Was up guys,
I bought one of those Japanese engines (VQ30DE from a 2001 max) i want to overhaul it and then swap it into my maxima. Where should i begin? I know this wont be an easy taskl but with your help i hope to come of this with alot more knowledge about my car. and more ponies

Thanks in advance

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the VQ30 in both the 00 and the 01 Japanese...?

 

yeah same engine, i just bought another one and i want to overhaul it and switch out the engines.

 

Well, unless you picked up an engine out of the Arctic Edition, I'm pretty sure they put out the same horsepower. You'd be better to just pull and rebuild the engine you have in your car right now...unless it's your DD.

Edit: Sorry. I meant to type in Anniversary Edition. I don't know where Arctic came from. Didn't they give the AE a bit more HP than the standard Max?

 

Arctic Edition? Explain

If you bought a J-spec engine it won't make any more power than the US-spec, they are the same thing. But you can overhaul it with some nasty cams, RevUp oil pump, ported UIM, full VQ35HR valvetrain...

 

yeah its my DD for now...Arctic edition LMAO

Thats the kinda stuff im talking about =). but i want to keep the cost relatively reasonable.

 

Oil pump is usually around $100
VQ35HR valve springs/retainers/double shims is $215 brand new if you call Dave Brunette at South Point Nissan
As for cams, check the G35/350Z forums for some JWT, Brian Crower, Tomei, etc. You'll have to do some research with this since picking too aggressive cams will push your powerband way too far up and ones that aren't aggressive enough won't give you the kind of power you're looking for.

 

afterwords am i gonna need a tuner or have it tuned?

 

Take it apart, clean, measure and inspect.

THAT'S where you begin.

 

Yes you'll need a piggyback ECU (e-Manage Ultimate, probably) wideband O2 to monitor AFR and either street tune it yourself or dyno tune it.

 

Yup, that was already part of the plan.

Ill do some progress pics, so it might help other in the future.

 

For sure, when it comes time for that ill def be hitting you up, thanks =)

 

Cool - I'm running GReddy e-Manage Ultimate with an AEM wideband and you can gain a lot of power out of it.

 

Agreed. Can't tell if it needs to be bored or just a clean-up hone, or what kind of shape the valves are in, etc without taking it apart.

If you are looking for more power, find someone who has experience with Nissan heads and a flowbench and chose a cam to match the head work.

 

You should pick up a vq35 and then you can hit some extra power!

 

Alright so i was starting to take the engine apart but i cant seem to get the Crank Pulley Bolt of. im using an impact wrench but im not sure if its strong enough...i believe its a 350ft-lb

any tips or tricks??

 

3/4" or 1" impact.
You sure you have enough air to yours?

 

PB blaster, breaker bar and or bigger impact wrench.

A new impact wrench is next on my list of tools to buy, the one i have right now is 400 ft-lbs and sometimes it just doesnt cut it. Home depot has a 650 ft-lb husky that i was looking at or i was just going to get something cheep at harbor freight

 

150 psi enough?

I guess i should look into getting a bigger impact wrench. how much was the 650 ft lb one?

 

sorry but could you please elaborate on the type of head work i would be looking for them to do? thanks a bunch.

 

im gonna be removing my heads tomorrow, any pointers?

 

I couldnt get the head bolts off (10mm socket head). how am i supposed to do it, the FSM says to do it in 2-3 steps, does that mean i can't use an impact wrench?

 

i thought to get the heads off you need to pull off the timing chain and gears too? i'm in the middle of pulling my VQ30DE out also

you've got great questions jrflores!

subscribed

 

subscribed also..id love to do this with 3.5 someday....could u drop the new 3.7 z in it?

 

http://forums.maxima.org/all-motor-61/

 

Thanks guys!
As for the head bolts, I ended up going out and getting good breaker bar, autozone for $30, I tell you what there's nothing like having the right tool. those suckers were off in less than 10min

Now i need to take the head to machine shop to have them inspected and resurfaced if needed.

 

would you mind putting up a price list of the things you end up purchasing parts/service?

that might be a tremendous help for others out there who are thinking of doing the same.

G/L

 

Start with purchasing the FSM and reading it first then do your thing!

 

Sorry i didnt respond earlier, yeah i had to remove all the timing chain components first. not too hard, its important to mark the chain and gear in order to put everything back in the right place ( i did something kinda cool for the smaller timing chains to keep them in the right place ill take pics tomorrow)

yeah no problem ill be posting everything i have to buy including tools and what not.

haha, yeah this is def needed. but don't purchase just DL from one of the guys here, i can email it to people who cant find in on here.



I also purchased an engine stand this weekend from
harbor freight(1000 lb rating) for $54.xx after taxes.
really useful when taking the engine apart.

 

Alright Guys here are pics.

 

 

Ordered today:

24- VQ35HR Valve springs = 99.84
24-VQ35HR Valve Spring Retainers = 47.52
24-VQ35HR Shims = 29.76
1- 350z Thermostat (170 deg) = 17.74
1- Outlet Thermostat (180 Deg) = 16.90

Shipped Total = 220.51

Also found a place to do the heads, gonna wait till i get all the part to take the head to them.

 

What is the Max lift I can have on the aftermarket cams so i dont have to replace my stock pistons? ive looked through the FSM trying to figure it out, couldn't conclude anything. searched and found nothing. some help please?

oh and BTW i cleaned up all/most the part, its looking good =).
will post pics when i get a chance.

 

honestly the best place to start would be on mine nice progress man finally a thread worth looking at

 

You should have started by getting the VQ35!
Those are my plans for my 5th Gen after mine dies out completely.
I see another 100K miles on my odometer [hopefully!]
I just rolled to 198k

 

thanks!

haha, I'm having a lot of fun doing my overhaul. not looking to be the fastest max or anything. I want to gain knowledge and develop my hobby...take it to the next level.

 

Soo...no one knows what the max lift for aftermarket cams can be for my vq30de-k so that i dont need to replace my pistons?

 

Cool thread. I plan on putting a new engine in my 4th gen this summer (VQ30DE), nothing unusual, but I'm interesting in doing an overhaul as well for the same reasons. Keep us updated!

 

Max lift? Don't you think ramp rate would be the limiting factor, not the piston clearance?
What class are you building for?

Usually, you just measure with clay on a mockup.

 

Alright, so it took me a while to get back to you because, i realized i was lacking alot of knowledge in this department (which is why I'm here).

After Doing tons of research and calculations. here is what i have concluded:

Yes, rap rate is an importan factor but since cam manufactures don't give you any info on that, it is safe to assume that it is as quick as safely possible (spring fatigue life), and it will not have an effect on the clearances needed... the rotation and position of the cams and valves are restricted by the ratios between the cam gear and drive gear ( crank shaft).

To determine if i will have interference between the valve and the piston ( colossal failure) I need to determine where the valve will be located when my piston is at top dead center (TDC) this is a function of

1. Duration
2. Lift
(arguably, indirectly ramp rate)

I have found that my intake valve will be 1.34% or 0.11457mm Open (opening) when i reach TDC.

Similarly, Exhaust will be 1.29% or 0.11637mm Open ( Closing) @ TDC.

I also found that:
Max lift (intake): piston is 44.386mm from TDC
Max lift (exhaust): Piston is 46.02mm from TDC

These Values are for stock components (VQ30DE-K) of course.

I will set-up and excel sheet where i can plug-in my lift and duration to find where what my Open Dimension is anywhere in the cycle, this way i will know if the cams I'm considering will work or not. with the slope of that curve i can find my ramp rate (not needed but, good to know).

I will have to use clay to find the distance between valve (closed) and piston at TDC though.

If you have taken the time to read this whole thing and have questions or think i made a mistake feel free to ask/tell me.