Someone please clear this up for me! I have a 1993 GXE Max, I just bought it from the original owning family with 51K original miles. I looked under the hood, and Im positive the engine firewall says its a VE engine. Its got that long filler neck for oil in the back and red valve covers. According to the manual, it needs a timing belt every 60K, according to other people, it has a chain, which is it?!

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....86#post3745386

Thanks everyone

Oh and if its a belt, is there an easy way to get a look at it?

 

you have a VG...it's a belt boss.

 

The last thing I should be doing is getting in to another engine model thread, but your fire wall should say vg30(e). im not sure but some one here should be able to confirm it.

 

hi,

look on your vin,

if it says a h on it then it is a vg,

if it says a e then you have a ve,

 

Long filler neck & red valve covers = VG30E = Belt = what you see in this pic

 

It's going to be easier than the VR-4. What couldn't be?? hehe. It's a sohc so 1 less cam on each side to worry about. If you can do that, you can do this

 

i know the manual says that the timing belt needs to be change every 60k miles, but is there another way to tell if your belt need changing or not? is there like a noise that you need to listen to or something?

 

aha, so its a VG30 E, I think I know where I got confused, thanks guys. Now the next question, is it a big job? I did the one on my 3000 GT VR-4, so Im sure it cant be harder, that thing is awful! And what parts do I need/make sense to change while Im in there?

sorry, deleted this and then changed my mind, Im so confused now lol

My engine is not what is in that pic above. The VIN is JN1HJ01 So that would mean I have a VG. Which means I have a belt, right?

 

If it looks like this, it's a VE30DE. And this uses a chain, not a belt

 

The first pic is the VG (belt driven cams), jeffs is the VE (chain driven cams)... BTW jeff that intake manifold is PRETTY! Was that pic in the middle of a clutch job?

 

Ok, got that straightened out, now is there any easy way to take a look at it? It looks buried with no easy access.

 

I'd say don't take any risks If the belt breaks while your engine is running, then the top end of your engine is screwed, and possibly the bottom end too.

 

Even though you jumped my thread there is no way to tell when the belt will snap. You can look at it and see what kind of shape it appears to be in, but its no guarantee. Ive heard of it going WAY past the interval, but when your motor is a boat anchor, you'll be kicking yourself you didn't spend the $$$.

 

Engine swap. I think I busted some piston rings on the #5 cylinder. It was low on compression and smoked out everyone behind me. hehe

 

Exactly. I changed my belt at regular intervals, and THE PULLEY broke on my timing belt...

 

Even though you jumped my earlier thread down there, there is a VEERY simplex 3min. way to check belt tightness; least u cando.

Quaranteed: Thats no warranty to anything... but its nice to know its tight.


(edit: =this day, no harm done, it happens)

 

While on the subject of timing and belts...I think my timing is way off...the car doesn't run quite right, and the distrib is way to one side of it's adjustability...I have a feeling its not at 15deg BTDC....but, what if it is? I wouldn't think the distrib should be all the way to the left...

Could the belt have slipped a tooth? Its coming up on 120k, so during the summer I might have the belt done anyway.

 

If the belt is one tooth off, it would barely even run IMHO. Get a timing light and check the timing

 

You mean this one that was dead for 2 weeks before I posted to it?
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=380320

 

So how was the handling and acceleration on the VR-4? They are rare and beautiful cars.. You still own it?

 

Thanks! Yeah I still got it, never getting rid of it!!! Not much stock on it anymore, recently put down 390 AWHP and 381 TQ. I blow around brooklyn all the time, youve probably seen it around. The car seems to have no limits on handling, brakes or power, its unbelievable. Looks ok too

 

Wow.. Breathtaking. Really is a very beautiful car. Im not really a fan of the older style models such as that one with the pop-ups, I like the "samurai eyes" but it's still pretty amazing. And as for the handling, I don't hear such good things about it, since people keep making fun of it cause of it's weight. What do you have to say about that? I personally like the idea of the drivetrain on the car.

BTW- I think I have seen you around. Been in the Bay Ridge area a few months ago by the belt parkway heading east around 8 pm?

 

Even in the 3000 community we are split on which ones look best, so dont worry about it Personally, I like the 97-98 model with the hoop rear wing, not the later 99 with that crazy tall one. If I were making one myself, I would put the 97 front end on a 95, I like my pop up wing and non power roof. Now of course its heavy, mine weighed in at 3850 at the track! But it moves, stock it was a 13.9, minor mods(less than $1000) got it a 12.7 The weak point of the car is the tranny/xfer case but if you dont launch it off every light, it will last for years. Despite its weight, with the 4WS , it handles on rails, it may push more than a supra or RX7 at the limit, but its much harder to lose it also. With all the technology it has, it HAS to be heavy. It has AWD, 4WS, ABS, Climate control, Active suspension, Active exhaust, Active Aero, Leather Seats(drivers side power) and power everything else. The easiest way to tell if it was me you saw is the plate, same as my name here. TWINTRBO, also I usually dont have a front plate on.

 

Yeah man, very cool stuff. I always had respect for the 3000GT because of it's technology and looks. Like a more modern, cheaper Porsche 959 if you think about it. Came with almost anything you could ask for in the performance department, except it had that V6 and the weight to slow it down. You can see the big difference the supra's smooth twin turbo charged 3L straight six does to the GT's V6. After about a 120 mph it's as if you hit a wall with that car the way it slows down, no? Same with the 300ZX TT.. V6 sucks. Tuners complain about it not having enough room in the engine bay to do major upgrades cause it's all cramped up in there with that technology, but who needs tuning in this car? The car was made to showcase technology in an everyday driver, unlike how Toyota and others build sports cars so they may be modified in the future. It's still a very cool car regardless. Oh, and also when I was considering on getting a 3000GT for the future, some mechanic told me these cars have technology thats so advanced that it breaks often and not many know how to repair it. Is this true? I was also wondering why at one point I heard the 3000GT being called the "GTO". Is that like a nickname for it or something?

 

Damn man, "they" got to you something bad! Nothing wrong with a V-6 design, ask anyone with a buick grand national, they got those things running 8's. Ive never driven a z but the VR4 does hit a wall at the end of third, once its in 4th it gets going again......HARD! Its the drag on the AWD, thats why stock the Supras are faster on the highway.

I dont know of any "tuners" complaining about room for mods, yeah its tight but upgrades dont take up any more room really. With my setup, the potential to run mid/low 11's is there. And nothing major had to be modded. Im not sure what you would have to add that would take up any room.

Maintenance......well all cars have their issues, true the 3000 has a lot of stuff but its no more trouble than any other car, at least it wont rust itself out and leak gas everywhere! lol Being on our forum is the key to keeping it working right for cheap, stuff is easy but parts can get expensive. Ive had mine since 96 and never had any major trouble, just the usual stuff. It is true most people dont know the car, just find someone good, one of the best guys is in LI anyway.

Lastly, the GTO is the 3000 in the rest of the world. Kinda like the 300 ZX is the Fairlady Z and the Max is the Cefiro I think?

 

Um yeah. 1st of all we are getting way off topic here. And 2nd of all, there are very few technical diff inbetween an inline 6 and a V6. If Toyota built Supra in V6, it would still be a monster. It's because Toyota really overbuilt the engine. Not because it was an inline 6. But the nice thing is the 2JZ lends itself to a single conversion as the V6 turbos usually do not. Unless it's a Z31-T or a Buick V6.

 

True about the topic, but its my thread so I dont mind The supra motor is way overbuilt but there are plenty of 600 HP 3000's out there also on stock blocks. I know mine is at 500 HP and its not stressing at all. I wish I could make my GXE fast for cheap. Im not willing to pour thousands into it for 20 HP.

 

Well there are 700-900hp Supras with stock blocks. But we don't need to get into this here.

 

Cool info, thanks.. Well, lets see... What could take up room for major modifications? A very large turbo and huge intercooler for instance, I hear is very hard to get in there. Nobody actually bothers, thats why I hear complaints about it being crowded as is. And basically the car is too heavy to be a true sports car. Thats been the talk of the town about the 3000GT. I personally love the car regardless, and don't care what anybody says. By the way, how is it in the snow? Always wondered about the benefits the car provides in tough terrain. Is it just like any other AWD car?

 

So how exactly is the Supra engine overbuilt compared to the 3000GT's V6? Same number of cylinders, valves, cams, etc? Better block for the I6?

 

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