Evil Yak

heh, just thinking about Nissan engines.....
couldn't all you VG guys swap in a VG33 from
a Pathfinder truck and turbocharge that?
I wonder how much more you would get out of 300 cc's...

HoJo

I had the same thought, the block should be the same, VG, so it should bolt up to the tranny. I don't know if the heads or cams are different but you could use either the stock maxima intake or the one on the 3.3

HoJo

I could be wrong, but according to freshalloy the '96-'00 pathfinder/QX4 had the VG33E

Nismo87SE

This has been done on a Z31. The owner put I believe VG30 heads on the VG33 block. Assuming one used the maxima intake manifold there will be a nice gain in torque. Sounds like fun, 3.3L with bolt ons and nitrous = . Maybe I should price the VG33E and swap that instead hehe.

HoJo

Well if your going that far why not use the exhaust manifolds off the VG30ET, and make a VG33ET. One large turbo + nitrous to help it spool up

DA-MAX

iTrader: (10)

3.0 or 3.3??? its 170hp right, whts the torque on it?

DA-MAX

iTrader: (10)

I found out the Quest is a 3.0.

Brandon90gxe

hmm.. that would be pretty sweet. my friend has a 97 qx4 and he wants to supercharge it which would give it around 280 hp he said and a lil less in torque. ( i forgot but i think it was like 250 or something) he got a price for 4 grand. that would be pretty damn sweet to have in a max. but its a rwd ening isnt it, will that effect if it can fit or not?

89GXE

Ok first off it IS NOT a VQ33DE IT IS a VG33E and
yes it will bolt right into a 3rd gen.2nd the QX4's
and Pathfinders from 1996-2000 used the VG33E and it
produced 170hp 200ft-lb the 250hp motor is the VQ35DE
used in the 2001 Pathfinders and QX4's (a/t 240hp
265lb-ft m/t 250hp 240lb-ft).3rd the 93-98 quests
were the VG30E in 99-02 it uses the VG33E 170hp
200lb-ft.

HoJo

Thanks for clearing that all up, if you read the rest of the thread that's what it says.

SkyMax

Sorry.. I was getting confused with the new Pathfinder's VQ35DE motor w/250hp(manual).

But one thing I don't understand is how the VG33E only produces 10hp more than the VG30E. I bet if you opened up the air flow and regrind the cams the horsepower would increase by atleast 10-15hp more.

DA-MAX

iTrader: (10)

I was looking at the VG33(170/200) out of the Quest and it "looked" more like a VE motor(at least the intake pleneum area) or maybe its just the angle I'm looking at it...

'97 Quest-->

SkyMax

DA-MAX: It is common for the same engines to use different intake manifolds. Just look at the VG30E in the 300ZX. They are different than our Maxima VG30E intake manifolds.

One thing that I have discovered about the Pathfinder VG33E motor is..

8.9:1 Compression
Horsepower 168 @4800rpm
Torque (lbs/ft) 196 @2800rpm

Why are these numbers lower than what was posted earlier? I am not too familier with VG33E engines. I would love to do some research and find out what the VG33E engines are capable of and how they differ from our VG30E engines.

nodoubt711

this is definitly a worth while project. most of the 3rd gens or should i say, some and almost all 3rd gens are getting to point where they are racking up the miles and pretty soon the performance is going to fade. and if you are like me, you love your 3rd gen max so much that an engine swap would be a great alternative to getting another car (seeing how this perticular engine swap could increase performance and open new doors such as supercharger or turbo). so if any one has any more info, please post! thanks.

Nismo87SE

Hmm as soon as I get a chance I'm going to see if the local dealer will let me copy pages from the pathfinder FSM. But just looking at the power/tq numbers it appears the intake manifold and cams are set up for best lowend-midrange torque. As evidence of its 4800rpm power peak, while it makes 14tq more at the same rpm as the VG30E. JWT does offer an ecu upgrade so you know those engine are probably really detuned. There is no doubt in my mind that with bolt ons (intake, Y pipe, B-pipe, UDP, ECU, cams) this motor would probably put down around 160-170fwhp/200-210fwtq. While I'm at the dealer I'm going to compare the intake manifold gaskets to see if its possible to swap over the VG30's intake. I just hope the VG30 cams would fit the VG33, because that would make one hell of a motor. I've also found 6 junkyard with this motor that is less than 20 miles from my house. Seems like I have alot of research to do .

SkyMax

Let us know what you find out Nismo87SE.. I'm going to do some more research as well.

Evil Yak

hey guys i was reading an old sport compact car mag and it
has a pretty lengthy article about a Z31 300zx with a VG33
in it... quite interesting seems like it should fit no
problem.

C-Dawg

I am going to check out a local dealership and see what they have to say about this one.

HoJo

I wouldn't think you could use the VG30 heads on the VG33, the bore is larger on the VG33, the dome in the head wouldn't be large enough.

Lordrandall

iTrader: (4)

Was it the actual VG33, or a VG30 with a stroker kit?