alco3 Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Hello everyone. You haven't heard from me in awhile ... I built the VG34 and installed it in my 1994 D21 4wd pickup. Last posts of mine were about bizarre running issues and I finally found out what was happening when the the crank key & key-ways finally broke completely ... valves hit pistons etc.etc. The pulleys were rocking on the crank for awhile hence the weird running. The cause of it all was a broken crank pulley bolt ... or maybe the bolt broke later ... who knows. So the engine is all back together this time with a VG33 crank, & oil pump, AU vibration dampener to allow stock V-belts & accessories and the oil pan & pickup from a 1996 Pathfinder ... But when I go to put the engine in today the pan (from a 96 PF) hits the front differential! This is a 1994 4wd D21 I’m putting this (3rd) engine into and I’m doing it at a friends shop as I don’t have a lift etc. etc. (Truth be told I’m old enough that I need some help in muscling that engine too). He is a friend but his shop is a full on commercial shop and I’ve got a lift bay tied up as I type this …The ’96 PF pan is somewhere about ¾” too deep at the third member. Does anyone know of a pan that will let me put this engine in? Thanks in advance for your help! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Damn, that sucks! Both the failure and realizing it won't fit while it's in the air. Post #5 in Mr. 510's VG34 thread suggests that an Xterra pickup will fit in the WD21 (or presumably D21) oil pan. Sounds like the Xterra pan is the same. I've seen guys talking about rebuilding pickups and bashing pans to make other stuff work, but hopefully this gives you a place to start (or somebody who's found another way can chime in). You might look through a few VG33 swap threads, see if anyone else has made an R50 pan work. Also, is this AU balancer the same as the Canadian balancer? I remember reading those were getting hard to find. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 I know that the Xterra guys will use JY Wd21 or r50 pans as they don't rust out like the WD22 ones. So I would assume it would fit. Are you not removing the front diff when replacing the engine? I couldn't get my engine out without doing that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onespiritbrain Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 +1 for rebuilding the pickup and knocking in the pan. Grab a section of some 1-2” bar stock and lay it across the pan where the diff is making contact. Maybe heat the pan where you want to knock it in so you don’t destroy the whole thing and hit the bar stock for a smooth dip in just the right area. Then trim down the pickup and TIG it back together. Or if you don’t have a TIG, braze that thing back together. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechanic58 Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 Ive successfully jerked one of these engines out without removing the front diff, but Ive never been able to reinstall one without doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alco3 Posted April 16, 2018 Author Share Posted April 16, 2018 Hello everyone ... it turns out NissanNut was working on a similar project and told me all I need is the stock 1994 D21 VG30 4wd pan and oil pickup part number 15050-4S103 for a bolt together install ... he even made a YouTube video ... https://youtu.be/4K1enEnZhdg I don't know if the AU balancer is the same as the Canadian balancer, but it works great for running v belts and all of your accessories when installing a flat belt VG33. You do need to do a bit of machining as the center flange of the AU pulley is larger than the VG30 and the 6 attaching bolt circle needs to be redrilled as its larger too ... Thanks again NissanNut and everyone else here! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OH6PILOT Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 Hello everyone ... it turns out NissanNut was working on a similar project and told me all I need is the stock 1994 D21 VG30 4wd pan and oil pickup part number 15050-4S103 for a bolt together install ... he even made a YouTube video ... https://youtu.be/4K1enEnZhdg I don't know if the AU balancer is the same as the Canadian balancer, but it works great for running v belts and all of your accessories when installing a flat belt VG33. You do need to do a bit of machining as the center flange of the AU pulley is larger than the VG30 and the 6 attaching bolt circle needs to be redrilled as its larger too ... Thanks again NissanNut and everyone else here! I had to do a custom mod on my oil pickup since I had a VG33 Oil pump and needed to fit a VG30E 4WD Pan. Was kinda tricky, but I got it to work out fine. Where did you find an AU balancer for the VG33 Crank?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_Brown Posted April 18, 2018 Share Posted April 18, 2018 Old oil pan and a hammer. Not a big deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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