So my mechanic just informed me that my engine is basically no good. Engine is full of metal... My question is, where do I go from here?

I don't want to get rid of the car, I've spent too much time and money to let her go. I see VQ engines on ebay with low miles for roughly $1400. If I buy a neww engine can I do a direct swap without anything else? Meaning will my factory ecu work with the new engine assuming it's the exact samer model motor (VQ35DE standard non HR).

Also my car now has headers, intake plenum spacer, 75mm throttle body, aftermarket intake, and lightweight crankshaft pulley. Can I swap all my performance parts right on the new engine before installing, or will this cause some issue?

Thanks for the input.

 

What year is your car, and is it a stick or auto?

Mods will swap over no problem.

 

As far as I know, all the regular DE's (not RevUp) are identical in spec, whether USDM or JDM.
All your mods will swap over, and I would imagine it'd be easier to swap the headers with the engine out of the car.

 

I've got an 04 coupe with 6MT. I was definitely thinking it would be easier to swap all the mods over before putting the new engine in. Another option I was thinking of was rebuilding my blown engine... I don't know the extent of the damage though, does anyone have an idea if this seems like a viable option or does this just sound like a bad idea and getting a fresh engine would be the better option?

 

In that case yes, any standard VQ35DE should swap in without issue. Rod knock is typically caused by a spun bearing, and a spun bearing will need the bearing races machined before a rebuild. If it was a more rare engine it might be worth it, but I'm not sure how much a machine shop will charge for that.

 

Yeah, my DE has a little over 160K miles on it and I think I'm the 4th owner and I know for a fact the last owner beat the hell out of the car. Has anyone else bought a VQ engine off eBay? Depending on the listing and the vendor they claim 30K-60K on the engines, but they at least look like they're in decent condition. I suppose I can salvage my heads off the blown engine and get them cleaned up and maybe throw some bigger cams in them (also I'll have the time/money since a new engine will be in the car).

 

***UPDATE***

Still trying to decide what I'm going to do, but so far it looks like the new plan is to pull an engine from "Pick-N-Pull".
It will probably have over 30K miles but I'm going to try and pull one from an automatic (hoping it wasn't driven as hard as a manual).
The best part is the price, the junk yard only charges $335 and that is with a 1 year warranty. (don't know the extent of the warranty but still good).
If I only want a 30 day warranty I think the guy said $280 but I figured the extra 50 dollars or whatever it is will be worth it.

They said they have hoists there that I can use, but no grinders or torches allowed. Basically only battery operated sawzall.
What is the best way to go about this? I figured pulling the motor and tranny in one shot and then disconnecting the tranny once the engine is out.
Disconnect driveshaft, unbolt any bolts holding the tranny to the frame, disconnect gearshift handle, unplug all wires/remove what accessories I can and go from there?

Any tips/tricks? Thanks

 

I like to start by unbolting the hood so you have plenty of room to work.

Best is to use the hoist to lift up the front of the car so you can get jackstands under it (or bring a service jack with you), you will need access to the bellhousing bolts. Next unbolt or cut off the front from headlight to headlight. It's designed to unbolt (youtube search a G35 engine swap and you'll see) but you can save a lot of time by just hacking out stuff with a sawzall. Hack off the exhaust pipes right at the headers, then back at the midpipe, then you can quickly drop all that exhaust out of the way to access the bellhousing bolts. Pull the starter, hack the main engine harness, the power steering lines, the AC lines. Pull out the bellhousing bolts with a variety of socket/swivel/extensions. Pull the motor mounts, lift the engine a little and bring it straight forward since it won't have anything in the way due to the radiator/condensor/grill/etc being hacked out previously.

If you have a couple people helping you and you brought a service jack then you can take the engine/tranny as a unit. The problem with trying to do it solo is the end of the tranny will drop and it's a pain in the *** to try to lift it and push the jack back at the same time. If you do go that route you'll also need to disconnect the driveshaft and shift linkage, both are straight forward from under the vehicle, or you could just unbolt the tail section of the transmission and leave those attached.

EDIT: Call ahead and see if they can use their forklift to pick up the car and set it on stands/wheels/lift for you, sometimes if they're really slow they'll do things like that.