I was driving home yesterday from work and I heard clicking from inside the car, I pulled over and checked the engine bay and at idle there was no noise. Checked the oil, a bit dirty but it had plenty.
Kept driving and noticed every time I accelerated the clicking came back, I have a warped test pipe so I just assumed it just got worse. This morning on my way to work, the clicking got louder maybe half way there. Again I pulled over, checked my oil and it was still fine. About 2 exits before my work the clicking got extremely louder and my oil pressure dropped. I threw it in neutral and before I had a chance to turn the car off, it turned off by itself. Got the car off the freeway, again checked my oil and it was good. Turned the car on and it had no power whatsoever and the clicking sound became more of a hammering sound. Called a tow truck and I'm completely stumped of what it could be.
The mechanic at my work said it sounded like a connecting rod in the engine? and one of my friends said this "Spun bearing pull oil drain plug and look for metal" not too sure what either are as this has never happened to me.

I know the problem is bad, I just want to know how bad. Is it just an open up the engine and change a rod job? Or is it a it'll cost too much go buy a new engine type of thing.

Any input will be appreciated greatly



Btw is a 2003 DE engine with 127k miles on there. There is also no check engine light on (which baffles me).

Also quick question, how easy/hard would an HR swap be if I would need a new engine?

 

If you messed something up on the short block it will not be cheap. I would look for a used DE short block. I have heard it is a pain to throw in a HR since you have to basically change everything.

Check for metal shavings and go from there. It could be something "simple" like bent valves. Start the car and see if blue smoke is spitting out. If that is the case I would say bent valves since it is unburnt fuel.

 

Damn so an HR swap isn't simple?
There is no smoke coming from the car whatsoever. The only thing is the now hammering noise, someone told me the lack of power is due to a fail switch we have on our cars? Apparently to save the engine from doing further damage. Not sure if that's bullsh*t or not since it's the first time I heard of it

 

Didn't you just boost your Z? Maybe a bad tune, time for a new engine.

 

I think the damage was done when it was being driven. That very well could be rod knock you heard... I am not certain but again see if there were metal shavings. Seems random because you were not driving hard and oil level was right but it was dirty.

 

sounds like a spun bearing. buy a used longblock or maybe a built/rebuilt shortblock and replace everything yourself if you can

 

sounds like a rod bearing, and blue smoke is oil, black smoke is fuel, white smoke is water.

 

Post a video of the engine....but it does seem like you have rod knock...

In any case your engine is toast; the cheapest bet is to get a used engine and install in its place....it will be cheaper than a rebuild...

 

I believe blue smoke is fuel and black smoke is oil. White smoke is coolant.

 

Doesnt sound good to me.

 

Let's take this one point at a time. First, what you were hearing was most likely a "rod knock", which means the rod bearing was most likely badly worn to the point it could no longer prevent metal-to-metal contact between the rod journals and the crankshaft. The banging you heard is likely the rod end letting go and taking the precision ground crank journal with it. That's a major failure and not something you repair easily. It most likely will require a full rebuild of the engine or a shortblock replacement. At 127K there was something wrong with the maintenance on your VQ35DE, as these engines don't typically get that worn without something being missed.

Next, having done a VQ35HR swap into a racecar, there's a lot to do to switch one into a street-driven Z. HRs are quite different from DEs and you'll need not only the engine, wiring harnesses, ECM and myriad ancillary components. Things like the steering rack will have to be switched out, as the starter was switched from one side to the other. The designs are different enough that even trained Nissan technicians just shake their heads at what it would take (ie. time and money) to successfully accomplish.

 

Wow I didn't know so much was needed for an hr swap, but it doesn't seem feasible for any street z to do... I would look into a used engine with lower miles as you will most likely need a rebuild.

Internals could be shot and I'm curious what your mechanic says.

 

Just do a 2JZ and call it a day!

 

2JZ swap with NAS!



Kidding aside, hope everything turns out ok man. I would be on the hunt for a used low mileage DE. Possibly build it while it's out?

 

At that mileage and the quotes I received for swapping an engine into mine, I sold it. I had a 2003 Coupe with 133,000 miles and it started consuming all it's oil. Looked up the value and it was only in the 7's. With all the quotes I received, at that price I could buy another Z so I sold mine and got an 07. Imo sell it as is, take your loss and get n HR.

 

Maybe bad tune or too aggresive tune with your mileage?

https://my350z.com/forum/tuning/5676...by-church.html

 

^That's what my brother said. I also installed headers after the tune, so it's been about 5000 miles with headers untuned. Would that of caused it to go bad?

Well either way what I'm getting from this is sell the car because
A) It needs an engine rebuild
B) HR swap is unfeasible


I already found someone to buy the car as is with my mods taken out for $5,000, gonna sell all my mods. Hopefully get around $7,000 total, which is just about half of what I spent on this car....
Gonna wait for Feb till my old insurance puts me back on their plan and get me a '14 Nismo

 

You could just find a used engine on craigslist and go pick it up. I paid a grand for mine.

 

Blue = oil. Black = fuel Gray = fuel/water/coolant White = water/coolant

 

How much do you guys think a rebuild on this would cost?