I am currently replacing the engine out of a 2001 pathfinder se 3.5 4x4 for a friend of mine. We decided to use a JDM orlando 3.5 from an add on craigslist. They told me it was a drop in and go motor. That seemed our best route to take .. I didnt ask enough questions nor do any research on exactly what JDM actually ment. So I was surprised when the engine arrived and it was out of a right hand drive and an infiniti . I have found several postings on very similar problems others have had on the forum however it seems that no one has completed the engine swap or maybe they didnt complete their post. The guy I purchased engine from is of no help . I am about to throw the towel in.
Here is my main issue of many .. Cranks ok No start no spark P0335 CKP sensor A. There is actually 2 CKPs a front and a rear The JDM engine oil pan has a spot for just the rear. I pulled engine again and swapped the front cover and the oil pan.
I am thinking the cam shaft signal plate are different and that is the problem any help is much appreciated Thanks Jeff

I am betting wrong signal plate, the one at the rear of the engine. Even the USDM ones changed enough by 2003. Ask me how I know.

Being a RHD application, did you swap things like the coolant crossover tube already? Might you have pictures of both engines side by side?

I was helping someone here who was doing the same thing : 2003-pathfinder-no-start-no-spark-t613787.html

I found out that alot of things are different from 2001-2002 to 2003-2004. The crank and cam sensors do not output the same voltage and the same signals. The cam gears are also different... So you will need to install your 2001 cam,crank sensors and cam gears on the 2003 engine. This is where the other guy decided to quit and repair the head gasket of the 2001...
If you decide to go at it, I am interested in knowing the end result...

I think he will need to change also the flexplate?? I read somewhere that they are also different and the signal plate on the 2003-2004 do not give the same signal or that the 2001-2002 dont even have a signal plate on the flexplate???

I checked that myself and per the manual the flexplate seems to be the same.

Very interested in the outcome as well.

When I compared a 2003 Pathfinder engine vs my 2002 Qx4, the observable differences aside from the valve covers and maybe throttle body were a different flex plate and the 03 crossover pipe didn't have the hole for coolant sensor tapped.

Everything else plugged in and seemed to look alike.

From the archives of my engine replacement 4 years ago. 03 pathy on the left, 02 QX on the right.


The 02 3.5 has 2 circles of teeth, so to say - starter gear and crank signal.
The 03 has starter teeth, but the signal plate is a circle with dips in it. Some of the gaps are longer than others and thus there is a dowel in the crankshaft I assume to keep it aligned. I can't remember if the 03 pathfinder had the crank phase sensor at the crank pulley in front. I'd think it won't be necessary here.

Better pic, maybe. I apologize as this was 4 years ago, and my windows phone didn't produce pictures as good as they looked on the screen.

To let anyone know what my results were..
This is the fix.. My JDM motor was an 2004 RHD . The tone rings on the phasers were a different pattern than my 2001, The sensors would send a voltage back to the PCM that were out of logic but readable enough to not set a code. Therefore no spark or injector pulse . The JDM timing cover didnt have a cam sensor port to install my old sensor. and the crank position sensor on bottom of oil pan bolted in a different location.
I had a problem with the crank gear keyway wearing out and causing chaos in diagnostics for DTCs P1135 P1145 . Tha timing marks had slipped about 13*ATDC and without a scan tool capable of reading complete data stream (not just generic obd2 data but more like the factory data script where timing is available). The OEM scantool data stream showed B1 100.0* B2 8.0* the two should have been equal at idle. Went for the jumped time diagnosis and during teardown of timing cover found harmonic balancer keyway failure. thus another headache resolved hope anyone with the JDM engine swap thought may you benefit from all the pain and confussion i encountered ..
If anyone would like to ask me anything about this topic send me and email. [email protected]

jeffhgp wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 24, 2017 3:15 pm

To let anyone know what my results were..
This is the fix.. My JDM motor was an 2004 RHD . The tone rings on the phasers were a different pattern than my 2001, The sensors would send a voltage back to the PCM that were out of logic but readable enough to not set a code. Therefore no spark or injector pulse . The JDM timing cover didnt have a cam sensor port to install my old sensor. and the <a class="vglnk" title="Link added by VigLink" target="_blank" href="http://i.viglink.com/?key=97a6e2e747f97 ... %2Fspan%3E" rel="nofollow"><span>crank </span><span>position </span><span>sensor</span></a> on bottom of oil pan bolted in a different location.
I had a problem with the crank gear keyway wearing out and causing chaos in diagnostics for DTCs P1135 P1145 . Tha timing marks had slipped about 13*ATDC and without a scan tool capable of reading complete data stream (not just generic obd2 data but more like the factory data script where timing is available). The OEM scantool data stream showed B1 100.0* B2 8.0* the two should have been equal at idle. Went for the jumped time diagnosis and during teardown of timing cover found harmonic balancer keyway failure. thus another headache resolved hope anyone with the JDM engine swap thought may you benefit from all the pain and confussion i encountered ..
If anyone would like to ask me anything about this topic send me and email. [email protected]

Hey, jeffhgp, I am about to be in a very similar situation. I realize this is an old thread, but if I could pick your brain, I think it would help me out immensely. Is it still ok if I email you? It would be coming from [email protected]. Thanks a million, man.

Yes I know, really old post, but I wanted this information it wasn't available and this if the first thing that comes up in a google search.

2002 USDM R50 with a 2003-2004 JDM Engine swap

First of all, as with any VQ35DE engine removal, plan to reseal EVERYTHING and replace the timing chain. It is stupid not to, these engines are a nightmare to pull the timing cover in the vehicle.

1. Replace timing cover with your original, you need the cut out for the additional sensor on the driver's intake cam
2. Replace driver's intake cam gear with intake your cam gear, you need the tone ring.
3. Replace oilpan gasket, oil pan has to come off anyways, might as well.
4. Replace rear seal and gasket, because it is the smart thing to do.
5. Replace entire intake with your original, although the lower intake was the same, its a good idea to replace the vacuum hose on the lower intake vacuum motor.
6. Replace the rear cooling log, my JDM engine did NOT use the rear thermostat and had a plate bolted to the top of the block where the hose barb was bolted on my engine. Everything swapped over.

There is no difference in the head, block and rear timing cover on the JDM engine. Well, there is one difference. My vehicle is a 5spd and it had no oil cooler but the engine was blown when I got it so I threw a used auto engine in there because i wanted the oil cooler. The auto engine has a part of the casting on the passenger side by the motor mount machined away. This is for the metal oil cooler pipe and I assumed all auto engines had oil coolers. The JDM engine I got was from an auto, but did not have an oil cooler and did not have this boss machined away. It would have been easy to remove while on the engine stand, but I didn't find it until the engine was in the vehicle. No matter, it was better to delete the oil cooler pipe and run a straight hose. It makes getting to the rear alternator bolt now possible.

I realize this is an Old Post but I have a 2001 Pathfinder with the front and rear crank sensors + 3 cam related sensors oh, two of which are for the variable valve timing in the lower right one the driver side is the cam sensor for timing. That's what the vehicle came with supposedly. I purchase a JDM Engine it did not have the front crank sensor and it had a plastic plug covering a hole with the lower right cam sensor should be. Set a little different then your scenario. You had said the rear crank position sensor timing ring didn't need to be changed the crank sensors are physically different and of course the timing gear ring look different although they both have the same number of notches and pattern. My JDM Engine had Cuts in the ring not protrusions the crank position sensor is flat and vertical oriented where the connector goes. Apparently the 01 has a round body crank position sensor that is horizontal where the connector attaches. I put an oscilloscope on the flat JDM crank sensor and it does produce a nice wave but I've read that this will not make the computer happy. So I haven't tested the crank position sensor with the scope yet I imagine that there's going to be an issue. The person who started his vehicle after changing the cam timing ring did you change out the ring on the flywheel or wer your sensors the same shape most likely timing Rings were the same? Thanks for any help hope I made some sense!

Just use the front timing cover on your original engine. Don't mess with the jdm timing cover, I also had to use my driver's cam sprocket.

Not sure about the crank. I have a 5spd, used the original flywheel and original crank pos sensor. I would assume you use the older parts off your engine and the original sensors.

Amcip1 wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 17, 2021 5:31 pm

The person who started his vehicle after changing the cam timing ring did you change out the ring on the flywheel or wer your sensors the same shape most likely timing Rings were the same? Thanks for any help hope I made some sense!

I was kind of hoping you'd show up here but I couldn't tell you, the moderators at NF get bent out of shape if the word "Nico" even shows up in a post. These folks have a lot more specialized R50/R51 swap knowledge than you'll find over there, and certainly more than I do. I'm sure they can get you straightened away.

From what I see here about the flywheels, though, I have a feeling you'll need to pull it back out. The mismatched sensors almost certainly mean the wheels are different. Since you need to split it to fix that, and also need to swap front covers anyway, might be best to just pull it.

To reiterate, you must use all sensors and pickups for those sensors from your US engine. Also, I would not trust any used engines timing chain guides, when the engine is out the timing chain and guides are easy.

The jdm engine I had actually was from an 04 with drive by wire. And it came with bad rings, probably going to spend the $5k on a reman engine..though the JDM engine has great power

Although this is an old post, it helped me immensely whilst I did very nearly the same engine swap out. Everything here is accurate to the T. Bring your timing cover, swap your cams, bring your sensors and be ready for the headache on the driver's side (Us version assuming,) at the close though so very much worth it to hear your Pathfinder roar, (my exhaust was still off) back to life. And as anyone that has changed out the engine of a personal vehicle can attest, that familiar yet, exotically new unknown resonance of aforementioned roar, rekindleing your love affair with your truck, is the kinda thing that will have your significant other casting the shade of a century old oak tree in it's direction forever more. But that's ok, she's only scary in the am hours, awwww yea.

VStar650CL wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:17 pm

I was kind of hoping you'd show up here but I couldn't tell you, the moderators at NF get bent out of shape if the word "Nico" even shows up in a post. These folks have a lot more specialized R50/R51 swap knowledge than you'll find over there, and certainly more than I do.

What is NF? Another forum? Always on the lookout for more info.

Yah, Nissan Forums. Apparently they had some kind of spat with Nico years ago and they never got over it. Their censor software will actually turn "Nico" into "****" if you try to put it in a post.