Engine replacement

lebowski · Postby **lebowski** » Sun May 03, 2020 12:12 pm

Hi All,

My '05 pathfinder (150k km) has low compression on all cilinders and consumes oil. Looks like the ceramic dust of the original cats damaged the cilinder sleeves. Time for a replacement engine

. Now, problem is that these engines are rare in europe (mostly diesel pathfinders here). So shipping one from the US is an option. Now, I don't want to buy an engine with the same issue. What are the chances that the engine is bad if I buy a '13 vq40de with 57k miles on it? (yes I have warranty, but returning from europe is quite a challenge). Can I ask a salvage yard to do a compression test?

thx, Norbert

Postby **smj999smj** » Sun May 03, 2020 4:47 pm

That issue is relatively rare on the VQ40DE, so I wouldn't really be concerned about that. Of course you can ask them to do a compression test. I would just make sure the engine is from a 2011 or later model to make sure you don't get one with the upper timing chain issues. The engine remained unchanged all the way up to the 2019 Frontiers.

lebowski · Postby **lebowski** » Fri May 15, 2020 8:16 am

Ok, I might have located one closeby. Now, I got some doubts that he might be selling a VQ35DE... What are the obvious differences between a VQ35DE and VQ40DE? The VQ35DE has 2 serpentine belts?

thx again

Postby **smj999smj** » Sat May 16, 2020 1:55 am

The VQ35DE is not an easy swap job for a VQ40DE. Yes, the 3.5L has multiple belts rather than a single serpentine belt and an aluminum upper plenum rather than plastic, to name a couple of the differences.

lebowski · Postby **lebowski** » Tue Aug 25, 2020 12:55 am

Time for an update. Bought on ebay a 2016 VQ40DE with 39K miles on it. Unfortunately almost all breakers don't ship outside the US. So, had it shipped from somwhere on the east coast to LA where a forwarder loaded the engine in a container. LA -> Panama -> Rotterdam. Shipping took 2 months and my mechanic was quite busy. But after 3 months I have an almost new, super smooth engine. It ran now 500 km and the oil still looks like new

. With the old engine it was black and low level within 200 km.

thanks for helping me out picking the right engine. I can confirm that a late engine fits even in a 2005 model.

jlocal · Postby **jlocal** » Tue Aug 25, 2020 10:37 am

Hello Norbert, glad to hear you got a good smooth running engine. I'm needing to replace my engine also and was wondering if your engine was purchased by an individual or engine company? Would you mind letting me know which company you purchased your engine from as I need the same engine. Thanks, John

lebowski · Postby **lebowski** » Tue Aug 25, 2020 11:56 am

through ebay. this salvage yard has multiple engines

http://www.ebay.nl/usr/lkqonline

Postby **palmerwmd** » Tue Aug 25, 2020 12:25 pm

lebowski wrote: ↑
Tue Aug 25, 2020 12:55 am
Time for an update. Bought on ebay a 2016 VQ40DE with 39K miles on it. Unfortunately almost all breakers don't ship outside the US. So, had it shipped from somwhere on the east coast to LA where a forwarder loaded the engine in a container. LA -> Panama -> Rotterdam. Shipping took 2 months and my mechanic was quite busy. But after 3 months I have an almost new, super smooth engine. It ran now 500 km and the oil still looks like new . With the old engine it was black and low level within 200 km.

thanks for helping me out picking the right engine. I can confirm that a late engine fits even in a 2005 model.

I am happy to hear it!

So you are in the Netherlands?

lebowski · Postby **lebowski** » Wed Aug 26, 2020 12:33 am

yes, Netherlands.

Very rare car here. 30 R51 petrol engine cars and 301 R51 diesel engine cars. So finding a 2nd hand engine here is quite impossible.

Mine is originally sold in Greece, went after some years to Germany. Where it had 3 owners and I brought it from Germany to the Netherlands.

I think it is all options version: keyless, light sensor, rain sensor and electronic foldable mirrors. One of the german owners added a LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) system which makes the running cost acceptable.

Postby **palmerwmd** » Wed Aug 26, 2020 8:22 am

lebowski wrote: ↑
Wed Aug 26, 2020 12:33 am
One of the german owners added a LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) system which makes the running cost acceptable.

Please tell us more about this...

lebowski · Postby **lebowski** » Wed Aug 26, 2020 2:11 pm

palmerwmd wrote: ↑
Wed Aug 26, 2020 8:22 am

lebowski wrote: ↑
Wed Aug 26, 2020 12:33 am
One of the german owners added a LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) system which makes the running cost acceptable.
Please tell us more about this...

The spare wheel is replaced with a 70 liter tank which holds compressed gas. This gas is a combination of gasses produced as a by product from refining oil, which are otherwise flared off.
The intake manifold has 6 extra injectors, the fuel injectors are shut off. It's a pretty sophisticated system. The car starts on fuel, once the waters reaches a certain temperature it switches automatically to lpg. The amount of gas injected is read from the ECU.
You can get this gas at most fuelling stations throughout europe. The price is a third (50 eurocent/liter) of regular fuel although the fuel economy is bit less due to less energy per liter. The combustion is also much cleaner, the oil remains clear. I'm driving with emptied catalytic convertors without any error code.
It used to be quite popular before the diesel engines became so powerful and economic.

TL;DR : it is very much like propane fueled cars
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autogas

jlocal · Postby **jlocal** » Wed Aug 26, 2020 7:51 pm

lebowski wrote: ↑
Tue Aug 25, 2020 11:56 am
through ebay. this salvage yard has multiple engines

http://www.ebay.nl/usr/lkqonline

Thanks for the info, always looking for honest good businesses!!

lebowski · Postby **lebowski** » Wed Sep 02, 2020 12:44 pm

After driving some more the CEL turned on. The code was P0177, bank 1 to lean. I downloaded and paid for the NDSII and connected it over Wifi to the ELM 327 V1.5. I really recommend this app it tells you really much about wat is going on.

This screenshot shows that WideBand Sensor 1,first lambda sensor is of the scale. The sensor tells the ECU that the mixture is lean.

So what does the ECU? Compensate to get a proper mixture. This screenshot shows that the Injector bank 1 was at least 50% over bank 2. So the ECU is injecting extra fuel. Resulting in a very rich mixture at bank 1 and a bad fuel economy.

Time to replace the Lambda sensor. Remove wheel, 4 screws and fold back the cover. Location of bank 1 Lambda sensor and 6 pin plug in the back.

Old and new Lambda sensor and the special 22mm lambda socket.

Drove some 50 km with the NDS II App and everything seems fine, or at least both banks show similiar numbers. A faulty lambda sensor at 150k km seems pretty early to me. Maybe the oil burning of the previous engine damaged it. Will buy a second Lambda and keep it in the glove compartment, I suspect bank 2 should go soon as well.

Engine replacement

Engine replacement

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