My VH45DE S13 swap thread

[mtmetzger]

Detailed pics would be great, need to make one of these also.

Here's a link to his post about that.
zach-s-build-thread-t470446-400.html#p5842605

[mtmetzger]

Oh, and if anyone's wondering why my progress has stopped, it's because I'm waiting on $6 worth of bolts for my updated timing chain guides. LOL.

[speedeast]

Been there. Done that. Haha. I'm looking forward to seeing your project move forward. I'm looking forward to seeing my project move forward, haha.

[speedeast]

Which wire did you connect to the fuel pump relay? The Pink/Black is one and either Green/Orange or Pink/Blue?

[mtmetzger]

Pink/black on VH harness goes to Black/Pink on S13 plug behind headlight. Those other 2 in the VH harness are for fuel pump control unit, which the S13 doesn't have, so I didn't use them.

[speedeast]

It operated properly with both of the other wires disconnected?

[mtmetzger]

Yes, of course you've seen how long mine ran for so I didn't get to test it out cruising, etc. From what I could gather, the control unit has a resistor in it like an RX-7. It will drop the voltage down to 8-10 volts on idle and cruising to prolong the life of the pump. This way the computer toggles the relay as necessary to send a full 12 to the pump. I'm sure you could always wire up the control unit if you want it to function like it's supposed to, but I wouldn't worry with it. Those boxes are the first thing to go when I have a turbo RX-7 LOL.

[speedeast]

I understand all of that. I just wanted to make sure I was good to go before I start sealing all of this stuff up. I really appreciate the help; it's been very useful.

Thanks to you tmorgan as well for the illustration. I printed it out and jotted notes on it.

[mtmetzger]

No problem at all.. I would rather share a little extra info that I have just in case

[speedeast]

I do the same thing.

[speedeast]

How did you wire in your ignition coil relay?

[mtmetzger]

Just put another relay under the dash.
30 - Brown / Yellow in white connector (power to coils)
85 - Grey / Red wire in White connector (to pin 16 on ECU) (-) trigger from ECU
86 + 87 - Ignition power from key switch (or in my case switched power relay under dash)

[speedeast]

Just put another relay under the dash.
30 - Brown / Yellow in white connector (power to coils)
85 - Grey / Red wire in White connector (to pin 16 on ECU) (-) trigger from ECU
86 + 87 - Ignition power from key switch (or in my case switched power relay under dash)

Do you know which fuse you used? I understand the logic behind a relay and I think I have a pretty strong grasp on how this all needs to be set up, BUT I'm the kind of person that needs to make sure; I prefer to make sure it's right the first time around.

I am using a spare Nissan relay that I have, identical to the fuel pump relay. I thought I knew how it should hook up according to the logistics of a relay, but the way the ignition coil was wired in the Q45 doesn't necessarily follow that same logic.

It's setup:

3 o----o-/ o----o 5
1 o-----mm-----o 2


__3|__5|__
2|______1|

I'm assuming the power source (which is also the power source for ignition and fuel pump relays in the Q45; B/W wire) is a 30amp constant source (illegible in my diagram) and connects to the #5 pin. The destination of the current (coils; Br/Y wire) should be connected to the #3 pin. The #1 pin in the Q45 is a 30amp source when the ignition is ACC/ON/ST (W/B wire). The remaining #2 pin is connected to the ECU and the ECCS Relay (Gy/R wire).

First off, is this accurate? Should it's connection in the S13 reflect exactly this? You mentioned that the 86 & 87 be power from the ignition switch, but I don't understand how that works compared to the way the relay is set-up in the Q45.

I guess I need to better understand the correlation between the #1 and #2 spots in the relay.

[mtmetzger]

I'm assuming the power source (which is also the power source for ignition and fuel pump relays in the Q45; B/W wire) is a 30amp constant source (illegible in my diagram) and connects to the #5 pin. The destination of the current (coils; Br/Y wire) should be connected to the #3 pin. The #1 pin in the Q45 is a 30amp source when the ignition is ACC/ON/ST (W/B wire). The remaining #2 pin is connected to the ECU and the ECCS Relay (Gy/R wire).

This is exactly right except on my diagram the B/W never really says where it goes... Just says to fuse block, but it's the same B/W wire that powers the fuel pump relay on the Q. I don't see the need to run a constant power wire to the relay at all, that's why I jumpered my coil side of the relay to the feed side.. Both will be powered when ignition is on anyway and only when the ignition is on. Plus I ran some stout wire from my switched power circuit to it so no need to worry about them drawing too much current. (Like I said, I put mine under the dash) Since you are doing wiring in the fuse box, and I'm not sure how much current the ignition coils draw, I would go ahead and run a wire on out to the battery with a 30A fuse on it and connect that one to the relay at position 4. Of course you could hide the fuse in a blank slot in the fuse box.

Nissan to normal SPDT relay
1 - 85
2 - 86
3 - 30
4 - 87

When #1 and #2 both have power and ground, #3 and #4 will make contact.

[speedeast]

I will assume that by 4 you mean 5, haha. That would pretty much confirm all I needed to know, thanks. I just did a little more homework on the wiring diagrams from the two cars and was able to deduce how I will be able to make this all happen and function properly. Again, thanks for all of the help. I had 15 wires total converting over, 6 of which I labeled as needing a power source. I read about someone using the A/C relay as the Ignition Coil relay. I was trying to configure this, but I would prefer not mess around with a 6-pin relay, when one of the spare 4's will do the correct job.

[mtmetzger]

Yup, that was my bad...

[speedeast]

I have the ignition coil wired up to two ignition sources now; apparently I had overlooked in the wiring diagram where it called for one source at ACC/ON/ST and one source at ON/ST. I am wiring them both to a ON/ST source. I created a "jumper" that connects to the ECCS harness inside and to the ERH in the front right corner. Getting close, man. How's it coming with you?

[mtmetzger]

Cool... I don't see why it would need ACC power anyway.

I'm still playing the waiting game... Somehow my $6 bolts became $19.87 shipped... I figured they might have expedited them for that price, but I guess not.

[tmorgan4]

Your wiring sounds a lot more complicated than mine! I don't think I touched a single relay under the hood. Everything I needed was already there and wired for the factory VG. Just cut and spliced wires under the dash and it ran great.

[speedeast]

I can imagine there being a big difference between the VG and the KA.

[mtmetzger]

Small update from the other day... I went to put in the new timing stuff and found out that my updated guides required longer bolts. That put me back another week while I waited for $6 worth of bolts to get here.


old style bolts / new style


Yay oil pump chain!

[speedeast]

Awesome. I hate waiting.

[mtmetzger]

Got the brake lines, etc back in the engine bay and dropped the engine back in. I hope to get some time this week to put everything else back on and fire it up!

[speedeast]

I like the clean white! Looking forward to your starting up. I finally got mine started; just makes all of the work and extra detail totally worth it!

[67 411]

looking good man cant wait to see it all done

[mtmetzger]

Lower intake manifolds back on:


Stupid engine doesn't use valve cover gaskets.. Took about an hour to remove the old RTV from them:


That's on:


Both on:


Brake booster, brake lines, plugs, coils, covers and fuel installed:

[speedeast]

Lookin good!

[DRFTBLD]

Looks nice! Good build

[mtmetzger]

A little Sunday evening project... I had to add a small spacer to the front wheels so they would clear the Z32 calipers which left me with about 4-5 threads holding the wheels on. I figured this would be cheap insurance.





Fronts are for an Evo, rears are for a GM. 12X1.5 thread so my old RX7 lug nuts will work with them.





Used an old lug nut and a bunch of washers to pull them through the hub.





Plenty of thread holding now!





Thought this was a cool picture.

[nevertheless]

I like where this is going.