Local Apparent Friday

Okay so tomorrow is the big day. Gym first thing and a couple errands, then van. Thought I'd share some info about mods while we're making them...when I popped out the existing engine I found out that we had a cracked exhaust manifold...this is a common issue with the factory manifolds and is well documented on the titans. You can buy new manifolds for the low, low price of $980 each, but Nissan never resigned them, so they'll just crack again later. I hit up Cajun B Pipes for a set of shorties with resonated b pipes...$1600 delivered for the pair. They say that they won't throw a code, I'll report back with my findings. I'm also doing an airaid CAI while I'm in here. Interestingly, all three engines had black goo in the intake runners and manifold. It's thick and tarry...very gummy. Pic below. I thought it might be reversion but, after more inspection and seeing it all in the intake manifold, i'm thinking this is coming from the PCV/Blowby hoses. We were able to do a pretty solid cleaning with brakleen, rags and brushes. I've ordered the cheapest reasonable looking catch can that I could find on Amazon...I'm going to tee the PCV lines from the manifold and from the rocker covers and then run it through the catch can as a closed loop with wire dish wool as a separator and see if I can clean up the air a bit. I'll likely just loop the blowby hoses on each end, essentially eliminating them. I don't think it will throw a code, but I'll report on that as well. Lastly, in order to take advantage of the mods as well as to sort out some of the shortcomings from Nissan, we'll look at tuning the van. I've ordered a cable so that I can pull the rom from the truck...Uprev wants an upcharge for non-standard core, so I'm looking at pulling it myself via romraider and tuning it, although I may still end up going the uprev route. Quote from cajun on tune is $825...none of these options include actual dyno time and are all just done remotely from datalogs. It'll hopefully be running tomorrow and we can get to the build...I need to be in NC next week and then we've got a big trip covering almost the entire eastern seaboard planned for july into August. I don't expect to have the full buildout done by then, but we'll go with what we have, take notes, and then modify/continue when we get back after the trip.

Great info, thanks for this.

Don't be shy, we need more people posting! Thanks for the kind words...spent most of yesterday in the blistering heat putting the last touches on the engine and cleaning up the shop and the mess of the three teardowns so that my shop is clean again. We have family in town and I took a hiatus today to pick up a sailboat, so it's looking like Monday for the final push (quite literally to push it back into my shop) to get the engine in. Thankfully, we have family in town, because it's a heavy van! ? I'll post more pics later and go back through and resize and post the other photos directly here, since imgbb seems to be not playing nicely these days. We have to be in Georgia on the 16th, so hoping to have at least some type of spartan build out by then. Updates coming next week. Have a great weekend everyone. - laf

After two weeks of vacay and sinus infection, we're back to this project. Engine is back together minus the main electrical harness. Hoping to have it in by this weekend, wx dependent. In regards to the engine manual, I couldn't find the torque specs explained, but they are on all the diagrams. Below is the breakdown, first value is newton meters, then kg meters, then inch pounds as denoted. Wild how little torque is used on these aluminum engines. Get yourself a very good 1/4" drive inch pound tq wrench.

Sure no problem. They are selling a ton of NV2500s for about 10k off of retail if you end up going that route.

@hanvan Here ya go. He sells like 3 levels of intake kits, you have to source your own TB and you'll need uprev in order to reprogram the computer to control the LS DBW.

How is the wheel bearing? I'm assuming they checked that with everything else, but you didn't list it, so I am. Also does rotating tires have any effect, and if you drive over to the other side of the road, does it pull the other way?

What ^he said. Just turn the key on, wait about 10 secs, then turn it off and repeat that about 5 times. It'll pump it up...there's a return on modern vehicles, it's a loop. Best of luck.

So. There is an S/C kit that exists. Some other options for horsepower, as I have been briefly looking down that path, are cajun b pipe headers and b pipes, which solve the cracking manifold problem, a cold air intake (I believe Airaid is still the top dog,) and a tune like Uprev. There is also a guy on FB called preformance that has amazing gains (+100hp) from custom dual runner intake manifolds married to LS throttle bodies as well as R8 coil swaps, which seems insane to me but he swears that there is nothing else being done to the engines and he's posting dyno charts to that effect. It seems that the VK is starving for air.

If you want to try before you buy, try Hertz. They have NVs you can rent, which is what drew us (wife and I) to the NV platform. The litt'luns are pretty small for full time travel as a couple, but there are people doing it. I've seen a lot of the transit connects running around lately with van builds. Best of luck and welcome!

It's funny but also depressing. After reading the "largest tires that will fit" thread that was referenced above, I went with the BFGs. I ended up also doing a 2" leveling kit up front so she looks beast rn, but yah. They are a solid tire, have run them plenty in the past on other vehicles.

Yah so...Crusty was trying to say post a price. GLWS.

I picked up one of the hot dip galvanized from here for cheap via facebook marketplace.

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Y'all aren't going to believe this, but I FINALLY started putting things BACK on the engine today, instead of just removing them. I'm going to grab a water pump gasket that I didn't think I'd need, and then the only other thing that's backordered is the headlight harness, but we are GOLDEN to start putting the engine back together to get it in. Two weeks late, but better than never. - laf

Neat thread! Thanks for bumping this. Be safe out there.

Homebrew could work. I would think you'd have to extend the sliders enough to get the seat away from the steering wheel, and then it could work. Best of luck.

@Shuey Your best bet is going to be to find them locally. Try Craigslist, facebook marketplace, or Row52.com, which lists junkyard inventory within a set range of a zip code. There is also an NV group on Facebook...you might try posting up there to see if someone local to you has any for sale. Worst case but guaranteed would be to use car-part.com to buy a set from a part puller. I would do the search and post up links for you, but I don't know where you are. Hope that helps, best of luck.

The steering wheel gets in the way. Pax only, as far as I'm aware. - laf

I don't see individual cable pn's listed for this on the US sites, perhaps someone else has access to something that I do not. If you follow this link to Euro EPC, there are individual pns listed but it's for a 2010. The line drawing looks similar to me, but I don't know enough about the generational changes of the smaller NVs to know if this is of use to you. Also, here's a thread from a different forum with some complaints about NV200 hvac systems, perhaps it will be of use. Lastly, if you simply HAVE to buy the entire control module, here's a link to car-part where you can scoop a pull for $30 + shipping. If you've never purchased from them before. you're literally buying from a parts puller, so pick one that has Grade A listed in the description...don't go by the pics, most of them just use stock photos. They'll be guaranteed against DOA, but you can look for a warranty if you want to as well. Then just call them on the phone listed and tell them what you want and they'll hook it up. Hope you find something useful in that, best of luck. - laf

Yah no worries, just passing it along for posterity's sake. While I'm at it, if you are following the removal sequence that's in the manual, you can get away with not pulling the trans or the radiator. I just put a piece of 1/2 inch ply over the radiator to protect it if I slipped, but honestly I had plenty of room and never even got close to it. Jack under the trans to keep it from dropping, and then tied it up to the firewall so I could push the van back out of my shop. Also there are various little brackets here and there that are different, but all the holes line up so those can be moved over easily enough whilst moving sensors. While I'm on the topic, generic metric o rings are not a match for the sensors...barring some unknown source, you'll need the Nissan OEM rings.

So. For anybody else that may be reading this in the future, if you need a replacement engine, the armada/titan engine from 08-16 runs about a third of the price of the NV engine on car-part.com. If you go this route, you will need to move the following from your NV engine to the replacement: Power steering reservoir bracket, timing cover, oil cooler, oil pan, all sensors, engine wiring harness. It's all glued on with about 15 tons of RTV or whatever they use for gaskets these days. Also, there are hidden timing cover bolts behind the cam gear covers...if you forget those, you will crack the timing cover. This also necessitates that you have the appropriate tools to remove a crank pulley, commonly available for rent at local auto parts stores. Additionally, there are some single use O rings on sensors and behind the timing cover that the manufacturer recommends be replaced any time they are opened up. Pics below with differences. This place sure is quiet these days, I hope you are all out adventuring. Also, I'm throwing out another recommendation for Hart Nissan, they've been great for parts.

Anybody have an airaid MXP for sale, before I go buying one? Thanks

So...I'd have to swap the entire timing cover. I confirmed via the nissan parts guide that the NV timing cover is different than the armada/titan/pathfinder. Debating on whether or not to go through the trouble, as compared to just drilling out the hole, and also wondering what else I've yet to find that's different. In the meantime, headers should be here tomorrow. Uprev wants an extra 200 to decompile the ROM, so I'm thinking I might just do it myself. We'll see. Hope all 3 of you are having a great weekend. ? - laf edit: I forgot the pic links showing the timing cover as well as the differences between the NV and Armada brackets.

Ty!