Engine Replacement vq35, leave trans in place? *PIC*

[Canadian]

Hey guys, if you missed my thread in the r50 forum, long story short a stuck closed water control valve caused domino effect and my motor to overheat and the heads to literally split, assuming the block may be junk aswell so I am going to simply put in a used "jdm" low mileage engine. At first I was going to let a shop do it, as I have never done a RWD swap before (many fwd's) and the trans and just size of the engine kinda scared me. Luckily for me my 2001 is only a 2wd, so no transfer case/front axles etc.

 

After starring at it for many hours and over many beers, I decided I am going to try and swap the engine myself, I have a few questions which may seem silly though but would completely change the way I pull the engine. I have already stripped the engine from the top, complete engine harness, a/c compressor and lines, rad blah blah are all out from the top. Here is how it sits

 

 

Today I will reposition the truck better in the garage and attack it from the bottom for the next few days, as the exhaust manifolds, 02 sensors and transmission are going to probably be a HUGE pain.

 

My question really is how to I actually pull the engine away from the trans and out of the car. I understand I will need to take the trans to engine bolts out, aswell the fsm says after pulling the starter I will have access through the starter hole to undo torque convertor bolts (i think?) But I am unsure if I need to actually take the trans out of the car? Or can I leave it connected to its mount / driveshaft and just slide the engine forward and away from it?

 

I have never seen a tq convertor before, so Im unsure if it stays sitting on the engine or on the trans? Im assuming it stays on the trans on some sort of input shaft. See where Im a little lost here guys? If the trans needs to be completely removed from the vehicle that etc... Hopefully someone has some experience and tips they can lend me, because I am way over my head so far but learning as I go. I was also planning on undo'ing the exhaust from the manifold and leaving the manifolds attached to the engine as those bolts look impossible to reach in this chassis, looks like it will fit, disagree?

 

Any questions feel free to ask, I could use all the help I can get and if you guys dont mind I will post pics and questions along the way!! Cheers

[SpecialWarr]

I haven't yet pulled the motor out of a Pathfinder with an auto trans. but I would think that it's not that different from a Subaru. Since it's a 2wd you should be able to pull the motor forward a few inches away from the trans. Leave the trans fully bolted in place, there are, most likely 2 or more pins that locate the motor to the trans plus the bolts that attach them together. The pins are a tight fit and do not allow for much in the way of wiggle room..... 0.003" at most.

 

The motor has to be pulled away from the trans at the exact angle of the pins otherwise it will give the impression of being stuck there. Try not to wedge anything small in the gap between the two, instead try a putty knife first, then two putty knives.

 

The torque converter looks like a huge doughnut with a 2" tube coming out of the "hole" and may come out with the engine. Do NOT let the trans fluid run out of it if you can and try not to turn the tube coming out of it if you can. Aligning that tube is hard enough when the motor goes back in.

 

Exhaust....hmmm....I'm not sure. I would remove the manifolds from the engine if they weren't so delicate.... I'll leave that up to you...

 

Last tip from a guy who pulled the motor out of a Subaru: if it doesn't look like it's going anywhere rock the crankshaft to get things aligned when you are getting things back together!

 

sent from under Ernest the Pathfinder

 

 

[Canadian]

How far do you guys think the engine will have to slide forward before it will be off of the transmission and be able to go upwards.

While I was just under the car, I noticed there is a zig zag of hardlines for the power steering right infront of the oil pan between the engine and front lower subframe. It looks like I could only move the engine forward about 2" before the bottom of the engine smacked the lines into the subframe....

pics of that later, I came back inside because the crank position sensor clip wont unclip from the sensor, every clip so far has been a breeze, but this plug is different looking, and the FSM says to be super fvcking cautious with it so I need to unplug it to remove the last of the engine harness

[SpecialWarr]

From what I've seen 2" of clearance is enough to start jacking the motor up. The trans has a tapered receptor for the tube that sticks out of the torque converter. That 2" is more than enough to start jacking the motor to clear the hardlines. Again, not that I've done that on a pathy but there is space there for a reason!

[Canadian]

I have more room to pull forward then I thought, those hardlines were not actually power steering lines, they were just looped in the that area, I followed them better and they are actually just hardlines from the transmission leading to the radiator to the built in cooler, so I will be able to remove them.

 

I worked on the exhaust manifolds for much to long tonight, what a ridiculous space. I managed to remove both rear o2 sensors and rear resonators, I was sure the resonator to catalytic studs were going to snap but all 6 came free with a bar. That gave me access to the catalytic covertors, and I noticed to remove those you have to remove the catalytic shields, TWO OF THEM WRAPPED AROUND EACH CAT!! which are held on by the smallest bolts in the tightest spaces, but they must be removed as they cover the 6 bolts for each cat. I got all but 2 bolts off but they are in crazy spots I dunno if I can get em, had to quit for the night, its time to drain the trans and I didnt have a container big enough, I'll get on it tomorrow

[5523Pathfinder]

You can pull the motor with the manifolds still attached, just be careful not to catch them on anything. Remove your torque converter bolts and tun the crank a little to break loose the connection of rust. Remove the bell housing bolts that attach to the engine. Don't try to separate until you support the transmission with a stand or jack(use a block of wood). Jack the engine up slightly and pull towards the front of your rig. Take a quick look to make sure the torque converter stays in place. If it gets stuck to the flywheel and comes out with the engine, immediately fill it back up with some ATF and spin it in. It should drop 2 or three times and be about a inch passed the bellhousing.

[Canadian]

What do you mean it should drop 2 or 3 times and be an inch passed the bellhousing?

 

I got some done today, catalytic shields off, both catalytic's off, transmission dipstick tube off (what a PITA) and removed the torque convertor bolts from the starter hole. I managed to pull 6 of 8 of the engine to transmission bolts, 2 are impossible to reach, you cant even see them from underneath. I think you could get them if you rigged up literally 5 feet of extensions and went over the trans blind.

 

but instead, I am going to do it wrecking ball style lol, from the top there is a crossover tube about 2" aluminum round that connects the back of the heads to eachother and it blocks access to both remaining bolts, I wasted an hour trying to take that crossover tube off, but realized its 4 mounting bolts are studs and there isnt enough room to get the pipe out before it hits the firewall.

 

So Im going to sawzall it out, since it and the engine arent needed, just need to pickup a new blade tomorrow, get the 2 bolts below it out, and shes only held in by the motor mounts!!!

Im nervous about the torque convertor now though, because the transmission was rebuilt less than 1000 miles ago I dont fear any rust, but I really dont want to break anything

[Canadian]

Well as I said I couldnt get the crossover tube out and it was hindering the removal of the last 2 transmission bolts, so heres how one looks after meeting the sawzall

 

 

Parts pile is getting big! I try to be organized and bag and tag every bolt for the parts, to make install easier.

 

How she sits now

 

I have a few questions though if anyone has insight. There is this plate here, it was sandwiched between the starter and the engine, it is about 1/16" thick, but has no threaded holes and nothing was attached to it. Im curious its purpose

 

 

Also I removed the bolts from the "flywheel" after removing the starter to gain access, using the crank pulley to spin the motor to gain access to all the bolts, there was only 4 bolts though, and they are only m10 and 12mm deep, to me there should be more bolts? Am I missing something? These bolt 2 "flywheels" together right? I spun the crank around many time and it appears there are only four.. am I missing something??

 

As far as I can tell I am ready to pull the motor, just need to source a truck to transport an engine from 50 miles away, and buy/rent and engine hoist.

 

Any more insight on the actual seperating of the trans and motor would be greatly appreciated!

[SpecialWarr]

The plate may be a gear interface spacer so that the driver gear off of the starter hit the center of the tooth on the flywheel.

 

Separating the motor and trans is serious physical work. Don't even bother getting started unless you are feeling motivated and have lots of time. I found that a tiny bit of tension on the hoist and having the hoist holding the chain in a neutral position makes it way easier to get the two apart. Work around (literally) the bellhousing with a small thin blade, you'll find a place that's it's easier to push the blade in. Stuff it in and leave it there then grab another blade (same size or a bit thicker) and find the opposite spot of the first one. Then work that one into the split. Head back to the first one and see if you can make more room to get a wider thing in there and the keep going back and forth... then start yanking on the motor like you need to save someone. It "should" pop off the pins and just be hanging there.... having 6'8" and 300lbs friends also helps to make things go faster.

 

That's about all I can think of but we're here for you if you get stuck!

 

sent from under Ernest the Pathfinder

 

 

[adamzan]

With all the bolts out, the trans and engine should separate easily. I've never pulled a motor, but I swapped the transmission in my 94 around xmas time, and once all the bolts were out, it practically fell out. Mine had only 4 torque converter to flywheel bolts too. When you go to re install make sure you loc tite and torque those bastards to spec!

 

That bracket is what makes puts the starter in the right place for proper contact on the flywheel. Mine wasn't bolted up quite right and the starter sounded terrible until I fixed it.

Edited April 30, 2014 by adamzan

[Canadian]

Good to know, It seems I got quite lucky and found an engine hoist for sale locally for a steal, and it happens to be in the town that said they have stock of VQ35de engines, so I needed to rent a truck, just so happens a local place is having a sale on truck rentals! Sweeet.

 

Im still going to be spending $1500 today, but it makes it a little better when the ducks all line up.

 

i really hope the engines look good!

[Canadian]

Well I got the new engine today, and the hoist. Very pleased with how clean the engine looks. Really kicking myself in the ass for cutting the crossover pipe off my original engine though, aparently these JDM engines have the tube going on the opposite side. :mad: :mad: :mad:

I held my cut pipe up behind the JDM engine and it looks like it would have fit to. Notice in this pic how the pipe tucks nder the left valve cover, mine went behind the right



Pretty clean, I like how they used a seatbelt to lift the engine, saved me having to buy a chain tonight atleast



Only other difference I noticed was the oil cooler location, where my car has the oil cooler this car just has a sensor. I was in my good clothes and couldnt crawl under my truck to check, but Im hoping my parts will bolt over.



Im curious what you guys think I should do with the crossover pipe, should I leave it as is, the only thing I see it affecting is the upper radiator hose, it is now on the drivers side just above the lower hose, getting a hose to fit that would be no problem, but maybe Im missing something that it would interfere with? There the same size chassis and such right?? I'll have to take a better look. I wouldnt mind leaving the pipe as it is, as a new one from Nissan would probably be $200 (guessing) and I cant pull one from a junkyard car.

Wife is making me take her to the movies for some stupid reason and then I will get dirty and try and pull my blown engine out of my car and get it on a stand side by side with this engine and check the differences more closely.

*just had a thought* I could get my pipe welded back together that I cut off, but its aluminum and the guy would prob charge just asmuch as a new piece..... just an idea

[Canadian]

I ended up buying a factory regular crossover pipe off ebay used, I had a plan to make the JDM one work but then noticed it wouldnt clear the firewall that is humped for the brake booster. Could maybe BFH some clearance, but for $44 I paid for the used pipe, it aint worth it.

[ferrariowner123]

I ended up buying a factory regular crossover pipe off ebay used, I had a plan to make the JDM one work but then noticed it wouldnt clear the firewall that is humped for the brake booster. Could maybe BFH some clearance, but for $44 I paid for the used pipe, it aint worth it.

 

Probably could have found a local dude to just weld it back together for you. Probably would have cost the same as buying the used pipe, but either way, you are just cementing why i am glad not to have a VQ, lol

 

Glad to see your keeping another pathy on the road!

 

Keep this updated please, i enjoy seeing these updates.

 

-Kyle