Guest shadetree Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 Hi. I have a 92 Pathfinder with the stock VG30e that is knocking and losing power. I have been looking for a good quality replacement engine with more power. There is a '97 Infiniti J30 that has been T-boned for sale locally for $700. It runs and drives well. I don't forsee any problems physically getting it in the truck. The engine mounts should swap, tranny bolt up, intake manifold switch over, etc. I know the heads are wider, but nothing a BFH and sawzall can't fix. My concerns are about the wiring harness and ecu. The obvious difference is the pathfinder uses a distributor, while the J30 vg30de uses coilpacks. I think they use different generation OBD, as well. Is there going to be a realitively easy solution? Use stock vg30e wiring harness and chipped ecu? Alter wiring harness Please help me out with any FAQ links you might have: ECU chipping, wiring harness diagrams, cross compatability, etc. Sorry, I have not done more research before asking questions. I don't want to buy a $700 car, and not be able to use it, but I also don't want to let a decent deal on a hard to find engine slip thru my fingers. Thanks for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stinky Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 Easiest thing would be to use the stock ecu and harness from the J30. You might need to lenthen the wires or relocate the ecu but its going to be easier than trying to get the other ecu working. Wiring up the power, fuel pump, tach, and other external stuff will be the hard part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jason84NA-T Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 Do you have an auto or manual? Not sure, but if it's an auto the TCU might not work with the DE ecu, anybody know? Also, how about swapping the bell housings? I know you can swap the front of the trans case on the late turbo Z31 and Z32 manual transmissions which are VERY similar to the pathy manual... Hate to sound like an *** about it, but you can find VG30E's all day long for $300 and it's a direct no-brain swap (intake, oil pan and pickup tube might need to be swapped if it's out of a car or minivan). with a few very light modifications and some more timing you would be happy with it. Heck, you could even supercharge it like Lee at LP performance did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b__sosick Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 either way, 700 dollars is a killer deal. u might as wekll pick it up and go to town on it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84z31 Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 swap it. i think it'll be sweet!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtcookson Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 I don't forsee any problems physically getting it in the truck. The engine mounts should swap, tranny bolt up, intake manifold switch over, etc. I know the heads are wider, but nothing a BFH and sawzall can't fix. VG30E(T) and VG30DE(T)(TT) have the same bell housing design so tranny shouldn't be a worry as you said. I'm 99.999% sure the intake manifold won't switch over. VG30E is SOHC and VG30DE is DOHC, naturally. The heads on the DE are much wider and I'm pretty sure the ports are different. I've not messed with a DE(TT) before but I'm pretty sure the intake wouldn't swap. I know for sure the exhaust manifolds are different (I know you didn't mention them but I figured I'd put that out there just incase). Either way though, if you could pull that swap off it'd be pretty cool. Personally, I'd put in another VG30E. Turbo it with a somewhat larger turbo than stock, but not too big. Something that'll spool pretty quick and give you 250-300 whp pretty easily. This would be a sweet setup for a truck since usually you want some good low end grunt in those vehicles (I guess it really depends on whether or not you tow stuff and such). The VG30DE(TT)'s have excellent low end torque compared to say an RB26 but compared to the VG30E(T) the peak torque is a bit higher. Peak torque of the VG30E comes at roughly 2800 rpm. If memory serves VG30DE(TT)'s are slightly over 4000 rpm. I know a guy who turbo charged his 93 Maxima and that sucker dynoed at over 300 ft. lb. torque at 2800 rpm. That would be a blast. That's with a Toyota CT26 turbo on there. I can't remember what psi he was running. Anyways, just another really good option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 won't fit. not enough clearance between the strut towers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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