i just bought a '96 Maxima Auto with a blown motor for $500. now i came across a motor that came out of a '99 Maxima for $600. my question is, did anything change from the '96 engine to the '99 or is everything the same and all the connectors should plug in into the '96 harness? also, is it possible to take out the motor with tranny or does it have to come out individually? im new to the 4th gens so bare with me guys. one more thing, is there any way to find out how many miles the '99 motor has? supposebly the motor has been sittin' in storage for almost a year and a half and when i saw it there were no signs of oil leakage. the whole engine looks practically brand new just that its been sittin' in storage and collected about 1/4 of an inch of dust. once i have this engine in my hands what should i replace while im at it before swappin' it into the '96? i have pics of the car in my cardomain site at the bottom of my 1st page so feel free.

Rick

 

anybody???

 

Thats a whole lot of questions ...

The engine should be a direct swap (harness, etc.)
Check the tensioner, waterpump before swapping it in (since it's been sitting so long)

Not sure if you can drop both together.

No way to find out the miles

 

yeah, i know its a lot of questions but i just need to know what im gettin' myself into since i don't know much about the 4th gens but alot of the 3rd gens. i just need all the right answers from 4th genners like u. i was thinkin' about usin' the engines serial # and find out from what 4th gen model year did it really come out of. cuz i don't really trust junkyards that much. if it is possible to do that then i should be able to get that cars history and get an actual mileage of that motor when the car was last registered. but it seems that it won't be possible just like what u said.

 

BOOOO ... buy a 3.5 and do it right

 

If the engine has been sitting a long time, you may have a problem with the fuel injectors being stuck. I bought an Infinty engine with 58K miles and put in my 96 Maxima and when I got it in, it would not start. I ended up taking all six injectors out of the old engine and then it started and ran good. This engine had been sitting in a warehouse on a shelf for a while and was also real clean and had not been cleaned.

 

For what it's worth, I've swapped two '99s into my '99 GXE this year. (too much nitrous at the tracks). The serial numbers seem to be consecutive, 'cause all 95-99s are basically interchangable. I bought a 99 Max and 99 Infiniti motor and serial numbers had nothing to do with the car serial ##s. The later the engine, the higher the number is all. If your new engine doesn't have much corrosion on the block and valve covers, chances are it's low milage. Road salt does bad things to aluminum.

If the new engine doesn't run right, go back to the bad one and swap in fuel rail, injectors, and coils until that new puppy fires up. You might even do a compression check if something seems strange. 185-205 is normal - after starting and running....

Run it with dyno oil for 100 miles or so, then change filter and put in Mobil1.

Worked for me. More than once.

 

so i take it that the answer to my question is: yes, i can swap the '99 motor into my '96. as for corrossion i live in Miami, FL. so for the '99 engine just sittin' in the warehouse for a long time didn't seem to have any type of rust in the areas that u specified. the engine just looks clean and new as hell but dusty like a ****. i will keep u guys updated when i buy this motor this Sat. hopefully.

 

I just did an Engine Swap, I put in a 99 Motor into my 98 the difference was some Sensors but wasn't difficult I just switched the Harness and a few Sensors I couldn't tell which ones tho. Plus, I still working with it because I have a Code and I'm not sure if its due to a wire not being pluged because there ids a wire that by my TB (Orange Connector ) that I can seem to find the female end of it.

 

just got the motor this past Sat. the guy sold it to me for $575 instead of $600. this is the 3rd motor i buy from him. well, the motor is from a '99 and the best part is that the motor has less than 25k miles on it . i already noticed that the EGR valves r completely different on both motors along with a few sensors as well.

here r some pics of the process:

 

Why are all the trees green and the grass?

 

new '99 motor with different EGR valve i assume:



old '96 motor with different EGR valve:

 

'99 motor:


'96 motor:


full image of the new '99 motor goin' into the '96:


now my question is what the hell do i do with the EGR valve on the '99 vs. the one on the '96 cuz the '99 has a harness that goes up on top of the intake plenum and the '96 does not have that harness. just look at the pics i provided and u guys will c the difference. if anyone on here has come across swappin' out a '96 motor with a '99 help me out please cuz this car has to be ready by this weekend.

T.I.A.,
Rick

 

what do u mean???

 

You will have to swap it off the Old motor to the new one the Harness on the 99 Motor is different from your harness Swap harnesses and Sensors too. Like if you look at the Intake Sensor on the 99 it's a bit larger on you old motor it's a bit smaller the Connections are different, so swap the harnesses and the Sensors

 

Congrats on the buy dude, looks like a good deal... The 4th gen looks pretty clean too....

PM nismology if you still need help.

 

well, i was thinkin' about just swappin' the sensors but then i came across the EGR valves on both engines. the '99 has a harness and the '96 doesn't have a harness. the '99 also has vacuum lines and the '96 barely uses any. then i started to think about just swappin' out the whole wirin' harness and ECU but i don't have the '99 ECU and the '99 motor came with a complete wire harness but i guess the junkyard guys pulled too hard on the harness that they eventually broke off a few wires straight out of the ECU connector.

 

anyone??????

 

maybe because he's in florida?

 

SOB, I didn't read that far down, only the Indianapolis part

 

r u serious that u didn't read that far down?

 

well, yesterday i already swapped out the crap i didn't need in the '99 motor and took the vacuum lines, egr valve, and sensors out of the '96 motor and installed it on the '99. now thats out of the way but my concern is that when i turned the crank in the new motor it seems as if the timin' chain is loose or something. how do i tighten up the chain? does it have to be really tight or loose or what? also im gonna flush the tranny fluid. can i use the filters from an autoparts store or should i go to Nissan and buy the parts? i need to do all this cuz this car is goin' to my mom and i want this car to be really reliable for her.

 

before u did the injector swap did u check anything else before doin' that like: spark, fuel lines, Crank position sensor, cam position sensor and the other sensor that goes between engine block and tranny bell housin' (i guess its for the flexplate?). i did all this yesterday after done with the swap and the engine will crank but not start. i also checked for codes and it kept givin' me 0505 which i guess it means no codes detected or something. i also checked the fuel pump to c if it was workin' and it was. the last thing i have to do is what u did by swappin' out the fuel rail with injectors and check the timin' chain. but one thing i did notice is that when i pulled out one of the spark plugs it didn't have a scent of fuel on it so i think that the engine is just crankin' with fuel in the chambers which leads me to think that the injectors r not workin' at all. normally when i take out my spark plugs all of the spark plugs smell like fuel. i even double checked in the old motor that was in the '96 and all the spark plugs also had the same scent of fuel on them. but when i go to take out the plugs out of the '99 engine it didn't smell like it had the fuel scent. i hope that this is the problem of not lettin' the car start cuz then i would really have to tear open the front end of the engine and check the damn timin'. i also swapped out the parts i didn't need on the '99 and swapped in the the parts i needed off of '96 motor like the EGR, vacuum lines that go under the fuel rail, and vacuum soleniods that go on top of the intake manifold. <---- those were the only parts i had to swap onto the '99 motor. i don't know what im gonna do if this car doesn't start after i check the timin' and swap out the injectors. help me out guys.

 

I'll PM you the # to my mechnic that did mine he can tell you more than I can tell him Chris with the Max sent you and you wanted to ask him for some advice on what to do, is name is Charlie Jamaican Guy very cool.

 

I dont know if this helps you out any but when i got a 99 motor put in to my 95, the mechs had to swap over the 95 intake manifold due to the diffrent sensors.

 

Swap Intake Manifolds!?!?!? Naw, man all you had to do is swap the sensors that were on the old Motor and use you old Engine Harness.

When you use the Old Engine harness there is going to be a Orange connect left over because on the 99 motor it didn;t need it you will have to paslice into the Orange connector and connect a wire from it so other sensor but No Clue I will have to ask the mechnic exactly what he did.

 

To tell you the Truth GRNMAXDMON I left the 99 Vaccumm on the Engine it's hard to explain I will post Pic has so as I get my car back from Body Shop but there is a pic of the 99 motor I got in the Upper Forum section

 

Pic of mine 99 motor

 

MAXDADDY i already swapped all of those sensors includin' the EGR solenoid and its vacuums over to the '99 motor. all i have left is to check the Timin' Chain and injectors. as for the harness that u were talkin' about earlier i didn't have any harness or orange connector left over once i swapped in the engine. if i have any trouble i will hit up the mechanic u recommended me to. thanks in advance.

 

Why do people insist on posting absolute nonsense like this.

He doesnt want to put in a 3.5. It's not easy to "do it right". Have you ever done a swap you moron? If it's so easy, why dont you rip your motor out and put in a 3.5 then come back and do everyone elses too.

The 99 motor will fit in a 96. As far as electrics go, they are both OBDII and use the same sensors.

Before you do the swap make sure you check the timing chain, tensioner, crank oil seals, cam oil seals, and change the rear main oil seal.

Good luck.

 

thank you sir for makin' ur point on worthless posts. i checked all of that before i put the motor in. in my previous posts i said i replaced the EGR valve with vacuum lines from the old '96 motor onto the '99 motor along with the sensors and vacuum hoses that go on top of the intake manifold and a sensor that goes under the fuel rail next to the coolant pipes. i did everything that i could to c what the hell was causin' the problem and of course it lead to one thing and that is what "venturous" said in post #6 i believe. he said he had to swap injectors from his old motor to his new one and then it started. in my case it turns out that only 1 injector was actually workin' and the other 5 were dead. so, i then went to the old motor and took out the injectors and swapped them into the new motor and the car started right up.

i really appreciate and thank all those that helped me out on this and for givin' me tips. i look forward to postin' here in the 4th gen forums more often so thanks guys i appreciate it.

 

Cool then you can help me I'll take a Pic of the one wire then you can tell me were it connects to.

 

NmexMax. wtf hahahahaha "I didnt read that far down." lmao dude if you can make me laugh at 12 at nigth after a hard day at work thats funny. Yea no snow not even really cold weather here in FL...

 

let me kmow man and ill c if i can help u out.

 

If you have not done it yet, at least swap out the front three injectors. My 96 done the same thing when I installed a motor that had been sitting on the shelf. It started after injector swap and I ended up swapping back three next day and it ran great.
Keep us posted.

 

Oops, I missed a post on where you took my advice. Glad you got it running.
Has anybody got any good suggestions on what to do with these stuck injectors? Like I said, mine are from a 58K mile motor.

 

yeah man i already got her started now i just have to figure out y the hell i have a hard time startin' it when its cold and y its misfirin'? any ideas??? once i let it warm up, i shut it off and then i have no problem startin' it again. but it gives me a hard time starting when engine is cold. it just cranks and cranks and cranks and then it starts. what the hell could it be?

 

o/t question: since this car is a '96 can the front bumper from a '99 bolt right up? i do know that '95 - '96 front bumper and taillights r different from those on the '97-'99 don't know if the rear bumper is the same on all 4th gen model years? just need to know if these parts bolt up to the '96?

 

Change the Ignition Switch

 

stupid reply: but u mean the switch where the key goes into correct?