Hey guys long time viewer but never registered til now. Kinda cool you guys have a whole forum dedicated to the Maxima kinda like what we had in NZ dedicated to Skylines.

Anyways I live in Dubai now and I would like to ask the guys who have VQ30DEK engines (stock not converted/ported) a question. How do you know yours is a DEK and not a DE? I know it might sound stupid but does it actually say DEK on the ID plate on the engine's firewall/chassis.

I ask because the Maxima in this region never actually got the A33B or A34, Nissan continued to sell the A33 for years after everyone else got the A34 or 6th Gen as you guys call it. Then in 2009-2010 they just brought the 7th Gen in officially. Only 6th Gen Maximas here are US imports.

Simply want to know if the car I want is a VQ30DE or VQ30DEK. So far I've seen VQ30 (DE) on the chassis ID/plate when I looked. Are there any other simple ways of finding out if it's a DE or DEK?

Thanks in advance!

 

Black intake manifold would be a dead giveaway, though some actually replaced their OEM 4th gen manifold with that manifold, but where you're at it wouldn't matter since your A32's would have had the MEVI.

In short, yes, the VIN plate should state DEK or DE. Also, not sure, but 00-01's never came with only a DE, worldwide.

 

Ahh ok because the weird thing is that A33s even 2004-2006 seem to be DE not DEK or so it says on the VIN plate. As I said the A33 Maxima remained for sale in this region well after everyone else got the A34. Quite confusing haha

Oh and sorry it's late at night, what's the MEVI? And to be honest you can't tell what these cars have or don't with the way Nissan marketed and sold them here!

Never mind, googled MEVI thanks! Interesting to note since it isn't easy to find information on Maximas here. Even our A33 shaped cars look a bit different it seems!

 

That means they're VQ35DE's (04-06). Only 00-01 were VQ30DEK's.

MEVI = Middle Eastern Variable Intake. Used only on 4th gens in the US since US 4th gens didn't have VIAS.

 

No mate nothing about years that you guys mention here applies in this region. The 2004-2006/7/8 were only A33s here with only VQ30 engines. We did not get the VQ35 officially in the A33 Maximas here. Any VQ35s were G35 or in US imported Maximas. Official GCC (Gulf countries) had the A33 from the day it was officially unveiled here until the A35 came (maybe a year or two where sales stopped) and they were VQ30s.

Have a relative I may buy a 2004 Maxima from. It's an A33. Here's a pic I took a while back.

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/3135/5t4u.jpg

 

Just dug out an old thread

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...00vi-n00b.html

Where it basically seems to say this should be a VQ30DEK but can't understand why it said VQ30(DE) on the VIN plate

 

VQ30DE-K here. There is a couple of ways to tell 100%. First off, the DE-K engine was used only in 2000's and 2001's.
The VQ30DE-K was used in the 2000-2001's to make 222hp out of the VQ30 vs. the 190hp from the older DE engine in the 4th gens, this HP gain is due to the intake manifold. So the DE-K engine is pretty much only found in 2000-2001 (5th gen) Maximas, the 5.5 gen went to the VQ35DE in 2002 and moving forward.
So the DE-K is literally just a special designation for the VQ30DE, it's the same engine with black plastic intake manifold and some other upgrades and makes about 30 more HP vs. the 4th gen VQ30DE.


How to differentiate between the DE vs. DE-K:

1. DE-K has black intake manifold (plastic), only came on the DE-K, all VQ30DE's have the aluminum/steel manifolds.

2. VQ30DE comes stock with the same engine cover (plastic valve cover) as the DE-K but the DE has a black stripe on it, while the DE-K has a red stripe on the cover. Also if it's a 20th anniversary edition you will see a special engine cover on that also, which is also a DE-K.

3. The DE-K is the only VQ that I've seen having the throttle cables laying on top of the intake manifold and is the only one that has a metal bracket with welded pipes on it mounted right to the manifold for the throttle cables to hold in place.

4. The airbox looks way different. The snorkel and MAF, and even the Helmholtz looks are different. The throttle body area looks different also.

5. This is harder to notice, but the power steering fluid tank looks different on the DE, as well as the coolant tank. Take a close look, you'll see.

6. Also hard to notice but the DE's battery is turned more sideways, the DE-K battery was mounted straight.

7. If you look around the air-box and the area directly above it around the strut tower, you'll see differences there too. The DE doesn't have that black bracket holding the airbox in place like the DE-K and also has different wiring/hoses there, specifically for things like the MAF the wire is hidden on the DE but not the DE-K which lays right on top of the airbox.


Here is the VQ30DE:



And now here is the VQ30DEK:


As you can see, it should be quite easy to tell. Easiest things to look for right away are of course the intake manifold, and the airbox/intake system. And check out those throttle cables mounted to the front of the intake manifold, the DE doesn't have this at all.

Hope all that helps you and yes it will make a huge difference if you're choosing between DE vs. DE-K. But if you can get your hands on the VQ35DE, would be much better unless said engine was in 6th gen body.

 

Still not sure it matters since the USDM IM I don't believe was sold anywhere else, regardless of year.

 

Why not post a picture of your engine bay here on the forum? It would be interesting to see the other international versions of the VQ motor. We could help identify it, too.

 

Thanks guys that gives me a lot to look at.

D. Stillwell thanks for the descriptions I'll look at the engine more tomorrow.

Dwapenyi my second to last post had an image Shack link to a pic i took a while back. Check it out plz.

Will take pics when the engine gets cleaned. We get lots of dust on ours as you can tell from that pic up there.

 

that picture looked like a 00vi to me

 

From the pics and mine it seems I got a DEK even though it says DE on the Vin plate

 

D Stillwell the years you guys have don't work here we only got VQ30s here up til the latest Gen which got the VQ35

So we basically never got the 5.5 Gen just 5th for longer

 

That's a VQ30DE-K with the engine cover from the 20th anniversary edition Maxima here in the US, the 2001 Maxima.

 

Yet over here the Vin plate says Vq30de and at the back of the car it says 3.0J not SE

See why I was confused when I was looking through some of the US sites. Not much info for local Maximas in these parts

 

I think this is due to the divergent history between USA Maximas and Maximas in the rest of the world.

The 1995-1999 USA Maxima (A32) , as well the 1996 to 1999 I30, like my car, got a special, fixed intake manifold. It was special because it only was for the USA market. That manifold helped the 3.0 motor develop delicious mid-range torque, but sacrificed top end power. The engine designation was VQ30DE.

1995 to 1999 Maximas (A32) in the rest of the world, however, got a variable intake manifold. That manifold sacrificed some mid-range power (compared to the fixed USA manifold) but continued creating power all the way to redline. That engine was also called the VQ30DE. By the way, that manifold is what the USA maxima enthusiasts call the middle east variable intake, or MEVI. To confuse things further, the USA Infiniti I30 IS the Nissan Maxima in the rest of the world.


If the USA A32 and the world A32 would race, the USA maxima would win up to the 1/4 mile, but as speeds get higher, the world maxima would catch it and pass, somewhere past 120 mph, or 192 kph.

In 2000, the 5th gen USA Maxima (A33) was born. Still 3.0 motor but with a better variable intake. That intake developed delicious mid-range torque like the USA fixed manifold AND it kept on creating power all the way to redline. In the USA that motor was called the VQ30DE-K, and from what you are saying, it was still called the VQ30DE in the rest of the world.

And lastly, the 00VI mod is simply a 2000-2001 Maxima variable intake manifold (yours) installed on an A32 maxima, like mine. The A32 Maxima is lighter than any other maxima, even weighs less (by 100 lbs) than the 1989 to 1994 (A31??) Maxima. So putting the equivalent of a VQ30DE-K into the A32 restores the top end power, and then some.

Yeah, I like to Max in Maximas

 

That's probably true. The US Maxima 5th Gen looks different to the Maximas I've seen in the UK, MEA and AUS/NZ

I do believe I've noticed the Infiniti I30 from the US looks more like our Maximas. Which is also considered the Nissan Cefiro in Japan/elsewhere. Good car those Cefiros, once had an A31/A32 with an RB20DET skyline engine and Nissans ATTESSA like in the GTRs. Rare find even in Japan apparently!

As for the engine, can't say what the AUS/NZ region called it but that guy who had a previous thread about whether his car was a DE or DEK was in the same boat as me. It's called a VQ30DE but has all the DEK upgrades.

Man I wish we had the mod scene you guys have over there, it's not as widespread here and most just thrash their cars to death for run. So it's quite hard to get an old car that's actually been taken care of and that's why I went for my relative's Maxima. Lady driver since new only done 114,000kms (70,000miles), basically been driving it for a while now so it's sort of mine!

Only gripe I got now after doing some repairs is the transmission. That RE4F04B doesn't cut it for me, my friend's RE5 on his G35 is heaps better.

Oh and I tried the ECU reset pedal trick thinking it would work, doesn't. Don't even think this Maxima has a SES/CEL indicator at all!