I have a 1985 nissan 300zx n/a, and the engine blew last yearand at the end of the season i managed to get my hands on a 92 pathfinder VG engine, and i was wondering other then theintake what are the differences between my engine and thepathfinder engine ???
Do i need to swap anything from my old engine ???
And also i picked up a complete gasket kit for the pathfinder online but wen i received it it was for a VG30DE, can i still useit or does nothing fit from DE to E ???
THANK YOU !!!
CHRIS
VG question ???
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mtcookson
- Posts: 2204
- Joined: Thu Nov 21, 2002 12:43 pm
- Car: 1991 Nissan 300ZX
1992 Iinfiniti Q45
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The Pathfinder has an "updated" version of the VG30E called the W-block. The biggest difference between the two is the crank snout, which is longer. The crank pulley also uses all ribbed belts instead of some ribbed and some v-belt like on the Z. I've heard that the pulleys will swap but if they won't then you can just swap the crank from the Z VG to the Pathfinder VG. Its not too difficult to do but you just want to make sure to get the correct bearings (match the grades on the crank to the grades on the block per the FSM's instructions). You'll also want to get the rod bearings to match the Z VG's crank to the Pathfinder's rods as they're a bit of an upgrade due to the floating wrist pin.
As far as swapping, if the crank pulley from the Z will work on the Pathfinder crank snout you just need to swap all of the external stuff: upper and lower intake manifold, exhaust manifolds, oil pan, probably the distributor and valve covers, all sensors, motor mounts, etc.
Its actually quite easy to do, just a bit time consuming swapping all of the parts. While the engine is out I also highly, highly recommend that you put in a new front and rear main seal, cam seals would be good too, I would also put in a new timing belt and tensioner, as well as a new water pump. At they very least I would put in a new rear main seal since you would have to drop the trans to replace it if it did start to leak. I would also at a minimum replace the timing belt since there's no good way of knowing when it was last replaced in the replacement engine.
As far as that gasket kit goes there's not going to be much in that kit that will work on the VG30E. I would send it back and tell them to send you the correct kit as pretty much the only thing in that kit that might work off the top of my head would be the rear main seal... that's pretty much it.
As far as swapping, if the crank pulley from the Z will work on the Pathfinder crank snout you just need to swap all of the external stuff: upper and lower intake manifold, exhaust manifolds, oil pan, probably the distributor and valve covers, all sensors, motor mounts, etc.
Its actually quite easy to do, just a bit time consuming swapping all of the parts. While the engine is out I also highly, highly recommend that you put in a new front and rear main seal, cam seals would be good too, I would also put in a new timing belt and tensioner, as well as a new water pump. At they very least I would put in a new rear main seal since you would have to drop the trans to replace it if it did start to leak. I would also at a minimum replace the timing belt since there's no good way of knowing when it was last replaced in the replacement engine.
As far as that gasket kit goes there's not going to be much in that kit that will work on the VG30E. I would send it back and tell them to send you the correct kit as pretty much the only thing in that kit that might work off the top of my head would be the rear main seal... that's pretty much it.