vq35 swap from G/Z/FX

[Chicano2005]

I was wondering if a VQ35 from a G/Z or FX would be a direct fit in a 99.5 pathfinder?

 

just wondering if maybe my engine would break (God forbidden)what would be a nice upgrade.

 

possible problem with drivetrain (4x4)?

 

any other easy swaps?

[5523Pathfinder]

Easy swap? No, but anything is possible. The 3.5 was offered in the 2001-2004 models. You would need to swap a lot of parts including harnesses, crossmembers, basicly everything. Not too sure if anyone has actually tried the swap yet, but im sure they will ring in soon!

[tekazgtr1984]

There is a member from Ukraine doing this very swap on his pre-facelift R50. Here's the link to his build thread:

 

Danyur's VG to VQ swap

 

As previously stated, anything is possible with the right amount of time, money and dedication. Your best bet would be to source a R50 VQ motor because it was built for the R50 engine bay, which may differ slightly from other platforms (Z33, V35, FX35, etc.).

 

Honestly, I'd say you'd be better off to go with a turbo diesel swap, or sticking with the VG33E and doing a supercharger upgrade. You could then go with custom exhaust, JWT S1 cams, intake, ECU flash, etc.

 

The choice is yours but research your options and go from there.

[adamzan]

upgrade the vg33. it will last forever while the vq35 will explode if you do any "mods" (other than intakes and exhausts).

[Mr.510]

upgrade the vg33. it will last forever while the vq35 will explode if you do any "mods" (other than intakes and exhausts).

 

x2

 

I am more than a little biased but I believe the VG engines are better units than the VQs. My brother is a career (30+ years) Nissan parts guy. When my sister decided she wanted an R50 my brother told her she could not get one unless it was VG powered. The timing assemblies in VQs are prone to failure and they take the whole engine with them when they do fail. A round-tooth VG timing belt is rated for 105k miles and I've personally seen them go 200k. If changed at the proper interval with a factory Nissan belt they just plain do not fail. VGs typically live 250k miles with average maintenance and crap oil. With good maintenance and synthetic or high-detergent dino oil they go 300k easily and I've seen a couple go 400k.

 

VGs are the last truly 'overbuilt' engine from Nissan and are still in production for other markets. I've built racing engines for many years. As time has gone by the manufacturers have built many of the 'tricks' that a race engine of years ago would have had into stock engines. HP keeps going up along with fuel mileage because they are building more highly-stressed engines in stock form. Volumetric and thermal efficiency have gone up due to effectively more radical cam profiles, higher-flowing intake and exhaust tracts, higher compression ratios, and knife-edged cranks with skinny bearings and light connecting rods as well as short-skirted pistons. This means newer-design engines don't generally live as long in stock form and can't be modified for large increases in power without spending really serious money on the internals.

 

 

As for increasing the power of a VG33, I'd either turbo it or do headers with full exhaust, cams, and a chip or Nistune.