after accidentally shifting to first going about 65 mph I tore apart the vq30 to inspect the damage. I thought the damage was going to be catastrophic when I got the transmission off and found my grenaded clutch. Once I got the engine apart I realized the damage was surprisingly mild. It appears that the only damage is bent intake valves! they hit the piston so hard they left penny sized half moon dents about 1/16 inch deep! from experience I would guess first gear redlines around 37 mph. thats 37*ratio=6500 ...175.6 rpm per mph. so the engine revved to OVER 11K!! for those nonbelievers that say the clutch must have slipped, the part that broke was the clutch release. In fact, when it happened I slammed the clutch down, but the clutch did nothing! I watched in horror as the needle bounced off the end of the tach! I tore the whole engine down, inspected bearings ect. Didn't spin a single one. So now i'm ording a new set of intake valves(about 100 bux). I find it quite amazing that the engine got near twice it's rated rpm and I only did a few hundred worth of damage(and I needed a new clutch neways).

I also discovered that the engine had solid lifters, not hydraulic. I thought this was weird until I got the oil pan off I saw the girdle over the main caps. That's even more unusual the solid lifters! I can see why this engine is on Wards top 10 list.

 

How long have you been driving with a manual transmission?

I've never done anything like that in my life.

 

top 10 of the list and you bent the intake valves? first time i heard of that happening to a vq motor... I mean i know ppl who missed gears worst than that, maybe more black oil resulting, but not damaging the internals

 

I usually try not to insult people but you my friend are a jerk. I have never seen you post any useful information always some meaning less comment. I have been driving standard since i have gotten my license and i have done it and i am sure i am not the only one. I shifted into 2nd at about 97mph but nothing happened i poped it out as the engine was reving up to 7500rpm.

 

Thisusername.. you should get those urethane shifter bushings[i believe thats what it is called?] anyways, the car shifts into gear smoother, and you dont feel like your hitting the wall all the time, you could literally shift with one finger with that thing.

best 5spd mod imo

 

How do you accidently shift into first? I highly doubt you were doing 65 in 2nd

 

Hooray?

Honestly that was a useless post. Atleast he's taking the time to fix his problem himself versus asking a million questions and having the dealer fix it. People make mistakes, but I forgot that you are perfect.

 

usually when people miss a gear they pull the clutch out before rpm's hit so high. bent valves is pretty mild and it's just because the valve springs arn't stiff enough to pull the valves back in when the engine is spinning so fast. With stiffer valve springs god knows what kind of rpm this engine could take. I would think that revving so high would have spun a bearing or thrown a rod or some other time-to-get-a-new-block damage.
yeah I did it twice before and popped the clutch out before any damage occured. This time I wasn't so lucky and the clutch didn't work. You are right about none of my information being useful but does something always have to be useful to be interesting? are fiction novels really useful? Let us all hold hands and have peace and love and flowers and furry little animals and such.

and I was doing 65 in second cuz I had just redlined it

 

I asked a civil question and did not insult anybody.

I have posted useful information many, many times.

Hopefully you won't shift into 2nd at 97 mph again!

 

Actually I think zack342 had responded to Bobo's post, not yours, this one:

 

You also took me the wrong way.

No, I'm not perfect and readily admit it when I f#ck up.

Have a nice day!

 

I hit second 3 times when going for 4th in the first year or so that I had my maxima. It's not that uncommon. I didn't do any damage to mine. MikeD bent some valves in his when he did it. The shifter placement is the culprit, it is just different enough that you can do things like this if you are used to a different style shifter, in my case I was used to Honda shifters.

 

I'd like to suggest that you replace the oil pump after a spin like that. It's a cheap part and might be worth it's weight in gold if the old one suddenly fails after being spun like that.

It's like buying cheap insurance.

 

You just have not been around long enough It has happend to other, well known members before.

 

Isnt 1st gear locked out after a certain speed? I take me an odd amount of force to get into 1st at 15mph let alone 65! I guess you were trying to downshift to 3rd?

Good think you know how to take the engine apart yourself. GOod luck with the repairs.

 

i guess theres a first time for everything

 

my auto does 50 in first no ****.

 

Just curious thisisausername, did it drive ok after u shifted into 1st @ 65mph??? Was there a loud clacking because of the bent intake valves??

 

stuff like this happens to the best of us... sometimes its just a freak accident... even the best drivers will have days like this... comes from carelessness and/or not paying attention... stupid... defintaley... impossible... no, but I"m glad the engine isn't destroyed...

 

i agree with the oil pump, also, u got pics?

 

You seem to know your stuff, man, but that was just sort of an arrogant, condescending, uncalled for comment...

65 is exactly redline in 2nd, I believe.

Although I think the proper shift point is ~6200 from 2nd... hehe.

Anyway, to original poster, glad to see that the VQ can take it and I'd really like to see some stiffer valve springs as well... but how high can a stock VQ rev reliably (with rev limiter removed obviously)? I remember someone revving to 8k... anyone higher with stock internals?

 

i think that ppl with 00vi's or mevis rev to 8k regularly from what i've heard but idk it's 647 in the morning and i still haven't gone to sleep...

 

Quick Question ... if your clutch wouldn't engage to stop the revving, couldn't you just pull the shift **** and pop it out of the gear without the clutch. Sure this isn't healthy for the transmission, but I figured it would be better then listening to the revs hit the top.

 

11k is bad mmmmmmkkay

 

ohh jesus thats disgusting...... So at 11k you basically tore apart your intake cam? THis thread might actually be good because we can find out what parts are prone to failure at insane RPM's and reinforce them, lending us all the ability to push 10k...... too bad our IM's suck.

 

holy crap! i'm glad I don't have damage like that! I'll take a look at the oil pump too...I didn't even think of that. I think damage was minimal because it was only at 11k for a very small fraction of a second(the engine braking was insane, it tore 2 of my engine mounts!!). As to how I got it in first at 65... lets just say my 3rd gear isn't the easiest to get into sometimes, so I was giving it a little love to help it along(maybe a little more than a little). As for the question of why I didn't pull the shift lever out, it's one of those things you don't think of in the 1/8 seconds before your engine explodes. It's like when peoples brakes fail at a stoplight, do they think fast enough to pull the parking brake? Insurance companies will probably tell you no.

I would agree that aside from catastrophic engine explosion the weakest link is the valve spring tension.

 

Bobo doesn't do anything like that b/c he does everything by the book...

 

I have done 65mph into first twice right after installing a B&M. Getting into my 3rd gear isnt the easiest thing all time so with a STS that I was not used to and banging gears I hit 1st at redline in 2nd and the tach just went past 8k for a sec and it didnt cause any damage.

 

make 3rd gear easier to go into. It's impossible for me to get my shifter into 1st at 65mph..i'd pretty much KNOW that it was first.. Good thing the engine didn't tear apart at 11k, but just have this as a learning experience, and make sure it never happens again.

 

my 1st gear locks out when im going almost any mph over like 5 or 10. but ive done the same thing, i put it into 2nd when i was looking for 4th. for some reason 4th was bieng a b\tch lately and i was just not paying attention. to all the guys bashing use for making this mistake. were admitting it and were mature enough to not have to be so perfect and hav to front. and you all drive auto's anyways. wishers

 

these are made for our cars? have a link?

 

Dont Know What U R Talkin About

 

its a real b***h to pull the lever out of gear sometimes with the clutch in, it only comes out easily when there isnt load on it, and thats a two way street as well, load from the cars momentum makes it just as hard as engine load, sometimes it seemsl as if the force of god couldnt pop it out

although . . . the amount of force to slam home first at 65 might be comparable hah

 

This mod will not relocate how 3rd engages. I have it and it wouldn't have stopped this from happening.

 

I wonder why your shifter went it to 1st at that speed. It shouldn't happen. The 5 speed tranny doesn't allow you to enter 1st until you are just barely crawling.

 

That is only at low RPM's becuase you can get into first at up to 30, and its the same internals, just you guys dont have vLSD, at least I can in my 3rd ggen, if i double clutch, so if he was already teching at like 6k it wouldnt be impossible, you would just have to puch WAY hard. The transmission doesnt "lock it out" like it does with reverse after going into 5th, it just seems like it

 

does this qualify as one of those Jeff Foxworthy, "you might be a redneck" if's?

 

i wanna know more about this ...