1st Gen Lunchtable Thread - General Discussion

i usually had one or both windows cracked, in part because my bumper rubbed through the ac line by the dryer. no heat or defrost lead to open windows 365

 

with the added bonus of being able to see over the top of my very scratched window

 

P0420 can be caused by an exhaust leak. The cats can't work if the exhaust isn't flowing through them.

 

An exhaust leak before the front O2 sensor (AFR Sensor) will throw a PO420 code

 

not if you have a leaky injector and its running rich enough lol

 

My leak was making it run richer. fresh air was being drawn into the exhaust pipe before the AFR sensor so it was creating a false lean condition and kept dumping extra fuel to compensate

 

Huh

wonder if my exhaust being broken at the Y is causing more issues than I thought

 

The early 2rz and 3rz came with a cast header that would split in half after the first drive through car wash. Your more likely to have a cracked header then not.

 

I think I need a lobotomy after buying this Nissan. No joke idk what's wrong with me. I think gambling or meth would be a healthier addiction than these leaky shitboxes I keep buying.

 

nope time to go double or nothing. youre always one shitbox away from your next forever car

 

FYI

 

I honestly hate FB groups because of how hard they are to keep up with/find anything relevant

 

Pineapple pizza eaters

 

Not sure but on the JZ motors they tend to yeet themselves when the mileage is pretty high.

 

Alright, I'm sure this has been covered before but, with prices basically doubling on everything in recent years (including what I remember 3RZ-FE's going for), I figure it's kind of a new question, plus it's a bit unique to this truck so here goes:

I picked up this little 1995 with a blown head gasket the other day for what I thought was a pretty good price, thinking I could swap in a used motor and have a nice little farm truck. I know 1st gen prices are through the roof since COVID so I guess I shouldn't be shocked that parts have gone up like crazy too, but dang me, I can't find a decent 3RZ motor for under $3500. Most used JDM's are in the $4k range and decent new long blocks start at $3k. If I went with a new long-block, I'm not sure how well the current engine accessories work so I likely need to factor in another $500+ for tensioners, belts, and potential power steering pump, starter, alternator issues.

As for the truck, it's pretty rust free, pretty straight but needs lots of love (interior is rough but mostly complete, front diff leaks, but it shifts smooth in all gears, 4x4 works, CV's are good, new shocks, and with all that in mind, I feel it's decent enough to consider saving).



While tearing down, cleaning and putting together parts lists, I realized some previous owner already messed around and put in a dual coil 3RZ from a 99.



Including a hack job of the wiring harness to fit the 99 ECM



While searching for dual coil replacement 3RZ's, I notice lots of 5VZ-FE's popping up at almost half the cost (complete JDM motors are in the $2500-$3000). That definitely gets me thinking. Given the hack job I already feel I need to fix (including finding an unaltered wiring harness for a 1999 3RZ, etc), and knowing I've got the shop space with no pressing timeline (I'd be fine with this taking a year), decent skills, comprehensive tools, what are all y'alls thoughts on just dropping in a 5VZ? What do you think are the realistic cost differences between the two?

 

Well if you swap to a 5VZ it'll be more work than you're thinking be my bet. The engine and transmission mounts are welded on the frame in the wrong position for the 5VZ and you'd have to source a whole R150 trans and transfer case for it as well. Or if you have an auto then you'd at minimum need to swap to the VZ bellhousing and get a VZ torque converter. As far as wiring goes you'd need the appropriate 5VZ harness and ECU then you'd still have the spliced portion to meet the dash/body harness since a lot of the power distribution and accessory control circuitry is routed through there and a couple years used different plugs (probably why yours is cut up).

Have you given any thought to just rebuilding a cheap used 3RZ to have ready to drop in, you can use any 3RZ block and you just need a 98+ head with the appropriate intake runner style (8 port or 4 port) to match yours. My buddy and I are just now finished throwing together a budget rebuild 3RZ for his pickup, could spend a little more to have the machining done anyway if you wanted but we opted not to because the bores didn't have any noticeable taper and we just needed to break the glaze. I don't think the cost has exceeded $1700 even yet for the 3rz and the mechanical rebuild bits.

 

This is good info. Thank you. In my ignorance, didn't realize engine/tranny mounts were different. Glad I asked. Thanks again!

While I've got you (notice you post a lot and appreciate your knowledgeable responses), I've heard from an unconfirmed source that dual coil and coil pack 3RZ's will run off the same ECM. Example: if I found a good JDM coil pack motor from say, a 2003 Tacoma, I've heard it would run off the 1999 ECM that's currently installed. Any truth to that? I understand the differences between 4 and 8 port heads if I should get in to finding a rebuildable core but just curious about the compatibility of ignitions with respect to ECM's. Thanks!!

 

Officially no... with some wiring trickery, yeah you can make em run with the dual coil ECU. It can't fire them fully sequentially though, so you basically make a waste spark setup like the dual coil but with individual coils, you still have to pair the signal wires for the paired cylinders. Here's the deal though, you can just use the dual coil setup on an 01-04 head with no modifications already so there is no real reason to go through with the trickery. The coil bracket will bolt right on and you can use your old valve cover or the new one they both work with the plug wires. I'd just keep the working ECU and engine harness you have now, basically any 3RZ from 98-04 will work with it as long as you use the sensors and solenoids from your current engine. As far as the intakes go, you don't even have to worry about which one you have if the engine/head you buy comes with the lower intake manifold any upper will bolt to any lower so you could reuse your upper intake manifold if the lower is a match for the head you've bought.