hey guys, the mechanic told me today that in order to take the heads off he has to pull the motor ? and the total time for this is 27 hours by the book ? does he really have to pull the motor to take them off ? its VE30DE by the way. he said the piston my have a hole in it from the valve hitting the piston does that sound right ? i need to nkow soon cause if he dosent have to pull it then im doing the heads.

 

you shouldn't have to pull it...rather tilt it to access the rear valve cover bolts on the firewall side(at least thats how it went on my VG)...front head should easily come off, motor still in the car...and be careful not to strip the allen head studs/bolts holding the head down......

what exactly are you trying to do?

 

when i set the timing wrong the valves hit the piston and most likely bent them. mechanic says that it may have put a hole in the piston(s) also. god im lookin at 1620 in labor also. does it really have to come out ?

 

do it yourself dont let some machanic screw you hard core. if you can replaced the timing chain even though you screwed up (we all screw up) you can pull the head

 

pull the front head off first and see what happens.
I highly doubt you'll have to pull the engine out, but it'll probably be easier---- especially if there IS a hole in the piston.

if there is, then you'll have to pull the oilpan in order to remove the pieces from the pan and to pull that piston out anyway..
In order to pull the oil pan, you've got to have the crossmember out.. and by that point, you've already got the heads off, probably most of the belts and maybe the crank pulley. not much to support the engine at that point.

but you CAN pull the heads without removing the engine. it's about 3-4 hours worth of work to get them off. when you get that far, look at the pistons and make a determination on whether to pull the rest of the engine at that point.


Then again, you've also got to get the rear manifold off the car... and to do that, you've got to remove the crossmember, rear engine mount, and bracket.

It's not going to be a fun job.
I would highly suggest running a compression check first, BEFORE you go through the rest of it. if the rear cylinders meet compression specs, then leave it alone and concentrate on the front.

 

sure.. and wind up with a ocmpletely ruined engine instead of a partially ruined one.
this isn't akin to saying "If you can change your oil, you can bleed your brakes." it's way different- especially the timing chain. If you can't get that part right, why try the rest of it?
pay a professional.

 

I've never tried, but what about removing the rear head and mani as one?? that won't work??


and I agree...sometimes its better to pay someone rather than possibly screw up again...especially when you get this deep into mechanical aspects of the motor

 

haven't tried myself either, but there's not much room back there- especially on a VE.
I think by the time you try to slide the head off, the manifold may not clear between the block & firewall. but I can't say from experience. it's worth a try. if they don't come off together, then you can probably at least get down there enough to see the top of the pistons and use a mirror to see the valves.
still have to clean the mating surfaces and replace the head gaskets though, so.....
if it won't come off, best thing then is to probably bolt the head down enough to remove the rear manifold, then pull the head completely off and start over.

 

Just pull the whole farkin motor yourself and replace it alreday!

 

pretty much.

 

honestly, its marginally more difficult to pull the motor. take the hood off, radiator out, disconnect wiring harness (simple simple simple), unbolt manifolds from ypipe, pull axles(36mm and 3ft breaker bar works along with a friend on the brakes), attach to cherry picker, unbolt mounts and wiggle the thing out..
i have to pull my tranny yet again and i think its almost easier to just pull the damn motor attached to it (i find it to be a HUGE PITA to get the tranny back in), i just dont have access to a cherry picker anymore.
in any case, good luck.

 

Bah.. the tranny is the easy one.
I've swapped a clutch and flywheel in 4 hrs flat.. as long as the clutch is lined up inside the pressure plate, then the tranny goes in fairly easily.

 

thats about how long it takes me but i find it alot easier to pull the motor, takes probably 25 minutes to get the clutch/flywheel off and back on total, the rest of the time is mostly wiggling the transmission into place, which i hate.

 

Pull the motor to do the clutch????? I think i'll put the motor to make changing my oil easier next time. I do Maxima clutches in about 4 hours time and that includes cleaning it, changing flywheel, rear main seal, and axle seals. Why in the world would you pull the engine out?
I'm looking for a VE motor thats been trashed and pulled already just to do some exploratory tinkering like taking it apart. By the looks of things it would be a lot of work to get the heads off especially the back bank while in the car.

 

thanks guys im just letting the mechanic do it !

 

ooh big buks !!!
you sure you don't wanna just fly matt in and let him do it?
probably would end up being cheaper

 

There's an easier way to check if there's a hole in the piston. Just have the mechanic stick a light or little camera thingie inside the plug hole and take a look. The other way is to give the chamber pressure and see if it holds air. If there is a hole, it won't hold for crap.

I still say it's much cheaper just to get a replacement motor. If there is a hole in the piston, you are looking at a minimum of $1500-$2000 of work. A replacement motor should be $1000 retail or maybe cheaper via ebay etc..

 

Ebay?

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=263901

 

That's for the tranny?

 

for what your going to pay a machanic to do fix your motor you could have 2 jdms sittin in your garage and like i said if i can change an engine im sure you can. good luck on your chioce but i think you should reconsider that move get your car back and fix it youll fell much better than paying somone to do it. remember this isnt rocket science

 

so matt doing anything this week ? j/k i have been mulling it over the day and im am considering doing the motor myself. its just alotta work and its cold out. plus i dont have air tools or an engine crane. its alotta work to do in a driveway especially when your fingers are frozen i know its alotta money i guess i just will have to bit the bullett and pay for it, wish some of you guys were closer if i need a motor i may just get a junkyard one for now its like 400 bucks. I just really hope its the valves. i still cant believe that you have to take the motor out to get to the heads.

 

See if you can find someplace that will rent some indoor working space. That'll probably be the most cost effective idea.
Or if you don't want to do it yourself have the shop just drop the motor in. labor will be less than the heads

 

Engine Crane/Stand = $210 tops

Btw, what all do you need with the heads? Cams? Tensioners? etc?

 

as far as the heads go ill need the cams, valves and everything that goes with them ( guides, ect..) i have vtc's and can use the exhaust sprokets off the old ones, also the chain tensioners should be ok too.

 

well its official the mechanic took the heads off today and the valves are stuck open (cause they are bent) the pistons survived and they are ok so i dont need a motor, just a set of heads. my baby should be back up and running soon thank god.....

 

27 hrs????

 

Are you just going to have the mechanic replace the valves and put the heads back on? If so, make sure the valve guides didn't get bent too. If they are brass( I don't remember), they might have been bent too in the process. I suppose you could just install a valve and "wiggle" it for a ghetto measurement.

Good luck and I hope you get the car running asap

 

geta jdm engine for like 1200 and have the mechanic install the motor for you

 

im just getting a new set of "complete" heads I just hope the person emails me back !! This was from an ebay auction a while back where the heads never sold. Ive kept in touch and i emailed him telling him im ready to buy them ASAP !!

 

ygpm

 

ygpm.................

 

And I bet he got the heads off without pulling the motor, sounds like he was just trying to blow smoke up your anus. I wish you luck with the final cost from "this" mechanic. For him to say pulling the motor was needed to pull the heads sounds like 1) he pop your bonet saw the VE and got scared so he tried scaring you with the possibilities of a high estimate or 2) he's setting you up for the big final pay off 3) don't forget smoke up your anus. By now these pics should look firmiliar, notice how the motor is still in the engine bay?

 

actually he did take it out of the car. but it was ok i got to go to the garage and personally inspect everything so i knew he wasnt screwing me, youd be suprised what you can clean with the motor out of the way !! anyway the price wont be all that horrible ill just have to work overtime to get the money I NEED my baby back ASAP. hey check out the heads im lookin at and tell me what you think.