Blown Engine Teardown: VR30DDTT Infiniti Q50 3.0 Twin Turbo V6. What Failures Will I Find Inside?

[@alphanismo272]

As an Infiniti tech , these engines can be problematic if not taken care of. They can have coolant consumption issues, head gasket issues in some cases, however 19+ have been typically solid. It’s all about maintenance. Infiniti recommended almost 10k mile interval oil changes, which is ridiculous imo. I recommend keeping it at 5k with synthetic and you’ll most likely be fine. There is a bulletin to handle the waste gate rattle, however most times we will just replace the turbos.

[@OreRiginal]

Hey man, I was thinking about buying a q50 red sport and it seems to have some rattling on start up for about 10 to 20 seconds. Its not that notable but I suspect its probably waste gate rattle. As I understand this is a pretty common issue. Is this something that I should stay away from? will it eventually need new turbos? Just thought I would ask since you're an Infiniti tech and I am getting told different things from differed people. The dude selling it seems to not think its a big deal.

[@alphanismo272]

@@OreRiginal sorry for the delay, as for your concern, my first question is mileage ? Then I’d say the rattle is something that is more often an annoying noise customers complain about, along with whistle noises. Typically you won’t loose boost or anything , it’s usually just a noise complaint. I’d see if you can get as much service history as you can on it though , if buying from a dealer you can get all the warranty history done to it. Being a red sport, it was most likely driven aggressively and could’ve had work done. If everything checks out however I’d say they’re pretty solid cars especially if taken care of. Keep oil changes to 5k and you should have a fun ride

[@spideybuildscars]

I’m also an Infiniti tech, something else we’ve seen on 2 VR motors is the timing chain snapping on one cylinder bank, and the porous block. We still occasionally see coolant leak from the water pump. I’ve only done turbos on a 2018(at the newest model year) Q50 because of wastegate rattle. From what I’ve seen, aside from wastegate rattle and leaking coolant, the engines are pretty solid now. As you said, just use common sense on the maintenance. I recommend every 4k miles for oil changed because people like to go past it anyways

[@a36538]

Wow 5k changes on synthetic? I thought synthetic could go double that?

[@metalted6128]

@@a36538 always cheaper, changing oil, than, gambling!!

[@Johnc259]

Sir, I never want you to loose money for my entertainment. That being said, I enjoy the wide variety of engines you have been featuring. I know nothing about modern motors. So you’re giving me a free education with every video. You are appreciated. Thanks. Be safe.

[@stephandiehl3893]

i agree i have learned tonnss by watching you take apart these various motors thanks and keel up the awesome work!!

[@chicoh22a]

Amen 🙏🏽

[@adamboyle3331]

This always reminds me just how smart people are. Imagine designing this entire thing. All the measurements, clearances, it’s amazing

[@texasslingleadsomtingwong8751]

Nissan and Toyota v8s are very well designed . But this engine I'm not a fan of.

[@bradhaines3142]

@@supermotos trust me there is very rarely a service manual, and even if there is it'll only say 'take this part off using this size socket' never telling you oh for that side you need to be upside down with your head over there and hoping you can get on it without looking because all the things are in the way and its against the firewall or a body panel. there is so much more to being a mechanic than reading a manual

[@endutubecensorship]

Yes, imagine a design where you have to remove the intercoolers to change the plugs...amazing. Or on my family members tundra taking a portion of the passenger side underpinnings to change a starter😆

[@zephzephyr9830]

​@@texasslingleadsomtingwong8751 :But this engine I'm not a fan of." Thats probably because it's a V6. Just add 2 more cylinders and it'll probably be a very good engine.

[@rand49er]

Going electric in the future will have big advantages in the reduction of complexity.

[@Large_Sarge]

Watching these videos has me checking my oil on both my cars daily. 3k mile oil changes too. No oil starvation on my watch.

[@michaelfrizie9689]

Sometimes all the maintenance in the world won’t keep one from failing . But it doesn’t hurt.

[@MikeS42069]

I'm sure someone has already commented but the turbos on the 400hp models have optic speed sensors on the compressor side that measures turbine speed

[@dr_mcwang]

How does measuring turbine speed help make 400 hp?

[@benburris4735]

@@dr_mcwang You can run the turbochargers closer to their maximum shaft speed, maximizing the amount of boost you can safely run.

[@dr_mcwang]

@@benburris4735 that sounds cool but how much extra boost does it safely make compared to generic turbo

[@benburris4735]

@@dr_mcwang 300HP is about 0.5 bar while the 400hp is at about 1 bar.

[@andrea6308]

I have a 2018 Q50 AWD twin turbo, can the Q50 RWD twin turbo engine work in it ?

[@Rick_B52]

Wow, that bottom end was tired. Impressive that the block and heads survived all the abuse. At least all was not lost.

[@fredwilliams7893]

90% of the time engine failure is do to poor maintenance. To long of oil intervals or lack of oil and so on. Engines today are designed with rev limiters that helps prevents them from blowing up.

[@theflukey4114]

@@fredwilliams7893 almost all engines have rev limiters of some kind...

[@Dzazter]

@@fredwilliams7893 90% of statistics are made up on the spot 83% of the time.

[@Ericsaidful]

This engine is massive for a 6 cylinder, holy shit.

[@lamma109]

Overhead cams and air to water intercoolers be like that

[@henlo1910]

Only 3 liters of displacement but looks like it weighs 3 tons.

[@Luminous65]

Its a little Brother of 3.8 liter from gtr, so

[@BigHeadClan]

Yep pretty common for most Nissan V6 engines, they are generally fantastic motors though.

[@Ericsaidful]

@@lamma109 I have a 5.4, SOHC on two banks, still doesn't seem to be this big.

[@ZPositive]

@14:07 holy geez look at how many holes there are in the front of that motor. This is the poster child for "if you take it apart and put it back together enough times, you'll have enough spare parts to make a whole new engine."

[@jap322]

Lots of those early VR engines died due to oil starvation because the oil capacity was not enough to properly lubricate the engine. Nissan recently came out with a new dip stick and updated the recommended amount of oil from 6 to almost 7 quarts depending if it was RWD or AWD.

[@einfelder8262]

Nissan also built a ZD30 diesel engine which had a shorter dipstick update to increase oil capacity...... and that engine was a total piece of crap, with shockingly bad boost and fuel control, resulting in a 90% blowup rate and many recalls worldwide.

[@kevin9c1]

Don't the VQs have a similar issue?

[@TheGuruStud]

Irrelevant. Plenty of VQs are turbo'd with 5-6 qts. People don't check the oil or up the boost to 600 wtq and kablooey.

[@jap322]

@@TheGuruStud Ok awesome. VQ is not a VR. Plus the turbos are known to burn a lot of oil. You are comparing apples to oranges. The VR is not a VQ with turbos slapped onto it.

[@jap322]

@@kevin9c1 I cant speak for the VQ. Nissans in general have had oiling issues for decades

[@chasemixon6327]

I love the sped-up sounds from your impact gun. sounds like minions sticking their tongues out and Star Wars blasters.

[@ZillaFullBoost]

Great video man, I appreciate the time you took to dissect my engine lol. The VR30 tends to consume oil because of the turbos. This can easily starve the bearings. Tons of people have this issue making this engine a maintenance queen. Literally have to check the oil every week at-least.

[@MrSamPhoenix]

Wow, how many quarts of oil does this engine consume. It seems like the owner was simply following the recommended maintenance intervals & lost big time. I hope Nissan learns from this.

[@ibey01]

I drive a 2017 Q50 RS. It doesn't lose more than half a quart of oil in 5000 miles. I guess I just got lucky.

[@lucysmith4242]

@@ibey01 My buddy has one and nuked it. It had oil but he was pushing past 400 to the wheel because of the tune

[@Libertà_sulla_vita]

@@ibey01 my 2017 didnt start consuming any noticeable oil until about 70k miles

[@ShadowVR30]

Curious on what power you were running on this motor. I am around 470whp on my VR30 and try to really keep up with oil and cooling.

[@QVR-ti7ce]

Owner of a 18' VR30 Luxe, I follow the recommended service log to the mile EXCEPT my oil changes. Oil is changed every 5k, car has treated me well and honestly it has been mean to me at times with silly codes. Price is a bit steep for these but mine has aged very well from the interior to my paint. (Bought 3 years ago for 24k and had 24k miles on it, I'm now at 94k miles)

[@liblib89]

Very cool engine. Looks very high quality and well built. Glad to see they kept the bedplate for the crankshaft instead of a girdle design.

[@CadexLaw]

Plastic oil pan. Yup sure seems high quality.

[@ps_n_sq5]

@@CadexLaw could be worse. Could be plastic drain plugs. *cough cough* Audi and BMW. *cough cough* FORD.

[@CadexLaw]

@@ps_n_sq5 BMW doesn’t have plastic drain plugs in any engine they’ve designed, only one I can think of is the N20 which is a Peugeot engine. I don’t think Audi does either. I know Nissan & Ford do though.

[@ftffighter]

@@CadexLaw The plastic oil pan is a def an interesting idea, does it help keep oil temps down at all? Doesn't seem high quality at first, I'd love to hear their reasons. Let's be honest though, if you hit something hard enough to thwack this oil pan enough to break it, then I would rather it be the oil pan than the whole engine if possible. If you hit something that hard under a Q50, the oil pan is probably the least of your concerns.

[@bdecot]

Just a heads up on the VR30 platform that most owners don't know until they are forced to know (like me) when they blow an engine. This car with the turbos will consume quite a bit of oil especially if modified (mine) so it is VITAL that any owner of a VR30 platform check their oil every 1000 miles depending on how hard you run your car. Since my car is modified, I not only add oil between oil changes as needed, but I get the oil changed every 5000 miles with Mobil 1.

[@DEATHWISHVQ]

I know these are newer engines but 5k seems very long even if you’re topping it off with oil in between changes. I have a NA DE which ofc is an older engine, I change my oil every 2500ishk.. 5k seems too long especially for a TT.

[@DEATHWISHVQ]

@@Dallas867 my DE has 166k miles, it’s been about 2500 miles now I think and I’ve used almost 2 quarts to top it off. It didn’t use to do that and this is with one oil leak, I think my upper oil pan is leaking, I had my timing cover leak oil for a whole 2 years but I finally took the time to take care of it.

[@Dzazter]

@@DEATHWISHVQ Factory actually calls for oil change every 10,000 miles. Think this is due to full synthetic from the factory. I drive a 2017 Q60RS. Mine gets a change every 5000 or less. Give or take a few hundred.

[@885.0ELopez]

I agree with everything always check yo oil especially on boosted cars but 5k on a boosted car is a huge red flag u gonna clog yo lines one day and have turbo failure all my cars r Na currently and all get service every 3k miles mobile 1 always

[@TriggerG59]

I change every 2500-3000 full syn 5W-30

[@brucecooley4170]

Recently started watching your videos, always makes me want to go out and immediately change my oil wether it needs it or not!

[@fitfogey]

Been a long day. Can always count on our boy for a laid back engine teardown on a Saturday night. ✌️

[@SicilianSVT]

Your great at what you do, I love your videos. I have watched every teardown you have done and I appreciate you doing them for us to learn why engines break down. These videos are informative, impressive, and addictive to watch! Please keep making these kind of videos!

[@nickfajen7778]

The former DSM owner part of me enjoyed the teardown. The current 2017 Q50 owner part of me makes me glad that I use Blackstone for oil analysis and got the updated dipstick (shorter for slightly more oil capacity before reading "full"). Might have to pony up some cash for the dropbear billet pan. You're also correct in saying that it's easier to get the turbos off with the engine out, replacing them is actually an engine out procedure. Think TT Z32 as far as how much space you have in the engine bay in the Q50/Q60.

[@I_Do_Cars]

Yikes. I’ve helped do turbos on a z32 and it was not fun. However, compared to modern cars it almost seems like a joke with how simple it is

[@OxBlitzkriegxO]

you can get the turbos out on a RWD car, theres more room. its still tight but better than on an AWD car.

[@Taylorek2011]

I had real bad buildup on the valves on my ST, I installed a water methanol injection kit and checked the valves again after a few months and they look like new!

[@Questchaun]

How's the rods?

[@endutubecensorship]

Can you please explain how that setup works?

[@Taylorek2011]

@@endutubecensorship I have throttle body spacer that contains an injection nozzle which sprays a fine mist of water/methanol, this is controlled by a sensor that's reading boost pressure off my intake manifold. When I hit 10psi of boost the injection process starts, and it ramps the pump duty cycle gradually along with boost til I hit 20psi, then it's full blast. That mist keeps my valves clean of gunk. However that's just a side benefit of WMI. It also acts an extra source of fuel and as knock suppression allowing a more aggressive tune.

[@endutubecensorship]

@@Taylorek2011 Thank you for the explanation I've heard of water methanol injection but wasn't sure of how it worked.

[@Taylorek2011]

@Dr Beechas they're more stout than people give em credit for. Mine has been at 400whp for 3.5 years now and runs as good as ever. Friend of mine is pushing 450whp and is at 160k miles on stock motor.

[@prevost8686]

Nissan has really gone down the tubes . I read where several Japanese executives lamented their partnership with outside entities that have steered Nissan away from their foundation that was building reliable and moderately priced cars and trucks. The highest mileage V-6 that I ever serviced was in a 1995 Maxima. The guy was a sales rep and had put 560,000 miles on the engine without any internal engine repair. He ran plain old conventional oil at 5K intervals and it never burned a drop. When he traded it in at Crown Nissan in Greensboro they placed the car in their showroom. If you didn’t know the mileage you would have guessed that it had about 60K on the car. Those types of engines are long gone from Nissan now.

[@Ju1ian10001]

Renault own Nissan now, The french should never of learned how to design and build cars. French cars are just rubbish.

[@Baljeet_benchod.007]

@@Ju1ian10001 bad cheese and bad wine with the 🇫🇷

[@Keep6ix360]

owned a 1997 Maxima and 1998 Infiniti I30. That VQ30DE was a champ

[@DJG37S]

@@Ju1ian10001 Renault does not own Nissan, it's a partnership. This is the most told lie that people make about Nissan. Heck a simple google search would have told you this. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault%E2%80%93Nissan%E2%80%93Mitsubishi_Alliance

[@DJG37S]

Nissan gets a bad rap because of the crappy CVT transmission. Once nissan switched over to their CVT transmission, this killed their reliablity, and finally after 15+ years Nissan is finally coming to the grips of removing the CVT transmissions from their lineup expect for their entry level cars like Sentra, Kicks, etc. I've been VQ engines right now that have 250K miles not have a single engine problem. Same could be said with this current gen of cars, I've seen 2014 Murano have 300k miles without any engine issues, but this car has had multiple CVT engines replaced because the CVT transmission suck.

[@AmandaHugenkiss2915]

That engine was enormous. Looks like it's 4 feet tall.

[@MrSamPhoenix]

Indeed!

[@PrioCaptSend]

I guess because it’s a narrow vee

[@Brandon_Nelson92]

BuT iTs OnLy a v6. It ShOuLd bE sMaLL! Ford's v6 ecoboost engines are also huge, considering their displacement. Chevy's 6.2l v8 has a smaller footprint than the 3.5 ecoboost.

[@legodude19999]

@@Brandon_Nelson92 naturally aspirated Cam in block vs DOHC and 2 turbos makes sense

[@LOVE-VIBES-X-PROJECT-CARS]

@@legodude19999 that and the fact it has that bedplate.

[@MTB_Rider_96]

I have a 2016 Q50 Hybrid with about 370hp between the ICE and the Ele motor. Super fast off the line and very smooth acceleration. And if I don't beat on it, I get 30mpg city and 40mpg highway.

[@beantownthings]

There was a TSB for the first couple years of these due to running low on oil. The fix was to put a shorter oil dipstick in it I believe, so the sump would carry more oil. There is some evidence that this issue may have led to oil starvation that caused engine/turbo deaths in these engines prior to maybe 2018/2019, and this combined with a different less reliable version of these turbos (combined with a few rare cases of porous block syndrome) likely led to early impressions of these engines as not being reliable. To my knowledge, most or all of these issues have been addressed after 2019MY thankfully.

[@jeffreygoss8109]

Saying the plastic pans will crumble in 15 years will have the manufactures back to the drawing room trying to reduce that to one day over warranty

[@OxBlitzkriegxO]

dropbear makes a beautiful cnc machined billet aluminum oil pan but its $750.

[@MrSamPhoenix]

True lol

[@patriciomunoz2830]

Plastic pans, that's some Renault shit right there

[@tonydavis190]

​@@patriciomunoz2830ugh, unfortunately BMW does too for their transmission pans and I believe some of their engines too..

[@robgoffroad]

This is another motor I would never want to own. Holy cow talk about so much complexity!

[@Ericsaidful]

No kidding. You actually have to remove the intercooler to change spark plugs.

[@lamma109]

You just have to move them out of the way. Not completely disconnect them

[@somerandomusernamenobodyhas]

@@lamma109 Yep, it doesn't take too long to get at them. 👍

[@ThePandasian34]

Its not that complex, to move the intercoolers out of the way is three bolts and the hose clamps from the turbos which are really easy to get too

[@boostybotha355]

@@Ericsaidful it’s not hard to remove the intercoolers. Two hose clamps and a few bolts. Easy.

[@dipt_tpid]

That automatic bearing extraction feature is a nice touch.

[@aeroman5239]

Looks like oil starvation. Infiniti up'd the oil capacity by 1/2 qt on mid-year MY2019+ Q50 & Q60 VR30s by substituting a shorter dipstick. Pre-MY2019s can be fitted with a shorter dipstick to realize the additional 1/2 qt of oil capacity, which I installed in my MY2017 Q60 Red Sport AWD.

[@liblib89]

they likely increased the capacity because folks don't check the oil, if you do that hten the margin or user error is increased

[@MercedesMan]

the oil weight is the issue lol. not the amount. weight is lower to make more economical. thinner oil that proctects less.

[@rand49er]

While getting my mech engineer degree, I majored in ICEs. My first job was managing technicians doing research on engines on dynos. I've personally rebuilt engines. The shear complexity of internal combustion engines has reached an amazing level, and they have performed incredibly well at producing lots of power while minimizing exhaust emissions and providing good fuel eonomcy. Electric motors, with virtually no moving parts aside from bearings, will be so much easier in the future of automobiles. I love the technology of EVs and look forward to this next revolution in the automotive industry.

[@-Psycho_]

Why you excited for EV, let’s push the hybrids before the Ev cars, I think they just have no soul all of it is instant torque and fast 0-60, but the range of the cars is total trash and top end just doesn’t exist

[@cynaptyc]

Certainly one of my favorite channels! Common engines and you can see the most prolific failure arena in them. Good way to know before you build!

[@t-yoonit]

On my old 200k mile vortec 350, I habitually checked the oil every time I got fuel. It leaked, it burned some, but I had the heads off for valve seals at 252k miles and the oil system was flawlessly clean as I ran synthetics. I sold that truck with 300k miles on it, still running like a champ.

[@xinx-fn8973]

My dude, you’re comparing a small block Chevy to a modern Nissan VR30 (an engine known for burning oil)

[@DertyMike]

I blew one a month ago. The turbos DRINK oil, and I ran it dry and had some incredible malice in the combustion palace. If you run these hard, 3k oil changes are a MUST, and check the oil level regularly.

[@LittleBillsss]

What you end up doing. Mine is knocking and see some gold in the oil

[@DertyMike]

@Christian Badillo replaced engine under warranty

[@TheRealBCD]

The sped up sound from the air gun during the head removal was hilarious!!

[@georgegonzalez2476]

Would it be that hard for them to put an oil pressure sensor or two on the engine? And maybe have the computer ring all the whistles and shut things down after a minute of LOP.

[@mac1bc]

I agree with everything except shutting down. Wouldn't want to be stranded if it can still make it to a service station.

[@CaptainSpadaro]

I'd be VERY surprised if it didn't have an oil pressure sensor. Practically every computer controlled engine I've ever seen has one. I've seen multiple newer cars throw audible warnings when the oil pressure dropped below a minimum. An oil pressure GAUGE or readout on the dash would be a good idea but most people don't know how to read them.

[@hydrocarbon82]

The wastegate rattle absent on older turbos seems to be partially the extra preload the old actuators applied. I imagine the new turbos also use a cast steel housing which wears worse vs cast iron previously used. Less prone to cracking, but more wear.

[@TurboGSR96]

my loud rattling old turbos would disagree with this statement, mine were rattling at 20k mi

[@joshdumond6073]

There is some serious ASMR goodness going on here. Awesome video! I learned a lot about my Q50

[@DEATHWISHVQ]

do you know what asmr is

[@GM-kb8yu]

I know this is an old video, but I just wanted to say how much I appreciate all you do, this particular video just helped me properly quote a job at work, since I have never worked on this particular engine, it gave me the information I need, thank you for all you do

[@arniejonassen]

I had leased a 2017 Q50 Red Sport and before the first oil change at around 7,000 miles it started knocking. It turns out it had excessive oil consumption issues which led to the same issue you saw from taking the engine apart in your video....and yes I had never checked the oil as the car was still brand new. The car was stock and never tuned or modded. There were no oil warning lights that came on so I can confirm there are none. Great video.

[@gabeh7373]

Interesting🤔😬... do you still have the car? I'm assuming Nissan warrantied the entire engine hopefully they didn't try to blame it on you

[@harambes_revenge9220]

Had a similar issue, it took 4 months after going through arbitration to get it fixed. Nissan is dragging their ass....

[@joebrown9621]

7000 miles.. that's alot even for a stock boost motor.. 5000 mile oil change max for any GDI engine especially when it's new it trappers off abit once the rings seat

[@MrButtons252]

@@joebrown9621 The manual states 7500 mile oil change intervals. I now check the oil every 2 weeks and changed based on its color/wear.

[@arniejonassen]

@@gabeh7373 I don't have the car anymore as it was a lease. The dealer replaced the engine quickly with no issue and I had no issues with oil consumption with the second engine until the day I returned it.

[@DavidScheiber]

Judging by the clean insides of the engine I'm guessing it was one of those jiffy lube no oil specials again.

[@barryaiello3127]

More like as the engine aged it started to consume/leak small amounts,owner had synthetic oil in her and didn't think to ever check it.

[@fredwilliams7893]

@@barryaiello3127 yep. Poor maintenance is absolutely the cause of 99% of engine failures.

[@actually5004]

​@@barryaiello3127 Synthetic oil and conventional oil are 97% identical, with the last (typically lower than but up to) 3 percent being those synthetic additives.

[@barryaiello3127]

@@actually5004 Uh, no, synthetic oil is not made from crude oil like conventional is, there are a few different ways of making it but all oils will have an additive package.

[@actually5004]

@@barryaiello3127 What do you think "synthetic" oils are synthesized from? That's right, it's petroleum.

[@Hammerhead547]

Back in the 80's most manufacturers that offered turbocharging as an option gasoline engines used garrett turbos which were very simple becasue they were purely mechanical.

[@jeffreygoss8109]

I don’t think they ran as much boost either.

[@Hammerhead547]

@@jeffreygoss8109 Back then the only companies that ran high boost trubos were porsche renault (in very specific models) and lotus, pretty much everyone else ran 2-5 pounds of boost and that was only a the top end of the power band.

[@yashasan83]

@@Hammerhead547 they were also ceramic so the whole concept of a turbo disintegrating on you went up by tenfold

[@PatricioGarcia1973]

@@Hammerhead547 my dodge 2,2 turbo ran 12psi from the factory. The Shelby version and the 2,2 turbo II ran more boost.

[@raymondr7769]

My dog enjoyed this video as well. He seems to like the noises that all the tools make.

[@johnalees99]

The sped up section with taking the head bolts out. I laughed because fart noises are funny.

[@Mightion]

My inner child thought the same thing. :D Great minds. :D

[@bradhaines3142]

most of the time its a legit pew pew sound, so funny

[@dawnpoint]

Aw you beat me to it. LMAO.

[@VEC7ORlt]

I've read the comment first, but wasn't prepared for what's coming.

[@musskeeterbump]

😂😂😂😂 🙈🙉

[@christopherdimotsis1024]

If I recall I knew someone that worked at a infinity dealer and those engines were known to have a starvation issue especially if driven hard or under elevated lateral g forces. I herd they reduced the issue a lot by making a replacement deeper pan and pickup on non AWD models and also just adding another 1.5 quarts of oil

[@ericcindycrowder7482]

V6 engines never used shared journals, unless it’s an odd fire buick from the 1960s. The rod journals are offset in relation to the V-angle of the engine. This ensures the cylinders fire in an even manner.

[@walterfooshee5563]

A 60-degree V6 fires evenly with shared crank journals, firing every 120 degrees. A 90-degree V6 (Early Buick V6s before they went to offset cranks) fires unevenly, some at 90 degrees, some at 150 degrees. A 60-degree V6 has other balance issues, though, basically being two 3-cylnders side by side. As for why this 60-degree engine has offset cranks, I'm at a loss.

[@devinwalton408]

@@walterfooshee5563 they might have done it for some mid-high rpm harmonics. Timing the power strokes in such a way to reduce the need for a heavier balance shaft for low rpm harmonics. Im guessing. I have no clue. This is a stab in the dark and a coincidence if Im right.

[@123tylerwebster]

Incredible how much is involved in a DOHC engine. Makes me love my old pushrod engines even more.

[@fredwilliams7893]

Smart here. My 5.7 hemi is still running strong with 116,000 miles 💪

[@123tylerwebster]

@@fredwilliams7893 my 5.7 Hemi is going strong at almost 100,000 miles.

[@ohger1]

Pushrod rules in simplicity no doubt, but DOHC engines can be built for long trouble free life. Take the cheap Ford Duratec 3.0 as found in Escapes and Fusions - they normally run 300K miles with just an oil change every 6K. We see them every day at the yard. They usually come in for blown transmissions, frame rot, or wrecked, but they always have good motors.

[@Acroposthion]

@@fredwilliams7893 - The 6.1 in my 300C SRT8 has a little over 190k on it. The Daimler-era interior plastics aren’t looking so hot. But the powertrain is solid.

[@fredwilliams7893]

@@Acroposthion same. My 5.7 hemi in my ram is solid including transmission but interior and electrical is sub par.

[@Wittyusername82]

When you went to buzz the oil pump gear bolt off and it spun the chain that was still attached to the crank sprocket, that seems like it should not have done that. If the key or whatever drives the crank sprocket is sheared it wasn’t driving the oil pump which would obviously starve the engine of oil.

[@ryantzer]

The oil pump sprocket is not keyed to the crankshaft, it's held in place by the torque on the crankshaft pulley bolt. Nissan used the same design on the VH45DE in the early Infiniti Q45, and likely other engines as well.

[@liblib89]

@@ryantzer wonder which design is superior, I guess the VH45 way

[@ryantzer]

@@liblib89 I think you mis-read my comment - they are the same design, neither is superior.

[@tommybronze3451]

So by having separate journals for each rod, they were able to shift phase between banks to simulate straight 6 level of secondary harmonics cancelation ... without need for balancing shafts. Good idea ! ( and they didn't had to pay royalties to Mitsubishi :D )

[@CaptainSpadaro]

You mean the split pin crank? That's been a thing on V6s for years, regardless of who makes them. The lack of balance shafts is because this is a 60* engine (ideal bank angle for a V6 is 120* but that's impractical for anything other than mid-engine vehicles); harmonics means it shakes less than a 90* V6 (plus most 90* V6s are just V8s with two cylinders lopped off anyway).

[@kevin34ct]

LKQ is down the street from me. I got a transmission from the for a 200 Ford Focus. They are good to work with.

[@fadingbeleifs]

200 Ford focus huh?? That is a REALLY classic model..LOL

[@genedowen9183]

at 20:53 when you tired to get the oil pump chain off and it just spun. That indicated to me that the keyway on the crank failed. So no key, no oil pressure, locked engine. But not sure why that key would fail, unless that is a press on piece.

[@garylarson6386]

totally amazed how complex the engine castings are, design nightmare

[@7MPhonemicEnglish]

Not grampy's V6. Very complex looking but still needs port-injection! When I was a kid, there was a block and an oil pan & we liked it, we loved it, we couldn't get enough of it😄. These kids nowadays with their bed plates & upper & lower oil pans and electronical gadgetry pasted all over everything really bends my dentures.

[@brianoconnor3171]

That their is one of those on the interstate high pressure oil changes. Oil decided to change itself while they were cruising, and the new oil was late too the party. Had an odyssey do that at Walmart when I worked their years back. Filter came off while they were travelling. Walmart had to buy em a new motor, and our oil bay tech got in trouble.

[@paveldeveraux2729]

You can have that crankshaft restored at a plasma spray shop!.... I have done hundreds of them from lawnmowers to train crankshafts... It involves the use of a powder thermal spray gun and then fused during the process, all it takes is 5 minutes and then is grownd to factory specs....

[@Levi-Willis]

Engines like these make me appreciate the LS architecture more and more. I bet there isn't much difference power and mileage wise between this complex TT DI V-6 and a displacement on demand 5.3 LS.

[@Matt-nq4du]

Aside from the fact that you can get 500whp from about $1k in supporting mods on the 3.0tt, yeah they’re exactly the same 🤣

[@Levi-Willis]

@@Matt-nq4du You can get 500whp from a chinese turbo kit for the 5.3. Your point?

[@Matt-nq4du]

@@Levi-Willis If your only concern is making it down the drag strip once then an eBay turbo kit and stock bottom end will serve you well putting out 500whp 👍

[@philmerrifield1163]

I know somebody who has one of these vehicles and I actually recommended replacing the oil pan after a diy oil change and a cracked drain plug bore from over torquing

[@tct9mm151]

Given the fact that Q50's are a fun car, I'd guess the owner discovered how much fun banging the engine of the rev limiter is in a parking lot and this is the result. lol

[@justsumguy2u]

No, they ran it out of oil

[@texasslingleadsomtingwong8751]

Kinda forgot to put oil in it before the parking lot adventure.

[@PatricioGarcia1973]

The owners usually run the cheapest oils and do the magic one oil change a year.

[@justsumguy2u]

@@PatricioGarcia1973 Actually, they'll get the expensive synthetic oil change, and think the oil is so good that it'll last a year. I once bought a car (cheaply) that had almost 8K on a synthetic oil change---tons of sludge

[@danrogers4617]

@@justsumguy2u BMW's recommend 14,000 miles between synthetic oil changes. I'd like to know how they do going that long in between changes.

[@kuniboy1]

I work on them a lot. I’ve been seeing a bunch of head gasket issue with engines over 100k miles. Thanks for your video. Very interesting and informative. Keep up the good work. Don’t forget to use your brothers old underwear!

[@LincolnSixAlpha]

Looks like it was a victim of oil starvation. I did that once in a 92 Calivier Z24. Punctured the oil filter, and ended up draining all the oil in the engine, and spinning every bearing. Got so hot that the crank even blued itself.

[@richardshumate3712]

Kind of forgot about that cavalier I have a good friend and his dad and one of the best mechanic shops in town can fix anything from 1900s to top of the line beamers and Mercedes that nobody else could fix they had a big hill on a street close to their shop and when they would tune a car or go determine what was wrong with the carburetors etc they would start at the bottom of the hill and nail it and there was a curve at the top my buddy said that is the only car he ever pulled that hill with that he had to touch the brakes at the top to make it around the corner those cavaliers apparently were badass

[@LincolnSixAlpha]

@@richardshumate3712 lol. Well, engines were decent and I had fun with it as a 23 year old, but it sure was cranky after that incident. Funny thing is that it had about 55k miles on it at that point so it was just outta warranty. I ended up paying some mechanic at a Chevy dealer to spin the odometer back 10k. That was worth every bit of the $125 bucks. After that I called the Chevy dealer and told them my car wouldn’t start. They sent a flatbed truck over and hauled it off. Anyhow I got the car back maybe a month or so later after it had been short blocked under warranty. The engine ran great after that, however after 125k miles a few years later or so the tranny was starting to slip and the suspension was really bad. A shame. Loved the motor. The rest of the car was crap.

[@gregpeterburs4155]

Good info , we’ve got a Red Sport 400 Q50 and we get it serviced regularly at the Infiniti dealer 🤙

[@mikeschaner5853]

Could you find a vk56vd out of an m56/q70 for a teardown? Mine had to be rebuilt due to oil pump seizure. Would be cool to see. Great show!

[@leosthrivwithautism]

Now I know the inner workings of my engine on the Infiniti I used to own. I had this exact variant. And it was fun to drive. transmission was poor. In the third year of owning my q50 I was having all kinds of transmission issues. And i didn’t even race or run that engine hard. And yes all my last few cars and current one with turbo had the stinking and have the stinking waste gate rattle. Very interesting indeed to see these tear downs.

[@peteyv]

This video was originally 3 hours and 29 minutes long but Eric edited out the rest of "trying to turn the crank" footage.

[@I_Do_Cars]

I started reading this and I thought “how the he...” but really 4.5 hours to film, I just really wanted it to turn over!

[@peteyv]

@@I_Do_Cars haha love your videos man - keep it up. Feel free to send me some of the Mercedes M156 debris :)

[@Justin-zv4cm]

@19:22 Those pistons look so HAPPY!😅

[@SibRevs]

Very concerning that this engine suffers from the age old direct injection issue: carbon buildup. I'm surprised Nissan didn't add port + direct injection to mitigate this issue.

[@devinwalton408]

Few manufacturers have. There are types of modern oils that really cut down on the buildup from the pcv system.

[@philhenderson3516]

More surprisingly why they didn't stick to port injection in the first place. That was their one and sole reason behind VVEL, to make up for the lack of direct injection.

[@sheltonforester3707]

Another evening thanking you good sir for your contribution to society, you’ve jumpstarted something in me that I’ve missed for years.

[@HeavyTanker-vx4oq]

I'm amazed that Block was good.

[@KevinNiven]

Took my 2016 Red Sport in for service and water was found in the oil. Infinity replaced the engine under war. 47k miles

[@nicholasvinen]

You declared war to force them to replace your engine? That seems a little extreme 😉

[@Discretesignals]

Don't use roloc discs for components inside the engine. When I worked at the GM dealer we were told that roloc discs where causing engine damage and if we were caught using them we would end up buying the customer a new engine.

[@johncoops6897]

Definitely - you should always use Engine Components inside engines. Using Roloc abrasive disks, for example as pistons or crank bearings, just doesn't fit properly. [What a silly comment, no wonder people shake their heads at the stupidity of mechanics]

[@Discretesignals]

@@johncoops6897 sorry, I meant don't use roloc disc for cleaning surfaces of an engine where the material of the disc can get into the oiling system. The material will take out the bearings.

[@johncoops6897]

@@Discretesignals - It's pretty damn obvious that you don't use any form of abrasives inside an engine unless you can disassemble and clean the parts afterwards. I am surprised that a GM dealer would need to do any "grinding" work inside an engine anyway. BTW: You realise that Roloc is a disc INTERCHANGE (quick locking) system, not a particular material. You can get Roloc polishing discs made from cotton, as well as Roloc scotchbrite disks.

[@Discretesignals]

@@johncoops6897 lots of techs were using "the cookie pads"to remove gasket material back in the day cause they were a GM approved tool. It was faster than using scrapers and chemicals. Service manager one day had all of us come into his office were he told us GM was getting a rash of warranty returned engines with bearing damage. We were told not to use any type of service cleaning discs on any part of an engine. If any individual was caught using them, that individual would be buying a new engine and r&r it for free.

[@johncoops6897]

@@Discretesignals - Ahh, that makes more sense. And yes, I'd reckon that abrasive or stripping disks is a poor choice to use inside an assembled engine. There is probably also a risk that sealing surfaces would be rounded off, compared to using a flat scraper. Your original comment was pretty random, and somewhat unrelated to anything that I could find in the video. What made you type it?

[@niteriderevo9179]

looks like that engine is a prime rebuild candidate with a good cleaning and an entire new rotating assembly

[@liblib89]

its scrap honestly

[@jz7551]

@@liblib89 It ain’t

[@kgisabeast]

How reliable have these been overall? Almost bought a Q50S and the performance was tempting for the price used with low miles.

[@LeemWills]

They good reliable cars

[@JesusDOchoa]

I blew my engine Twice

[@JesusDOchoa]

And turbos

[@sharifazmi1907]

@@JesusDOchoa big oof

[@ak_sprite]

@@JesusDOchoa how much power were you pushing?

[@bobstride6838]

Theres something ghoulish about watching these postmortems on engine failures but I love it!

[@PlayinWithMahWii]

This is the same motor as will be in the new Nissan 400Z I believe, can't wait to watch this one!

[@FairladyS130]

Yes, it looks to be a pretty stout motor, should be good for big power.

[@tonytootorquey9608]

yup, been throwing 700 whp at my vr30 for a year now and no issues. it's honestly hit or miss and about maintenance.

[@FairladyS130]

@@tonytootorquey9608 Yup, nearly every engine teardown I seen here shows signs of poor quality oil/deferred changes. Turbo's must use a full synthetic changed regularly to get a long life and reliability.

[@pushhrodd01]

can you please stop calling it a 400z? nissan has not revealed a name.

[@PlayinWithMahWii]

@@pushhrodd01 Okay then whatever the hell they are gonna call the new Z! Obviously you knew what I was talking about, so I don't know why you would leave a comment.

[@randyhanlon4746]

"They didn't have the infinite gap" This guy comes up with some good one's.

[@ohger1]

"Italian Tune-Up".. LOL, haven't heard that in years.

[@KGALLDAY]

Learned so much about my vr30!! Good stuff bro! I’ll make sure to put 6.2 quarts at all times

[@slicktop2jz855]

Nice. Been wanting to see a teardown of one of these

[@Hondacbr600rrish]

Yeah those VR engines need a bigger heat exchanger. Mitshimoto heat exchanger I recommend. Great video 🔥🔥🔥 Oh! They did beat that vehicle to the dirt lol.

[@TechSmurf]

I've been hoping you'd do this engine for a couple months! Serious question, though. Is the oil pump drive sprocket supposed to freewheel on the crank like it does at 21:04, or is a key shearing potentially the real root cause of the engine failure? I haven't found a diagram of how that sprocket is supposed to be installed just yet.

[@I_Do_Cars]

I *think* the friction and clamping force from the crank bolt, timing pulley and crank pulley is what locks that in.

[@icesoft1]

Was just wondering the same thing, if the drive method for the oil-pump failed, it would certainly explain all of the bearings being trashed...

[@wendellgreenidge3362]

@@I_Do_Cars yes that’s correct, the washer acts as a friction lock to lock the sprocket to the shaft

[@DimitriCole47]

3:47 The old Italian tune-up HAHAHAHA i really needed to hear that

[@FullMaxx1]

Seems like when you tried to remove the oil pump bolt the gear on the crank spun free so I'm guessing the pump quit making a no oiling issue

[@derucktorez2260]

I check the oil on my truck every morning before the cold start. As much as it sucks to check fluids at 30°, it's super important when you have money into something. Coming from a place of being dead broke. Now that I'm able to have a modified vehicle I don't wanna be that guy who locks an engine up after not checking oil or other things. I basically pre trip my car like a truck driver everytime I take it anywhere.

[@QueensGTO_Viper]

it's quite finite after all

[@I_Do_Cars]

Perfect 👌😂

[@boowiebear]

So complex when you see it all coming apart. It is a wonder these things work at all!!

[@somerandomusernamenobodyhas]

Complexity doesn't necessarily mean that something wouldn't work. This is not even that complicated for a turbocharged V engine. The packaging is very tight and that might make it look like it's complex but it is not. Many turbo engines from Mercedes and Audi are also packaged in a similar fashion. As far as internals go, it's constructed pretty well, these engines can handle a lot of boost on their stock internals. The weakest link in the final product would be the crappy 7AT but it'll be interesting to see how that turns out in the new Nissan Z since it will have a Mercedes 9G Tronic AT.

[@bobit8742]

everything so simple outside of the car. This engine inside the car is a nightmare.

[@jassimnguyen9316]

Oh we’ve worked on my Q60’s fbos and it is aids. I would love to work on it outside of the car

[@RSLWoodworking]

Can you please tell me where I can find the oil pressure solenoid? We can’t find it on our 2017 q50 3.0t

[@BADMAN-SJ]

I made a video on my page

[@seanb3812]

in my experience, these engines had a lot of issues in early production. it wouldn't take long from loss of oil pressure for the engine to start eating itself. be it from improper oil level or blowing out the oil pan on a manhole cover (yes, i saw it happen) to oil consumption at low miles (saw it happen too). another interesting trend i saw with early iterations of this engine was poor casting of the short block where the block would spontaneously crack and leak coolant out the side. sadly, even though they look and drive really nice, you couldn't pay me to own one.

[@MyCatInABox]

7:00 Yeah...that's kinda strange... Had 3 '89 Probe GT's/Mazda MX6 GT's that had the F2T in them (SOHC 2.2 Turbo), and all of them had wastegate controllers that had them start opening at 15 psi. NEVER had any rattle from the wastegate actuator OR the fulcrum valve...

[@OxBlitzkriegxO]

dont worry, its not a common problem. ive not heard a single person anywhere report this problem until this video. its exceedingly rare and just not an issue. the B58 and caddi tt3.6 on the other hand....lol.

[@wazza33racer]

Customer: Can you make a super complicated engine Engineer: Yes we can!! If that failed from being thrashed, it likely would have thrown a rod. Looks like a 'no oil in sump' problem.

[@lichking3711]

Italian tune-up does not work on GDIs, only a little bit maybe to clean the carbon off the pistons. The only real way is to mechanically clean the valves when the intake is off, and run a cleaner through the intake every oil change bc they get noticeable carbon even after 5-10k. Using good oil helps but it's not a cure, this happens because the unfiltered pcv enters the intake and comes over the valves. Normally there's gas mixed in that'd clean the valves but there is none.

[@brandonupchurch7628]

Ran low on oil or did they drive it on a track with 0W20 in the sump and it wasn't up to the task with the elevated oil temps.

[@OxBlitzkriegxO]

Interestingly.enough, most 30 weights turn in to 20 weights at higher temps. Most 20 weight oils are higher quality oils with more pao and less group III trash stock. They don't thin out like other oils. Also, lots of high performance engines use thinner weight oils. This failure was neglect and abuse, nothing more.

[@brandonupchurch7628]

Compare the HTHS150 values on oils specs sheets and you'll figure out that what you just said is completely wrong.

[@OxBlitzkriegxO]

​@@brandonupchurch7628 go to bitog and compare the specs from members who've provided the exact same specs between oils and youll see im exactly correct. in fact, doing EXACTLY WHAT YOU SUGGESTED shows Mobil1 EP 5w30 vs 0w20 having HTHS values just .3 apart. 5w30: 3.0 vs 0w20: 2.7. www.mooreballiewoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/mobil_1_extended_performance_pds.pdf while we're on the subject of me being right and you being wrong...its entirely possible that a 30 weight oil can be as thin as a 20 weight oil at lower temps as viscosities are a range and not a set figure. lots of good quality oils are barely 30 weigh oils at kv100. they only have to be greater than 9.3mm/s2 to be a 30 weight oil, and a 20 weight oil's top end is also 9.3mm/s2. since most, if not all, 0w20 oils have more/better group iv base stock, theyre going to resist shear far better than most 5w30s since those oils will have A LOT more VIs to help them out. they will shear down to 20 weight oil in less than 5,000 miles.

[@brandonupchurch7628]

Very few 0w20 oils excluding the botique oils that very few people use, have much if any PAO in them, only Mobil1 has a significant quantity of PAO in it, most other manufacturers are using some form of hydro processed petroleum oil or fischer-tropsch derived petroleum distillates.

[@OxBlitzkriegxO]

@@brandonupchurch7628 mobil1, amsoil, and redline are a few that have formulas that are primarily group iv, depending on what flavor you like. i think that the list of boutique oils is shrinking primarily due to availability on amazon. all oils are mixes, there are zero 100% pao oils to my knowledge and im pretty sure that mobil1 has the most variety of group iv based oils.

[@sithyarael6807]

Yeah I looked up this engine and oil there is a lot of plastic built into this pan like the oil pan and several other pieces. Just doesn't seem like a good idea for something that goes thru a lot of heat cycles. I know plastics are better than they used to be yet I would not trust them on something like an engine especially in the high heat areas like oil pan.

[@gryfandjane]

Yet another episode reminding me to go out and check my oil…

[@NissanSkylineVR30]

Its actually just the PSI and the engine having a better water cooling system for the higher HP. Other than that, its the same engine. This is why people tune the 300HP VR30 because you get more bang for the buck compared to the 400HP VR30.

[@xDIGITONIUMx]

Did you look at the oil pump? Would it be another cause if it failed?

[@joeclarke9782]

Tearing down much more fun than building. Thanks

[@cesarr.3377]

Shame people in the comments automatically assume the make is at fault when the video explicitly says the problem was very likely caused by running the car with low oil. That said, the plastic oil pan on that engine is pretty lame 😂

[@liblib89]

The plastic could fail..it could not. Aftermarket will solve that potential minor issue though

[@sharedknowledge6640]

An engine in a premium car using enough oil between changes to be oil starved is a problem in itself unless it’s super high mileage but this car with this engine hasn’t been out that long. Most Infinity buyers are not the sort to even open the hood let alone check their own oil. It’s also on Nissan for not having an oil level sensor if that’s the case with this engine. Even non premium cars have them. They typically sense the oil level right before the engine is started and turn on a warning light and/or display a message.

[@randomtimes4100]

You can get low oil when the engine burns it’s own oil infinity is a pretty junky brand so there’s a good chance the engine burnt all its oil and the owner didn’t know

[@liblib89]

@@randomtimes4100 spoken like someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about, respectively

[@randomtimes4100]

@Jörmungandr what’s wrong about what I said cheap engines not built well can burn excessive amounts of oil sure that’s not the only reason an engine can be starved of oil but it is a possibility

[@floorted]

I’ve become addicted to this channel!

[@jamesmancuso3666]

The removal of egr and pcv eliminates carbon build up. A better solution to egr is a addition of oxygen to exhaust gasses before catalytic converter. Egr only creates more unburned fuel because it reduces O² needed to burn fuel. Pcv gasses can also be introduced into exhaust before catalytic converter creating a more efficient treatment of waste gasses.

[@brendan_72]

It’s a very easy engine to tune up if anyone is wondering. Its very weak from factory and has lots of potential when done up right

[@Malaveldt]

I feel really emotionally invested in these now. Also fart noises.

[@joebrown9621]

This engine is very clean for what when down..every single bearing damaged the crank and the rods barely heat checked definitely seems some made a mistake forgot to put oil in and shut down immediately after and or they flushed the engine