Just bought a vq35de

[yem73z]

I just bought a 350 z motor, 6 speed trans with all accessories such as alt, starter, wire harness, p/s, ac compressor, ecu for $2000. However, the guy said that he didn't have the ignition, or key. In addition to that, he also said he already sent the car off to the scrapper...from searching around these forums, I still need the bcm, ipdm,nats, ignition/with key, fm. So since I cant get all the electronics from the same vehicle, what other choicez do I have other than stand alone like haltec. That stuff is expensive!!!! I've read about some guys horror story with zfevers ecu reprogram/ nats removal etc. what other choice do I have? Im not planning to boost, just stock daily driving. I also already ordered the mckinney mount kit for my 73z. Any advice would be very helpful. Thanks robbie

[loy]

Talk to zfever http://www.zfever.com/ about nats removal and whatnot. We had a few members that had great service from them.

 

You can also talk to uprev.com about it.

Edited October 28, 2010 by loy

[mrcheeze36]

You can also search on car-parts.com for the missing pieces from other cars. Is it a Rev-up motor?

[yem73z]

Not sure if its rev up or not, I just read up about the vvti stuff recently, so ill check the beads to see if the cams sprocket area is raised on both sides. My biggest concern is if I need to get the bcm, nats, and ipdm from the same vehicle...or is it just the ignition and key that has to be from.the same vehicle as the motor and ecu? If its not important to find the bcm and ipdm and nats from the same car, i'll just scavenge ebay and craigslist for that and just figure out the ignition and key later...i might just end up calling zfever, who knows.

[fast-datsun]

with the NATS removed you do not need KEY or the BCM to make the engine run.....Mack

[IDrm350]

If you want to use all of the stock parts, they do not need to be from the same car. The immobilizer is part of the BCM so you will need to have Nissan program the keys you end up using to work with the BCM that you buy.

[yem73z]

heres a pic of my 350z motor....It took 4 guys to carry the motor, since we didn't have an engine hoist available. thats the last time im gonna do that (MY POOR BACK). I also talked to a nissan dismantler and they said that they have an ignition switch/key, ecu, bcm, ipdm, and dash harness from the same donor car all for $550. So Im gonna buy that and a radiator/fan combo from the dismantler. I also took off the ac compressor and power steering pump. I'm just trying to figure how to route my alternator belt

[Pharaohabq]

Nice.

 

Yeah, I've heard a couple stories about the ECU BCM Nats and IPDM. The IPDM just has to be from the same year of car, it's not security specific, and nether is the AC amp if you're going to user 350z gauges.

 

BCM or Body Control Module is the spinal cord of the harness. It handles day to day operation of the inside of the car. It houses 99% of the security for the Car. The Nats is the Key and an antenna ring on your ignition. The Key has a chip in it that transmits when it's near the NATS antenna the Antenna picks up the code and gives it to the BCM. The BCM checks if that code matches, if so it allows the ECU to start the engine. Now I've heard you HAVE TO HAVE A MATCHING ECU BCM and Key.

 

Untrue... Well the guys in the Nissan service dept say that with the VIN on the ECU, they can program a BCM to read any key. (I believe this because what if you had a 350Z with a Bad BCM? they'd just order the BCM, reprogram it with their ConsultIII, and vroom) Trick is that you have to have an ECU that matches the VIN. So try to get the VIN from your donor car, and write it on the ECU. It's a good thing to get to know the Nissan dealer service manager, and lead techs.

 

$550 is a pretty good deal for the whole set of parts so you're probably good there. Likely you'll still have to have the Nissan guys get it out of Limp mode the first time you try driving since it's likely something may not be perfect your first try. I'd go that route.

 

The Wiring services, BCM delete, I haven't got the $ or the spare parts to give this one a shot, not to mention it's unproven on the HR platform, though they say it'll work. But without the BCM, you're outta luck using any stock gauges.

 

I'm really interested in your swap. What are you putting the VQ into? Do you have a plan for going about it?

 

Phar

[IDrm350]

Untrue... Well the guys in the Nissan service dept say that with the VIN on the ECU, they can program a BCM to read any key. (I believe this because what if you had a 350Z with a Bad BCM? they'd just order the BCM, reprogram it with their ConsultIII, and vroom) Trick is that you have to have an ECU that matches the VIN. So try to get the VIN from your donor car, and write it on the ECU. It's a good thing to get to know the Nissan dealer service manager, and lead techs.

 

I have first hand experience with this. The BCM does not need to be from the same car. I'm not sure whether it's the BCM that they reprogram (in the case of a used BCM like the one I bought) or the chip in the key, or both. Nonetheless, I know for sure that you can use a used BCM from another car. You will need Nissan to do the programming to allow the car to start also.

[Jared]

You definintely can get the BCM from another Z of the same production run. You will need someone with access to a Nissan Consult II in order to program what ever keys you have to the new BCM when you are ready to run. After it's running, you should probably have that same person clear the fuel trim self lean and do an idle air volume relearn because of the changes in exhaust, intake, and ECM.

[Leeroy]

sorry to steal your thread, but I'm also wanting to swap in my VQ. I thought it would be smarter to just jump in your thread. But That's cool that you are from stockon because I'm from Fresno. I pretty much started with what you have. All I have is just the complete engine with tranny and engine harness. The only thing holding me back from continuing on with the swap is not having the other harnesses and computers and can't find a donor car. I'm stuck as to where to find the other stuff. I really just want to run it stock with all stock wires. Do you think you can give me the number to that nissan dismantler?

 

Will it have any issues starting/running if you used the engine harness from your motor and then using the dash, body harness, etc. from the other donor car? I'm thinking it shouldn't because it's just wires and there aren't any sensors connected to it. It's just connects the sensors to the ecu.

 

So pretty much if I purchased what Robbie is buying from a donor car, the car will start up and run fine?

[yem73z]

The dismantler is called sunrise nissan and infinity in rancho cordova, ca. I dont have the number right now, but just-google-it.

[Leeroy]

Oh ok thanks. I will check it out.

[yem73z]

Im curious on the mounting principles of motors. I was thinking if I were to fabricate my own motormounts, what things do I need to keep in mind? First i'll put the motor on a hoist with transmission mounted. Then make a laser adapter tool to mount to the end of my tranny. Then turn on laser and make sure the laser points directly at the center of the rear differential. I'm concerned about how far back I should mount the motor, how close to firewall should the throttle body be. Im assuming when the motor revs or vibrates, if its too close to the firewall, how much spacing is neccessary to avoid any contact with the firewall. I know I need to modify my front cross member to clear the motor, but can someone tell me how much to cut and how to mount this motor.

[Leeroy]

Have you checked out Austin's page on his VQ swap? He removes the hood latch and uses hood pins. The motor sits way back and looks great. That's what I want to do, but I'm a little confused how the fuel runs through the fuel rails. I drew up a diagram, to see if it's how he did but I'm just waiting to see what he says. But I think the Mckinnley mounts look pretty decent and will probably work out nice. I'm probably going to pick up a set when I start my swap.

[kiwi303]

Then make a laser adapter tool to mount to the end of my tranny. Then turn on laser and make sure the laser points directly at the center of the rear differential.

 

 

No, thats not what I pick up from reading the driveline forum... the U joints or CV joints in the driveshaft need a certain amount of working back and forth to ensure the grease packing keeps moving and coating the contact surfaces of the joints.

 

Read the stickies, I think somewhere it mentions 3 to 5 degrees at the joins. A pair of laser beams from the diff flange and from the driveshaft yoke should be parallel to each other and 3 to 4 inches vertical separation so the joints have equal deflection at each end of the driveshaft.

 

Reading is your friend if you have it plumb in line from the diff to the driveshaft, the U joints will gall as the faces get no movement to cause migration of the grease over the contact faces, yet transmitted vibration from the motor causes them faces to shift against each other.

 

 

 

I do know Torque tube setups where the driveshaft is bang in line and enclosed in a fixed tube which maintains the relationships between the diff and tranny use a straight splined shaft with no joins. My 1971 Peugeot 504 is like this.

[Pharaohabq]

Im curious on the mounting principles of motors. I was thinking if I were to fabricate my own motormounts, what things do I need to keep in mind? First i'll put the motor on a hoist with transmission mounted. Then make a laser adapter tool to mount to the end of my tranny. Then turn on laser and make sure the laser points directly at the center of the rear differential. I'm concerned about how far back I should mount the motor, how close to firewall should the throttle body be. Im assuming when the motor revs or vibrates, if its too close to the firewall, how much spacing is neccessary to avoid any contact with the firewall. I know I need to modify my front cross member to clear the motor, but can someone tell me how much to cut and how to mount this motor.

 

 

Well first of all theres a lot of issue with trying to fit these motors behind the steering crossmember. You'll find that it's a tough proposition, so trying to make it fit is your first concern. Second if you get it in there, hopefully you won't have too much trouble clearing the stock steering rack. otherwise you'll end up throwing the geometry out a little, though a little movement can be made up for in your linkage adjustments. You want the oil pan up as far as you can fit it, so that means your tranny will likely be at a slight angle anyway so don't worry about drive shaft angles. Exactly 3 or 5 degrees isn't necessary, you'll have at least that without trying. just remember to test fit your hood.

 

Oh and remember to cut off the stock tranny mounts before you put the tranny in the way, it's much easier that way. I found out the hard way., oh well. Anyway read through Austin's build, he and Ehowmyron however it's spelled, pretty much blazed the trail for us. so look to them for a lot of really good info.

 

As for motor mounts, you really need to decide what kind of rubber you'll use with them which will change your setup.

[yem73z]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions guys. I just bought the gas, clutch, and brake pedal, i'll work on mounting them as soon as I get the motor in.

[yem73z]

sorry, its been a while guys...I've been busy with work and overtime and all that good stuff. Anyhow, i finally came around to officially starting the rust repair. I started off cutting out the floor pans (rusted out), then I went over to LOWES home supply and bought some 16gauge sheet metal. the largest size they had were 2ft X 2ft; so i ended up buying two sheets and welded them together. After the two pieces of sheet metal was welded together, I whipped out the cardboard and placed it into the gaping hole where my floor pans used to be and drew up a template of the floor pan. I then traced the cardboard onto the sheet metal and started cutting it. I started the floor pan repair at 3pm and ran out of daylight before i had a chance to weld in some floor rails. Being a nice guy that i am, i didn't want to make too much noise for the neighbors, so I'll do the floor rails tomorrow. And i also wanted to mention that the floor rails I upgraded to 1/8in wall thickness...well, that's it for now. Check out the pics and give me advice.

[EMWHYR0HEN]

When mounting the engine make sure the oil pan sump is level. +1 on mounting the engine high for pan clearance issues, esp. if the car's going to be low.

 

Nice work with the rust repair.