Pervis Anathema

iTrader: (8)

Yeah.

Greeny

iTrader: (43)

Tune in tomorrow for the next episode of "As the turbo spools"..

VEvolution

So would you say this engine was produced for the shortest time in automotive history? I really can't think of any other engine that popped out for 2 years and vanished for good.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Well, 1992, 1993, 1994. So that's technically 3 years?

Just goes to show how much $ Nissan still had in the early 90's. It's NOT indicative to the reliability of the engine.

mtcookson

iTrader: (2)

Maybe I should buy another Z and build up the VE to see what the thing can really do. That'd be one fun project.

VEvolution

Think it was rushed?

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Not any more rushed than the Yamaha SHO engine was for Ford.

Pervis Anathema

iTrader: (8)

Hey Jeffy, will one of those bolt into my 3rdGen?

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

$1500 dolla

VEvolution

IMHO/IIRC, if you have to ask..

Pervis Anathema

iTrader: (8)

Sweet, check made payable to Got Fish Enterprises?

mtcookson

iTrader: (2)

Man... Yamaha is like Emerson Electronics... they have really good ideas/designs, but can't seem to make them worth a ****.

SHO engine (awesome engine but has reliability issues)
3SGTE (a very awesome engine with reliability issues)
etc. etc.

They seem to mostly do a lot of the head designs. I'm very glad they don't make any gear boxes for any cars. They'd probably rival the ****ty-ness of borg warner trannies...

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

And the VG is any better? ANY engine has it's quirks. About the only one that I've NOT seen a problem with is the 2JZ supra TT engine.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

then don't read GRM

Greeny

iTrader: (43)

I just sold a 93 taurus with the 3.8 motor...Only 140 horses but 210 ft.lbs of torque..Man that thing would get up and go...But the 3.8 was plagued with head gasket failure .....and the auto trannies would crap out at 60k

mtcookson

iTrader: (2)

head gaskets seem to be the big problem with yamaha'd engines.

since when did the vg become so unreliable??? seems as though things changed quite a bit during my abscence. the vg always seemed to be a very reliable engine with rare devastating problems (the crank snouts breaking as was said earlier in the thread, timing belt, etc.)

i've rarely heard of there being crank snouts breaking off... i've seen 1 maybe 2 threads about it happening on here in the time i've been here (not that i've been here all that long but still). timing belts... i mean come on, they're supposed to be changed every 60,000 miles. you may have trouble if it was done incorrectly (too tight, too loose) but the majority of the time if you do it right they'll last as long as they say.

(If I remember correctly I read an article saying that timing belts are actually preferred in race engines due to being lighter weight but also since they don't transfer harmonics into the valve train as much as chains do).

But anyways, if you're going to use the timing belt as a reliablity excuse you need to include things like chaning the oil, coolant, etc. Its just simple maintenance. Not changing your belt would be like not changing the oil... you're just asking for a dead engine either way.

The VG's seem to be proven time and time again to be 200k+ mile engines. Some even 300k+. Sure there are more reliable engines out there but I would never call the VG unreliable.

The most common problem with a VG is the exhaust studs, however, those don't cause the engine to stop running. It'll have poor performance and gas mileage but it will still get you where you need to go.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

VG is reliable. As reliable as most other engines. But most other engines aren't as unreliable as you make them out to be. I've never really heard of too many sho engines going bad. I thought the turbo toy 4 cylinder was bulletproof? Those two engines you mention make alot more hp per liter than the old VG does. When you have a 3.0 liter V6 only making 160hp, it's not working very hard. In fact, my Nissan mechanic friend who is a VG fanatic says alot of VG suffer from upper end oil starvation. I've not really heard of that here, but he showed me more than one VG engine with their upper ends (heads) all varnished/sooty from lack of lubrication. The thing it, this is not a sudden thing. Engine will run like that for years and year. Just dying a slow death so to speak.

Of course there are crappy engines. Ford makes alot of those! Toyota has their V6 sludge engine. etc, etc etc....

mtcookson

iTrader: (2)

I bet the oil starvation is from lack of oil changes. Man, my dad used to own an oil change place in Kansas and Indiana (started both of them) and they had this lady come in once for an oil change. They took the drain plug off and nothing came out.... then some black, tar like stuff slowly came out... I think she needed a few more oil changes than she did.

I always hear of SHO guys complaining about one thing or another on those engines. The 3SGTE seems to have major head/headgasket issues. I've seen so many Turbo MR2's going through the shop due to headgasket and/or over heating issues most likely caused by the headgasket. Once you get that solved those engines are badass. They can make tons of power.

sector7soul

I have a ve in my car, but it blows a moderate amount of blue or white smoke while it's running. Is this more likely to be worn piston rings and scarred cylinder walls; or is it valve seals? My Oxygen sensor is out too. My valve cover gaskets leak too. I just got the gaskets and sensor in the mail today, and I 'll put them in tomorrow. The car has 176k miles on it. It had 160k on it when I got it so cheap in March of 2004.
Two days later someone rear-ended it in the middle of the night and left the scene. I'm saving money for body parts(for the car)
The guy I bought it from had killed one engine already, and got another from a salvage yard put in it. They forgot to connect the vtc solenoids(he didn't know this) and everything in the top end was tapping like crazy. After I got my hands on it and did some research (I didn't know anything about the VE or vtc) a multimeter, 10 minutes of my time, and abut 30 cents worth of wire fixed the tapping. There is still some tapping, likely to be the vtc's starting to fail, and also some out of spec valve clearance from the miles and hard driving. Fixing this car is going to be cheaper than buying a new one, though, and since I've been driving it for a year and a half in this condition, I can just repair it here and there. The control arm bushings are rotted as are the swaybar bushings (front). I have a steering fluid leak somewhere, Firestone wants to replace my rack and all four struts. Firestone can go rape someone else. I ordered new control arms with ball joints attatched for $140 including shipping. They'll be here soon I hope that you will help me when I run into problems, and share with me your expieriences with the same problems. My main concern right now is the engine, I put some engine restore in it, trying to delay the inevitable, and as far as the tapping goes, it's just too hard to pinpoint which of the hydraulic valve lash adjusters it could be(I already replaced a few of them.) Any way, advice would be appreciated. I Like the car alot despite all of it's problems. When I was out test driving other cars in my price range I always found myself comparing them to this one. I think I might have about $1500 left before it's back in top shape, and that's with me doing all the work. Still cheaper than another car, and I would probably have to troubleshoot and repair anything else I could get. To sum it up, third gens with the VE30DE kick a$$. I'm keeping mine and I've committed to restoring it. I just need some help with troubleshooting the engine. Rebuild or Replace?

sector7soul

I know I should have posted a whole new thread for this one, but I can't. I'm a "newbie"

89badmaxse

iTrader: (1)

i need your vg motor lol