Engine Swap/Replacement Any must do upgrades?

You gotta Love these old VG30E/i powered beasts, raw truck DNA to the core.

Moderator: volvite

Bluekatana650
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Oct 30, 2016 3:06 am

Engine Swap/Replacement Any must do upgrades?

Postby Bluekatana650 » Tue Dec 06, 2016 7:15 pm

Bought a beautiful 94 Pathfinder 4x4 Auto, drove it for 3 weeks and it jumped time, sheared pully off crank. Had already replaced over a dozen little things and installed 33in Toyo Open Country MT tires....so I decided to go all in.
94k mile motor for $880 from Car Monkeys...and $1500 to have it swapped with parts and labor for new timing belt/water pump on new motor and gaskets, misc stuff and the labor spent on the old motor...


So....BEFORE I have the mechanic drop the new motor in, is there anything you experienced guys would do now? Upgrades, things to replace/check?

Looking at $3400 total, to have a 94k 1994 with 5 year warranty on motor. Probably should have walked away, but I love this little 4x4.
Last edited by Bluekatana650 on Tue Jan 03, 2017 5:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.


User avatar
smj999smj
Site Admin
Posts: 6054
Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2012 11:13 pm
Location: Prospect, VA

Postby smj999smj » Wed Dec 07, 2016 12:29 pm

Obviously, I would have a new timing belt installed. Weak areas of these engines are the exhaust manifold studs, rear main seal and engine oil pan's rear lip seal. So, I would check for broken exhaust studs, replace the rear main seal and R&R the oil pan and reseal it. It's also a lot easier to replace that #6 spark plug when the engine is out! As far as the timing belt, if you haven't got a new one already, I'd go with a Gates Timing Belt and Component Kit with Water Pump from Rockauto.com, along with new front cam and crank seals and thermostat from Nissan. Drive belts I would go with Bando from Rockauto or genuine Nissan. Any ignition system components I would go with NGK or genuine Nissan.

Bluekatana650
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Oct 30, 2016 3:06 am

Postby Bluekatana650 » Tue Jan 03, 2017 5:51 pm

Well, the replacement engine looked like crap, a lot of dry rot, so I ended up doing ALL the seals, even pulled the heads. I replaced every vac hose and fuel hoses. Spent WAY more TIME and MONEY than I wanted to, but I'm back on the road and should have another 200k miles to go.

Now it's time to break out the nippers and get these 33in Open Country MT tires to fit better :shock:


Return to “1986-1995 Pathfinder (WD21)”