I did a search through out all of the topics and didn't really find the answer to my question. I was wondering how easy/hard it would be to swap a 5th Gen intake manifold to a 4th Gen Maxima. What all is involved (time, money, fabrication, etc.)? If that won't work or is too hard is it possible to swap an intake manifold from a 300ZX (non-turbo or turbo)? If so which model, year, etc? I went to a dealership yesterday and looked at the 2001 Maxima and this just got me thinking.

 

I think what was said in previous posts was that the 5th gen one just won't fit. I don't know about the 300Z ones, but I'd doubt they would work.

 

The 300ZX manifold won't fit because it's a completely different motor (VE30) plus I don't how you could setup the car to run dual throttle bodys.


Dave

 

to do 5th gen.. probably won't happen... you'd need the whole manifold, plus a way to activate the second runners... not worth the gain.

might as well jsut get a supercharger.

-Shing

 

But I do have a SC! =)

 

I wonder if the 3-gen VE intake manifold would fit? The 5-sps have a dual staged intake manifold as well. I bet you could get it to work(either the 5-3gen one) You could rig a rpm or vacuum referenced switch or just run it in"high" mode all the time. I mean hell the VQ have loads of torque anyway. And in Justin's case, even more so.

 

I think you could make it fit, but it would be a major pain in the butt:

1) It sounds like the fuel injectors are different on the 5th gens, as is the fuel rail. You'd most likely have to buy the complete assembly lower/upper intake manifold plus fuel rails w/ regulators and injectors. This *may* cause a problem if the fuel injectors have higher flow rates. They would cause you to run rich on a 4th gen unless you had something like an APEXi AFC to dial back the flow.

2) The EGR tube, I can almost guarantee, is going to be completely different on the 5th gen, at least where it ties into the intake manifold. If the exhaust manifold tie-in is the same, then you could just get ahold of a 5th gen EGR tube and replace your old one.

3) With the new manifold, you'll also undoubtedly have to get the new 5th gen idle control valve (AAC or whatever), canister purge and purge control valves, etc etc, basically everything that bolts up to the manifold. Whether or not your existing wiring connectors will work is in question, as is whether or not the control signals are even compatible.

4) A control setup will have to be rigged to activate the variable volume control valve of the 5th gen manifold. This is actually a pretty easy part. You'll need the vacuum control valve from the 5th gen (the one that controls the valve operation), plus the vacuum solenoid. Since you don't have an output signal from the ECU to control the solenoid like on the 5th gens, you'll have to get an rpm-activated switchbox to activate the solenoid. There are a few ones available from like Mallory, etc, and are relatively cheap at ~$50. You can buy different rpm plug-in modules to control the rpm switch point.

 

To see if the intake manifold fits all you have to do it goto a dealer and ask for the intake manifold gaskets. If they have the same bolt pattern/coolant passages they will swap over. From dyno charts of 5th vs 4th the 5th gen has more torque from 3800-6500rpm. You can use a MSD rpm switch to turn on the runners at your choice rpm. The only problem is the rev limiter is too low. With a 5th gen manifold your power peak would be right at 6500-6700rpm. The only other way to get a higher rev limiter is with an ECU upgrade. If I was to use Dman's SC 5th auto as a baseline compared to 4th gen auto's with SC. You should gain around 15-20hp at 6400-6500rpm. The only problem is that its not very useable without a higher rev limiter.

 

The 5th gen has a higher peak horsepower RPM?

Chances are the cam profiles are different too then.

 

Loren did some research on this a long time ago, the only way to do the swap, is you also need to get the ECU reprogrammed to work with it so it opens up. JWT did this on one of there cars...

 

For example in the SR20DE's the 91-92's had the best intake cams/heads vs the 95-99's. Now in the OBDII 95-99s the 91-92 intake cam is worth 5-9fwhp. If we had the specs on the intake cam for the JDM VQ30DE, we could see how much it would help/hurt to swap cams. If not then all one needs is new billets to get reground. I bet a slightly more agressive cam with 5th gen intake manifold would probably gain around 15-30hp over baseline. Obviously a reprogrammed ECU would definitly help. It would be like having the same lowend torque with (dare I say) VTEC toppend . At least that is how I would make my M3 killa hehe.

 

sounds pretty extensive..
why don't you just do what I'd do and drop in a 5th gen engine?

 

It won't fit in my engine bay. The 2nd gen maxima (bluebird as its called oversea's) didn't even come with the VG30E. It had a 2.0 I4 turbo(VG20ET), basically nissan shoe-horned a detuned Z engine into the maxima. Besides I could buy a VG30ET for 1/2 the price of a VQ30DE and get more power/torque stock. When it comes to mods the VG wins hands down.