Was one of the unfortunate casualties of this major storm running through SoCal. Got stuck in a puddle on my way in to downtown L.A. yesterday and the worst case scenario occurred. Sucked water into the engine via my CAI. Now I have to replace the engine so I'm wondering what my options are at this point. Can I get a VE and drop it in there if I find one that's available? I do have a manual transmission, so I'm looking to get this done as soon as humanly possible. There's an engine shop down the road from me, and I'd like to get as much information as I can to see what I can do. I need my car, so I'll have to bite the bullet as far as spending the cash to get up and running again. An unfortunate birthday surprise as I turn the clock forward again tomorrow

I've read on the .org about the turbo 300zx engine that will fit with relatively minor mods, but I'm wondering how practical and economic that would be for me to look into right now...

As always, your help and advice will be most greatly appreciated.

 

mtcookson has the writeup on the z31 turbo motor swap on his cardomain.
a VE will require an ECM and harness to swap besides the mounts. not a real good choice for a swap IMHO.

 

That blows. Never had that happen to me, but I can't imagine it's fun. I don't know if the 300ZX VG30DE is the best way to go, but hey! Maybe you can find a VQ35 lying around somewhere and make everyone here jealous...

 

z31 is the VG30E
Z32 is the VG30DE
Z33 is the VQ35DE <- most power stock, but big pain to install

 

@internetautomar...

So between the z31 Turbo and the VE, which would you suggest if I can find it?

peace2u

 

@Slamnasty...

I probably couldn't stomach the cost of a VQ - besides it sounds like a bastard to install anyway. I'd like more hp if I can find it at this point, but if not, I'll just have to make due with a comparable engine.

peace2u

 

Z31 will be a much cheaper / easier install
mark's faq : http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/177457/8
eventually he'll get it up on his own site

 

just get a replacement VG30E and swap it. turbo is not something you do overnight.

 

@internetautomar - THANK YOU!!!

Has anyone other than mtcookson done the turbo mod that I can ask questions & reference? If I have to go stock with the engine just to get up and running, I may have to just do that, although I'd hate to blow an opportunity to go with something more powerful while I have the chance to...

If this is going to turn into a major ordeal, I may have to look into getting a newer Max, which is what I've been considering all along. If I find a 2k2 and can get in it without killing me too much, that's what I'll wind up doing...

Thanks for all the advice everybody!!!

 

not sure what the mileage or condition is, but why not buy a parts car and swap over the VG? http://losangeles.craigslist.org/car/53557037.html

Brian

 

does the car even cranks at all? I know it's pretty bad last night, I heard a lot of cars loosing tracks. But for waters to enter the engine would be quite impossible not unless you ran into a flood or tsumami ran you over. If the car cranks, just let it idles for a while ....eventually all of the water should vaporized out of the system.

 

I don't think the price of a VQ35DE is that bad. I got mine for 1200CAN$ and you can find a lot of them for 800$US on car-part.com.

But the install would suck horribly. You can do it in a 4th gen easily (same engine mounts) but on a 3rd gen I'd go for a turbo 3.0.

As for power... a bolt-on VQ35DE (headers/cat/catback/CAI) is capable of 250whp (something like 290 crank hp). The current record is 263/270, depending on which figures you accept. I'm not sure about the 300zx turbo engine though...

 

if you really wanted to do an engine swap, there are tons of jap engine importers in LA. Just look up the phone books or ads or one of those free newspapers ads around the street corner. Last time I'd picked up an Espano papers and I'd recalled seeing about 25 different importers listed there. I'd even heard that you could get a bargain a VG engine for around $650, so you might be interested in looking and calling around.

 

I would Just get the same engine. If you read the faq it states it will run you in the thousands to complete the mod. So Just stick with what you got. easier to replace somthing than to fabricate something were it does not belong.

 

If you are pressed for time and want the most down time and least $$$ just swap in the same engine. It can be done in one day and is you do it yourself not too much money.

 

You guys are the best... The reason why I may stray, but I always come back. This site will keep me in a Maxima!

@bvtran - I have a CAI that I modded & fabricated to fit my Maxima, so that's where the water came from. My fear was that the water level had reached the level of the filter on the CAI, and I was horrified to see that quite a bit of water came gushing out when I released the rubber boot connection to the intake manifold. The mechanic told me that the engine had seized after he tried to put a new starter on it, so figure it's pretty much a goner now...

I'll check around and see what I come up with and let you guys know, but don't be totally surprised if I wind up driving a 4th or a 5th Gen, since I'm leaning that direction right now, to be very honest. It really pisses me off because I just got a helluva deal on a set of chrome 18s and now it's 4 days later and I don't have a car (see signature)! And NO, I'm not selling the wheels, thank you! They'll be featured on the next Maxima I find myself in if I decide to dump this one and move on. I guess it could be worse, but you have to admit that this is one helluva way to enter into the new year...

I do love this car, so if I wind up finding a great deal on an engine, you guys will be the first to know.

Thanks again!

 

before you go through all that, pull the spark plugs and try to turn it over... if the engine turns over with no plugs in it, then run a compression check on it and see ifit's still alive. quite often, they just suck some water in and it kills the engine.. butif you were doing more than 2000rpm or so when you hit the water, it has probably bent a rod.

 

If you do not want to drop serious coin, then VG it. VE swapping is not worth it, you can buy a VE 5 speed for the amount it costs. VQ35 REALLY is going to cost alot.

 

OK, I started looking in the "throw papers" and noticed a lot of places offering REBUILT engines as well as used engines. What exactly does rebuilding mean? Will they take my existing block and reinstall new parts? I noticed one place in particular that offered used engines with a 6,000 mile/6 month warranty vs. the rebuilt ones with a 12 month, 12,000-mile warranty. I'd have to call for prices, but I want to know what the pros & cons are before I decide one way or the other...

 

Rebuilt will generally mean that they will replace whatever part went bad, make sure the rest is in spec and send you on your way.

 

Guys,

I've called a couple of places and I'm hearing nothing less than $1,400 parts, labor & warranty for a USED engine. Sorry, but that's WAY too much for me to think about salvaging at this point.

I guess it's time to look into another Maxima and say goodbye to SilverMax

 

I don't know how much you were expecting, but $1400 doesn't sound that bad. Too bad you don't have the ability to work on it. The heads can be rebuilt. I don't know how much was damaged, It would need to be torn down to determine how bad it is.

 

The labor is the thing that really gets you. $1400 is a good deal for parts and labor. A used engine (running junkyard engine) will normally run $400-$500. The rest is all labor and supplies. Just think, it is at very minimum a 10 hour job (the book probably says more). Times that by $70/hour. Add in all the oil, antifreeze, hoses, gaskets, etc. and you see how it gets to be quite an expensive ordeal.

Since it sounds like you can't drop in a new engine yourself, I don't think considering any kind of turbo or custom install is in your future.

I guess it's best for you to either lay down the $1400 or just get what you can out of the car you have now (or part it out) and buy something else. If you do a little searching, you could probably find a VE 5-speed for $2k-3k that needs a little TLC, but at least runs and drives.

 

question really is what kind of car can you get for $1400?

 

Hi,

pit5bull i talk to maxpowr91 he willing to sell his engine for 1 grand,

if you want to talk to him then i can tell him to talk to you and you can work something out,

 

you live in oregon? there is this place in between seattle and portland that I got my engine from. they sell alot of jdm motors with ~30k miles on them, and they do free same day delivery. I got me a 94 VE motor for $750 delivered to my house. Im sure if you look in the little nickel you can find a place to get a jdm VG motor for around $500-600.

 

thats true my friend can get me a JDM VG for $500 so try goin' that route.

 

My cousin just told me about JDM engines that I should be able to get for around $500, so I'm going to look around here and see what I can find. Since he's a mechanical engineer, he was able to give me a bit of advice - he told me that if I turned on all of the lights and left the door open, try starting the car and if all of the lights went completely out, the starter was using all of it's energy to start the engine and that if the lights went black, that the engine was most likely seized up. He told me that, because they don't have smog checks in Japan, they have to swap out the engines in their cars every three years, and those engines get sent over here. I just have to put in the legwork to find the engine and a likely place to install it. Does it normally take a couple of working days to complete an engine swap?

I'll let you know what I come up with and what I decide.

Thanks for everyone's input and advice. Happy New Year to all!

 

Your brother is really a mechanical engineer?

 

@jeff92se... It's my cousin who is the mechanical engineer. He's worked for the State of California for about 16 years now, I think. He helped design a prison like the one in the movie "Face-Off". Yes, a maximum-security prison like that actually exists, although it's not sitting in the middle of the ocean under an oil derrick. His father was a GM mechanic for 30 years, and he's the only person I've ever heard of, outside of a certified Cadillac mechanic, that has completely torn down a STS engine and put it back together, and is still driving around with it. His son told me that he sent off for the STS Mechanic's manuals (about $450), studied them cover to cover, figured out what was wrong with his engine, got what he needed to fix it and put it all back together again. Some Cadillac dealership offered him a job after he did that, but he turned it down because he doesn't want to fix cars for a living. He lives out in Temecula and just came by with his family last night to visit, driving the STS he repaired. He's the one that told me to try starting the engine with the lights on...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...943827595&rd=1
I found this engine reseller on eBay, and I'm considering this option since they claim their engines are supposed to have less than 35k miles on them and they look nearly brand new. They look pretty impressive.

What do you guys think?

 

damn those look so damn nice and clean once u wipe it down though. if u got the money and r willin' to do the swap go ahead and get one.

 

I should have bought a JDM for my '89, but i junked the car and bought the VE instead... Oh Vell, i would have been happy eitherway

Looks good, 7 available, I would buy one.

Brian

 

but damn its a bit pricey for me. i'll stick with the $500-$600 range that my friend can give me.

 

I've got a complete running red VE5 for sale