kauai1800

"As I was straightening out from a corner" makes me think it was oil starvation as well.
Sounds like your engine was already getting a major workout on the track and during a hard corner just enough oil left the bearing under g-loading to cause it to seize...or something along those lines.
Most race engines use a dry sump oil system to prevent this.
Sorry because it really sucks.

Italianjoe1

iTrader: (6)

Cost of playing the game unfortunately. You break stuff when you push the car harder than it's designed to be pushed.

Luckily, used DE engines are cheap, swap one in and carry on.

Mark Vereshchak

So i pulled the motor quickly one evening that I didnt have class. I got the little oil pan cover off and found shreds of bearing in the cover plate and in the oil strainer. I tried to take the pan off completely but it was already after midnight so I couldnt make too much noise to break the gasket seal and look further to check the internals.

Not sure what the oil temps were at, but coolant temps were a touch colder than half way, my oil pressure gauge always reads max even under light city driving so in my opinion has lost its integrity. I still have the factory oil cooler and ambient was probably around 70 - 80

Mark Vereshchak

Checking out another motor next weekend hopefully, just trying to prevent this from happening again

CK_32

iTrader: (1)

If you want to prevent it from happening don't go so hard on your car.

Only thing we can tell you, or biker proof it like with any car and spend $10k into the motor for over kill things that probably won't ever break. People don't understand how much work even the pro and am guys have. And even still they break with their bullet proof parts.

Not trying to be a smart *** or negative, but it's the truth. You beat on stuff and it breaks. Just how it works.

Mark Vereshchak

I have a vg30dett which im going overkill on with forged everything, MLS head gaskets big turbos etc.. But there are many guys who run more tired vq's harder than me without failure... So thats why Im wondering what precautions i can take if I track my daily again. Near Stock power levels shouldnt shatter a bearing like it did, there was definitely some sort of failure which lead up to this.

I was looking for more suggestions on being preventative like maybe race bearings or upgraded rod bolts, something along those lines. I understand the risk of running my car

CK_32

iTrader: (1)

If anything it was probably just a weak bearing or oil starvation long enough to cause damage.

Check oil often, don't beat on it hard. (Tracking and drifting are 2 totally different things BTW), and just do general matinance. For added safety like you said over build your motor. But nothing is a guarantee. Even less if you track/drift/go hard on it. Just how physics and mechanical failure works.

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Based in my experience with full race engines, that's not the way it works. Race bearings with specific clearances, or rod bolts spec'd to an engine build is one thing, but there's no generalized upgrades to be made with the VQ. Nissan designed it with adequate tolerances, but putting 160K on one and expecting it to last forever on the track is simply not realistic. The point is, no specific weakness with a NA VQ35DE driven within the design specs has been identified.

Since you understand the risks, either accept them with a fresh VQ or rebuild for specialized use. Comp oil pumps or dry sumps are available if you're willing to spend the money,

Cheese203231

Seems like you are going to have to get Oil Temp gauges and fix your oil pressure gauge. Not only that but invest in some oil coolers, for power steering, oil, coolant. Monitoring these temperatures is vital on a track/drift setup. Knowing the degrees your operating at can prevent future headaches and help you stay on the track longer.

Mark Vereshchak

Im planning on getting gauges now. I was just running them off my laptop when I run on the streets to check my afr and live data, but on the track having a laptop inside the car is just asking for problems so I wasnt monitoring too closely.

Just wondering about the race bearings since theyre not such a malleable material and is way more dense they would have less of a chance of shearing like the last one. I understand tolerances, I'm in my fourth year of engineering. I understand theres no generalized remedy to make a motor last forever. But when I physically see VQ's with more miles sitting at redline and holding together makes me believe that something seriously failed when it shouldnt have. So there must be precautionary measures other VQ owners have done and tried.

I will definitely fix my oil pressure sending unit along with a bigger oil cooler for sure. Oil temp gauge is also on the list now.

I found another DE motor off a trust worthy guy for a couple hundred bucks, but I also found a bare DE Rev Up without an oil pan, timing cover and apparently a couple sensors but thats double the price of the DE but still under a grand. I know a couple guys said the Rev up has thicker rods, if I dress the Rev Up with the remains of my blown DE can I run it off my same Uprev ECU? Is it worth it or should I stick with the fully dressed DE motor?

Thanks everyone whos taking the time to give me their opinions and feedbacks by the way! I didnt think so many people would respond. Im new to VQ motors but been around Nissan motors for quite some time. All help is appreciated

tmdz

Wow - So you were drifting your car without a functional oil pressure gauge?

You got bigger stones than I do, that's for sure.

Mark Vereshchak

Did some research and found the rev up has a different ecu for extra vtc wires. But since its still a DE technically can i use the beefier rods and crank out of the rev up to resurrect my blown de? I dont see why not?

iideadeyeii

iTrader: (6)

You don't need stronger rods for n/a

Mark Vereshchak

I'm lowkey planning to put the stockies off my Z32 TT on this next motor (Im getting two spare motors to play it safe). I plan on mounting them after the factory exhaust manifold and running low boost. I dont expect to make crazy power from this aka 350whp would be plenty. Thats another reason I'm wondering about the RevUp rods. For future planning when I get some time to run the oil and water lines

Cheese203231

Yes they do fit, main difference between the RevUp and Regular are the heads. However with the amount of work that would be involved I would get a bottom end rebuild kit instead and have a more reliable motor. And to answer your other question, every motor is different. I had an 03 and an 06 now, the 06 has far less miles(more than half) and I feel it runs a bit rougher than my old engine. Sure it has a bit more power but it just doesn't feel as smooth as my old one. So I monitor everything a bit more carefully.

Mark Vereshchak

I would just be using basically the crank case and the rev up oil pump (supposed to flow more) but use my other DE heads etc. I shouldnt get any gear meshing or fitment issues as far as my research has gone. If anyone knows of any meshing or problems Ill run into?