Replacing motor in an 02 sedan (auto)

[dx3]

Folks,

I just picked up an 02 Altima sedan with auto transmission. It has 260k and the PO threw a rod in the motor. I am not familiar with the Altima (having never owned or worked on one) so I'm kinda going in blindly. Does anyone have any input, advice, or links to help with the pulling of the old motor and replacing it with the new motor? Maybe a nice DIY While I'm in there I will replace the TB/WP - maybe the TB tensioner... Anything I am missing?

From reading on here I see the 02/03 had issues with the pre-cat on the headers. This was fixed in 04 by a heatshield? Was the heatshield in the headers or where? I ask because I wonder if I should try and pick up an 04-06 motor because of this, or if it wouldn't make a difference anyway because of how Nissan fixed the problem by where they added the heatshield?

It is the 2.5l I am working with. I have found motor prices ranging from $1200-$3200. There is one from an 02 that is about 4 hours away. It only has 60k miles on it and they want $1300 for it. So far that is the best deal I have found.

I am trying to get the car running so my parents can have a car when they come to visit me, well, more importantly when they come to visit their grandson

Anyway, any advice etc is much appreciated. Thanks guys,
Jonny

[QR25DE]

it wasn't a heat shield problem. It is a problem where the cat falls apart and due to how the emissions system is designed, get ingested into the motor. The only way to fix it is to replace the cat with a header or replace the cat every so often (every 100K kms).

The earlier motors also had butterfly valve screw issues where the screws would back out and get ingested as well. This has been all fixed with recalls and I believe 04+ (but the motor was not redesigned until 2007).

I say you have found a good deal.