Hey, I just joined this site. I might as well admit it: I don't own a maxima. I own a 1973 Datsun 240z, but it's getting a VQ30de (got tired of carburetor tuning, had some other little issues and decided to just jump in to a swap). The engine will be mated to a CD009 out of an '06 G35, with a 350z oil pan, and 350z clutch/flywheel. I'm trying to do this on a budget (not really happening as well as I hoped because all the little parts add up so fast), so I opted to buy a 350z flywheel off ebay, which I'll be machining the timing ring off of and mounting the VQ30 timing ring to. The engine came out of an automatic '96 i30, so I have the auto timing ring. I know a lot of people have gone through a similar thing with 6 speed swaps, but I had one question after researching a bunch. How does the 180 tooth timing ring time the engine? As in, how does it indicate TDC? I've read some posts of people having issues when they don't put the flywheel back in the right spot, but I can't figure out how the sensor can tell the difference between any of the teeth/the position of the flywheel. I'm asking because the 350z oil pan puts the cps sensor in a different spot than on a FWD oil pan, and I'm trying to figure out if I even need to worry about clocking the ring onto the new flywheel. Does this ring need to be clocked a certain way or does it not matter? Hopefully what I'm asking makes sense, let me know if it doesn't. Here's a picture of the VQ30 flex plate compared to the 350z flywheel in case it doesn't make sense.

 

The 3.0 has two crank sensors, the one near the crank pulley indexes the engine, and the flywheel sensor gives engine speed.

The ring wont need to be clocked a certain way, but you will need to verify the gap between the RWD oil pan and the timing ring if you use the 3.0 crank sensor. I've read that you can wire in the 3.5 crank sensor in place of the 3.0 sensor to ensure proper spacing, but I can't speak of its validity.

 

Sweet, thank you for clarifying! I actually was reading through a lot of your 6 speed swap threads to try and figure this out. One question though: I've read at least one post about people changing their flywheel and not indexing it the right way, resulting in the car not starting. This is what lead me to believe that there was an index to this ring. What causes the car to not start in this case?

I'll be sure to verify the gap with the sensor. So far I think the 3.0 sensor will work (I just broke the one I had and ordered a new one anyways), but I'll probably have to drill and tap a hole and grind away some material to get it in the right position. I feel confident that I can get that part figured out at least.

 

The flywheel indexing is for vehicles with a VQ35 ECU (5.5gens and newer) because it uses one crank sensor on an irregularly patterned signal plate. This is not an issue with the 3.0 ECU as the flywheel signal plate uses the same pattern all around.

The drilling and tapping would only be for aligning the sensor to the flywheel signal plate (using a FWD oil pan and RWD flywheel or vice versa).
Adjusting sensor gao to signal plate is a result of mixing 3.0 sensors and 3.5 oil pans.

 

http://realstreetperformance.com/Pro...35-566105.html

 

https://maxima.org/forums/5th-genera...-flywheel.html