Hello all,

Just joined to get more info and knowledge on Infiniti and Nissans. I picked up a 2003 M45 from an auction. Pretty clean body, jump started it and drove it right into my shop. Changed the oil and replaced a leaking thermostat housing. It runs good, shifts good for high miles (264k). Interior needs some help, so I'm looking for seats. Front of the engine is pretty well slathered in old oil and coolant, so its been leaking a while. The new housing has fixed the coolant leaking, not sure where the oil leak is yet. I'll be cleaning it up so I can see where it starts. This is my first Infiniti, but not my first Nissan product. I had a 88 SE King Cab hardbody 4x4 in high school. That truck was fun! Since then I've had GM trucks and cars, and a few Jeeps. I also picked up a complete 2006 VK45DE with 160k on it for exactly zero dollars. I figured some parts might interchange and it would be easy to see how these DOHC engines work while its out of a vehicle.

Welcome to the Infiniti family and NICO!

As an owner of a 2003 M45 that I sold recently after more than 15 years of ownership, I can tell you that I really wish I had space in my garage to not have to sell it! Unfortunately, at my age, and work pressure, I simply did not have the time to deal with its ever-growing list of issues (not as bad as what you are showing here, but still making it less worthwhile as my daily driver).

I think this model year or two will be classic someday - not incredibly expensive, but good examples of what solid engineering and V-8 power could do in their time.

Good luck with it for sure!

And, yes, please also check out our 2003/2004 M-45 specific sub-forum here: https://forums.nicoclub.com/m-series-fo ... forum.html

Z

Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the club.

Regarding compatibility of the 2 engines, you're kind of correct there. But from the picture it looks like that 06 engine has lived quite a life and not many (if any) of the shared components are in good shape to be transferred to another engine.

Despite being both VK45DEs, there are a few differences between your 03 and the 06 that might not present an issue for accessory-borrowing, but could be a hindrance for major swaps.
FYI: https://forums.nicoclub.com/post6768442.html