove the fuel feed and fuel return hoses from the injector fuel rail.

 

Disconnect all the injector harness connectors.

 

Remove the fuel rail assembly.

 

Disconnect the Engine temperature switch connector, Thermal transmitter harness connector, and the water hose from the thermostat housing.

 

Loosen the intake manifold bolts in the order shown above and remove the intake manifold.

 

Remove both camshaft sprockets.

 

Remove rear timing belt cover, distributor, and ignition wires.

Note: Do not rotate distributor rotor after removing the distributor from the engine.

 

Remove the harness clamp from the RH valve cover.

 

Remove the front exhaust tube from the exhaust manifold.

 

Remove the compressor and alternator. Remove the compressor and alternator brackets.

 

Remove both valve covers.

 

Remove the head bolts in 2 to 3 steps. Remove the cylinder head together with the exhaust manifold.

[Indigent]

Your profile thing there says you are in the northwest. There are a ton of us up here. If you are around the Yakima area I can be of help.

[PFFlier]

Your profile thing there says you are in the northwest. There are a ton of us up here. If you are around the Yakima area I can be of help.

From a nation wide perspective that sounds pretty close, but I live in Sequim and that would still be quite a drive.

[unccpathfinder]

alright here's my stab again as this was my cherry popper as far as doing "serious work"

 

note 1: I have never purchased new bolts...someone feel free to do the calcs but from my experience the torque range is not torque to yield as a heat cycle would cause the bolts to eventually elongate enough through heat cycles to become brittle and break...but someone do the calcs off of the thread pitch and torque values to see the actual tensile load on the bolts and i'd assume something extreme like .1 elongation at max engine temp to see if the tensile strength exceeds the yield strength of the bolt material...i highly doubt it...

 

 

the rest...is fairly simple...

 

drain coolant

disconnect and mark plug wires, vacuum lines and coolant lines

unbolt intake manifold...PITA if your MPFI this was much easier on TBI engines...i think with the MPFI you have to do the upper intake then lower intake

pull all drive belts

pull timing belt covers and timing belt (need harmonic balancer pulley crows foot type with right bolts to thread into puller, crank bolt needs to be out first

pull valve covers

pull rockers

pull lifters FSM nad haynes talk about methods to keep them primed

refer to service manual and loosen head bolts in order...

clean gasket surfaces..dont use metal abrasive disk but 3m disks and goo gone work great

set #1 to TDC

install heads

do the rest of the @!*% in reverse order...i think the 1st one i did took a total of about 20 hrs but all pictures were lost...

[PFFlier]

alright here's my stab again as this was my cherry popper as far as doing "serious work"

 

note 1: I have never purchased new bolts...someone feel free to do the calcs but from my experience the torque range is not torque to yield as a heat cycle would cause the bolts to eventually elongate enough through heat cycles to become brittle and break...but someone do the calcs off of the thread pitch and torque values to see the actual tensile load on the bolts and i'd assume something extreme like .1 elongation at max engine temp to see if the tensile strength exceeds the yield strength of the bolt material...i highly doubt it...

 

 

the rest...is fairly simple...

 

drain coolant

disconnect and mark plug wires, vacuum lines and coolant lines

unbolt intake manifold...PITA if your MPFI this was much easier on TBI engines...i think with the MPFI you have to do the upper intake then lower intake

pull all drive belts

pull timing belt covers and timing belt (need harmonic balancer pulley crows foot type with right bolts to thread into puller, crank bolt needs to be out first

pull valve covers

pull rockers

pull lifters FSM nad haynes talk about methods to keep them primed

refer to service manual and loosen head bolts in order...

clean gasket surfaces..dont use metal abrasive disk but 3m disks and goo gone work great

set #1 to TDC

install heads

do the rest of the @!*% in reverse order...i think the 1st one i did took a total of about 20 hrs but all pictures were lost...

 

Thanks for the info. Can you elaborate on the 3M disk specifics (3M is a huge corporation with a gillion products).

Also has anyone used products from Parts Dinosaur? He sells TSM gasket sets and PCI timing belt. He says they meet or exceed OEM and the prices seem good. I'm doing this project for my son in law(he and I both have pathfinders) who just got back to work and is currently broke and I can't afford to sink more into it that necessary as I've been out of work a long time too (building contractor......need I say more!).