My 95 vq30 is leaking oil like a siv and its pissing me off
There are many bad oil leaks and im looking at just getting a new VQ

I understand the VQ35 swap very well the only thing holding me back is $$$ right now

my question is what would be involved with a 2000-2001 VQ30DEK swap into a 95?

The fuel system should need a little work but not much,
Are the sensors and all the same?
Would an ECU swap with it work better?
Anything else I am forgetting?

Basically would it be easier and cheaper than a vq35 swap?

 

You should be able to get a full DEK engine and all for $600. There are a few steps with the swap that aren't done with the 3.5 swap. I would say screw it, save a few more bucks, and do the 3.5 swap.

 

the 3.5 swap is far more difficult and involved

 

is there any spicific modifications that need to be done to the 2000-2001 engine

or is it just "plug and play"

 

The 3.5 swap is NOT far more involved and difficult. I have said it in numerous threads that the things done in the 3.5 swap have to be done in the DEK swap with the exception of 2 main things (Retrofitting the timing case and using cam adapters).

If you are mechanically inclined enough to a DEK swap then you can 100% for sure pull off a 3.5 swap with no trouble.

 

The thing with the 3.5 is that once you prepped the engine, you just shove it in like a 3.0.
And you can do cams while you're at it. So basically for 600$ you can have a DE-K, for maybe 1000$ you get a 3.5, and for around 1600$ and no more work, you get a 3.5 with ebay cams.

Either way those are all ridiculous prices compared to say, Honda swaps, for what you get.

 

I just searched on car-part.com near you, damn VQ motors are way cheaper up north. Either way, all of the de-k's near you are advertised between $700-$1100 (most are listed as $call$) And all the 3.5's are advertised between $800-$1100 (again, most say $call$) I bet you could pick up a low-mileage VQ3.5 from one of those places for $750, u'd be stupid to pay the same for a de-k. I've got a carfax account for another 3 weeks if you wanna get searching, just pm me the vins and how many miles there supposed to have.

 

thank you KRRZ350 i will keep that in mind,
a VQ35 would be nice im justtrying to get as much info as possible befor i comit

 

you can do the whole swap(3.5) for ehh..1200 if you search for the parts well, maybe less maybe a little more.

I did the dek for maybe $700, that was including new gaskets(not that cheap), fluids and everything. It was pretty easy.

Either way you never know what you are getting buying a junk yard motor. I got a really good one my first time, then a sludge machine the second. Always check before you get it to your house. Have them pull the oil pan off and see how it looks.

Im going to go with the guy who said the 3.5 is far more difficult and involved. Schrale(who has NEVER done either swap) says its not and has said its not in numerous threads. Well it is..atleast thats what all of the threads in the all motor section say from the ppl who are having problems getting their 3.5 up and running.

Mdeezy is having some trouble of his own right now, he is in the middle of his 3.5 swap. I had some idle problems on the de-k swap. None of them are easy. Especially your first time. So dont go into it thinking they are. Its always good to have someone there that knows what they are doing from experience. Not just from reading on the .org. Good Luck!

-Matt

 

anyone in louisville area do any swaps and can help me do it.

 

I will not go too far against what matt95 said, but haven't we seen plenty of DEK swappers that are having problems. No swap is going to go silky smooth. In terms of the down and dirty process, it is not much harder. As JClaw stated, once you prep the engine then you can drop it in as you would a 3.0 engine. If you are physically capable of doing a DEK swap then you can do a 3.5 swap.

 

I agree with you scrhale about once its in, motor mounts up and everything is put together pretty easily. I dont know how many dek swappers had trouble. I was one of them since the first time I put the engine in and tried to get it started. Some of the same things can go wrong I guess we hear more about things going wrong with the 3.5 swap because more people are doing them. Everyone I checked with that did the dek swap really didnt have any problems..I was the only one from what I remember from back then. Til now I think I saw one other that might have had a problem..or needed help on potential problems..something like that

 

I think the 3.5 swap's most common problem is timing. It happened to godfather and now MDeezy. Everyone seems to have troubles lining it up. Not that I am a professional at it or anything, but I believe once that is all lined up then it should be downhill. Also people keep having part problems. If you have a bad injector, bad ECU, bad fuel pump/reversed setup, bad coils, etc then you cannot blame that on the difficulty of the swap. All 4 of those have appeared as problems with people swapping in this forum.

 

with de-k swap, which ecu is used ?

 

we used the stock ECU and it worked perfectly... we also didnt do much to swap the motor other than rewire injectors, change over accessories(ps, a/c, etc), swap coolant logs and slap the motor in. car started up first time, and then ran normally with the later installed IACV plate. only codes gathered are IACV(?) and air flow metering(wtf?)

 

gtr thats stock 4th gen ecu you used ?

 

yes, 96 auto

 

thank you, i forgot about re wiring the injectors,

what do you mean by swap coolant logs?

 

I used the DEK coolant log since its different than the DE log and has a thermostat in the middle of the motor. I had to retrofit the Gally's A and B for all the vaccum lines. It actually looks pretty professional.

I didnt go with a 3.5 for two main reasons. The timing chain cover seal and messing with the timing. I do not wanna mess with sealing up that cover perfect, and not getting it or setting timing wrong and ALWAYS wondering if its right or not and why my car is running "weird". There are way too many horror stories of guys doing 3.5 swaps and either wrecking their motor, cant get it running, Doesnt like boost, or they hear and whining sound at all RPMS from the timing area....its just alot of money in unchartered waters

I love my DE-K with less than 10K miles

-matt

 

I was wondering how much difference you notice with the de-k swap vs. stock? Also, I was wondering if there was a need for getting the Emanage Ultimate? I have read that the 3.5 swap will run rich without it and it allows you to tune the engine and was wondering if that is the same case as with the de-k. Reading about tuning and setting up the Emanage Ultimate is way over my head and if equipment like that is necessary to get the car to run correctly, I would be better off to stay with a stock replacement when my engine needs to be swapped. Thanks

 

you know what matty.. I did use the DEK coolant log also, but we removed the sensors from the DE log and swapped them over.

 

If you are just looking to replace the motor because of high mileage alone and arent looking for much performance I would stick with just a VAFCII unit because the EU is much more tedious to wire up.

 

i helped a buddie turbo a camry about 6 months ago, he used a E - manage Ultimate and it was verry dificult to tune

it took us weeks to get it running good



also messing with the timeing scares the living heck out of me,
if i do decide to go with a 3.5 id buy a preped one from tilly

 

Heh ... Tilley who? No one has heard from him in forever. On a side note, anyone dropped by his shop lately?

 

I would love to have the power that the 3.5 puts out. I have a brother-in-law who is very knowledgeable as far as working on cars and replacing stock worn out engines. However, he isn't familiar with components such as the EU and neither am I. Even if I managed to somehow wire the thing up correctly, I wouldn't have a clue on how to tune it the way it needs to be. For that reason alone, I think I would be better off just sticking with a de-k swap when that time comes. But, it sure would be nice to have a 3.5 sitting under the hood.

 

^ Sounds like you want a 3.5, and IMO, it's not really that hard to swap in. And the EU is really optional. The bare bones 3.5 swap packs quite a punch as it is.

 

I would definately prefer to have a 3.5 over de-k. However, I have read that someone had issues with backfiring and others have problems with running rich without the EU. I guess the two are related. Also, I have read that the timing needs to be advanced. It is things such as those that I know nothing about. If I was going to drop in a 3.5, I wouldn't be totally satisfied until it ran as smooth as my current stock engine and I was under the impression that an EU would be needed for that to be possible. I have also read that products such as the EU are not for people who have no clue as to how to use them. When I read about mapping, timing advance, and all of the other features that the EU is capable of doing, it is like Greek to me.

 

i would imagine it would be better to have some sort of engine management system since the de-k is known to make power beyond the rev limiter.
(note - my very uneducated opinion)

 

thanks for all youre help,
any idea why when im getting pumped about this engine swap my oil leaks stop on my old vq30?

im gona ride it out for now
mabye save up for a vq35 and a 5speed swap

 

you mean why your taking heat ? no idea really, im fixing to buy me a de-k, dont care what people say, very low miles on it, mint and only 100 bucks more than the 00VI parts.

still only going to do the 00VI swap, and when the engine in the car wont go anymore, will see what #2 is made of. best plan for a guy like me on a budget with little experience.

vq30de < vq30de-k < vq35de

just depends on what kinda deals and situations people are in.

vq #2: