vg30de in 3rd gen?

[killakarebear]

My engine is on its last limbs and was wondering instead of buying another vg30e i could buy a vg30de to bolt to the vg transmission i have already? and insight would be great and thanks to everyone that helps

[mtcookson]

You could make the transmission bolt up but the engine is physically too big to fit into the engine bay, which is why the 92-94 SE got the VE30DE instead of the VG. The VE is almost literally a narrow VG30DE, same bore and stroke, similar crank, same rods even.

On top of that, I've seen people heavily struggle swapping a VE30DE in place of the VG30E which means even if the VG-DE fit, it would supposedly be difficult to make everything work (I personally don't buy into it but I could be wrong).

Anyway... if you're wanting a sort of easy upgrade you could actually look into doing a VG33E swap. You will need to take the engine apart to make it a direct swap but should give you a noticeable increase in performance along with even more power potential should you want to ever do some major modifications down the road.

If you went the VG33 route, you'll want to swap the crank, oil pump, cam and main timing belt sprockets, and front covers then the other external bits like sensor, intake and exhaust manifolds, etc. I also recommend putting the Maxima cams into the VG33 as they have slightly more lift. If you did do that be sure to swap the lifters as well as they wear to the cams and mixing them will likely cause them to essentially die (premature wear).

Hope this helps!

[killakarebear]

could i buy a vg33e from a pathfinder and would it fit? and by sensor do you mean maf or oil or both?
Modified by killakarebear at 4:57 PM 9/12/2008

[MinisterofDOOM]

FWD and RWD VGs use the same block casting, unlike the VQ, so yes, you could use a Pathfinder/Xterra/Frontier VG33E in the Maxima.

And heck, if you're going that far, you might as well bore it and put VH45 pistons and DE (I think?) rods in it (which will make it 3.4 liters).

[PBfrEAk]

And heck, if you're going that far, you might as well bore it and put VH45 pistons and DE (I think?) rods in it (which will make it 3.4 liters).

Well, I'll let mtcookson explain this more if he wants (hehe...yeah...I read your article on another forum ) BUT...there is more to go than just 3.4 liters!!!

[mtcookson]

could i buy a vg33e from a pathfinder and would it fit? and by sensor do you mean maf or oil or both?

Yup, that will work. I would do all external sensors as they'll likely have different plugs likely in different locations between the two. You'll also need a Maxima water pump but since your engine has pretty high mileage I'd just get a new one anyway.

Off the top of my head this should be all that you'll swap:CrankTiming belt sprockets (main and cams)Oil pump (and pickup tube and oil panOil filter "bracket" from the Maxima VG to the VG33Front timing belt coversCrank pulleyAll accessory bracketsAll sensors (oil pressure, probably even knock sensor, coolant temp, etc.)Dip stick tube (VG33's is probably in a different location, that one is pretty easy just pull the Maxima's out and put it in the proper location and plug the VG33's stock location with the plug that came out)Exhaust manifolds (you might need to enlarge the holes as the VG33 uses much stronger 10 mm exhaust studs vs. the stock 8 mm but I don't believe there will be any issues)Intake manifold, upper and lowerCoolant tubes that run under the intake manifold

While you're in there I would also replace most of the rubber seals, front and rear mains, cam seals, etc. The list seems big but most of the work isn't all that hard. The only thing you really need to work about is the crank swap. Be sure to get the appropriate bearings (match the grades listed on the crank with the grades listed on the block for the proper bearings).

Also, like I previously mentioned, for a little more power I would put the Maxima's cams and lifters in the VG33.

If you have a 5-speed and some cash left over I would also invest in a lightened flywheel and a new clutch. Something like a stage 1 DXD Racing clutch would be good as its a bit better than stock but should still have stock pedal feel.

That should liven up your Maxima quite a bit. You should be ok fuel wise as its not a huge jump in power, enough for a noticeable difference but shouldn't be enough to put a strain on the fuel system. The stock VG33 is around 180 hp and right over 200 ft. lb. torque. It should be slightly more than that with the cams so it'll definitely be a pretty decent increase. Likely more than most of the bolt-ons would get on a VG30E.

BUT...there is more to go than just 3.4 liters!!!

Yeah, I'm prepping a huge article for the VG section here. Should hopefully be done very soon.

The VG33 has been recently found to have huge cylinder walls... thick enough to actually bore the thing to a safe 3.8 liters (99 mm!). If I calculated it correctly you can actually bore it to roughly 97.8 mm to keep it at around the same thickness as the VG30's cylinder walls. You could take it to a solid 98 mm without probably noticing anything bad. 98 mm puts you at 3,756.4 cc. 99 mm still leaves you with between 5/32" and 1/8" cylinder walls and gives you 3,833.5 cc... talk about one extreme NA VG especially with a higher compression ratio... and boosted... oh man, that would be nearly unstoppable.

[PBfrEAk]

Yeah, I'm prepping a huge article for the VG section here. Should hopefully be done very soon.

The VG33 has been recently found to have huge cylinder walls... thick enough to actually bore the thing to a safe 3.8 liters (99 mm!). If I calculated it correctly you can actually bore it to roughly 97.8 mm to keep it at around the same thickness as the VG30's cylinder walls. You could take it to a solid 98 mm without probably noticing anything bad. 98 mm puts you at 3,756.4 cc. 99 mm still leaves you with between 5/32" and 1/8" cylinder walls and gives you 3,833.5 cc... talk about one extreme NA VG especially with a higher compression ratio... and boosted... oh man, that would be nearly unstoppable.

Dude I'm SOOO stoked to see it.

I'm not gonna do it to my daily because its "starting" to rust and I'd rather have a clean car to do it on...but I'm working on getting a vg5spd in my area. I just have to work on the owner a bit.

Between it and my parts car...that WILL be my project.

Can't wait.