h8onme

Ok so my 3rd fourth gen maxi was totaled from the rear end a couple weeks ago with only 98,000 on it. After Iooking for yet another replacement maxima the only car that seemed worth it at the time was the Infiniti i30 98. When I first bought it I thought it was just the power steering pump making all the racket. Ended up being the harmonic balancer. Changed tthat now I'm hearing all types of horrible noises including what I believe to be a rod knocking but softly and the trans sounds like it's having a hard time even though the cars runs very smooth on the road. Since I still have the totaled maxima I figured instead of chasing down all these headaches with the I 30 I can swap the engine and trans out of the totaled maxi. The one thing I do know for sure is I need the drivers axle from the maxima if I decide to put that engine and trans in the i30. So my questions would be. 1. Will all the harness ends match up. 2. Do I need to separate the trans from the motor to swap it(I do plan on changing the rusted to shyt radiator support, so I will have a lot of space with the front end off.)3. Do I need to put the ecu from the maxi. In the i30. And 4 is there anything else that anyone can think of that I will need to know to get this job done. If aanybody can post any writeups of the job description as to pulling the engine and trans. I would really appreciate it. I've done swaps before but never on a maxi. I know my way around them pretty well. But the more information. I have the better. I want to.do.this right. No lights when I'm done. Both cars have cel' s right now. I just did a swap on an 07 impala for a friend. Who spun a bearing the engine was off a 09 the only difference I noticed while doing the swap is the intake manifold had a different size hole for a sensor. So.I took it off the old engine. Then after I finished and turned the car on it said low oil. Because the older years had a sensor the newer years eliminated. I just don't wanna run into little stuff like this. It had to drop the entire upper and lower oil. Pan afterwqrd and put the old one on. Real p.I.t.a. I know it's a long tread but I love maximas and want to do them justice. I really don't like the i30 too much but every time I drive I just pretend. She's a maxi. I'll probly swap the dash out just to make it a little more real. Whoever is tuned in I really appreciate your feedback. I don't want to.make this thread a never ending story. So let's keep it real if you don't know.don't answer. Thanks everyone

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

You will be dealing with the changes in the pollution controls between a 96 and a 98. Each year had changes. If you don't put the 98 pollution stuff on the 96 engine, you will have problems. Then there is the other part about differences between the Cali cars and the Fed cars as far as pollution goes. If you don't put the 98 pollution stuff on the 96 engine, you will have problems. There is a sticker under the hood on the Infiniti that will say if it is California or federal emissions. The 96 Maximas were all federal I think.

Swapping the driver's axle has potential problems to check for. The axles are different for standard and limited slip differentials. Maximas usually didn't have limited slip unless it was a Canadian car or was sold near the Canadian border. Check the transmission model - RE4F04A is standard, RE4F04V is limited slip. Then the axle can be different because of ABS brakes. There is a transducer ring on the axle if the car has ABS. Nissan only put the transducer ring on the axle if the car had ABS. But if the axle was ever replaced, it may have the ring.

The electrical connectors will fit as long as you have the proper pollution controls. But if you put the 96 ECU into a 98, you must do some pin swapping at the ECU connector.

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

What kind of 96 Maxima was it? GXE, SE, GLE? The I30 is pretty much a fully loaded Maxima GLE, so the easiest swap would be from a Maxima GLE to an I30 of the same year. Differences between a base Maxima GXE and the full luxury GLE from the same year Can be significant.

Also, 1998 was a change-up year. That year all Maximas/I30s got the digital odometer and a newer auto-climate control system. 95-97 Maximas/I30 had the analog odo and a different auto-climate control.

Even though its the same car there are going to be alot of subtle differences in the harnesses and so forth.

You've got a lot of reading ahead of you You can download the FSMs from here;

http://www.boredmder.com/FSMs/Nissan/Maxima/

Good luck

CS_AR

^^ All good information from DennisMik and dwapenyi above.

Last year I had an engine from a 95 model GLE automatic with ~73,000 miles moved to my 99 model SE 5-speed. Really only the engine block with heads were moved. It worked. However, I had some troubled fuel system and emission components on the old engine that were moved to the new engine that cost a bundle to resolve. Thankfully this is not your scenario.

I've seen threads where people pull both engine and transmission using an engine hoist. I've had my engine up but no completely out of the car using a hoist. However, shops with a lift and related equipment (like the dealer) usually drop both engine and transmission.

Here's some questions below:

How many miles are on the I30 engine?

How is the I30 charging system?

If automatic, what is the condition and smell of the automatic transmission fluid.

An item I corrected with my 99 I30 at approximately ~225,000 miles was a weak timing chain tensioner. When I would start the car in the morning, I could hear a tapping noise coming from under the timing cover. Once the car warmed up, the noise would usually disappear. The noise was caused by too much timing chain slack that allowed the chain to bounce against a chain guide. After I got the tensioner replaced, the noise disappeared.

When I first purchased my I30 it had roughly 220,000 miles on it. The battery and charging system was shot. The transmission fluid needed to be changed. The car shifted poorly. Once I took care of the charging system issues and drained/refilled the transmission fluid enough times to remove all of the old fluid, it started driving like a good 4th gen should. Now that the I30 is receiving proper care, I expect the engine to run well past 300,000 miles.

h8onme

Ok well. I plan on taking both axles off the maxima to the I 30. There both in the garage. So my best bet would be change the whole engine, tran, ecu, axleS. Basically absolutely everything. The I 30 is not California emissions. The timing chain is making noise the trans is making noise sounds like it's dry. The charging system is fin. I have 2 12 inch type r's and a Rockford for gate amp. And I have no problems with that. The trans fluid is a little dark but god knows.who did what with it since I got it the maxima is gle. when I'm taking the engine and trans out the maxima I'm just gonna cut the harness after the connector just in case I something doesn't fit and I need to splice something. Really didn't think it would be this much work but hey anything is possible. Thanks a lot guys or girls if any answered

Dhambleton

Will the hoods swap? I drive a Max and need a new hood. Will a 97 i30 hood swap over to a Max?

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

No dice. In the I30, the grill is part of the hood. There's more to it than that, but that's just the beginning.

Finkle

I heard somewhere that the hood might work if the max grill is taken off and the hood release is swapped. Not sure if that will actually work, but it looks like it might work. If I needed a new hood, I'd give it a try. My fabrication side thinks it might work, but the practical side of me says it might take some work and even if it does fit, it might not look right.

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

Don't know why you'd want to do that...I always thought that the 97-99 USA Maxima was/is the best looking version of the A32 body

Daniel VQ30life

iTrader: (2)

Yep swap hood latch