Found a Nissan VQ40DE In Scrap Pile, But is it actually a bad engine?
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Today's video is something a little different. This 4.0L Nissan VQ40DE was claimed to be a bad engine. This engine is from a 2010 Nissan Xterra with 203K miles. While driving across the country, the transmission failed from a breached transmission cooler inside of the radiator which allows coolant and transmission fluid to mix and enter the transmission ruining it. The owners declined the repair and sent the Xterra to a salvage yard which upon dismantling noted that the engine oil looked like milkshake as if coolant and oil mixed. Thats the story I was told and it didn't make sense. Sometimes in the salvage industry, there is waste and I do my best to avoid that. Thats why I had some doubt about the details of the story and why I decided to look into it myself. No harm in verifying information and best case scenario someone was wrong and I get a good engine to sell(and hopefully get a bad one in return!)
My name is Eric and I own and run a full service auto salvage business. Part of our model includes buying and dismantling core and blown engines to salvage the good parts. We do not rebuild engines, merely sell parts to those who do.
I hope you enjoyed this video. As always I love all of the comments, feedback and even the criticism.
Catch you on the next one! -Eric
You surely do more than 99% of engine resellers to make sure an engine is actually good before you sell it. It is really impressive!
Collab 😂
I agree I would have no problem buying an engine from him
I would say he does 99% more than 99% of engine resellers.
Which is great, it's heartbreaking to install an engine only to find it's no good.
Ya that has to be such a let down and waste of time :-(. I feel like even with his checks there is still a small chance something could be wrong but ya it's about everything you can do to check he does @@robinsattahip2376
Eric, this was extremely interesting and educational! I got more out of hearing your explanations and seeing your diagnostic process than putting together the bread crumbs from ICE carnage. More of this, please.
Was kinda hoping that it was bad, two for one 😅
It's really good that you value your reputation enough to do all those checks. I know some yards just sell everything they get and don't care. It's a business practice to be proud of, and some great content for us. Thankyou as always!
Hear hear 👌
We have owned our 2008 Xterra since new. 203k miles on it now. Been the best vehicle I've ever owned. I changed the radiator at 100k to prevent the milkshake of death. Our 2019 Armada on the other hand has been the worst. 89k miles and has already had the shortblock replaced and is having the transmission replaced right now.
do the 19 and 21 titan use the same motor and trans?
Nissan is really hit or miss in general. Some cars are bulletproof, some are ticking timebombs. Hard to tell which you're getting.
@@jokerdog4598 Same engine, different transmission.
@@AdirondackHomestead you called it!
i owned a nissan, would never get one again. worse i heard there going even farther down hill, mitsubishi is almost better than them and theyre almost legendary. hopefully my new toyota lasts a good 20 years
Yay! Finally, my motor on the channel! Have an 06 frontier with 194,000 6spd manual. Runs beautifully. Replaced cats, hoses and intake ducts, coil packs/plugs, intake manifold gasket, power steering plumbing, oil cooler gasket, heater core plumbing, alternor bearing, and tensioner pulley. All routine maintenance maintenence and runs the same as when I bought it.
Same here; first time I've seen one out of the vehicle. 06 Frontier SE 4x4 (6MT) 64K miles and 15 Xterra Pro-4X (6MT) 8K miles. Should last a while at this rate...
SAME HERE 06 NISMO CREW CAB. I change the oil on time use synethic. have never done plugs or had any other problems(fuel guage) I have 190k kms. maybe its time to do a tune up...maybe not?
I have an '05 Frontier SE 4x4 auto that just turn 60k miles. Been a great truck so far. Just replaced the first round of serpentine belt and pulleys based on age.
Hi Eric. I was researching some info on 2.0 ecoboost engines and found 2-3 year old video where guys who specialize in Fords in Ukraine in city of Odessa showing your video, not all of it but comenting and explaning it in longevity and durability of ecoboosts dedicated series. I was watching and guy goes Eric this, Eric that... I was like ... wait a minute! I know that Eric, those gloves look awfully familliar!
Great video! It's fun watching Eric's commentary on blown-up engines. But it's also nice to see something perfectly usable being saved from the crusher.
Yay! My engine. 2008 Xterra 4.0VQDE just passed 250,000 miles. Runs smooth, strong doesn't use oil. Run the transmission fluid hoses through the transmission cooler and loop off the radiator and no Pepto Bismol issue. Did mine at 87,000 miles, tow frequently with no issues. Run synthetic oil, nissan filter change every 5,000 miles.
With valve cover off, use a light hammer and some nonmetal rod and tap the bucket tappets (valve spring retainers on rocker arm valve gear engines). This can dislodge valve/valve seat deposits. I've tested long stored engines before and done that to get a better idea. Rust on seats can make them leak like the valves on this one and the smack therapy fixes it right up.
I've done that to when I get an engine that has sit or something like that.
I've done this in the past too. I 100% agree with you on this.
Thank You!! Waiting for ages for you to rip apart a 40!!!!!!
I for one would like to see more of these kinds of video, especially since I can learn something during the week! Thank you Eric, for all you do.
Glass cleaner (Windex i have used) bubbles alot and makes finding tiny holes in tires really easy too. i didnt know this trick for valves. Keep up the good work!
2008 Xterra had the Trans cooler rupture inside the radiator, transmission junk, motor junk. Coolant and transmission fluid do a number on the cooling system
3 minutes in and I got a bad feeling I'm not seeing this in pieces today...maybe in another 150K miles, maybe...
These diagnostic videos--also like your getting a non-running car started--are especially satisfying. A nice addition to your oeuvre. Cheers.
Hey Eric..... I absolutely learned stuff from this video...... which is one of the many reasons I seek out your latest videos...... you speak in common terms...... you stay lighthearted and humorous... keep up the great work!!
Love the variety of recent videos. Leakdown test, boroscope,etc. Fun to learn new stuff
The valves just needed an old school hand lapping.
That sometimes works. Always worth a shot if its not sealing. Worst case its off to the machine shop.
Not worth the trouble. Always go with simplest fix first.
@TML34 if you got the heads off, might as well do it. If you aren't pulling it apart, soak and clean externally first. My opinion and my procedure.
Was great to see your test procedures. Thanks Eric!!
Thanks for everything you do, Eric. Have a great new year!
Though I delight in seeing the catastrophic teardowns, this was satisfying in a different way. Kudos for being thorough in checking engines for future customers.
I love your diagnostic videos as much as the teardowns. Midweek, diagnostic; weekend, teardown. Sets a good cadence.
Very interesting video, Eric. The teardowns are my favorite, but I wouldn't mind seeing more content like this also. Great work.
Thanks for these videos dude. I find them so relaxing. All the best to you good sir.
Eric, enjoying your videos, thank you! A nice quick education on engine evaluation and ... we got to see you put something back together!
Watching this is so much better than whatever else I was planning to do on a rainy Thursday afternoon
I like those out of the usual format, and we get to learn about typical failure points, nice! 🙂
I know it’s not quite the end of the year and we get one more video before the end of the year but I gotta tell you watching your videos again. This year has made my Saturdays and a few Wednesdays quite nice and enjoyable and I really do appreciate the time you take to make the videos for us to watch.😅
Variety is great. Although I love the teardown videos; saving an engine is nice too. Many Happy New years to you and yours- and many happy new videos too!
One of the best videos yet. Love the diagnostics and solutions. Is this the greatest car show ever?
Eric thank you for this video! I really enjoy watching you tear them down but seeing you go through how you diagnose an engine was very informative for us weekend garage mechanics. Keep the great content coming!
VQ40 is a strong engine, few issues on first ones like secondary timing chain tensioners and catalytic converters. After 2009 it’s perfect
Nice Work Eric, good to know that there are still some folks that watch out for their customers!
Been messing with cars since 1967 and this is one of the most informative videos I have seen. Thank you!!!!
Eric, best video ever....really informative...thank you
Great video, as always. Thought I was watching the video backwards Not often we see you assemble an engine! Have learned so much from your channel, keep it up!
Fascinating! The last time I saw a leakdown test was in the eighties. Weird watching you put something together. Great video!
This is a new type of vid for you - I like it. Shows integrity, shows perspective, and lets me know how to test an engine. I'd watch more if you're willing to make more.
This was great and I appreciate the variety, the "something new". Very cool.
So glad you finally came up with a VQ40, I've been waiting forever to see what they look like since I have a '16 Frontier. That leak down test sounded straight out of the baby monitor on Signs! Thanks again for all your videos and keep up the awesome content!
Sweet bonus video this week! Thank you
And here I was thinking that it was going to be an early teardown. Silly me. Very interesting. Nice to see the steps you take in checking an engine. Keep up the good work.
Another great video Eric. I love your honesty in this business how you test things as much as you can before you sell it, and if you have any doubt, you don't sell it as good. If I never need used parts, I'm definitely checking your website.
The usual teardowns never get old, but this was really fascinating and educational. These 'a little different' or 'behind the scenes' videos of stuff we haven't seen before are as interesting and enjoyable as teardowns of the rare/unique/bizarre hard-to-find engines that we hope to see someday. I think it'd take a VW W8/W12/W16 teardown to top this.
Great educational content -also and perhaps above all the “I hate waste” part. I’m also joining the “more of this” brigade!
Great job! Getting cars and good parts back on the road is a fantastic calling! I love it whenever I get that first drive after months or years of something teetering on the edge of scrap. Nicely done.
Thanks for the leak down test, I haven't seen one explained before.
I enjoyed this video a lot. You’re the first person I’ve seen to inspect an engine to see if it’s good engine to sell. This should be common practice with all salvage yards.
I learned a lot!!! Thanks for the show.
I love videos like this one. Even if I'll never perform a leak down test myself, at least now I know what it means when someone says an engine has passed one.
Thank you for a most interesting and educational video Eric. It does leave me feeling like I missed a few important developments in car engine implementation. The need to remove the intake to change plugs really surprised me. When I still did some of the maintenance to my cars, plugs were still rather basic, short-lived and so changing them was a regular and routine act - and you had to be prepared to do so when driving well away from civilisation in the Australian outback.
This was quite astonishing! Eric, I think this is the first time I've ever watched you put things back onto an engine! Great video, BTW. I've heard of leakdown testing, but I never realised how much information it could give you.
I really like the explanation about crap getting in the valves and seats when an engine is not run for a long time. Now I understand part of the need to run them everynow and then if not in normal use. I always thought the battery will drain, but never the engine will get into trouble just standing there. Thanks a lot. These type of videos are very much appreciated.
Thank you for the excellent inspection and diagnostic video! I really learned some good information on how to inspect an engine that I suspect/hope to be good. Really appreciate the effort you put into this and videoing to teach us! Thank you!
I want to get away is the old Xterra commercial song from the early 2000’s is what I always think of this vehicle. Great video Eric.
This was good and really useful to see your process of discovery. It can be helpful with troubleshooting a non-running engine.
You did a good thing Eric. You are a good man. You never want to waste or sell a bad part or engine. By investing your time and knowledge, you saved an engine from an unnecessary death, and hopefully it can help someone who needs one. Hope you and the family had a good Christmas, and hope you and the family have a good New Year's! Looking forward to more videos from you! Kyle T
Love the instructional/educational aspect of this video!
Buying a new car is not an option for alot of ppl,you provide a much needed service for ppl that would otherwise be in a very bad situation, I love these videos and this channel,keep up the Great work.merry Christmas and Happy New year bud.
I like the process of you checking out the engine. Different from your normal video but informative. Someone will get a decent motor in the process. Very good.
These are pretty reliable engines, once you get past the timing chain tensioners that we’re updated around 10’-11’ and the cats that get clogged and the particles get sucked back in the engine. Yes it’s possible especially with these. I’ve put around 400,000 miles combined on the 2 I’ve had. SMOD is a whole other issue that can be easily addressed, rerouting the lines or swapping radiators. You can find these all day for 2-3k with bad transmissions or before they let go, and do some preventative maintenance. These Jatco automatic transmissions are much better than their CVTS and as far as I know have no flaws. The radiator itself being the culprit.
Yeah I agree, these are generally good engines with the post-2010 timing chain upgrades. They make decent power, pretty reliable, they’re not too bad paired with the Jatco 5 speed. I’ve always viewed them as the Nissan counterpart to the Toyota 1GR 4.0 that was in the Tacoma’s/Tundras/4Runners.
@@Fraserfirrr Though if I had to choose, I’d take the 1GR both variants over the VQ40. They seem to have less issues imo. I’ve owned a Tacoma with one it was much smoother and quicker to me.
@@elonsus9747Toyota sells old engines that aren't powerful in their truck chassis. It's most definitely much slower than a VQ lol. Especially if you delete the VQ cats.
@@TheGuruStud My 13' Tacoma V6 would eat both my Pathfinder and Xterra 4.0's. But that's because they're old. In their prime they'd put up a fight. The new Toyota trucks and SUVS use turbo V6 and I4's that would wipe away the old motors from Toyota.
Engine teardowns are great but identifying and saving a good engine is even better! Nice work!
I love the leak down demonstration. I’ve been working on cars for 25 years and have never done one. Nice to see it before I need to do it.
Thanks for the midweek video! Happy New Year to you and yours! I hope that 2024 is even better than 2023! Too bad you don't have a secondhand engine test rig where you can hook up an engine and actually run it, but this is probably the exception rather than the rule. It's probably not worth it to keep one since you've shown us how you generally test engines.
As a Nissan tech the VQ 4.0DE.... Thank you for the great videos!
Thank you, Eric! I'm a nube so I learned a lot, plus as usual its very entertaining!
Hey Eric, thank you for showing us the processes you go through to evaluate an engine. I found it really interesting. I hope you can sell that one and make a decent $ on it. Cheers!
Amazing job educating everyone! From the viewers that have never turned a wrench, to the techs or former techs like me! I definitely learned something watching you do the leak down and then fixing the issue without disassembling it completely! We always did a bg treatment in the intake to clean out carbon b4 running a leak down to rule out carbon build up ! On my personal vehicles if I’m at those miles and having a need for a leak down I will usually pull and rebuild the engine as by 200,000 I’ve got other things like pesky oil leaks and what not! Or it’s a good excuse to hop up the engine while rebuilding without the wife ever knowing lol!😅
I had a 08 Frontier Nismo for 13 years. Best truck ever! Glad to see this engine on your channel.
Looks good. No metal, no coolant in the oil. Excellent leak down results. I think you have a good engine!! Hope you had a good Christmas. Mine was quiet. See you next year Eric.
Hey man! Love the content, been watching you for years. Keep it up! A few suggestions for engine teardowns, any of the Cobalt SS motors; LSJ, LNF or even the LE5. Please and thank you.
Please do more of these investigative videos. I would love to see you do the same to that 3V 4.6.
Great job Eric... again you do good work, and you are agood guy...
I own a 13 Xterra. Other than eating cats, they are pretty damn reliable.
That’s a normal function of Nissans
So it's like ALF?
Nissan have gone insolvent in Australia and Honda are almost about to close here. LOL Meanwhile KIA & Hyundai dominate.@@I_Do_Cars
Meow?
Whats th body count ?
thank you, just got an xterra a couple months ago and looked to see if you tore one down, said damn and moved on. now here we are. great video, thank you for your dedication. please, please, please do a gm 2.2 (older ones not ecotec) teardown. young guys with s10s (and cavaliers) as first vehicles would be grateful forever, and so would I.
Nice vire of a different aspect of your industry. Thanks for the video.
First time I have seen that leakdown procedure. (I am not a professional mechanic) I watch to learn about engines and procedures. Well except for throwing parts into trash bins.
You make engine architecture and failure analysis educational entertainment, thanks for your efforts and talent. I'd love to see a Mercedes M274 tear down. Thanks again.
Have the same engine in my '06 Pathy. The biggest job yet I've done was replacing the timing chains, guides, and tensioner at around the 155k mark which was roughly 2 years ago, so I was a bit surprised to see the original timing chain at 203k .I also replaced the radiator well before the 100k mark to prevent that PMOD issue you mentioned at the beginning. I liked how you walked us through a leak-down test and explained every rationale behind it. These are pretty hearty engines, sure they chug a good amount of oil but a little PM goes a long way.
This was awesome! Love to see an engine saved from the scrapyard.
When you have a radiator fail in that manner, you'll get coolant in the ATF which destroys the trans, and ATF in the coolant, which doesn't necessarily destroy the engine if caught soon enough.
Dang...must have had to many 'shrooms.....an engine tear down running in reverse. Wow! Thanks. Love ALL your vids. From kansas
Hey Eric, I really enjoyed this look at your procedure to determine if an engine is good, bad or ugly! I’ve been watching your videos for about 2 years now and this was the first that I’ve seen on this subject. Thank you! I always enjoy your sometimes cringe worthy slip ups and would love to see a few best of Eric’s brain fade moments “caught on tape” episodes. Also, maybe some shorts on small engine carnage for fun. You need to invest in some white lab coats and nurses uniforms with your logo on them for your autopsy tear downs and you or your wife as the surgical nurse assistant for a cosplay Halloween special! As always stay safe and healthy! Ron
Thanks for your honesty and if I needed an engine I would buy it from you. Bob
Very educational, Eric. Thank you!
I really, really enjoy this channel !
YEAH a Nissan episode! I love these
Awesome video! Like most people I know about using glass cleaner to find slow leaks in tires, but I've never seen it done for valves before. And I loved how careful you were with the engine, even though I would assume anyone buying a 200,000 mile engine to put into service would probably at least replace all the gaskets and clean the ports and heads first (and replace those worn out spark plugs!).
Interesting video. That's gotta be a first that the water pump makes it out alive. Also surprised that the 'tighten' button on your electric driver still works after so little use :)
Fascinating and instructive. Very interesting to watch a real pro at work. Thank you !
Very educational and thorough! Thank you for posting!
All this waiting for one of these to show up, and it's too nice to tear down. Ain't that just the way. Well, hopefully you get that core exchange :)
And it is a wrap. You are definitely the BEST person to buy used and reliable engines from,due to your personal morals, and you are definitely a square man. I'm gonna do my best to promote you.
Love those VQ motors. I had a 95 Maxima with the first VQ30 that motor was absolutely indestructible. That motor had 382k miles on it and ran perfectly when the car got totaled.
Hi Eric, I have done engine work since my teen years, I have seen engines run after putting a leg out of bed (put an inspection port adjacent to 4th big end) I have seen a diesel melt the pistons, they ran all the way to the muffler, that one didn't run again. Engine from the same vehicle, twist piston off and rip everything out within reach of that con rod. Again same vehicle the con rod was so hot that it bent around the crank and the piston went out the bottom taking the oil pump with it, that engine did actually run again. This was a rear engined bus and over revving was a problem especially when the drivers don't own the vehicle. I am now approaching 79 and just enjoy seeing someone else work on these engines, so keep up the good work, and God bless, I was especially interested in the equipment you used to check this engine out. Ted from down under.
27:15 Am I actually starting to watch Eric reassemble an engine? Must be a first. :) Thanks for your videos over the last 12 months and I hope there are many more in 2024.
11 days, Guess I've been Busy! Kind of a nice divert off the beaten path on this video. Diag and solution was well worth the effort!!! Be well Eric! Looking forward to the next!!!
This is awesome, this new content is great!!!!! More please. I'm looking for a low mileage gen 1 coyote for F150 4x4
Greetings from BrainDamageBBQ, Joel and I are watching right now! Thanks, Eric! Lawrence
Enjoyed the leak down test.