engine and manual tranny swap

The Gas and Diesel Engines - VQ40De, VK56DE, YD25DDTi, V9X, Transmission, Transfer Case, Oil, Differentials, Axles, Exhaust...

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Super64
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Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2016 7:16 pm

engine and manual tranny swap

Postby Super64 » Thu Nov 10, 2016 7:35 pm

hello everyone

I have a R51 2008 with love/hate relation

the car keep screwing transmission valve body (replaced 3 times ) Up to now .
The engine had been replaced also .

Well long story short i like the car for the size and design but i dont like the setup under the hood.

Any ideas one other other setups i can use i prefer a stick if its possible .
what iam looking for is to increase the car reliability.


Praetorian
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Location: La Mirada, CA

Postby Praetorian » Thu Nov 17, 2016 2:08 am

I've thought about this swap. It would require collecting quite a few parts;

Clutch pedal assembly, master and slave cylinders, manual transmission and possibly bell housing, clutch assembly, flywheel, possibly new driveshaft(s), and possibly an ECU from a manual trans Xterra or Frontier, unless you can get yours re-flashed. You did not say though, are you running a gas or diesel r51? And I'm sure I'm forgetting things. Seems like most the parts can be sourced from a Frontier or Xterra.

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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Thu Nov 17, 2016 6:53 am

It would be a lot easier on an older vehicle without the complicated electronics of a CAN system vehicle. In the end, you will probably save yourself a whole lot of headache and cost to sell the Pathfinder and get an Xterra with a manual trans to replace it.

Super64
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Postby Super64 » Sun Nov 20, 2016 1:12 pm

the car have a VQ40DE petrol its the 4.0L am not a big fan of the engine as well .i talked to a lot of Nissan technicians the say the engine is not a build to last and with age it gets even worse.

As for electrical it will be the easiest part .if petrol a mega squirt or a LINK ecu will take care of everything and its easy to run and setup.
if diesel i will take the ecu with the engine and transmission from a salvage car.

so basically i would like to know which engine/transmission i can fit on the mounts so i don't do any fabrication .

examples for the engine
YD22DDTi
VK56DE -that will be tight
ISF2.8 cummins
QR25DE with turbo

for tranny
FS6R31A
i dont want to sell the car i like the pathfinder shape ,size , handling but i hate whats under my hood.

its not a very hard swap if you keep fabrication to minimum (find parts that fit without fabrication)

so any ideas

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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Sun Nov 20, 2016 5:40 pm

We have plenty of R51's with the VQ40DE engine and plenty of miles with no problems. Personally, I have a 2006 with 168,000 miles and and a 2008 with over 190,000 miles and both run great and burn no oil. The only issue I've had is with the upper chain noise, but that's due to a poor stamping of the upper chain links, which are made by Borg-Warner in the USA and is corrected with new chains. My 2006 has Doug Thorley headers, and XTP intake plenum spacer, an aFe cold air intake system, deleted rear cats and a Magnaflow muffler in place of the stock unit and a Superchips 93 octane performance tune and 3 degree advance on the timing and speed and rev limiters increased. The 2008 is stock. I really don't know why the Nissan techs say they aren't built to last where you live. I'm a former Nissan Master tech in the US and they last just fine. I would think it would be a lot more reliable than a QR25DE with a turbo.
We have the VK56DE available as an option in 2008-2012 R51's, so it would definitely fit.

Super64
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Postby Super64 » Mon Nov 21, 2016 2:16 am

:D your lucky maybe i hope it doesn't change soon .
and 190k isnt that much .i have a civic with 300.000 miles which i just replaced 1 engine and one transmission (worn piston ring,clogged internal filter which is impossible to replace)



well first of all the car isnt designed for hot climate i know most my problems are heat related even though the car was serviced at the dealer for the 7 years and then by retired dealer technician.

when my car was sitting beside my home coverd in dust waiting for the new engine neighbor had the same problem

the car overheated even tough i keep the cooling system in top condition
and it was because of the engine block .

also i never tow anything and the valvebody keep failing .

and the car is not fun to drive

now in order to avoid the engine from overheating we put asbestos head gaskets instead of the steel .


If the engine can be modified please advice me , i can change the tranny and keep the engine this will save me alot of headache

Super64
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Postby Super64 » Mon Nov 21, 2016 2:22 am

smj999smj wrote:We have plenty of R51's with the VQ40DE engine and plenty of miles with no problems. Personally, I have a 2006 with 168,000 miles and and a 2008 with over 190,000 miles and both run great and burn no oil. The only issue I've had is with the upper chain noise, but that's due to a poor stamping of the upper chain links, which are made by Borg-Warner in the USA and is corrected with new chains. My 2006 has Doug Thorley headers, and XTP intake plenum spacer, an aFe cold air intake system, deleted rear cats and a Magnaflow muffler in place of the stock unit and a Superchips 93 octane performance tune and 3 degree advance on the timing and speed and rev limiters increased. The 2008 is stock. I really don't know why the Nissan techs say they aren't built to last where you live. I'm a former Nissan Master tech in the US and they last just fine. I would think it would be a lot more reliable than a QR25DE with a turbo.
We have the VK56DE available as an option in 2008-2012 R51's, so it would definitely fit.
Nice build man you just need a turbo 8)

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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Mon Nov 21, 2016 12:07 pm

Super64 wrote:
smj999smj wrote:We have plenty of R51's with the VQ40DE engine and plenty of miles with no problems. Personally, I have a 2006 with 168,000 miles and and a 2008 with over 190,000 miles and both run great and burn no oil. The only issue I've had is with the upper chain noise, but that's due to a poor stamping of the upper chain links, which are made by Borg-Warner in the USA and is corrected with new chains. My 2006 has Doug Thorley headers, and XTP intake plenum spacer, an aFe cold air intake system, deleted rear cats and a Magnaflow muffler in place of the stock unit and a Superchips 93 octane performance tune and 3 degree advance on the timing and speed and rev limiters increased. The 2008 is stock. I really don't know why the Nissan techs say they aren't built to last where you live. I'm a former Nissan Master tech in the US and they last just fine. I would think it would be a lot more reliable than a QR25DE with a turbo.
We have the VK56DE available as an option in 2008-2012 R51's, so it would definitely fit.
Nice build man you just need a turbo 8)
Nah, it's got plenty of power for what I need it for. If I was going that route, Stillen offers a supercharger setup, but it's around $5000 and not in my budget. My next focus will be on the brakes. Recently, I found out the V8 model front brake calipers and brackets and slightly larger brake rotors will bolt on to the V6 steering knuckles (the rear brakes are the same). I'm thinking about going with the larger front rotors (calipers and brackets), better rotors and EBC yellow brake pads to see if I can get her to stop a little better. I might even go with Technafit brake hoses. A project for next summer...


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