I am currently looking at over hauling a 89 VG throw in my max with the 5-spd it came with.

1, is there much difference in the 89 to 91 vg?
2, is a one piece oil pan gasket better than a multi-piece?
3, are there any gaskets in particular that i should focus on?

the motor has 203k on it, mine has 210k

 

1) shouldnt be any reall differences (assuming maxima engines, of course)
2) (havent done it)
3) valve cover gaskets tend to be leaky, so all the gaskets to get to those.

just kind of curious, how much of an overhaul do you plan? basic stuff, like gaskets, belts, etc., or a full rebuild with re-honing and re-ringing?

 

gaskets mainly, possibly freeze plugs? i have 2 other VG engines on the side lines to rebuild fully. the motor i am putting in was fairly pampered. so i just want to take care of simple things while i can react them.

with in the last year it has gotten new t belt and water pump. completely new exhaust, and new injectors.

 

the oil pan is pure RTV. don't even throw a gasket on..just RTV-it.

 

what about the crescent thingies that go in the front and back part? shouldn't he replace those before putting the RTV in?

 

I did the oil pan gasket summer 2007, went to dealer and they wanted 64 bucks for 2 end seals and a tube of rtv/silicon so I just went to advance auto and got myself their "Fel Pro" version of it which is all the same crap. I just figured the dealership would have a full gasket as well but it was the same.

Make sure you pull the oil dip stick out when you pull the oil pan, I left mine in and kinda bent the tip

 

i've seen people have their dipstick chewed up pretty bad cuz they didn't pull it out before reinstalling the pan.. grinding metal is not something you want to hear on your first startup after putting the pan on

 

what about fel pro heaqd gaskets? yay or nay

 

they're fine. Fel Pro is good stuff for the most part. Assuming they have the parts that fit, they're just fine. (VEs are a special breed and many of the parts don't fit since they're got the VG30DE)

 

Do not use felpro on a VG30, I have heard of guys driving 3 miles and it blowing. The block is iron, the head is aluminum. The felpro sticks to both head and block and tears because the metals expands at different rates and temps. The stock Nissan gaskets are made with graphite, so it slides a little. The nissan ones last for 300k miles, I think they are a good investment to dish out the extra buck for.

Used everything from felpro but their headgaskets.

 

I actually did both recently, gasket and sealant, I also found a Taiwanese rebuild gasket set from a company called ITM p/n 09-00561 out of a local auto part supplier called Bap-Geon (713) 783 5122 (Roger), the quality was actually higher than Fel-pro. Especially when it came to the exhaust manifold gasket (Oem like) not the cardboard crap that Felpro supplies! I wound up purchasing the upper plenum gasket and the oil filter adapter's oring (nitrile from Napa) separately since they weren't in the kit. It's setup for all VG's truck based and car based!

 

I have done both the silicon and full oil pan gasket. I cannot say one is better than the other. However, You cannot torgue down the full rubber gasket to the FSM specs with the rubber gasket. I tried to torgue it down (FSM says 5lbs) and the rubber gasket started pressing way out from between the pan and block....so I backed it off. Using the silicon, take it to the full 5lbs. I did go ahead and added some silicone around my full gasket and along the outside. Overkill? Maybe, but I REALLY don't want anymore oil leaks on my turbo.

The full gasket includes the front and rear end seals all as one peice. I think I paid maybe $10-15 for it at my local dealer. I've found my local dealer will price match Courtesy's price if you print off the page from their online catalog. I also went ahead and bought the individual front and rear end peices if I didn't like how the single gasket fit. They are brand new from Nissan if you want them. But, may be cheaper to just pick up a set at your local Nissan store.