VQ engine swaps- a royal PITA?

Discuss topics related to the VQ series engine.
User avatar
SteveTheTech
Posts: 4505
Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2008 3:20 pm
Car: 15 Sentra SR
12 G37x Coupe
-Formerly-
05 Mazda 6 L3 Sport, 95 J30, 94 D22
Location: Chantilly, Va

Post

I think stuffing modern CAN equipped engines into small old cars is an intriguing idea....not one I'd ever try, especially as a first project...kudos champ. Anything with vvel would be much more complex as the level of interaction between the VDC systems would not be able to be bypassed or cheated as easily.

If I had a project in mind it would involve a pre obdII VH.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_cRQhW7nj8[/youtube]

Those we powerful and stupid engines. These new ones are are too involved, I cannot see anything with vvel working without a standalone.


User avatar
donandal
Posts: 102
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:30 am
Car: 92 240SX, 2008 350Z, homebuilt roadster
Location: Lakewood New York

Post

If I was a smart guy with wiring, I might have tried a different approach....
Having said that, this was not that expensive when you add up what we got.
We got the engine with all harnesses and ECU.,
both cat converters and headers
a brand new Z battery
the six speed tranny and clutch
the gas pedal(electronic) and clutch pedal with master cylinder
the rear diff which gave us correct gear ratios and limited slip
the dash and all gauges and steering column with steering wheel
all emissions componenets
all air conditioning components and controls
the Bose stereo and speakers
350Z perforated/heated leather seats....when you add this all up.....

we paid $6500 for the donor car

so far we've sold 3 wheels ($200) 1headlite($100) 1mirror so far($75)
2 rear suspension components ($125) ...rear subframe still for sale
we have both doors listed thru a salvage yard (should get $300-400)
rear deck lid was sold for $450 but returned because it had wrong plug...but should sell
still have brakes and rotors and muffler for sale
sold empty shell for $50...we should be able to recoupe about $1500 easy, so about $5000
for all we got isn't bad for 300 HP., and the car had only 5100 miles on it.
We learned a lot with this project that will help us on our next one
Hopefully it will be reliable and fun to drive

flynbyu82
Posts: 62
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:37 am

Post

Steve, VVEL wires runs through the ECM, including all can lines... On any of these wiring jobs, all you're doing is looking at the open connectors, and figuring out where they go. No signal inputs, just power inputs... On the DE, there was like a whopping 10 wires and 2 relays that power was supplied to, that's it !!

donandal, didn't mean to sound condescending in regards to your approach, it actually sounds like you've made out pretty well. I had an outside interest on doing the swap, and when I saw a cheapie VQ on ebay, I couldn't resist....

Here's mine...
Image

And at my first event a couple weekends ago...
Image

I would love to see pics of yours donandal... ?

User avatar
donandal
Posts: 102
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:30 am
Car: 92 240SX, 2008 350Z, homebuilt roadster
Location: Lakewood New York

Post

I thought i had it in my sig
here is the 240SX
build-pics-of-92-240sx-coupe-t526066.htm
and here is my subaru
it-s-a-subaru-t526489.html
ck em out

dmuramoto
Posts: 312
Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2009 5:20 pm
Car: 350Z street, 350Z GT3 and T3 racecars, Versa HB and Infiniti G37xS sedan

Post

Don- you might want to check the link to your 240SX pics. No worky with "404 error" code...

User avatar
donandal
Posts: 102
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:30 am
Car: 92 240SX, 2008 350Z, homebuilt roadster
Location: Lakewood New York

Post

let's try this
build-pics-of-92-240sx-coupe-t526066.html

looks like the l got cut off html.....
I think this is ok now

turbocad6
Posts: 17
Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2009 1:42 pm
Car: 03 fx35

Post

hey flynbyu, the vq harness (of the fx at least) has one plug that is the main bulkhead plug to the ecu, it then has a secondary plug that plugs into the dash harness... the dash harness contains the seconday plug for the ecu, so on the fx engine harness it does not contain both plugs to the ecu, same as the HR harness I got from the g35x... what car was your vq swap from? automatic or stick? awd? I don't know how other vq harnesses are done but as far as the fx goes, there is a secondary ecu plug from the dash harness for sure...

I winded up picking up an r32 5 speed awd tranny and an r34 getrag 6 speed awd tranny too... going to probably have to cut off the bell housing & graft a 350z 6mt bell housing to the gt r tranny I think... now to convert to stick I'll probably have 2 options, either keep the auto tcu in the circuit with dummy loads & simulated in/outs or switch out to a 350z 6mt rom, but that will complicate the awd I think, there is no HR with 6mt that is also awd... worse case may be to use a 6mt rom & then use a stand alone center diff controller... just adds to the fun :yesnod


I also picked up a g37x motor, hopefully I can use the 3.7l block with the 3.5l heads eventually... I have no plans on trying to run the 3.7l vvl heads, that would require yet another whole harness & ecu swap again...

Image

to run one of these engines in another car I don't think is so hard, it becomes hard when the other car is also an obdII car that has several other computers that you need to play nicely together, but if your just looking to run the engine stand alone with no can buss integration then it does get a bit easier...

User avatar
SteveTheTech
Posts: 4505
Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2008 3:20 pm
Car: 15 Sentra SR
12 G37x Coupe
-Formerly-
05 Mazda 6 L3 Sport, 95 J30, 94 D22
Location: Chantilly, Va

Post

flynbyu82 wrote:Steve, VVEL wires runs through the ECM, including all can lines
There is a control unit mounted to the right inner fender of the G37.

Image

It is not impossible just a few steps more difficult. And every model and most years have different harnesses.


Image :drool:
turbocad6 wrote: to run one of these engines in another car I don't think is so hard, it becomes hard when the other car is also an obdII car that has several other computers that you need to play nicely together, but if your just looking to run the engine stand alone with no can buss integration then it does get a bit easier...
A factory ECM isn't ideal for anything other than the car it belongs in. Changing something as small as fuel pressure will lead to check engine lights and fault chasing for months. A drop of 5 psi will (most likely) trip a lean fault or a miss under load, but the computer wouldn't know to expect that. Starting is one thing, maintaining an idle at 14.7:1 is another challenge all together.

flynbyu82
Posts: 62
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:37 am

Post

donandal, I would take your fab skills over my wiring skills any day of the week !! That build is absolutely incredible... What size/offset RPF1s are you guys running? I want to get 275s in the back and would love to do it with RPF1s... just keep debating on what size to use... Nicely done with the fender rolls/pull, never seen it done that nicely !!

turbocad, I'm running an 04 g35 engine with a 6speed from the same car, it was a complete swap, 33k miles. But ya, in regards to the the dash connector, the dash harness goes to a connector in the DE wiring. The HR dash harness connects directly to the ECU. I only needed the EC harness for the DE whereas the HR you would atleast need the dash ECU connector alongside the EC harness. Makes it alittle trickier...

Steve, the VVEL controller is wired all through the Engine harness. There is a connector for the VVEL controller, just like there would be a connector for any sensor...

flynbyu82
Posts: 62
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:37 am

Post

PS donandal, getting ready to ask you more questions on your other thread :)

deletedalien
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Jun 28, 2010 7:24 am
Car: Nissan S13 89 VQ35de

Post

so... quick question...

this is specifically for an OFF road racecar...

im trying to eliminate the IPDM and eliminate a s*** ton of useless wiring...
since the IPDM only "controls" 4 basic relays..
Fuel pump,
Ecm
Throttle control motor
and
starter....

can i just delete the IPDM or will the ECM get antsy because of the now missing can lines to the IPDM?

Thanx in advance


Return to “VQ30DE / VQ35DE / VQ35HR Forum”