Simpler Version

By Eddy · 11/13/2021

Community Member Credit: TJ Max / ewuzh

For some reason, the big Allen head bolts that bolt the SC to the plate seemed to be standard, not metric. I figured it made sense since the bolts, Vortech, etc assembly is American-made, not overseas. So it wouldn’t be metric. If you do not have the EXACT Allen keys for these do not even ATTEMPT to turn the bolts, they will strip and you guys would be screwed.

The way I did it was:

1. Jack up car, support on a jack stand, pull off wheel, remove the plastic liner that covers the belt area.

2. Pull off the air filter and disconnect the charge pipe, get it out of the way.

3. Disconnect the SS oil feed line.

4. Remove those 2 17mm bolts through the motor mount (far left on the SC plate).

5. Get those 8mm bolts (or 10mm) that go through the plate and the timing chain case off. Even the ones right behind the pulley. Use a 10 or 8mm open-end wrench to back them out.

6. Get under the car, use a 14mm wrench to get the nut off the tensioner pulley off, and pull off the tensioner pulley.

7. Remove the 3 bolts holding in the tensioner bracket.

8. Reach up and get a 12mm socket onto that bolt up by the fat radiator hose. (Some find it easier to remove the SC plate with this hose disconnected from the Thermo housing completely) I agree, but I don’t like to make unnecessary messes. Remove that 12mm bolt.

9. Next, come from the top or bottom, up to you (If the rad hose is removed, it is so much easier to get to). And use an angle wrench to get that 19mm bolt off the idler pulley. Once you get this off, there is an Allen bolt underneath it that needs to come out as well.

10. There is one more bolt that goes through the standoff bolt, should be obvious. Disconnect Crank Position Sensor (it is the only wire harness running through/near the SC plate). Go underneath and loosen the hose clamp on the oil drain back J tube. When you finally pull the SC plate off grab that hose and yank it off the drain-back tube.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Hard to explain this, but I used one of those 6 in one universal screwdriver and pulled the bit/insert out. So now you have an empty screwdriver sorta. I slipped the Allen key in that and used it as a mini breaker bar for those Allen bolts behind the SC plate. I think the sizes were standard 3/4 and 1/2. Don’t quote me on it though.

Simpler Version

Tools:

Socket set (swivel socket would make things easier)
open ended wrench set
low profile 10mm wrench for that one PITA timing cover bolt behind supercharger pulley
socket extensions
allen wrench set (large ones, particularly metric 5, 6, 7, 8 and up) forgot which one it is
common sense
patience

Steps

remove charge pipe
remove intake filter
release belt tensioner
unscrew oil feed line
unbolt supercharger plate from side of engine
undo the hose clamp on the oil drain hose
pull supercharger w/ plate off engine
unbolt supercharger from plate
remove belt and lay new belt in place
installation is the reverse of everything (do not overtighen oil feed line or else it will crack and leak like a mofo)

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By Eddy · 12/29/2021

Community Member Credit: Rob T.

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By Eddy · 01/02/2021

Credit: oldngivout

I have been following the discussion on the IACV problems with the 3.5 engine swaps. This is what I did on my 98 I30/3.5 swap with the A32 IACV.

You may notice that I blocked off the IACV passage on the PF throttle body. I also grafted the A32 cold idle assembly on the TB so that I could have trouble free start-ups. Cruise control is also functional.

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By Eddy · 11/11/2022

Member Credit: Nealoc187

My buddy who builds turbo kits for a living put a set of ebay headers on a VQ35 a couple months ago and he said they were just fine aside from the fact that he had to do a little work to the Y-pipe to make it mate up with the exhaust. I figured you can’t really go wrong. Can’t be worse than stock.

So I went on ebay and looked em up, there seem to be about 5 different manufacturers making them. Not sure who actually builds them, but they are just being sold by normal rice distributors but none of them look bad. I chose these because I liked the look of the collectors the most from the ebay pics, and this auction actually had pics showing piping diameters and what not, whereas some of the other header auctions had fewer pics, or crappier pics, etc. These just seemed the most “legit” and thoroughly thought out to me. I received them yesterday and took these pics.

Some of them I think have EGR pipes and what not, I don’t run an EGR so I didn’t bother looking for ones that had EGR pipe. Some are stainless others are mild, some claim to be ceramic coated while others do not. I wasn’t terribly concerned with any of that just the look of the craftsmanship from the ebay pictures, and I’m happy with what I received for the price. The thing I really like, and was actually surprised to find, was that there is an extra pipe that completes the “y-pipe” portion of the header that actually transitions up to 3″ which is perfect for me since I have a custom 3″ exhaust with custom 3 bolt flanges on it so we were gonna have to mate the header to my 3″ exhaust anyways, but the fact that the header itself transitions to 3″ makes things much easier for me. Just add a little length of pipe to make it the proper length and then throw the 3 bolt flange on there.

BTW you have to search Altima headers to find them, they don’t seem to pop up when you search maxima headers.

I have these same headers on my VQ35 swapped 92 Maxima. The Ypipe couldn’t be used since it runs exactly where the VQ crossmember runs. I am running a 4th gen crossmember in my swap, which runs right down the middle of the car. The 3rd gen has exhaust in the middle and the crossmember is to the side of that. But with my swap, I welded in some custom brackets in the exhaust tunnel and radiator support and now I can bolt a VQ crossmember to that. I had a custom Ypipe made that bolts right to these headers.

So overall, I am VERY happy with the ebay headers. The quality is surprisingly good for the money spent.

Here are some pics of my custom Ypipe with these headers:

The RH header near firewall had to be shortened by 2 inches in order to make this Ypipe. It was a tad too long.

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By Eddy · 04/07/2021

Community Member Credit: fxlr8

PROCEDURE WAS DONE ON MY 2008 M45. PROCEDURE SHOULD BE SIMILAR ON MOST INFINITI VEHICLES. MAKE SURE TO CHECK YOUR OWNERS MANUAL FOR PROPER FLUID SPECS AND CAPACITIES.

TOOLS:

JACK STANDS
JACK
10MM HEX SOCKET
SOCKET WRENCH
TORQUE WRENCH (FT/LBS)
BREAKER BAR (IF NEEDED)

SUPPLIES:

2 (QUART) BOTTLES DIFFERENTIAL GEAR OIL (75W-90 SYNTHETIC IS WHAT I USED)
FLUID PUMP
DRAIN PAN
RAGS

SAFETY:

NEVER GET UNDER A CAR WITHOUT OUT QUALITY JACKSTANDS OR RAMPS IN PLACE. NEVER EVER GET UNDER A CAR ONLY RAISED AND SUPPORTED WITH A JACK.

PROCEDURE:

LIFT AND SUPPORT ALL 4 CORNERS OF YOUR VEHICLE WITH JACKSTANDS. YOU WANT TO KEEP THE THE CAR AS LEVEL AS POSSIBLE SO YOU WILL BE ABLE TO PUMP IN THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF FLUID INTO THE DIFFERENTIAL.

LOOSEN AND REMOVE THE TOP FILLER PLUG FIRST (YOU’LL WANT TO REMOVE THE FILLER PLUG FIRST SO YOU CAN BE SURE THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FILL UP THE DIFFERENTIAL AFTER THE FLUID IS DRAINED).

LOOSEN THE DRAIN PLUG. ALIGN YOUR PAN UNDER THE DIFFERENTIAL AND REMOVE THE PLUG.

LET THE FLUID DRAIN COMPLETELY.

AFTER THE FLUID DRAINS, CLEAN THE DRAIN PLUG AND REINSTALL THE DRAIN PLUG. TIGHTEN THE DRAIN PLUG TO 25FT/LBS.

GRAB YOUR FLUID AND PUMP AND FILL YOUR DIFFERENTIAL UNTIL THE FLUID STARTS COMING OUT OF THE FILLER HOLE. YOU MIGHT HAVE SOME FLUID COMING OUT SLOWLY THE WHOLE TIME YOU ARE PUMPING, BUT IT WILL NOT BE FULL UNTIL IT IS COMING OUT PRETTY GOOD (AROUND 1.7 QUARTS).

AFTER THE FLUID IS LEVEL WITH AND COMING OUT OF THE FILLER HOLE PUT BACK THE FILLER PLUG AND TIGHTEN TO 25FT/LBS.

CLEAN UP ANY FLUID THAT YOU SPILLED, ESPECIALLY OFF THE EXHAUST PIPES.

DONE!

MY CAR HAD AROUND 39,000 ON IT, NOT SURE IF THE FLUID WAS EVER CHANGED BEFORE I DID IT.
OLD FLUID ON LEFT / NEW FLUID ON RIGHT.

Additional Videos

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By Eddy · 09/07/2025

Credit: Christopher H.

This is the spark plug and coil pack setup for the Y33 Cima VQ30DET.

Spark Plugs: NGK 6282
Coil Packs: Hitachi IGC0015

Notes on install:

Easy swap — only need to move the BOV out of the way.
Apply a bit of anti-seize to the plug threads. Hand-tighten, then give it a half-moon turn to snug.
Add a dab of dielectric grease inside each coil boot.
Run a short ground wire jumper between coils, with the end tied to the chassis, for confirmed grounding.

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By Eddy · 09/20/2025

Credit: Christopher H.

This is the process for replacing the tie rods on a Y33 Cima (’96 VQ30DET). The driver’s side boot was broken, so I did both sides. Q45 tie rods fit just fine, and a universal boot from Amazon worked as a replacement.

Steps:

Mark the locking nut.
Loosen the locking nut.
Remove the crown nut.
Bop out the tie rod.
Remove the old boot and tie rod.
Turn the steering wheel to expose as much of the steering rack worm gear as possible.
Pack grease onto the rack.
Install the new boot.
Thread the new locking nut back to your marking.
Install the new tie rod.
Slide everything back in place.
Tighten the crown nut just past the cotter pin hole.
Install the cotter pin.

All done — repeat the same steps on the other side. Then, of course, notice your rear CV axle boot is gone… and on to the next adventure.

Keep Reading

By Eddy · 09/20/2025

Credit: Christopher H.

This is the location of the Y33 Cima VQ30DET fuel filter in case anyone couldn’t find it. I’ve seen a few threads on it but never saw a photo. It’s mounted with a simple three-bolt bracket and two bolts for the clamp. I kept the OEM hard lines and replaced the jumper rubber hoses (6 mm), and also replaced the fuel filter itself with a fresh one..