Is it possible to put a VQ30 into a 2003?
 

Since my '96 I30 was totalled, i'm now searching for another Maxima. There's a 2003 near me with a blown motor, and since the motor in the i30 was running very well, i was thinking whether or not it'd be possible to swap the engine into a 2003 without much hassle. I don't think anyone has done this type of swap before, but knowing the procedures for going the other way (VQ30 to VQ35 in a 4th gen), how difficult would you guys reckon it'd be? I'm guessing it'd not be worth it (hassle wise) in the end, but maybe more knowledgable members here can shed some light.

Everything you'd need for a full 3.5 swap is what you'd need for this swap but in reverse. The wiring, nats, cluster, flywheel, etc. The time spent wouldn't be worth it to downgrade, and you'd at the very least be spending money to have your flywheel modded.

There's only 3 or 4 people that ever did the full VQ35 swap, I'm actually almost finished with one but I would of definitely regretted it if I hadn't been putting in a 2k14 engine with 15k miles //Thread

I vote not worth the effort. Running Maxima's of that vintage can be had for under $2k. Run one till it blows.

Thanks for the response. Yep, seems to be way too much work.

Yeah the cost is too much for a swap when the cars can be had for those prices.

nope 2 different motots, ecu, tranny and wiring man not even worth it.

You'd be better off buying the proper motor from a junk yard and doing a straight install. When you boil it all down you'd be doing a lot of complicated work, spending extra money and taking extra risk just to avoid the cost of buying a motor from a junk yard. Not to mention you'd have a car with considerably less power than it should. That's if it doesn't develop some sort of phantom issue that eats up countless hours of your time to sort out...

^ :werd: That's the best route to go.

Thanks everyone for the input. I appreciate it. After the experience with the 2003 max I had (although a thanks to the org for providing so much useful information and helping in many diagnosis :), i'm sticking with vq30 maxima's for now. Looks like a swap into a dead 5.5gen would absolutely not be worth it, so my best bet is to look for a full car, which actually tomorrow i'm going to look at another 2000, hope it's good.

That's why i put a 3.0 back in my 01 .Thought of 3.5 again but i always see them burning oil.

If you wanna get crazy, toss in a 2nd gen DE (an "HR swap") and swap the timing cover back to 3.0. You can keep the original stock 3.0 harness, no burning oil, better flowing heads, and more power!

Sounds like a project

Well saw the car- pic
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/maxima....330a67369c.jpg

Keep it Simple....