I bought a '93 SE 5-speed a few weeks ago and, to my disgust, the engine appears to have a serious oil consumption problem. I looked into the muffler and sure enough, there is oil residue in both outlets. It's using about a quart every 1000 miles! The strange thing is that there is no blue smoke coming from the exhaust pipe and the engine seems to run fine. Also, I changed the spark plugs a few days ago and none of them were fouled with oil. The car doesn't leak a drop of oil either. I've never seen anything like this. So now I have to deal with this crap on top of the two broken exhaust studs I found a few days ago.

I'm thinking either the rings are worn or the valve guides/seals are shot. First thing I'm going to do is a compression check to see if any of the cylinders are losing pressure. Either way, I'm going to yank the heads because one of the broken exhaust studs is in the back head and will be impossible to drill out while still on the engine. I wasn't planning on doing a head/cam swap but since I'm going to pull the top end off the motor, I might as well upgrade the cams and heads. Anyone do JWT or Stillen heads and how much?

I don't want to fix or port the stock heads so don't even go there. I'm assuming JWT or Stillen is the place to go but I want to hear from other 3rd gen owners first. Any help or advice would be appreciated. The engine has 110K miles on it.

thanks,
Jeremy

 

Speak w/ JWT if you are considering anything. for the oil leak, you might want to check the front crank shaft oil seal. Look under your car and see if there a lot of oil on the passenger side of the engine but under the car. Alternator, cv joint, oil pan will all have oil splashed on it. You might be able to do the valve guide seals w/o taking the heads off if you can find the tool that uses compressed air to keep the valve from dropping. No one that I know of, makes aftermarket cams for the VE30DE. Not much market for them. Also you have the VTC advancement to deal w/ when deciding on the new lifts/duration etc...

 

The only place that I have found that makes cams for your car is at http://www.gude.com. I think they run somewhere around $900 for your engine.I was gonna get some for my car until they told me the price.I was just hoping to find some cheaper somewhere else.

 

No one, I mean no one makes high performance heads for any nissan. I figure if your gonna remove your heads anyway might as well get them massaged anyway. This way if you ever wreck the car you can sell them to someone else. Be aware that stock heads are pretty good to start with and that with ported heads/valve job will net you more midrange-highend power. As for cams you are outta luck again, no one makes aftermarket cams for the VE30DE. I should also point out that the cams aren't the weak point in the VE. I did some research and found out that the power difference between the VE30DE and the VG30DE (300zx non turbo engine with 220hp) is basically in the intake manifold. The VG30DE has bigger intake runners so it has more torque from 4000-7000. I believe you might see best results by getting the heads ported with a valve job and getting the intake manifold extrude honed. Other than that there is nothing you can do. Believe if stillen or JWT did sell high performance heads/cams they would run around $2k. On the other hand you can always get ISKY to do a custom grind on your cams.

 

Since you have a GXE your stuck with the VG30E . You can get cams from ISKY $150, JWT $550, GUDE, JUN. I believe the JWT cams might be the best ones on the market, because SCC did a cam comparison in SR20DE. And the JWT cams were the best out of that group. I should also point out that NISMO has a "euro" cam for the VG also, but its the same specs as the ISKY 262 cam. Also Motorsport auto sells cams too, they have 3 different grinds, 260, 270, 280. I can sell ya my old cams so you can avoid that core charge. You should also take the time and get the heads ported with a valve job, since the only way to change the cams is to either remove the heads or pull the engine. Don't forget you will need new lifters and front cam seals.

 

Where can you get ISKY cams. Are they cheap or something because they are a lot less than JWT and gude cams? I have a GXE and I was wondering if anybody knew the differences between the cams and if it is worth the price difference.

 

I'm not 100% up to speed on the isky cams, but I DO know they're regrinds and that you have to send them your old cams as part of a core charge- otherwise they're much more expensive.

BTW, if you don't know what regrinds are, they are used cams that have had metal added to the lobes, then ground back down to the new specs. that way they don't have to engineer a complete new cam and have it cast/forged/ground to spec. they just add a little metal, then grind excess off.

Just a note on that. many people say that makes them weaker, but I know many turbine engine mechanics who work for American Airlines, and that's the same thing they do to ALL the parts in those engines.. the fins inside the turbines are titanium composites, and they are done this way every time the engine comes in for a rebuild. they add a big glob of metal to the wear surfaces, heat-cure and anneal them in a vacuum, then they grind them back to original specs and rebuild the engine. (plus x-ray them under high & low pressure at various temps looking for cracks, but it's almost the same process as the ISKY regrind cams go through)
If it works in a $10,000,000 jet engine, it'll work on your $3000 VG.

 

OK, since no one makes performance heads/cams for the VE30 engine, I'm going to have http://www.extrudehone.com do my intake and heads instead. They quoted me $585 for the intake and $700 for the heads. Anyone else done this?

 

So will I get the same performance increase from the ISKY cams as I would the JWT cams? Or at least are the performance between the two close. Does anyone know the powerbands of each cam? Thanks

 

NISMO7, FAQ this stuff, boy!

I've also been thinking of completely rebuilding the intake manifold myself, but I gotta have a few days of spare time and an extra top-end of a VG to work on. if I ever get bored this summer, that's on the top of my list.
If it turns out well, I may have them produced and sold, but I dunno.. I'm working more on stereo stuff right now. IASCA Finals in 4 weeks!

 

Its hard to say but the JWT cams along with the JWT ECU will give you the best overall performance. Keep in mind the 260 cam is a mild upgrade for the VG, its simular to putting a 91-93 intake cam from a sentra SE-R in the 200sx SE-R which nets around 6hp at the wheels. Remember you can't just bolt in cams and expect big numbers without getting the heads massaged. The ISKY cams http://www.iskycams.com are $150 for the VG. The motorsport auto cams are $169 and they offer 3 regrinds 260, 270 and 280. Unless you have alot of headwork done you won't need more than the 270 cam. You can reach Motorsport auto at 800-633-6331 and the part numbers for VG30E cams are 10-2020 for 260 cam, 10-2021 for 270, 10-2022 for 280.

 

Hey Nismo87 - where can I get those urethane engine/tranny mounts? Mine engine feels a little loose when I bang the gears and I want to swap out the OEM mounts with some better ones. My understanding is that the factory mounts are fluid filled. Do you get more vibration with the urethane mounts? Please advise.

thanks,
Jeremy

 

You can't buy the urethane mounts- you have to make them. Nismo and I both made them using a urethane epoxy stuff. you can get it at most industrial supply places.

I dunno if the stock ones are liquid filled, as there was nothing oozing out of mine when I tore them apart. they are pretty soft though, and could certainly stand to be upgraded.

There is slightly more vibration, but it's nothing worth being concerned about. mine idles smooth as silk in neutral, but when in drive, (auto)I can feel a slight vibration. usually my stereo is turned up enough that the subs make just as much- if not more- vibrations than the urethane mounts do.
as soon as I start moving, all vibrations go away and it's smooth as silk again.

the cost of the urethane epoxy kit was about $25 from grainger supply. I bought the 80 durometer stuff. (urethane comes in different hardnesses, called durometer. they sell 80 and 94 in this brand.) the brand they sell is Devcon Flexane (Devcon= brand, flexane= product).

 

<a href=http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/6160/se-r/mounts.html>Here</a> is a site that details how to make your own if you are so inclined.