My 2000 SE is leaking oil all over the place. Dealership said VC gaskets, rear main seal and power steering line are leaking all over the place. Quoted me about $4k total and advised me to just get rid of it, or run it until it quit. FWIW, I really trust this service manager, and I go to him for parts and advice all the time. I honestly believe that he is giving me good advice.

In January, I should be getting about $4k in student loan refunds, and I was thinking about getting a used car, but wanted to ask you guys about an engine swap.

I see a 5.5 engine swap thread, but didn't see a 5.0 thread. I see a reman 2000 Max engine for $1,800.

What do you suggest I do in this situation? My Max has 175k miles on her, and aside from the transmission getting stuck in 2nd gear when it gets really, really hot, (I live in the deep south) the car runs great.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

Unless you want a car payment, I think 3.5 swap would be the way to go. I have seen low milage 3.5 for about 1k even less on Craigslist.

Are you going to mate it to your current tranny? All else fails you can try to find 2002-03 Maxima?

I feel for ya man! I had to dish out 1.5K in maintenance after taking my car out to Cali and back. But at the end of the day it is better than having a car payment.

 

I was wondering if a 5.5 engine swap would work with a 2000 tranny. You mentioned a 3.5 engine swap. Was that a typo?

Problem is, I am in the middle of fricken nowhere, and I don't have a shop that I trust to do the swap. The Central Louisiana craigslist is just full of pickup truck parts and rims, but no Maxima parts. In fact, I get a ton of stares because I don't have a pickup truck and I also don't hunt and do meth. Lol.

Anyway, I guess that unless I get lucky, I would have to order a remanufactured engine.

I sure don't want a car note, and considering that I have been laid off for almost a year now, that might not even be possible.

 

Valve cover gaskets and power stearing hose are simple jobs that you can do in your driveway with time, patience, basic tools and a little bit of mechanical knowlege. That's around $200 in parts.

The rear main seal is a little more involved only because it involves dropping the transmission. If you've ever done that before, it seems like a huge task. If you lived closer, i'd do all the work for you for half that price including the cost of parts.

If you're satisfied with the way your motor runs, I wouldn't worry about an engine swap. Even if you do, it's advised that you replace gaskets with the motor going in anyways.

 

Are you auto or manual?

You can do 5.5 engine with the 5.0 timing and have the car run like stock. We've done this down here already and as long as you run the dek fuel rails, it will start up and run like stock.

You can also do the full ecu swap, but the cost for this is generally higher only because you have to source more parts initially. (ECU, engine harness, ignition, key, gas pedal, dash and dash harness all from the same vehicle)

 

+1 valve cover gaskets aren't that bad on the 3.0. Power steering could be a Lil pain but it's not to bad. Like once said rear main is the hardest of them all, but is doable with a couple hand tools. Just check out the fsm and you should be good to go. Trust me it will save you tons.

 

Can you do the 5.5 block and run the 5.0 heads and all of the upper stuff with it as well?

 

Yes, there is a car down here that is currently running that setup. From a performance standpoint, its neglegable weather it's beneficial or not. Reasoning is that it does in fact raise the compression ratio which technically translates to more power, but the 3.0 heads are terrible when it comes to flow characteristics. But a good port job aleviates some of that.

 

[quote=essential1;8260415]Are you auto or manual?

You can do 5.5 engine with the 5.0 timing and have the car run like stock. We've done this down here already and as long as you run the dek fuel rails, it will start up and run like stock.

Do you mean it will run like a stock 3.5 or a stock 3.0? dumb question i know

 

Not sure how that stuff comes out to $4k but you should probably check out that 2nd gear stick.

 

No dyno's with that setup? I've also heard that there are stroker kits for the 3.5's, but they're expensive.

 

[QUOTE=Govols83;8260439]Dumb on my part for not specifying.

I meant that it will be just as reliable as having your stock 3.0 in there. The only difference will be that you'll have an extra 50hp or so on tap when you roll into the throttle.

 

It was dynoed years ago with an 00VI and made 240whp with a 2 1/4" exhaust and shorty headers. It now has a 3.5 IM, equal length headers and will be getting 3" exhaust soon. No dynos yet of that setup, but it is significantly faster now.

 

Wha...?

 

Daily driving will give you the same experience as stock. Mash the gas and you will feel the extra power of the 3.5.

 

Ahh

 

That setup when it had the 2.25 exhaust is respectable considering the de-k had 222 at the crank from the factory. So with the 3.5 IM, does it still have the 3.0 heads?

 

I've heard a lot of the 4th gen guys have startup and idle issues after swapping. Would a 5th gen be as susceptible?

 

Yup. same 3.0 heads.

 

The reason 4th gen guys have start up and idle issues is usually because they run without an IACV. Issues become more apparent in cold weather. Down here, at the most, we just have to keep our foot on the gas for a few seconds (5-10) then it idles just fine after that with no IACV. (FL warm weather year round FTMFW!)

On 5th gens, if you use the PFTB, you can use an IACV. They are very similar between the two vehicles. Both are mounted on the TB itself in the same fashion, versus the 4th gen unit which is mounted to the intake manifold itself.

 

Keep your car. Stop taking it to that dealership. You don't have the budget for it. I'm not sure why you're not fixing the car. VC gaskets can be done for an honest 80 bucks labor. The power steering hose can be done for 40 labor. I would take care of those leaks before jumping to RMS. If it's leaking on the bottom, it's most likely the upper oil pan. You should make that the second phase after you do the easy leaks.

You're suggesting to swap engines for oil leaks. It doesn't jive. The amount of labor to R&R an engine is magnitudes more than to seal up the current one. You could stop the leaks, repair/replace the transmission, do a full tune up, and pay a really good shop for the labor to do it all for under the price of the reman engine alone.

Your dealer service department blows. It's probably a factor of the age of your car. The majority of new vehicle service departments simply hate high mileage vehicles. Find a reputable shop in your area.

 

I worked at a car dealership for over 10 years. The techs there love getting that gravy train warranty work on newer cars. Any time something older and out of warranty came in, they would moan and complain about it. With newer cars, the nuts, bolts, fasteners, etc. haven't become old and rusted on, so they breezed through jobs alot faster and could turn as much as 100 flat rate hours a week or more if it was busy. With older cars, it cuts into their flat rate time, since more physical work usually needed to be done dealing with old crusty parts. Also, dealerships have alot more overhead compared to an independent shop, so they tend to cost more. Parts and service is the bread and butter of any car dealership. The amount of money a dealership takes in on their new and used car sales is a small piece of the pie compared to what parts and service brings in.

 

These things I know.

 

I had thought it would be cool to have a 3.5, but when you pop the hood, it still looks like the factory 3.0, for that "sleeper" effect.

 

I didn't mean to ramble on about it, I was basically agreeing with you on what you said about how dealerships hate working on the older stuff.

 

That's quite the insight into a dealership... I always knew they were a ripoff and most of the time did shoddy work (much like Atlantic Infiniti here in town), but that explains some reason behind it. Awesome. BTW, look forward to meeting you at the bbq next weekend.

 

I had a friend that used to be a tech there, and he quit. I didn't ask why he did, but he's still a big Nissan freak to this day.

Keep checking our FB page for updates on the BBQ. We might end up going to a pizza place, not quite sure yet. One of our crew members knows a guy that owns a pizza shop and he's working on getting something for us set up there.

 

Oh okay I didn't know that. Meh, probably stay dek and just full bolt-on (except y instead of full header)

 

I would suggest bringing your car somewhere else. Thats sounds like maybe a $1,000 job maybe but not $4,000.

Bring your car to a few other garages for another opinion.

And the transmission could just need a simple fluid flush .

g/luck

 

3.5 is the engine, 5.5 is the gen it comes out of. Maybe I should have been more specific, like 3.5VQ so it is clear as to what I am saying. At the end of the day we are speaking of same thing!

 

Engine/motor for 00-03 maximas (00-01 = 5th gen, 02-03 = 5.5 gen)

3.5 = VQ35DE 02-03 5.5 gen
3.0 = VQ30DE-K 00-01 5th gen

 

Thanks EVERYONE for the advice. I think that I am going to hunt around and find a good shop, and see about getting them to get the leaks taken care of. I tried to do the VC gaskets myself, and I have them in the trunk of my car, but I am intimidated by the job. Is the FSM available on the internet somewhere? If so where? I just have basic tools-100 pc Craftsman set.

For a car with 175K on it, (and I put the last 85K on it myself) isn't a tranny flush a really bad idea?

 

Definitely DO NOT FLUSH. Instead do it yourself. 1st off, is the fluid level OK for your tranny? Measure it.

Now, to easily give your tranny some more life, drop the old tranny fluid out, measure exactly how much came out, like 3.7 qts, then replace with 3.7 Qts new tranny fluid (just use regular tranny fluid like DEXRON III) thru the dipstick. You will notice better, more lively shifts.

I would guess that right now your tranny really doesn't like to downshift unless you mash the pedal real hard, right? Watch how that will change when you do the simple fluid change described above.

As mentioned by the others the valve gasket change is relatively easy.

For the rear main seal, sheesh, that one really sucks. You have to do open heart surgery on your tranny just to replace a $7 part. A cubillion dollars labor to separate the engine from the transmission to replace this little o-ring seal.


Personally, I'd live with it and watch the oil levels closely, like once a week.

DW