Dead VQ stories

Datsun1500 wrote:

belteshazzar wrote: if you search for a '95-'99 maxima engine on car-part.com, there are 92 pages worth of listing. 50 listings per page. In case your math sucks, there are 4600 VQ's for sale on that site alone. prices start at $150.

That does not mean it is a bad motor, just the cars around it got hurt.

that was my point exactly. in contrast, just you go looking for a 2.7 to put in a concord.

so this thread has been dormant for a day and a half. Despite Nissan putting the motor in damn near everything, and we being a board full of car people, all I get is a story about somebody who hydrolocked one once and that they're not impervious to boost.

so this thread has been dormant for a day and a half. Despite Nissan putting the motor in damn near everything, and we being a board full of car people, all I get is a story about somebody who hydrolocked one once and that they're not impervious to boost.

I put a 35VQ in my M1 tank and ran it with 60 lbs. of boost + nitrous. The thing grenaded! What a POS. I'm going back to my 2.3 Ford.

Is that better?

bet you wish you'da sprung for head studs huh.

Is the Nissan 3.3 from the Quest/Villager in the same family?

I think that's a VG, similar to earlier Maxima's and Z31/Z32.

yeah vg33 is good for boat anchoring purposes. Different engine than vq. Kinda crappy. The dohc VG's were ok, but the sohc's were all turds, all inclusive.
VG30DE and VG30DETT were both obviously more performance oriented. But are E36 M3ty to work on and parts are expensive. Really no compelling reason to go with either over a VQ, especially with the the wiring pretty well figured out and the prices rapidly reaching something close to parity.

kreb wrote:

so this thread has been dormant for a day and a half. Despite Nissan putting the motor in damn near everything, and we being a board full of car people, all I get is a story about somebody who hydrolocked one once and that they're not impervious to boost.

I put a 35VQ in my M1 tank and ran it with 60 lbs. of boost + nitrous. The thing grenaded! What a POS. I'm going back to my 2.3 Ford. Is that better?

You're not double clutching like you s'posta.

VGs are nearly bulletproof (one of the strongest factory blocks ANYWHERE...but the SOHC heads suck. my brother has been pumping 15-20 PSI through a stocker forever . literally been turbocharged (normally NA maxima) for about 100k, with an AWESOME kit. hes got rods/pistons for a rainy day (not actually expensive stuff even, kinda cheap)

hes done VQ turbo work for 350z customers, maxima buddies, etc. his good friend has the fastest NA stock motor maxima , running high 12s w/ a 3.5, with 3.0 cams (weak), bolt ons, and tuning. IMPRESSIVE engines.

that particular car was at one point the fastest maxima in the world (11.7, turbo'd 3.0). blown headgaskets were the only problem...i think he wasnt tuning too conservatively, honestly.

he just tuned a 350z, stock motor, with a nice turbo setup. full Haltech ECU, nice kit, gt35 turbo. made about 450 whp, and its got a noise now. didnt show up from power, just happened. the kid had ran it out of oil though, when a turbo feed line had broken inthe past, so it probably stemmed from that.

i love nissan engines.

They are pretty bulletproof. Some issues with coil packs, O2 sensors, and injectors are possible around 150-250k miles, but other than that, they seem pretty solid. I know I drove the crap out of my Maxima, and it had 170k on it when I sold it. I often wish that motor was in other cars. Nice and torque, super smooth, nice sound. The only down side was the premium gas required to get the full 190hp on the early 3 liter motors.

-Chris

splitime wrote: VQ longblock weighs a hair over 300...

This is always a hot-button issue with me, about how engine weights are quoted - but never with the absolutely necessary list of what that includes. Without it, the number is of zero worth, and useless for comparison purposes.

Kind of like saying, "I have a piece of metal - what's it weigh?"

I still have this urge to drop a VQ into my fiat

Well, after the VG, they probably figured they should design an engine that's worth a damn.

Nitroracer wrote: I know they make swap kits for the second gen rx7 to run a VQ, I prefer the body style of the first though.

REEEAAAAALLLLYYYYY now, I love the sound of that engine at full boogie, and had no clue that they were getting that cheap. I know of a REALLY clean 2nd gen shell for sale. hmmm wonder if I can keep this one in challenge budget, time to do some research.

Actually, I was wrong. It is the VG I saw the swap kit for, http://grannys.tripod.com/2N6VG30.html . But I remember a red 2nd gen rx7 for sale with a VQ30 maxima engine in it about a year ago on a local forum so it can be done.

Hey - my hydro story wasn't supposed to be evidence that they are junk - I just told the only story I knew of where one had died. And it obviously wasn't the engines fault. I liked it, not a bad engine.

In reply to kb58:

I'll post up the picture of what is included in those measurements. I have the link at work.

yeah someone on nico weighed a bunch of engines... ka24de, vq35, ls1, and iirc, sr20 and rb variants too.

But I was pissed because they included different things. The ka24de, for example, was with an auto trans and the harness and all accessories, and then the ls1 they weighed had a manual trans with no fluids, missing several accessories, and no headers.

To be worth a damn they all need to be weigh on the same scale with the same accessories.. preferably fully dressed.

Quote: "To be worth a damn they all need to be weigh on the same scale with the same accessories.. preferably fully dressed."

Yeah, the best current sources get you in the ballpark, but that's about all. I've heard the VQ35 quoted anywhere between 300 and 400 lbs. With the most common figure being about 350 - which is pretty damn good for four cams and everything that goes on it.

Tell you what, a good thread idea might be what car wouldn't be better with a VQ35?

kreb wrote: Quote: "To be worth a damn they all need to be weigh on the same scale with the same accessories.. preferably fully dressed." Yeah, the best current sources get you in the ballpark, but that's about all. I've heard the VQ35 quoted anywhere between 300 and 400 lbs. With the most common figure being about 350 - which is pretty damn good for four cams and everything that goes on it. Tell you what, a good thread idea might be what car wouldn't be better with a VQ35?

Anything that currently has an LS*?

kreb wrote: Quote: "To be worth a damn they all need to be weigh on the same scale with the same accessories.. preferably fully dressed." Yeah, the best current sources get you in the ballpark, but that's about all. I've heard the VQ35 quoted anywhere between 300 and 400 lbs. With the most common figure being about 350 - which is pretty damn good for four cams and everything that goes on it. Tell you what, a good thread idea might be what car wouldn't be better with a VQ35?

Lexus SC400.

Pic of weight as promised. Not my picture btw. It looks to only be missing crank pulley and alternator. At least the only important pieces :p. Otherwise it has stock headers/sheilds on it, engine mounts + the actual soft mounts.

93celicaGT2 wrote:

kreb wrote: Tell you what, a good thread idea might be what car wouldn't be better with a VQ35?

Lexus SC400.

you serious? the lexus 4.0 v8 is poop. No torque, no gas mileage. I'd rather have an sc300... at least the 2jz gets good gas mileage.

Yep, i'm serious.

The 1uzfe is a brilliant piece of engineering. Think about what cars it was saddled with and that explains your issues with it. A VQ35 in an SC400 wouldn't be an improvement i don't think.

Actually I agree that those two examples are pretty well best left alone, although the first iteration of the 1UFZE didn't have particularly stellar output levels relative to displacement. (yes, I'm aware that it was uber-smooth, relatively light and bulletproof, et cetera)

Splitime: kudos on "bringing the tech". With both manifolds and motor mounts, that's an impressively low weight!

kreb wrote: Splitime: kudos on "bringing the tech". With both manifolds and motor mounts, that's an impressively low weight!

Not my picture btw, just found it in my own searches for the above questions.