america8371

I have 1990 SE with the VG30E. I was wondering if there are any difference in these VG30Es or if this is just a stupid question. And if there is, are parts from any of them worth swaping to improve performance and how much would they improve performance.

87-88 200SX
84-89 300ZX
84-89 300ZX Turbo
90-95 Pathfinder
93-98 Quest

And can I swap any parts from these.

90-96 300ZX (VG30DE or VG30DETT)

Thanks in advance.

And thanks to Craig B for those window regulator directions. It helped a lot.

Mizeree_X

iTrader: (9)

The VGs are all slightly different, but essentially the same. The 300ZX turbo engine (84-89) has been swapped in by a few people, most notably mtcookson. As for the Z32 engine, I think the pistons and injectors swap in, but you can't do an engine swap feasibly because the VG30DE is too wide (which is why Nissan designed the VE30DE to drop into the FWD Maxima chassis).

Badaxxima

Wasn't the 200SX a RWD 4-cylinder? Powered CA18DE/DET, which was the predecessor of the SR20?

america8371

I thought the same theing about the 200SX but i got some of this info from a web site and they said that the 1987-1988 200SX came with VG30E.

bru91

iTrader: (3)

Nissan is confusing- the U.S. 200sx is a two door b14 sentra, fwd, with the sr20de. in other parts of the world, like new zealand and australia, the 200sx is an s12 silvia, rwd, and powered by the ca18de but there are versions that come with the vg30e stock, although they are not as common as the 4 cylinder ones.

Badaxxima

Hey, you learn something new every day!
Look what I found <= Clicky

Bru91- Before the B14 ever came along, there was another 200SX. It was a midsize coupe, with the CA18DE/T and the VG30E from '87 to '88 (160/165hp V6).

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

actually there's a 200sx for sale that I sent my brother info on, since after driving my impulse he wants a RWD stick

mtcookson

iTrader: (2)

87-88 200SX - bit less powerful
84-89 300ZX - same
84-89 300ZX Turbo - turbo manifolds and turbo can be put on our cars with some fabbing or the engine can be swapped it but either way you'll need to fab some stuff
90-95 Pathfinder - intake manifold is supposed to be the best flowing intake manifold of all VG30E's. you can swap it on but it won't clear the hood properly so you'll need to either put a hood scoop on or do some fancy to work there to make it work properly. i'm in the process of doing this now and once i have something figured up i'll let everyone know how it goes.
93-98 Quest - non-interference VG... might be good for boosted applications to run the **** out of it (maybe even test different red lines since valve float wouldn't cause any harm or something like that) but i'm not sure...

america8371

What type of "fabbing" are we talking here. Is it just how they connect or is there more involved.

Do you mean that it is the exact same engine parts (meaning the same engine) or the exact same in performance? Beacuse I was thinking of going to a junkyard around here that has about four or five 84-89 300ZXs and swapping some parts (like cams or maybe heads). But if they are the same i guess its not worth it.

What about the 90-96 300ZX (VG30DE or VG30DETT)?

Cliff Clavin

iTrader: (11)

The older RWD 200sx (84-88) is known as an S12 and preceded the s13. It is also called a Gazelle. You can find them with CA18E-T engines (135 hp, non intercooled), CA20E (102 hp non-turbo), or a VG30E (160 hp). From what remember, some non-US versions (probably the later year cars) have CA18DET engines. A guy down the street from me has an 84 with the turbo engine. It is not really that fast, but his is stock.

95turbo gxe

iTrader: (25)

Ok if you are doing it to gain performance none will be gain from the z31 non turbo heads or cams. They are pertty much the same. There engine had the same horsepower as the vg30e maxima motor.(160hp) Now if you are trying to rebuild the motor Im pertty sure those parts will work for a rebuild But you will not gain or loose anything from that.

Scope

iTrader: (5)

VG30E!!! Please read previous posts!! j/k

america8371

Let me get this straight, there's no difference between my car's VG30E and the
84-89 300ZX Turbo's VG30E?
What about the 90-96 300ZX (VG30DE or VG30DETT), can i swap cams, heads, etc.
without acually switching engines for more HP.

Kikcaffine

there is a difference between the all those vg's. The old z turbos is just that a turbo and the new z engine is dohc. Argh your making this too complicated. Its more than just switching a head to goto dohc. Someone who is more of an expert can help you here with this. You should swap an sr20det if anything, duh!

4dscPat

Again:

The VG30DE and DET heads are too wide for our engine bay. Thats why Nissan created the VE30DE. It's basically a VG30DE with smaller, more streamlined heads to fit our cars.

The only engine worth swapping is probably the VG30ET.

subs1000w

84-89 300ZX Turbo's VG30E

the 300zx turbos VG has lower 8.5:1 compression so if you wanted to use the pistons to lower your compression your could do that but i bet the heads are the same as the non turbo. and cams made for a turbo car will likely hurt performance of an NA car

america8371

Whats the difference between the camshafts of the regular VG30Es and the one that come off the 300zx turbo VG30Es. Are the lobes thicker, longer, etc.?

I wish the search was enabled so i could search for it.

mtcookson

iTrader: (2)

Difference between our engine and the previous VG's:

84-86 (early 87) Z31 VG30E - I believe they used a crossover pipe design instead of independent manifolds going out the back but don't quote me on that one. They did have different intake manifolds that are said to flow a bit worse than our intake manifolds which is most likely where the torque number difference occurs. The crank snout is shorter on these than our engines which in turn means it has a different crank pulley. The crank pulley has a multi-groove belt and I believe two v-belts. There are probably a few different sensor but the basics of it are the same. Same compression ratio, same heads, block, probably pistons and rods, same cams, etc.

84-86 (early 87) Z31 VG30ET - Notable differences - has a crossover pipe design that brings all of the exhaust to the turbo, it has lower compression pistons (~7.9:1), and of course a turbo charger which is of a T3 style but quite small. Cams are the same, heads, block, etc. etc. It still has the shorter crank snout however.

Both 84-86 and early 87 engines use the same clutch, flywheel, and pressure plate setup as ours. The throwout bearing is different though... but that doesn't really matter. This all means you can buy clutch kits that are for these cars and bolt them straight up to ours. The reason to do this is that they generally make the clutches for them handle more power than the ones offered for the Maxima's.

(late 87) 88-89 Z31 VG30E "W" block - Again, I believe the N/A had the crossover pipe setup. The only thing that changed on these is probably some electronics since it got a better ECU and it got the longer crank snout that is like ours. This engine is most similar to ours but I believe still had a bit less torque output due to the intake manifold design and such.

(late 87) 88-89 Z31 VG30ET "W" block - Crossover pipe design to the turbo, lower compression pistons (8.3:1), and a T25 styled turbo which is way too small.

The late 87 and 88-89 VG30E uses the same clutch, flywheel, and pressure plate as ours but uses a different throwout bearing like the previous engines. The VG30ET uses a 250 mm clutch setup however. This will not work with our cars unless you get the flywheel for it too but there is no reason to however. The clutches for this one are generally rated at handling less power than the smaller 240 mm clutches that come on the other VG's.

All of the Z31 VG's have different accessory setups and different motor mounts that are located more to the front of the engine.

2nd generation Maxima VG30E - A few older styled sensor and controls and such, crossover pipe design, different intake manifold, pulled same horse power I believe but like the other N/A VG's a tiny bit less torque. Pretty sure the same goes for the VG in the 200SX as well.

To my knowledge, all of the older VG's had a a different oil filter setup. Ours are on this big aluminum piece that extends out a little bit. I'm pretty sure all of the others were closer to the block.

Later VG's:

90-95 Pathfinder VG30E - I think the only things that changed here a some various sensors/controls and the intake manifold, which is said to be the best flowing intake manifold of all of the VG30E(T) engines.

93-98 Quest/Villager VG30E - I believe they changed the bore and stroke of these engines to make them non-interference which therefore makes the chances of blowing the engine if you don't have the timing belt changed.... which since mostly women would be driving these things its not something they'd really think of. i'm mean...

The only things we can use from the later VG's (VG30DE, VG30DET (JDM), and VG30DETT) are the rods and pistons. With some machining work you can also get the crank to fit in there. You can only use the pistons out of these engines if you use the rods. They connect differently than ours so you can't use VG30E(T) rods with VG30DE(T)(TT) pistons and the same goes for using VG30DE(T)(TT) rods with VG30E(T) pistons, they won't match up.

What's nice about that stuff is that the VG30DE(T)(TT) internals are all forged minus the pistons however forged pistons are readily availabe for these things. The crank and rods are said to handle 600 hp. Most likely the crank can handle more (I've heard of someone pushing 2,000 hp on a stock crank but have no validity on that). You can readily buy aftermarket forged rods for them that I'm sure would handle much more than 600 hp... but if you can hit the 600 hp mark without breaking something (i.e. our ****ty trannies) you'd have my congrats

That's about the basics of the VG engines to my knowledge. I could list a whole lot more but this should get you going pretty well.

america8371

thanks for the lesson mtcookson. so pretty much what im understanding is that nothing from an older engine could possibly improve my performance. that suck cus im an automotive student who can't afford much except running through a junkyard looking for better parts.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

find a used NAWZ system

america8371

..............nawz?

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

T28 chief.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

Nitrous Oxide

Maxzilla91

but our VGs are getting old... nawz would blow it up. but i guess that's ok if u want piston soup for dinner.

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

misconception of nitrous oxide use.

nitrous don't blow engines...people do.

mtcookson

iTrader: (2)

its a T25

mtcookson

iTrader: (2)

you can swap in the late 87, 88-89 VG30ET engines. the only problem is that the turbo sits right where the motor mount needs to go on our cars. you either need to make a custom motor mount, mount the turbo differently on there but in turn requires you to get a slim fan setup on the radiator, or you can totally relocate the turbo which is what i did.

also, you can use the manifolds and such on the Maxima's VG30E instead of swapping the whole engine if you wanted to. you'll need to get bigger injectors and other various things to make it all work buts its not really all that hard to do with a basic mechanical knowledge. just study up on everything and you'll be able to get it all figured out pretty easily.

you can take a look at my swap at http://members.cardomain.com/mtcookson

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

Lack of engine speed, and FUEL!!

Badaxxima

Geez Mark, I remember when you first came on here how much we all ragged on you for being such a typical noob. I'm impressed.

mtcookson

iTrader: (2)

oh yes... i remember those days. lots of flame wars during those times.

rumsawatti

Sorry to dig up such an old thread, but since i'm a newbie I cant make my own thread yet, anyhow I have a question concerning this matter and I have been searching for the answer to no avail. Anyhow, as you know maximas are FWD and 300zx are RWD so what i would like to know is are the engines compatible? I know it is the same vg30e but because of the layout are the parts or the whole motor in general compatible?

The reason i ask is because i have a 1987 nissan maxima the doesn't run. It needs a new engine, however these cars are very hard to find so i cant get an engine directly from one. I wanted to know if i could simply drop a z31 or 89 maxima engine in it without having to do any re-fabrication. Thank you.

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

the "block" is generally the same. the intake mani and exhaust mani are different along with distributors and other accessories.

i believe there was a difference in the crank snout length from the older blocks compared to the newer blocks. i'm not too familar with 2nd gens so i really cant say.

the i'm new here excuse means you failed to look at the stickies. you can post your question here...
http://forums.maxima.org/3rd-generat...ions-here.html