I've been looking for used LH Cylinder heads for this car and I notice all these other models pop up. Can someone confirm if the following cars actually have the exact same LH Cylinder Head?

1993-1995 MERCURY VILLAGER
1993-1995 NISSAN PATHFINDER
1994-1996 NISSAN QUEST

And my second question if anyone knows, what was the final yr of the VG30E engine or the latest year of production for the same cylinder head that will fit the 93 GXE, regardless if it was in a Maxima or a Villager or Quest..... I may as well look for the 'newest' one if I can find one.

 

Wiki info about the vg30e
I believe there is a difference in the heads for the quest/villager to become Non-interference.

 

Thanks Ben, so basically stick with the Maxima & Pathfinder ones. I don't see the Gloria or Cedric ones in the inventory, but there's plenty of Maxima & Pathfinder, and "Nissan Truck" it says....the hardbody. I'm probably going to shy away from the truck though, in case those owners were hauling heavy stuff.

 

The quest heads are the same, the changes made to make it non interference was the pistons and cams. (lower compression/less aggressive cams)

These engines came in a TON of cars
3.0
1984–1989 Nissan 300ZX
1984–1994 Nissan Maxima
1987–1988 Nissan 200SX SE
1990–1991 Infiniti M30
1990–1995 Hardbody Truck
1990–1995 Nissan Pathfinder
1992–1998 Nissan Quest/Mercury Villager

3.3
1996–2000 Nissan Pathfinder
1997–2000 Infiniti QX4
1999–2004 Nissan Frontier
2000–2004 Nissan Xterra
1999–2002 Nissan Quest/Mercury Villager

A couple of things to note:

93.5 and up used round tooth cam gears and belts that were rated for 105K change intervals as opposed to the square ones rated for 60K. You will also have to change the crank gear, but its under $30 new from nissan

All 3.3L engine used larger (10mm vs 8mm) Exhaust manifold studs

Different engines used different cams, so you should put your maxima cams in whatever head you decide to use

All 3.3L engines used roller followers


So the newest head you can use is 2004, with the 3.3L heads having obvious advantages over the 3.0L heads.

 

This is incredible info Maxpower - thanks. So as per your recommendation I should go with the 3.3. Some questions applying to my 93 square tooth existing model:

a) You state that the studs are M10 as opposed to my M8 VG30E studs. Do you know if my existing exhaust manifold flanges will be compatible with these 3.3 heads and the dimensions will keep my VG30E header pipe in-tact? The M8 VG30E flange nuts (12mm Socket) to attach the Exhaust Manifold are an extremely tight fit. I'm not sure if there is enough clearance to get M10 hex nuts or flange nuts in there. Have you checked this and the wrench size of the OEM VG33E exhaust manifold stud flange nuts?

b) The intake manifold is different on the VG33E. Can you confirm if the VG30E intake manifold can match up to the VG33E head ports.

 

Thanks Maxpower, I've been doing some research over the weekend. Are you sure the VG33E used rollers? On the courtesy website it shows the exact same lifters in my VG30E, and the lifters pop up on Autopartsway as the exact same part number for the Xterra and VG30E. This may reduce my cost if I do this setup, I can re-use my existing lifters.

 

why don't you stop second guessing the members and do your own research...and leave the members alone. ok?

learn to google your questions.

 

Dan no offense, but your starting to sound like a depressed weirdo. Didn't you say you are going to stop replying to my messages? You say one thing, you do another.

I'm not sure why your acting immateur now. You must feel threatened by me in some way. And that, I didn't mean to do.

 

i have to say you have very bad perception of people.
no i said i wasn't going to offer any help to you...that doesn't mean i can't make replies. yes i'm taking after you...you say one thing and do another.

yes i'm threatened by the way you can destroy an engine crane and use a burr to remove your intake manifold.

i'm asking you to stop harassing the members. if they offer you assistance don't attempt to second guess it or rebutt it. what you should do is gather ALL your research from other places...then come on the forum and ask about it. don't use the members here as google and wait for the members to give you the information then for you to come back and say it's wrong from another unknown source. maxpwer has a lot of information and experience behind him and i don't want your non sense to push good members away. if you want to second guess something then do it on your own time...please don't waste the time of other good members here.

 

there are sites of VG30 heads being placed on to VG33 because they have better intake air flow, but i have not yet seen anyone put 33 heads on a 30.

normally heads do not need to be replaced no matter how long in the tooth they are. only reasons for change are material failure (rare) or overheated to death (still rare) or just stupidity (very common).

VG30 heads changed little if at all since 87. from what google has told me. keep you heads and continue the rebuild

 

That's what I'm thinking 300, instead, i'm scraping the idea - i'll have to drive pretty far just to see if it would fit, then, who knows if the exhaust manifolds will even be able to clamp. It would be nice if I could find someone who has done it, but as of now I haven't found one.

I'm going to post a photo later tonight, and if you can give me your opinion on this crack that I found in the casting of the LH head, if it needs to be replaced. My machinist buddy says it's part of the casting process and was there from the beginning. It looks pretty odd though.

The rattling sound that came from under the distributor, ...it was a spinning rattling sound, is it possible that worn out hydraulic lifters could cause this? They are the only thing left that I can think of. Everything else passed inspections. Camshaft runout came to 0.000".

 

if you have over 200k miles on the block replace the lifters. the one you talk about may be dead. go threw the procedure given in an ealier post to confirm. ive never heard of a cracked head getting threw QC let alone 20 years of use.

waiting on pics

 

Thanks 300. Check your PM inbox when you get time for the photos.

 

i've head a bad tbelt tensioner can cause the disty to make noise. how's the runout on the disty shaft itself?