NV 1500 for fun and or profit

In reply to golfduke :

So far I am impressed with the sameness

I heard from the junkyard and they got my engine out. I made a quick wooden stand to avoid bringing home a tire .

It was all wood that was either in my garage or under the deck. I got my big green van ready and picked up the replacement engine. 

I had great snow traction on the way home. Stopped at the hardware store for engine stand bolts m12-1.75. Guessed right first try. Got it unloaded and then on the stand. This stand also needed a little bolt to give the stand the reach. It would make sense to get a bigger stand or make something up to fit if the vq40de is something you play with a lot. 

All of this was done with the garage door open and it was -7 to -4 so I left it at this and got warm. Preliminary inspection indicates lots of things are the same about the two engines. 

Lots of action yesterday and today. Took stuff off of the dead engine and started moving things onto the replacement. Can confirm that the replacement engine is very much the same as the original. I cannot understand why they do not list as interchangeable. The first difference I found was a plug instead of a hose for the brake booster on the upper manifold. NV1500 doesn't use a manifold vacuum booster. NV top Xterra bottom in picture. 
Wiring wise the junkyard hacked apart the Xterra harness. No big deal since I wasn't going to use it anyway. I labeled and pulled the harness off the dead engine. 

My forensic exam of the hacked up harness showed that the front O2 sensors use a different connector. That doesn't affect my project at all, but it is a difference. I did a interchange check of the rest of the major engine control components and everything said it is the same. The only sensor that is different is the oil pressure sender; so I swapped it out. Different sensor from plug pictures. 
So basically, Nissan has really been good to me and the non-interchangeable myth is perplexing. I ended yesterday with an engine dressed up for a date with a van. 

I ended up changing the mounts on the engine too, they looked the same, but I didn't want to find a compatibility issue during my install. Also swapped the passenger side exhaust manifold since the Xterra one was broken off at the flange. (Interchange confirmed)

I was super excited last night about all the progress so I worked some in the garage on my Fiat engine project then went to bed dreaming about tomorrow's engine installation.
 

Today was +10 F and snowing.

So, obviously I got right to it. Put in the refilled torque converter. 

I encountered several obstacles in addition to the weather.

The first one was lifting the engine without hurting the upper intake manifold. I watched it happen at the junkyard and it was a little uncomfortable to see. The plastic does seem tough, but after trying a few setups I just removed the intake. Better safe than sorry. With the engine lifted in a comfortable way, I struggled the crane over and went to put the engine in its new home.

second obstacle: It would not reach. I struggled with it for a while, got too cold, and warmed up by struggling the engine back into the garage. I grabbed a piece of 2" square tube and extended the boom on my crane. 
The extended boom does make the crane a little more "tippy" so I put the engine on the wooden holder I made atop a wheel dolly and covered the distance to the van with it rolling. It worked better than I expected and with the superboom I was able to get it into position. 

After a brief break to warm up. I got the engine and trans mated. No pics of this part but a large Philips screwdriver from below got the holes for the mount and the engine aligned enough for me to run the bolts in. So with the engine and trans connected and the motor mounts in the scissor jack and engine crane got to go back to the garage. I reinstalled the NV upper intake and went inside. 

Still plenty left to do. I have some parts and fluids coming next week so feeling good about where I'm at. 

Not snowing today and predicted to be the warmest day for a while, almost 20F. I put some time into reassembling the NV. 
Got the torque converter bolts in, torqued and cover back on. All bell housing bolts TIGHT. Starter and heat shield in.  Connected numerous hoses and electrical connections. Installed A/C compressor and started the power steering pump install where I found another difference: The Xterra bracket is slightly narrower. There is a pressed in sleeve that looks the same, but the sleeve isn't pressed in as far on the Xterra bracket as the NV. Sort of hard to see in the picture but the silver sleeve on the installed bracket sticks out farther. 
With the bracket swapped out the pump went back on easily except for having to awkwardly reach around the top of the pump to hold the nut/retainer tab piece. 
Two of the fan nuts looked chewed up, especially the one that came off with vice grips. I grabbed some stainless nuts from my bike hardware box, but the two nuts from the extra upper intake manifold were an exact match so I used them instead. Not as many pictures as I tried to take, most of my work today was done wearing nitrile gloves with mechanics gloves inside of leather mittens. Anytime I didn't require sensitive feeling my hands were back inside the mittens. Eventually I was ready to call it a day after getting the fan and serpentine belt reinstalled. 
Also today about 50min from me a 2017 Promaster with a bad engine popped up on the marketplace for $800. I did what any sensible person would and immediately messaged the seller to try and get it. We will see where this goes... 

GoLucky said:

.... Sort of hard to see in the picture but the silver sleeve on the installed bracket sticks out farther. 

Wonder if that's like the GM ones where the bushing moves to make up differences between various alternators?  Swapping the bracket still might have been easier, they seize up with age galvanic corrosion and need some penetrating oil and persuasion to reuse.

I am impressed 

we here in SoCal consider 50F  almost too cold to go outside and work , and even worse if it might be a chance of rain  !

Its great that the motors almost interchange , once you are finished can you make a list of things you needed to change or switch over ?

Two not frozen "Thumbs up"

In reply to californiamilleghia :

Mittened thumbs up back! 

In reply to eedavis :

That made me wonder if the bushing just got moved in somehow, like when the guy at the salvage yard attatched the chain to that bolt and if it pulled the bushing because the pump was absent?

The pumps are different parts between the vehicles though, so likely this is one of the things to change between Xterra and NV. 

I think you have a van addiction, my friend. 

On another note, we totally need to get together for a ride sometime. Island Park/Yellowstone/Targhee area is pretty much halfway between me and you.

Damn, man. Snow wrenching is hardcore! Nice job!

In reply to Recon1342 :

Addiction? Nah, I can quit anytime I want.          -scans marketplace for cheap broken vans- 

Sounds good. I have heard that area is pretty sick riding. I would consider a road trip. The warm season is pretty busy with my actual, bike mechanic, job. Still it's important to make the trips and do the rides to remember why bikes are so good.

Walked the dog this morning at -12. But now:

Just in warming up from a short driveway session. I'm not actually a cold weather mechanic expert or anything. I grew up in Florida, spent my 20's in San Diego and only really experienced winter when I moved to Montana. My first house didn't even have a garage, just a concrete pad. I did some necessary repairs in the cold and... well, it was TERRIBLE! Hahaha! 
Now I try to

-Manage expectations.
Everything is more difficult. It will take me longer than it should since every bolt I try to grab may require more than one try. My breath will fog and make it hard to see what I am doing. Hoses, wires and plastic will be stiff and more prone to breaking. Bulky gloves and clothing will get in the way. 

-Thermal mangement is key. Apricity is important. If the sun is shining on you it feels less cold than it is. There are times when I have to take my mittens off for dexterity. The time that my hands are out touching cold metal has to be a short as possible. Still, there is a time limit to how long I will be "comfortable" working in the cold. Breaks are good to warm back up and plan the next bite. 

I'm dressed for the cold and I wear three layers of gloves. Many things I can do with all three on: I replaced the hood struts today and did a bunch of simple bolts. The lower layers are for the things that need sense of touch at the cost of being much colder. 
 

One of my tactics in the cold is having a heat gun where I am working. It will it allow me to warm hoses so they go onto fittings or make bends. I also like to blast the inside of my mittens when my fingers start to feel the cold pain. The hot mitten steaming with hand and car juices helps a lot. 
Poor heat gun can help everyone but itself: Cord broke because it is brittle in the cold. 
I've made a bit more progress and the front is coming back together. 

More parts inbound. 

Holy crikey my friend, you are hardcore. Most guys have trouble getting motivated to turn a couple wrenches in a heated garage, and here you are slamming in a motor in a snowy driveway. Keep up the great work, I'm really enjoying following this. 

Wrapped up my workday with the radiator, trans cooler and condenser back in. Bumper on and plastic over bumper partially bolted on. 

Next: lunch and then go to the hot springs. 

did i miss first start?  i think i wouldn't have it buttoned up 100% and full of coolant without hearing it run for at least a few seconds.

can confirm, 0 deg F and sunny is better than 10 deg F and cloudy.

Incredible! For me, the wind kills me in the cold. I don't mind being cold in a garage, but cold in the driveway is brutal.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

No fliuds filled yet. I have some exhaust gaskets inbound that I want to install before the trans dipstick tube and cooler lines get in the way. I did get a sneak preview of the engine running at the junkyard before they pulled it. 

In reply to Robbie (Forum Supporter) :

Windchill is a real factor. It's fortunate that my garage is in the generally leeward side of the house. Still, if it is really blowing out there I don't mind waiting for better conditions. 

This morning started off with an unexpected and urgent plumbing repair. After that, Today I changed the transmission filter. 

cool. I was kinda on the fence about doing it, but it is in there now. The studs with nuts were a real pain, they just wanted to spin. Had to work for them.
Got the exhaust hooked back up. 9 of the 10 nuts were pretty easy and the last one really had me struggle. Dipstick tube is in the trans. Needs cooler lines on and red juice in the transmission next. Not too many pieces left inside the van

Did engine oil and filter too. Time to get clean

Alive!!! I actually started it once I had some fluid in the transmission, but here is a video of it running while the cooling system is bleeding. So far so good. No CEL, all juices staying inside their systems. 

There is a little exhaust leak from cat on the driver's side. I had hoped to reuse the copper rings that seal them. I have replacements on the way. ~maybe~ I can tighten the bolts, but pretty sure it wants some new seals. 

I also put all the parts back on the van.

There was that one part of the grill where the intregal clip broke. Now it has a zip tie.

There was also this one captive nut that no bolts would go into. So now it has a trim plug. I was not going to do what would need to be done to get a tap in there.

When I got the van, they told me that the door ajar was always on. I poked around while the engine was warming up. The barn door dome switch was absent a retaining nut and turns out when pushed it completes a circuit as opposed to every other door switch in my experience. Until a better solution arrives:

I'm pretty stoked. Waiting for the engine to cool now and drink from the bleed funnel. Then I hope to drive this thing to a car wash. Another project is in que for the driveway and this being at least mobile again is very helpful. 

When I did an engine in one of those, I made an extension, and when that wasn't enough, I put casters on the end of the cherrypicker so I could slide the cherrypicker over the fender instead of head-on.

This requires having a lift and at least one wheel removed, but you need to do that to get to exhaust manifold fasteners the easy way...