1987 2 Door Pathfinder

Trexterra

Trexterra

Wheeling
Founding Member
Location
Alabama
Here we go! Background to this story... I won a poker game and profited $190-$20 buy in = $170. Sold my Walther PK380 to Rushy_rush and netted myself another $300. poker + pistol = $470.

Craigslist ad that I found had this vague picture of a blue 2 door 87 beauty for $500 with supposed rod knock. After a test drive and some suspicions of the motor being completely effed... :questions: I bought it anyways for $300 leaving me with $170.

On the way home we hear a loud bang and shrapnel bounces out behind me requiring my Xterra to tow it home, no worries we suspected it was a turd anyways. And here she sits at the house.

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Now I found an EFI VG30E on craigslist out a newer pathy... $170 - $100 + $20 delivery (crazy good deal IMO) = $50 left.

Next step is to order gasket & belt kits so I can tear down the new engine and get her prepped to go in. Plan is to swap the TBI from my 87 VG30i on to the VG30E and it will be a plug and play solution.
 
Trexterra

Trexterra

Wheeling
Founding Member
Location
Alabama
Incoming pictures... Today was a very busy day. bull bar/bumper removed, skid plate removed (oh the carnage!), seats and carpets removed, hand scrubbed and pressure washed carpets, and shampooed the seats. Hopefully the stench of cigarettes and weed will be out of the truck and I can start doing motor work tomorrow. Still waiting for a buddy to bring over the engine hoist so I can put the motor on the stand.











This is not the best lighting and it's hard to see under the truck, but the engine grenaded and shot the rod through the oil pan... in better lighting you can see the rod.





 
Trexterra

Trexterra

Wheeling
Founding Member
Location
Alabama
I found a donor with supposedly 90k on it for $120 delivered to my garage. A vg30e out of a mid 90s pathy. It got stripped to the block and every gasket and belt has been replaced. Just have to get home after holiday travels to try and get it all connected. Swapped the tbi manifold over to the vg30e to simplify wiring for now. Don't have the computer or harness for the efi.


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Trexterra

Trexterra

Wheeling
Founding Member
Location
Alabama
Having engine start troubles after finishing the swap. To spell out the details, put in a vg30e to replace the blown vg30i. I reused the intake from the i since I do not have the ECU or harness for the e. I'm getting fuel, when I let off the key you can sometimes see a pressurized mist come back out the throttle body, and it won't run off starter fluid. I've checked the timing and it's set 15* BTDC. When I check the plugs for spark I get a good clean looking normal spark, only issue is that it is arcing. It arced to the air box once and I thought it was a fluke. When holding the distributor to rotate timing as my buddy cranked it, it arced through my body giving me a good little ride! I ordered a new rotor/cap/wire set because those are clearly faulty. It was the set that was running however before the motor blew a rod out the oil pan so I feel like it should be able to start this motor. Any other ideas to try while I wait for parts?


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Prime

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
That's really bizare. But with it arcing like that, I agree that the cap and wires should be replaced. Did it arc off of the wires or the body of the distributor itself?
 
Trexterra

Trexterra

Wheeling
Founding Member
Location
Alabama
Prime said:
That's really bizare. But with it arcing like that, I agree that the cap and wires should be replaced. Did it arc off of the wires or the body of the distributor itself?
Click to expand...

Hard to say for sure, when it arced to air box I wasn't looking directly at it, when it shocked me my hand was holding the whole cap. Tried misting the wires with a spray bottle and couldn't duplicate the arc. Tried holding a screwdriver above them and no luck, even grounded out the screwdriver and no luck.


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Trexterra

Trexterra

Wheeling
Founding Member
Location
Alabama
Hoping that the new parts fix it otherwise it might need to get trailered up to the "storage" place for the next nine months


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mkgearhead

mkgearhead

Test Drive
Location
Northeast Colorado
Make sure all the engine grounds are connected. I had an issue like that with a Honda. I missed the ground connection when I replaced the head and it wouldn't start. Might as well start with the simple things.
 
Trexterra

Trexterra

Wheeling
Founding Member
Location
Alabama
How many grounds does an engine need? Any idea how many a vg30 has? The whole block is grounded, cause I used it to ground spark plugs.


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Muadeeb

Muadeeb

Nissan al Gaib
Admin
Location
Dallas
The main ground on the 33 is on the right side, near the PS pump. There's a couple of ecu grounds on top of the intake, and a couple of braided grounds on the cats for the O2 sensors

I assume the 30 would be similar
 
Trexterra

Trexterra

Wheeling
Founding Member
Location
Alabama
Got it started tonight, went to install new cap and rotor and it was somehow 180 off from where I dropped it in. Not sure how timing was showing right, anyone know if #1 fires twice per crank rotation?


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Prime

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
Trexterra said:
Got it started tonight, went to install new cap and rotor and it was somehow 180 off from where I dropped it in. Not sure how timing was showing right, anyone know if #1 fires twice per crank rotation?


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Click to expand...
It shouldn't fire twice.... I can't think of why it would unless there's a problem with the distributor.
 
Trexterra

Trexterra

Wheeling
Founding Member
Location
Alabama
Figured it out... Timing was jumping because the key on both cam shafts broke off and bolt backed out of the driver side cam gear. Discovered after I realized the rotor was not spinning with the crank. I then remembered that I couldn't torque the cam bolts to spec due to the fact the cams would just roll, decided to wait until engine was in but didn't write it down before I went on vacation. Totally forgot when I came home two weeks later and it must not have been tight enough.


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Trexterra

Trexterra

Wheeling
Founding Member
Location
Alabama
Nope I had to tap out. Ran out of time as I'm deploying shortly. Its going to be trailered to its home for the next 9 months. I'll keep progress pics coming as he sends them to me but likely nothing until the spring when he's not so busy


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Trexterra

Trexterra

Wheeling
Founding Member
Location
Alabama
Thanks dude, it's going to be a lot longer process than I wanted due to funds. (was still supposed to be collecting deployment pay lol) but it will get there

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Trexterra

Trexterra

Wheeling
Founding Member
Location
Alabama
Picked up this sweet 95 donor. Going to ditch the tbi since the harness was cracked and unreliable. Couldn't find a decent replacement harness to save my life. Plus I got the whole truck for less than the cost of a harness. Things I'll be converting:

TBI - > MPFI
Auto - > 5 speed trans
ECU
Wiring Harness
Dash


ef1ebd43095c6ad901985493c833e0d7.jpg


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Prime

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
Trexterra said:
Picked up this sweet 95 donor. Going to ditch the tbi since the harness was cracked and unreliable. Couldn't find a decent replacement harness to save my life. Plus I got the whole truck for less than the cost of a harness. Things I'll be converting:

TBI - > MPFI
Auto - > 5 speed trans
ECU
Wiring Harness
Dash


ef1ebd43095c6ad901985493c833e0d7.jpg


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Click to expand...
Yes! I love it.
 
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