Stikya

iTrader: (1)

Many of you saw my hardship post a couple of weeks ago: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....erious+engine.

The basic verdict is my car need an engine swap, because of a snapped piton rod and damaged cylinder, which broke while I was spraying N2O, on the dyno.

I couldn't hide it from Nissan because my Nissan service folks had documented all my mods (since they do some of them for me).

Anyway, I have a good relationship w/ my service manager, and so I provided him (@ Jay Wolffe Nissan) my dyno sheet, showing I was running correct a/f ratios, and they fought with Nissan NA for 2 weeks.

Nissan NA ruled it probably wouldn't have happened had I not been spraying, but that the part shouldn't have broken. So, we should split it.

They are buying my new engine ($2700), and letting me cover the labor ($2500). I feel I got a fair deal, for the situation.

Kudos to Jay Wolffe for going to bat for me and to Nissan NA for having a heart!

spta97

iTrader: (1)

I'm glad to see things worked out. $2500 is a lot better to swallow than $5200! I felt for you when I read your post and confirmed my decision never to do engine mods on my Max. I wanted to do a Franken car intake but after reading about all the MAF failures I decided not to.

But look at it this way, you are getting a brand new engine (you said "new" right?) for $2500! Now you have a brand new car on your hands with low mileage!

Are you gonna "spray" with the new one?

Oh, I'm SHOCKED that the dealer even let you talk about A/F ratios without laughing at you. I guess it pays to have a good relationship with them.

itdood

You did get a good deal.

Honesty paid off there.

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

Good news!

Questions though, since I missed the other thread:
1)Where is the dyno? Can you post it?
2)If your A/F was good, what kind of hp/tq numbers did the dyno show when the rod snapped?
3)What was your bottle pressure?
4)Are you sure it was ONLY a 65-shot?

We should gather as much information from you as possible, since nobody that I know of, except maybe Hogan, has had an engine failure. It is good to know, so others can learn and be more aware of what the VQ30DE-K can handle powerwise.

Stikya

iTrader: (1)

My service manager has a project Cobra, that he has been modding for a year now. So, I think he understood my plight, and wanted to be on my side.

Plus, he cares about my business. And he knew if he could get NA to help me, I'd probably continue to bring him my business (including future mods).

BUT, NO MORE N20.
It just isn't worth the risk! I followed all the rules, got all the fuel system upgrades, and dynod 44 times trying to tune it. But, I still had problems w/ leanness (on occasion), and eventually broke the piston rod.

Was it fun? Hell yeah! I'll never forget that feeling of pushing the button (taking me to 265FWHP/309Torque), and shooting past other cars. I'd probably even try again if I had a project muslce car; but never again on the daily driver.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

You talk to him?

Plus when he mentioned that super high 20:1 ratio, that introduces a big set of variances that would be hard to get a good reading on. ie.... his info would be true if you ran your engine on a 65shot and dyno'd it to 20:1 a/f ratio. Considering no one would do that on purpose, it's hard to get good info. ie.. it could have damaged the rod before and let go later. Or maybe the rod was slightly defective from before. He also mentions running 20 more more dyno runs? He could have damaged the rod on any one of those runs also.

Would be good info to have but I don't know how it would directly apply to anyone else's situation.

Stikya

iTrader: (1)

Bottle pressure 1000psi.
I, for certain, had a 34 jet (about a 60 shot) in.
I showed 255.9HP/309.9T.

And when they tore my engine apart they showed no damage to any other cylinders or pistons, and all looked in good shape, except for a little bit of carbon buildup. So, it wasn't due to any deterioration effects, or they would have seen deterioration across all the cylinders.

The dyno is at home I will try (I've never posted pics before) to post it this weekend.

JAKE02

Where are all the naysayers about Nissan service when a good story pops up? glad thinga worked out for you.

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

Do you have a wet kit? It sounded like you have a dry kit, but how the hell was your torque so high on a dry kit? I thought only wet kits do that.

More Questions:
1)How many dyno pulls/runs do you think you ran at those power levels?
2)How many bottles did you go through?
3)How many miles were on the engine?
4)Did you have ANY signs of detonation? Using colder plugs?
5)Do you have an EGT gauge? Only a FP and A/F gauge?
6)Did you get a chance to pull the spark plugs ESPECIALLY on #5?
7)What were the RPMs when it happen?

I'd just like to gather anything that will help people know what the VQ30DE-K can handle. People run much more HP than that, but that's a lot of torque that only TURBO or wet kits usually have. However, you say it snapped at the end of the dyno pull, so that's high rpms which is HP, not torque.

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

What? You mean Hogan?

I agree this case is probably not the norm, but still good to have all the facts. It's the ones that go KABOOM that can tell you the most information. I sure wish he had an OBD scan for that run!

FACTS:
1)Maxima engine is not BOMB proof and even on a "65-shot" you can still destroy it.
2)Cylinder #5 is the weakest link.
3)Running extremely lean can show up later down the road, although everything seems fine.
4)Nissan ACTUALLY PAID FOR SOMETHING!!!!!!!!

Stikya

iTrader: (1)

Dry kit (bottle heater really makes the torque difference.
I ran over 40 dynos, anywhere from 55 to 100 shot (most of them pre-bottle warmer, which drops the shot results down about 20HP), over 4 bottles.
39K miles
No signs of detonation. 1 step colder plugs, gapped to 0.040.
Hadn't got all my gauges yet, just Fuel Pressure gauge. And reading A/F on the dyno.
Plugs in all cylinders looked great except #5, broken.
RPM was at 6200, near peak HP, at time of snap.

IceY2K1

iTrader: (3)

I guess I'll have to wait until I see the dyno.

What kind of plugs are you running? I think I've read that if the plug is snuffed/blown out that you can destroy the plug.

You didn't hear detonation? What fuel are you running? Brand Grade?

Stikya

iTrader: (1)

No detonation heard, and I was 1 ft. from the engine, reading the FP gauge.
I run Aamco 92 Octane. Plugs: NGK BKR6E-11.

Dawgs AE

Good to hear that Nissan is helping someone after reading about all they don't do for people. Good luck with the new engine.

vqman

I may start taking my car to Jay Wolfe...

-vq

In KC