dougie350 Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 Hi everyone. So.... long story short my 350z died yesterday. The bottom end went and has made a rather large hole in the block. Just deciding what I should do now. It's a known thing that the bottom ends are not great on vqs, recently I have known of quite a few that have blown up. Although mine is a drift car it did get looked after really well, oil and filters changed after every drift day, oil checked throw out the day etc. But it still went. Now I could get another vq and put that in easily but there seems to be a premium on them, thy are around the 2k mark. Now this would be the easiest option but who's to say this won't just happen again. Mine had only done 88k and most of the engines I've found for under 2k are all higher mileage than mine. My second thought is maybe go down a different route...... maybe v8, m62, 1uz as these are all around the same power and from what I've heard are reliable and strong engines. I know there would be a lot of fab and stuff making it work in the car, but you can pick up ( for example ) an ls400 for around 4-500 quid. Leaving a fair bit of money to get it working, it would probably work out more than buying another vq I know, but..... if I spent that money making a v8 work in a z, if I blew it up I could source another engine for 4-500 pounds. But if I put another vq in and it goes again (which is likely) I'd have to fork another 2k out for an engine. So in the long run what do you all think?? I havnt set any ideas in stone at all just thinking out loud. Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy78 Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 Sorry to hear dude. I guess it depends on how much work you can do yourself and if you know some friendly mechanics. My guess, and it is a guess, would be that you could get a new VQ fitted for around £3k. I would expect to have to spend around £10k to get a V8 in and working (Although that probably depends if you want air con and a speedo etc.). The maths would suggest you could chew through 3 VQ's before you had spent as much as you would on a V8... Someone who knows more about this will be along, but at least it starts off the debate! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyZ Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 Do an LS swap for the craic IMO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chubby Ninja Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 I've thought about this aswell for mine with a 2j but it all came down to time. Doing it myself would take a while and dealing with any problems/issues that might come up when I just want to get back out drifting as soon as possible. I know what your saying about putting another vq in there it might blow up but I've also seen plenty 2js 1js and bmw v8s blow up aswell so it's a hit or a miss with them aswell. I didn't realise it actually blew a hole in your block!now that's a proper fail! Sorry to hear it dude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 http://www.jdmdistro.com/shop/engines/nissan-cima-vk45-v8-engine/ its been done before aswell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevoD Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougie350 Posted January 29, 2017 Author Share Posted January 29, 2017 Sorry to hear dude. I guess it depends on how much work you can do yourself and if you know some friendly mechanics. My guess, and it is a guess, would be that you could get a new VQ fitted for around £3k. I would expect to have to spend around £10k to get a V8 in and working (Although that probably depends if you want air con and a speedo etc.). The maths would suggest you could chew through 3 VQ's before you had spent as much as you would on a V8... Someone who knows more about this will be along, but at least it starts off the debate! Yeh I mean, so far as getting the engine in and mating with gearbox, that would be a problem, it would just be the general airing of it all and getting it running and working with everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougie350 Posted January 29, 2017 Author Share Posted January 29, 2017 I've thought about this aswell for mine with a 2j but it all came down to time. Doing it myself would take a while and dealing with any problems/issues that might come up when I just want to get back out drifting as soon as possible. I know what your saying about putting another vq in there it might blow up but I've also seen plenty 2js 1js and bmw v8s blow up aswell so it's a hit or a miss with them aswell. I didn't realise it actually blew a hole in your block!now that's a proper fail! Sorry to hear it dude yeh that's the thing, time wise a vq would be the viable option, this is why I'm favouring towards a 1uz or similar as you can pick them up a lot cheaper than a vq. So if the uz went I could put another in a lot cheaper. Yeh haha it's was pretty spectacular Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleR Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 How much is an RB26? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 How much is an RB26? a lot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougie350 Posted January 29, 2017 Author Share Posted January 29, 2017 Haha yeh a lot! And a lot to get it in and working! I do t really want any more power or anything, I just want something reliable and easier/cheaper to replace if it dies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chubby Ninja Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 I've thought about this aswell for mine with a 2j but it all came down to time. Doing it myself would take a while and dealing with any problems/issues that might come up when I just want to get back out drifting as soon as possible. I know what your saying about putting another vq in there it might blow up but I've also seen plenty 2js 1js and bmw v8s blow up aswell so it's a hit or a miss with them aswell. I didn't realise it actually blew a hole in your block!now that's a proper fail! Sorry to hear it dude yeh that's the thing, time wise a vq would be the viable option, this is why I'm favouring towards a 1uz or similar as you can pick them up a lot cheaper than a vq. So if the uz went I could put another in a lot cheaper. Yeh haha it's was pretty spectacular That's a good idea then. Would be handy if and when you blew it, just get another complete engine for a couple of hundred quid. Plus the sound not too bad either. I don't think itl be easy to get your gauges and stuff working with it so would probably be easier getting a dash display or something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky-Ricky Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 That's a shame, my money would be on a rod failing as they are the VQs weak point, engine swap wise i would go for an LS as they are already mounts and kits available for the Z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Personally I'd strip it, sell off what you can then move onto something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougie350 Posted January 30, 2017 Author Share Posted January 30, 2017 Thanks for all your input guys! Unfortunately an ls is just not an option, with trying to save for a house etc, I've been thinking though....... it's common knowledge vqs weak point is the bottom end, would upgrading to acl rod and main bearings maybe solve this problem? Has it been done before to an n/a 350? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chubby Ninja Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Could be worth a try as it's normally the bearings that go.youve got to try and find out why it's threw a rod tho on standard power. Ricky is right that the rods are a weak point but only really when boosted. Shouldn't be a problem unless it was a bad map? Usually pre det that causes that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky-Ricky Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Although the rods are weak and FI is often a cause of breakage, det even on an N/A will and often does cause rod failure due to the unnatural forces at work during det, so yes a bad map or knock sensor failure, or even wrong or bad fuel can cause this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougie350 Posted January 30, 2017 Author Share Posted January 30, 2017 I'm hoping it's just the bearings that have gone as a set of acl bearings may help a great deal on my next engine! I will be taking a lot more precautions though next time as maybe I got a bit too comfortable thinking vqs were bomb proof, I've always tried to look after my engine as best I can, but fuel wise I would always go for normal fuel, and maybe I was using too thin a oil. Even though it states that 5-30 should be used, my car spends most its life being bashed on the limiter being a drift car. Also it might be worth looking into oil cooler, baffled sump and like I set a set of acl rod and main bearings. Opinions on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 I think normal fuel is contributing factor? Was always under the impression you should only use super on these? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilscorp Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Normal fuel as in 95?............... or 98 as the engine is designed to run on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Please tell me you weren't using 95RON... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky-Ricky Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 (edited) If he was, it certainly explains why its thrown a rod, it would have been detting its tits off being bounced off the limiter, as the VQ has no knock control over 5K RPM. Edited January 30, 2017 by Tricky-Ricky 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chubby Ninja Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Didn't realise you were using normal fuel dougie, that will be the cause of the detonation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TT350 Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Uprated rods? Think a VQ crank is already decent. My 2p 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chubby Ninja Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 You shouldn't need uprated rods for NA. Rods are good for around 330ft/lbs.the vq crank is forged so no need to upgrade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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