Re: [DML] Re: Marc Levy's "Scream Machine"

[Marc Levy <malevy_nj@xxxxxxxxx>]

The VQ35 block is used in a large number of
Nissan/Infinity cars.  The donor for my project was
probably an Altima or Maxima (can't tell for sure, the
setups are similar)...  But it is more impressive to
say "350Z" motor than "Altima" motor.  :)

The FWD intake is too high, so I am looking to replace
it with a 350Z or G35 intake which will bring the HP
up a bit (it flows better), and give me the clearance
to put the engine cover back on...  Then can I call it
a 350Z motor?  ;)

Big problem was getting the engine to run without the
rest of the car.  The VQ35 uses a "drive by wire"
system, where even the throttle body is controlled by
the ECU (when you push the pedal, you are moving a
variable resistor, not pulling a cable).  There was
one version of the VQ35 in a pathfinder that did NOT
use this system, IIRC 2001 or 2002.  However, I was
unable to find that engine for a reasonable price.

To get the engine to run, I had to go with a 1996 ECU.
 The process is well documented among the Maxima crowd
because they like to put the VQ35 in their older
(95-2001) Maximas as a performance improvement.  The
process requires that the entire front of the VQ35
engine be swapped with a VQ30.  The down side is, you
loose the variable cam features but this is the most
cost effective way to get the engine to run.

The VQ30 ECU (1996, in my case) is not as fussy as the
2002+ ECU's, so it will run with a minimal number of
sensors.  I am using the 2 crank sensors (front and
back), the cam phase sensor (just one, for the VQ30),
the O2 sensors, MAF, TP, and a few others that I cant
recall right now.

Of course, I had to convert the throttle body to use a
regular cable instead of the stepper motor.  I also
added the IAB from the VQ30 to this setup, although I
was able to get the engine running without it.

--- Dave Swingle <swingle@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I'm trying to recall  - is that a real 350Z engine
> or an Altima 3.5? 
> How much of a challenge was fooling the engine
> (electronics) into 
> thinking there was still a Nissan around it? 
> 
> Dave S


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