Well I think my car has finally gave out on me. 310k miles 02 i35. I noticed I pushed it a little on the freeway and smelled like burning rubber like 2 days ago. Then there was the rattling at low speed between first and second gear. So then yesterday on the highway it gave out, would not accelerate anymore and I pulled off an exit where it shut off. It started back up with noises coming from the engine like a squeal, and tap. I took the oil cap off and there was steam or smoke coming from it. So I started back up and made it to a hotel. It will crank and run but with the noises not for long.

 

Little to no rust?
Love the car?
If the answer to both is yes consider an "HR" swap

 

A little rust but nothing major, and what is an HR swap? I have 2 more I 35s but I still want to keep that one. I'm assuming the oil pump gave out, it still starts up but after a few seconds the metalic knocking starts and squeals so I Kno the motor is bad now. So I'm gonna have to tow it back home.

 

A little rust but nothing major, and what is an HR swap? I have 2 more I 35s but I still want to keep that one. I'm assuming the oil pump gave out, it still starts up but after a few seconds the metalic knocking starts and squeals so I Kno the motor is bad now. So I'm gonna have to tow it back home. I also noticed there was hardly any pressure in the radiator when I took the cap off yesterday after driving for a while. Then my antifreeze started to disappear and I not have heat at idle.

 

http://www.nisformance.com/Articles.asp?ID=252

 

From the looks of it I don't think an HR swap is a good idea, it seems too complicated, what are the chances I can find a low mileage vq35 for under 1000? I have another i35 that has a rear main seal leak.

 

You're not going to find a vq35de without any of the same problems yours suffers from unless you find a unicorn. Metal shavings in the oil too. Get it remanned and rebuilt. It'll cost a lot but it'll save you time and money in the future assuming u do appropriate things to prepare before u get your engine back.

 

 

Despite low post count I'm actually an OG vq owner and am working on de right now. Well I'm saying is to expand money on a new motor that may or may not come with metal shavings in the oil.then probably pays somebody to put it in when allv together $5 Grand gets spent . Remanufactured with all new parts piston seals rings cams, might cost close to that. This is just my opinion.

 

I seen several YouTubers go do engine swap or find replace to drop oil pan only to find more metal they had then their own.

 

Depends what you consider low mileage. Go on carpart.com and look for motors in your area. VQ35DEs are extremely plentiful since nissan put that sht in everything, its just that considering they are getting up there in age you probably will have trouble finding any under 100k miles. As for the HR swap - if you are capable of swapping a motor, you are capable of doing an HR swap. I have previously never done either before in my life, and managed to pull it off a couple of weeks ago in my backyard working off sheets of plywood, without any help whatsoever besides the org of course. Its very doable if youre mechanically inclined. You can find HR motors pretty easily as well. In my case, not only were they on average a lot cheaper than DE motors, but had FAR less miles. I paid $1000 for a 2014 motor with 7k miles on it - i saw other HR motors with like 40-80k miles for around $700 and DE motors with 100K+ for the same amount. All depends on where you are though.

However all that being said youre probably better off just getting a new car. 300k is up there, at that point youll be looking at basically every maintainence item like suspension, etc. Unless youre very attached to that car or the body is in mint condition, just buy another maxima/i35 and save yourself the trouble.

It would cost you about $700 for a motor and maybe 1000 in labor to swap a motor. Idk where youre getting that $5000 number lol. In all honestly with VQ35's being a dime a dozen they just are not worth rebuilding unless youre doing the work yourself and looking to upgrade the internals. As far as getting a crap motor, thats why you ask for a compression test. I guess if the motors out of the car its more luck of the draw but even then you can inspect it fairly well.

 

yah you are right I bought a spare i35 just in case my daily driver gave out, I dont think i ever had metal shavings in the oil, and the oil was still full when the car shut off, still cranks up strong though i did just spend $450 on a water pump job, and still had no heat at idle, but just about every suspension item has been replaced, body is ok. I guess im gonna try and find a replacement motor for it since i kinda wanna keep it. Its been a really good car over the years i must say despite the minor issues, i bought it with 181K miles on it.

 

850 with fluids for hr swap if you do it yourself (500 for engine, I see em around). People believe shops when they tell em 5k. No mechanic wants to do real work. They actually lose money and....it's work. They'd rather screw people over on small **** like brakes. So, they tell you gargantuan numbers to make it worth it to them and dissuade you from doing it.

 

Show me a receipt of someone swapping the motor for that I'd love to see it. I live in the Pacific Northwest and minimum a shop is charging is $100 an hour and they go by whatever the job costs when looking at the computer. At 02 i35 gonna need a lil more than a direct drop in HR. Those first bunch of DE engines had weird cam sensors and used a lot less of them. That's a large number of engine control difference. Probably more o2 sensors now. There's a technical finesse. And it's like once you have the motor out, that shop is going to probably recommend doing a couple things while you have access to servicsble things u wouldn't before. Power steering, water pump, etc. Don't listen to these guys saying a grand. Maybe in Brooklyn or places in NY where the car is plentiful but I've owned 4 vq35s and 2 vg engines and hourly rate for shop times always are on the rise. If you want detailed FSM I have every chapter for our cars on PDF. Lemme know if you need it for yourself OP. Sorry about thread takeover.

 

Yah im in the southeast in charlotte nc, I know a few shops that install engines in columbia sc for like $500-600 but i dont know too many in charlotte that do. I have 2 more i35s with less mileage but somehow im attached to my first i35 because its been everywhere i needed it to go and then some, but most cars do that lol. crazy thing is its still running, but before it went out i put alot of gasket maker on the valve cover where there was a leak, dont know if that had anything to do with it, and the day before i heard a light knock in the motor, but anyways if i dont decide to fix it, i would not mind getting a g35.

 

 

we'v seen VQs on here go 400+K miles and still running fine but, with rusted bodiess. remember the how many miles does yours have thread?

 

 

another reason i'm going to try to modify my 3.0 over a 3.5 swap that no messing with wiring or ECU swaps or key reprogramming etc etc. would just need to bait binary tuning with some $ to tune it since hes the only guy who's tuned 3.0s and released the definition files for 3.5 so other shops can tune them.

OP if your car has little rust, that can be chemically treated. other parts are usually replaceable via bolts.

 

kool ive seen a few motors around here for around $650-750 lately, but ive only gone to one shop that said labor would be $1100.

 

I did the same thing on a high mileage engine...I wanted to see how fast my old car would go. I think I gummed up the rings … engine ran rough, but it cleared up after awhile. In your case, with the noise and high mileage, run it until it dies and make plans for replacing the engine or the car. Who knows how long it might last.

 

Im not sure exactly where the noise is coming from, I know earlier that same day I put a bunch of gasket maker on front valve cover to seal the leak from a stripped bolt and i added some 10-w40 oil. NOt sure what happened but i was trying to slightly accelerate above 65mph and she would not go anymore so i pulled over to the next exit where i saw the oil light flash before coming to a stop. It started right up but with the noise. But i did manage to get it a mile down the road where i parked it. still fires up strong though.

 

So, the car would not accelerate much above 65 and shortly after the oil light came on. Check the oil level. Oil light came on because (1) oil level exceedingly low or (2) oil level is normal and oil pickup is blocked, or (3) oil pump failed or (4) excessive engine bearing clearances cannot hold oil pressure up. If valve cover leaked, there should be oil blown all over that part of the engine to lose about 3 quarts so quickly. I'm wondering why the car would not accelerate prior to the oil light coming on. If oil level doesn't touch the dipstick, then oil pressure sensor did not detect a low pressure condition in time to prevent engine damage due to lack of proper lubrication. I'm also wondering if the oil was contaminated with engine coolant. Contaminated oil could still maintain oil pressure, while producing excessive oil temperature and rapid engine bearing wear, which finally produces a loss of oil pressure due to the larger bearing clearances. Does the oil look normal on the dipstick? Any creamy goo under the oil cap? Low coolant level?

 

Well since u menchened the coolant level, I recently spent about $450 on a water pump and timing tensioner job 2 weeks prior to the engine break down. Come to find out I still had seemingly add coolant every other day and i dont recall any leaks after the water pump got fixed, so the coolant was going somewhere, and also i never had heat while sitting/idleing, it would always blow cool or cold if i sit too long. Then i noticed there did not seem to be much coolant pressure in the radiator after removing the cap about 30 mins after coming to a stop. The oil was full, and yes it was seeping from the front valve cover but more so near the intake manifold side. I also had a code for a cam position sensor 3 weeks ago, because the car would randomly shut off. I pulled the cam sensor and there was white residue on it.

 

300k! Damn Impressive!

 

are vq35's known to have metal shavings?

 

These are very strong indications of coolant in the oil. Conclusive confirmation would be observed in a sample of the engine oil. If it is light brown, viscous and the color of chocolate milk, then you had a coolant leak inside the engine after the water pump was replaced. This had to be resolved quickly to avoid total engine failure. See https://dannysengineportal.com/antif...hat-can-it-do/

Did you install the water pump? If a shop did it, they are financially responsible for the engine failure. They should get an engine for you and install it. Have a different shop evaluate the engine. Given them a list of symptoms … water pump replaced, low coolant, loss of power, oil light came on, engine noise, discolored oil. Do Not allow them to drain and toss the oil. They only need a small sample to determine if there is coolant in the oil. If the second shop confirms this diagnosis, inform the first shop that put in the water pump of their negligence. They will want to look at the engine to confirm that it failed due to a coolant leak. Do not allow them to drain and toss the oil. It will be difficult for them to deny responsibility or claim the failure is not related to their work on the water pump if you have a diagnosis from the second shop.

 

Yes I had a shop change the water pump, they claim they replaced the timing tensioner because it was old or the old one would not compress all the way, now another shop replaced the water pump a year and half ago, they never mentioned replacing the chain tensioner. Now ever since this shop did the water pump job, the car would sometimes start up with a tick noise like something was out of place. I never really had rapid oil loss issues with this car because it would usually burn a half quart every 1200 miles. Also this same shop replaced the front main seal prior to replacing the water pump. They said they changed the oil after replacing the pump, then charged me an extra $100 for them having to do the chain tensioner.

 

Yes I tried to stay on top of maintenance with this car, it has been very reliable, and one of the best cars I've owned despite the maintenance issues, this was the most mileage I have put on a car. If I knew how to upload a video on here I could let u all hear it crank up with the noises.

 

Why was the water pump replaced a second time? What were the symptoms in the first and second instances?

 

if it's not an OEM pump they can go bad right of the box. especially if it's cheap brand of aftermarket that no one has heard of.

 

What's the status? Is the oil contaminated with coolant? If so, the shop screwed up the water pump installation and they owe you a replacement engine … then you can do this

 

Well the first pump was replaced because the blades had corroded so bad that it wasnt circulating the coolant and the car would run hot. The most recent pump replacenment was because im assuming that the pump seals went bad and i was loosing coolant shortly after i put it in. How can you tell if the oil is contaminated with coolant? The thing is the car broke down out of town, about 45 miles away. I went to check on it this weekend. It took a little effort to start it up, but it sat for a while, still has the noise like something is sticking or sumting but its loud as heck.

 

You were losing coolant after the first water pump and before the second water pump? Were you losing coolant after the second water pump? When was the oil last changed? Before the first water pump, between the first and second water pump, or after the second water pump? How much oil did you add between the first and second water pump? How much oil did you add after the second water pump? Assigning responsibility is more difficult because a second water pump was installed.

You can tell if the oil is contaminated by pulling the dipstick and checking what's on it. The color and consistency will be different than what you are used to, less transparent, perhaps milky if there's lots of coolant in it, probably like milk chocolate, and more viscous.

 

The first time the water pump got done was about 100,000 miles ago, yes the oil had been changed every 4 or 5k miles sometimes 7k miles and no no coolant was leaking between then and the time the this pump was replaced. By the time the pump needed replacing again it was leaking coolant pretty bad from the pump seals 100K miles after the first pump was


replaced. I always had the oil topped off, as i checked it religiously everyday before driving. The oil was sopposed to be changed my the shop that did the pump, at least they say they changed the oil, and it was very clean when i checked the stick, shortly after coolant started to disappear, and would not suck from the reserve tank, and the radiator would never really stay full as id have to check it and see if anything got sucked from the reserve tank, or id have to pour the reserve tank coolant into the radiator to fill it. Im pretty surprised the car lasted this long.

 

You were losing coolant after the second water pump was installed 2 weeks prior to the engine breakdown. They changed the oil. You have a receipt. They are responsible for the engine failure. They owe you an engine (most likely a used one) and free installation. Do you want to pursue this issue and get this car running again? If so, check the oil on the dipstick as I described earlier. If you cannot do that, then tow the car to a reputable mechanic and ask them to check the oil for coolant contamination. Do not allow them to drain the oil, but let them take a sample. Their diagnosis should indicate the cause of engine failure, specifically water pump leakage contaminating the oil. Take this diagnosis to the shop that put in the second water pump and tell them to repair it at no cost to you. They should send a tow truck to get the car and fix it or offer to pay you a reasonable amount to replace the car. If you don't want to hold the shop accountable, then call someone who is willing to take any car running or not as a donation to get it off the street. It will be crushed, recycled and you can go buy another car.

 

Are you sure that its that simple? As far as getting the shop to tow the car and replace the engine without them denying that they didnt f sumthing up?. What if i can get a small amount of oil from the car myself and put it in a cup and save it. But then where would I take the oil to to get a test done on it? Pep boys or firestone?

 

 

Ok firestone is good? I'll get the sample either Tonite or this weekend. Then if it does indeed have coolant contamination how will the shop own up to it that they fd up something. I did notice them acting a bit nervous as if they did not know that the oil had to be changed, then the guy pulled the rubber plug instead of the oil pan bolt , then tried to get me to spend $120 more to replace the oil pan.

 

I think I was mistaken to assume the shop must be liable to replace the engine. Your car isn't worth very much in today's marketplace, given it's age/make/model/condition, even with a running motor.It's unlikely the shop will find a comparable used condition serviceable motor to replace yours with. So, if they had to rebuild the motor, or install an "exchange rebuilt" motor, there could be a substantial betterment to your car which the shop isn't liable for, you are. Are you be prepared to pay that betterment amount? Even if you make a case that the car was a runner when you brought it in to the shop, and it now no longer runs through no fault of your own, the shop isn't obligated to give you something financially better than what you had.

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/forum/autom...#ixzz5Za8B7j56

Google "auto repair shop damaged my engine". Find at least 6 informative articles/forum posts on this topic and read them thoroughly. You may need to get legal advice.

You might get an engine or more likely the shop may choose to settle in cash for the value of your car. In the worst case, you will receive a refund of what you paid the shop to replace the water pump. If you choose to pursue this issue, do not go to Firestone or Pep Boys unless you happen to personally know a GREAT mechanic with EXPERIENCE. You do NOT want to have a low tech person who just changes oil all day giving you his opinion. Get a small sample of the oil (pill bottle size or at most 1/4 cup) and take it to a NISSAN DEALER. Tell the service writer you want to speak to the engine mechanical repair supervisor about your oil sample. Ask him if the oil is contaminated with coolant. If yes, then tell them this, "Another shop installed a water pump 2 weeks ago and I need an independent diagnosis of the cause of engine failure to seek compensation." From there, you'll discuss the cost of this diagnosis, etc.. If the shop mechanical repair manager says the oil is not contaminated, then you have no case against the shop that replaced your water pump.

Until then, get on your computer and Google, "auto repair shop damaged my engine" to understand what the process involved for others who had this happen to them.