VQ35 up and running!
 

Well the car is finallly working. The sound, with the Cattman headers, is awesome, almost like a V8 at high RPMs, but pleasently subdued under 3k.

Only issue is a high idle, everything else is fine. Car wouldn't start at first because the alternator belt is too long and puts too much stress on the tensioner, so I took off the belt entirely. No belts, just the UDP spinning. I'll get a shorter one soon.

Driving without power steering is not as hard as I expected. In fact I don't think I mind it much...

I HAD to take it out for a little ride. The catch is that I didn't have the hood, fenders, or bumper on. Entire front end was "naked". The body shop is 5 minutes from here and since he would have to take all of it out anyway, I kept the front end that way for the 5 minute drive. Incredibly stupid, but I do stupid stuff sometimes :chuckle:

I kept the speed low and didn't really floor it per se, but the torque is unbelievable. Now I know what "torque steer" means :ben:

And to think, it pulls that hard with a non-working Intake Manifold divider butterfly (for above 4k), a loose vacum line that isn't sealed, a broken knock sensor, and really ****ty timing and Air/Fuel ratio. Can't wait to have those ironed out.

Wow that must feel good to finally be done!

Congrats ... finally. Any plans for the future? Weigh in/Dyno/.25 mile pass? Races etc?


Intake manifold needs not functioning to be cool :wall: Ks dead already? What's the timing at that it's shi.tty? V8 ... :scratch: Sorry for all the critisism ... just in a "mood" maybe I'm jealous ...

It'll feel even better when it's out of the body shop, and that knock sensor gets replaced. Any 5.5 gen owners wanna give me an idea of the difference between a dead knock sensor and a brand new one? Is it significant?

I always had non workins KS. In 3.0 the knock sensor was dead towards the end.

It's almost difficult to keep the car in 1st, since even pressing the gas pedal slightly it's quite hard to keep it from lurching forwards. It's like having a 200 pound dog on a leash.

Haven't heard of any 3.5s having a dead Ks yet ... Looks easier to change compared to the 3.0, (more room) ...

The knock was probably always dead. Pulled my codes and it showed up.

I will dyno or go to the track only when the OBDI conversion is done and the tuning is how I want it to be.

Hows the OBD-I deal going? I would think a SAFC(a/f) and TS ecu(rev limter) would do the trick that's just IMO though

The OBDI conversion + 300 zx ECU + all the tuning I need ends up being 600$cnd (about 500$US) minus say 100$ to sell the 95 ECU... so about 400$US for conversion, and tuning. Plus, I don't have to get screwed over at the US/Canada border with completely over-the-top and ridiculous shipping fees, and border fees, and whatever the hell they decide to charge me that day.

Not to mention, the guy can advance the crap out of the timing, to bring it up to 2002 spec, so my car runs just as good as it would on a modded 2k2 ecu. He'll adjust fuel and timing maps to the VQ35 and tune the A/F to how I want it (13.0, mostly).

Much better option, IMO.

I really wanna see it happen. I would love to drive it too :D

At the rate people are jumping on the VQ35 swap bandwagon, your neighbour should have one soon :D

I'm going to have to re-make my TPS bracket since it's not solid and idle varies a little, which is annoying, but that's pretty much the only problem.

When I first started the car, the timing chain made A LOT of noise but after the 2nd or 3rd time, the noise disappeared and now it's normal.

Sweet! All of these 3.5 swaps coming out of the wood work.

we should meet up one day compare 3.5 notes :king2:

Congrats man!!!!!!!!! I should be out on the road by tomorrow:king:

Are you running the stock ECU? I need to play with my idle a little bit also.

Also, which injectors are you running?

I'm running the stock 95 ECU.

Using the 3.5 rail, with 3.5 injectors and the 1995 fuel pressure regulator (I had to cut and soder the injector plugs from the 2k2 wiring harness since the plugs were SLIGHTLY different).

I am not using this plate:

http://img111.echo.cx/img111/2049/pics46mt.jpg

It's still lying around on the 3.0 intake manifold :D

I haven't even hooked up a vaccum line to the 3.5 part that originally goes there. I guess that's where my idle problem comes from. Is it hard to install? Any holes to drill, ect?

That hose I believe is for the VIAS on the stock 2k2k manifold

So it's useless for us? IT's supposed to open around 3.8-4k...

Is that what Tilley did also? Replace that plate with the 4th gen plate on the picture?

No VIAS for Jclaw

It won't matter when I put a Crawford Z FWD plenum on there :nervous:

Yeah that was Tilley's idea.

:thumbsup: Congrats on getting the 3.5 up and running in your car. I know you glad it won't be setting in that garage much longer.

Congrats!!!! Better days for us Max owners.

finally done. props to you.

Thanks. I'm still not sure what to do about the VI. I'm thinking about removing the butterfly like Tilley did.

Do you have pics of the new TB setup? I'm gonna try to loosen the cable a bit more... Also relocate the bracket.

No I dont. But I used two 1" wide metal plates, twisted them a bit, pierced some holes and used the two closest holes on the upper intake manifold, then welded the two pieces together. The bracket is shaped like an "L". Make sure it's solid. The one I used is about 1" wide and 1/8" thick.

Great job Jclaw... And trust me that's only the begining..... Mod after mod after mod.. :run:



:king2:

I wonder if we can use the 2k2 knock sensor.... My power and gas mileage have been a little shady... (although still kicks arse), but don't feel as much power the first day I drove it.

Buy a brand new 4th gen knock sensor. They are supposedly better than the 5th gen KS. I got one for 79$ off pinnicle Nissan (online). Pretty cheap and OEM. I'll be installing it this weekend and tell you about the difference. KS slowly go crappy over time, the process is so slow you don't feel it. Once in a while it's better to buy a new KS.

Yeah, I have a new KS off of my old motor with 8k miles on it. I put it in the FS forum, but might hold on to it. Im going to manually check for the KS code tomorrow.

So you don't have a hose from the intake tract to the IACV? That would definitely give you an idle problem because the IACV will be introducing unmetered air into the engine, resulting in a very lean afr at idle.

Would it affect AFR at other RPMs?

Also, I will have to drive the car for about 80 miles (mostly highway) before dealing with the IACV/vaccum leak/Idle issues. Is that bad for the motor?

Nismo: I'm gonna change the knock sensor today, will use the 95 sensor instead of the 2k2. It's brand new, I just recieved it this morning. 0 miles.

If you're not getting a CEL indicating left or rear bank leanness, then the amount of air let in by the IACV isn't enough to prevent the ecu from correcting to stoich during closed loop operation.

During WOT you will be leaner than what you would have been without the leak, but the extra air is probably insignificant compared to the metered air being drawn though the maf, so there is not much danger of being dangerously lean.

Leanness at idle won't do anything except give you a rough idle, i.e., no engine damage.

I'd use the VQ35 knock sensor. Each motors knock sensor is "tuned" to a particular frequency that engine makes when detonating. You don't want to be messing with that.

In other words, I wouldn't be using a 4th gen KS on a VQ35 even though you're running a 4th gen ECU...use the VQ35 KS.

I did have a hose there, my idle stayed at ~3300 rpm!! So I removed the entire IACV unit altogether, putting back the plate that came on the 2k2 IM. That brought my idle down to ~1500... BTW: ALL of my idle adjustments are all the way down. I can push the TB plate to lower the idle, but then it gets stuck until u press the gas...

What throttle body are you using?

2k2 TB... Right now there is no idle control, it idles the same, cold or hot. I'm thinking about switching to a PF TB, but the 1500 idle doenst bother me TOO much..

This is what I've been wondering with these VQ35 swaps and 4th gen ECUs...

My understanding is that a knock sensor is a simplified piezoelectric microphone and that the ECU is tuned to listen for knock from the engine it was designed to work with. The ECU has an RF band pass filter that allows the known knock frequencies to be let in and the other engine noise to be filtered out. By changing to an engine with a different bore/stroke you’re making the knock detection less effective or worst case non-existent. The resonant frequency of a larger cylinder is lower and as such knock will occur at a lower frequency.

Of course if the knock sensor itself contains the RF band pass filter all of what I said shouldn’t be a problem. Obviously it would be a good idea to use the knock sensor that was designed with the engine.

Per the FSM the knock sensor is a piezoelectric element that picks up knocking vibration from the block as vibrational pressure and converts it into a voltage signal that is sent to the ECM.

Just use the KS that came from the corresponding motor.

That's what I was thinking when I read the FSM...

IMO the worst case senario is that the Knock Sensor will be less sensitive. The harnesses are identical, the diameter of the magnet base is identical. The 3.5 KS seems ever so slightly taller though. The harnesses both start out as two wires and then go down to one.

The 1995 ECU may not be able to read the 2002 KS right, which is another problem.

Interesting theories nonetheless, but 2000-2004 Maximas use the same knock sensor. 2000-2001= VQ30. 2002-2004= VQ35. (http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...5&model=Maxima)

So the displacement has no effect on that. Nissan just decided to go with a crappier knock sensor in 2000.

You guys might also want to take a look at this:

http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchan...Category_Code=

Look at how many applications the knock sensor has. This is the one I bought. Used on anything from V6 Maximas, 300zx to 4-banger Altimas and Sentras.

I always run 94 Octane anyway.