i am installing a used motor for a friend who owns an 89 maxima. not sure which engine he has just yet, but wanted to know if anyone here knows if the motor mounts are different for these engines? i am sure there are a few other small differences that you all could hint me on. was gonna try to get him a VE if he has the VG motor so he has a little more power (not that it will really make much difference to him)...so basically, does anything need to be swapped/added in if install a VE motor in a car that had a VG? just doing the pre-job research. thanks for any help.

 

I'm not a mechanic, but I think you would need to swap the ECU and wiring harness.

 

yeah i know of that already (harness and ECU)...just didnt know off hand yet if any sensors would need to be wired in as well such as a knock sensor. i am used to doing motor swaps on hondas and DSMs so this is a new one for me. thanks for the input. keep it coming if anyone else knows.

 

no one has done this before...so the answers you get won't be definite. your best bet is get the two motors side by side, buy and FSM and go from there. going at a project like this on speculation won't be very helpful when it come down to actually doing the swap.

 

engine mounts, throttle cable, cruis control, AC compressor, power steering pump and hoses, alternator, tranny, ECU, wiring harness, axles, spindles (wheel hubs anyway. might as well swap spindles)... probably a dozen or so other things that are left unsaid.

 

DA-MAX: obviously i will compare and figure out for sure when i have the two motors pulled...just trying to get info ahead of time. thanks for your input though.


Matt93SE: those are definite parts that will need to be had from a VE car? i am amazed that such similar engines have so many differences. thanks for the help.

 

the engines are actually not very similar at all.. pretty major differences in the engines, which makes the swap more of a pain in the *** then worhtwhile...

 

thanks for all the help guys. i did some extra reading after posting this thread and i can see how it is actually significantly different. if my friend had the money i would think about pioneering this swap, but for now he'll just stick to the VG. once again i appreciate all the help i got.

 

If he really wants more power go with a VG30ET from a 84-89 300zx turbo. Or if you have a really big hammer you can almost wedge a VG30DE from a 90+ 300zx non turbo in there. My advice get a VG33E from a 96+ pathfinder.

 

thanks for the suggestion and I even thought about the 300zx motor, but too much for his troubles. one more quick question, I am going to hunt him down a motor today, the engine code for the 89-94 maxima is VG30E or VG30DE? or am I completely wrong? thanks in advance.

 

VG30E

 

VG30DE is the engine out of the 90+ 300ZX. good luck fitting that monster in your engine bay.


It's be much cheaper and easier to turbo the VG that's in the car (or going to be in there) than trying to swap any other engine into it. Nissan didn't make things easy on us. i.e. the axles are larger on the VE engine, so even though the trannies will bolt up, you want the VE tranny with VLSD, which means you have to swap axles and wheel hubs also. pretty annoying, eh?

 

Now, why are you doing the engine swap again?