USA spec Frontier YD25 engine swap

[YD25Frontier]

Hello everyone,

I just purchased a 2013 Frontier automatic 4x4 crew cab with a bad 4.0L motor and plan to do a YD25 engine swap. I found a complete engine/transmission combo with complete harness in Canada I plan to order. The great state of Florida does not do emissions checks. Rolling coal is not a problem!

Plan to do:

• Full EGR delete
• 3" stainless turbo back exhaust
• ECM tune (keep Stock turbo)
• Front mount intercooler
• Add a fuel tank lift pump (low pressure)

Questions:

• The engine has 89K miles, should I do a double timing chain kit in it now?
• Can anyone out there program an ECM for this with the NATS disabled?
• From my research, I can use the 2.5L gas engine mounts and it should bolt right in. Is this a correct assumption?

Regards,

Ed

 

[Old.Tony]

Only two things I haven't covered in the other message:

The double row timing kit is not a bad idea while the engine is out, just take extra care to ensure that the timing marks line up.

I would assume the diesel will bolt in where a petrol came out because I've not heard of any chassis differences between the two. If your research agrees with this, then you're probably going to be ok, let's hope so anyway!

 

[YD25Frontier]

I thanks for the reply. I plan to share my experience as I go through the process. I’m thinking I just want to get it up and running and bugs worked out before I open up the engine. Pulling the radiator and from of the motor is not an issue afterwards. I would probably do that during Christmas break.

 

[tweak'e]

mounts i have no idea. chassis will be different, just don't know which bits are different. they typically have different front ends due to different crash ratings laws etc.
i would highly recommend using a donor vehicle because of the differences in BCM's, wiring looms, and other systems etc. not to mention "complete" engines often end up leaving out items.
i would not assume anything is a straight swap. while they are based on the same platform, many things are done solely for the usa market.

 

[landmannnn]

Mechanically it is a straightforward job assuming you are keeping the same transmission type (manual vs auto).

As above the complete engine will not include things like the diesel fuel filter, boost control solenoid which you would need to source.

Engine control is another matter. Really difficult. The Spanish built models have a standard wiring loom across the petrol and diesel models, the US models don't have (or need) the diesel specific wiring.

On ECU, your current truck has all the ECUs, keys, instrument cluster all linked, so you would probably need to use an aftermarket ECU to run the diesel engine and leave the the current ECU in place to run the security/temperature gauge etc. Expensive those aftermarket ECUs and it will take months to get right, if at all.

Your only sensible option would be to import a complete vehicle and swap over the parts, looms etc. In the UK or Ireland you can pick up a tatty example for a couple of grand, shipping would be a similar amount. You would probably need a left hand drive model to make life easier, so you would be better off importing from other parts of Europe.

 

[YD25Frontier]

So I have the complete engine harness, fuse box and ECM on the way from Japan. Is there such a thing as a Japanese model? That's where this engine was imported from. I have a local tuner who can remove the NATS from the ECU or possibly extract the necessary parts from the original ECM and put what's needed in the diesel ECU. He literally pulls the code from the chip and reverse engineers it.

 

[landmannnn]

That would work, great to have somebody in the area with that level of skills.
There was no Japanese model, but the majority of the electronics are made by Denso who are a Japanese company.

 

[YD25Frontier]

The engine and transmission are out. I have one of my buddies cleaning up the engine bay and getting it ready for the YD25. It should be here this week and I'm hoping they'll have it in the truck by next weekend.

I reviewed the wiring schematics and it looks like the IPDM is the same pinout to the engine harness. The 4.0L has a few extra functions but those should be ignored for this swap. The IPDM does have some CAN communication in it but I think those are universal regardless of engine, functions like headlights, tail lights and so on. I will definitely make sure to note any major changes needed for the swap.

In the US it's common to put a good lift pump to push fuel to the HP common rail pump. They say this helps the HP pump last longer and when adding a lot of power. Is this common for you guys? I intend to use the EVAP line as the return to the tank and find another way to let the tank breath.

 

[Phunk]

I'd kill to swap my YD25 for the 4.0L V6, or better yet the Titan V8.

Going to the YD25 sounds like a giant leap backwards for me..

I'm currently pondering a LS1 swap when I can find the time.

 

[YD25Frontier]

I'd kill to swap my YD25 for the 4.0L V6, or better yet the Titan V8.

Going to the YD25 sounds like a giant leap backwards for me..

I'm currently pondering a LS1 swap when I can find the time.

The 4.0L has a bad reputation over here. Blown head gaskets and timing gear issues. there are several with bad motors for sale for one of these reasons.

 

[YD25Frontier]

Does anyone have or know where I can buy the motor mount bracket that bolts to the frame that the motor mount bolts to. I received the new mounts but it seems there is a bracket i'm missing.

This is the mount with the bracket
Complete mount and bracket

This is what I have Mount

If some one has some old brackets I would be happy to buy them and pay for shipping

-Ed

 

[tweak'e]

Does anyone have or know where I can buy the motor mount bracket that bolts to the frame that the motor mount bolts to. I received the new mounts but it seems there is a bracket i'm missing.

This is the mount with the bracket
Complete mount and bracket

This is what I have Mount

If some one has some old brackets I would be happy to buy them and pay for shipping

-Ed

those bracket/mounts are for different models. your one is a d40 mount, the other is a d23 mount.
i suspect your frontier is D40 based which would be about the last year before D23 came out.

 

[landmannnn]

I'd kill to swap my YD25 for the 4.0L V6, or better yet the Titan V8.

Going to the YD25 sounds like a giant leap backwards for me..

I'm currently pondering a LS1 swap when I can find the time.

A nice engine choice is the VQ3.7. It doesn't suffer the timing chain issues as the VQ4.0 and has plenty of tuning capacity too.

 

[bajatrailrider]

Does anyone have or know where I can buy the motor mount bracket that bolts to the frame that the motor mount bolts to. I received the new mounts but it seems there is a bracket i'm missing.

This is the mount with the bracket
Complete mount and bracket

This is what I have Mount

If some one has some old brackets I would be happy to buy them and pay for shipping

-Ed

I'm in baja Mexico near Ensenada I'm sure you can order here from dealer. I have 2014 d22 yd25

Does anyone have or know where I can buy the motor mount bracket that bolts to the frame that the motor mount bolts to. I received the new mounts but it seems there is a bracket i'm missing.

This is the mount with the bracket
Complete mount and bracket

This is what I have Mount

If some one has some old brackets I would be happy to buy them and pay for shipping

-Ed

 

[bajatrailrider]

I'm In baja Mexico I'm sure you can order here at Ensenada Nissan. I have 2014 np300 with diesel enjoy it much .

 

[YD25Frontier]

So I got the engine all cleaned up and it looks to be in really good shape. I pulled the front cover off and it looks like it already has a dual chain setup and the sprocket teeth look good. I ripped all the EGR hardware off and the engine looks much cleaner! I'm going to use a 40mm freeze plug with Loctite and dimple the edges for the intake manifold and cut a block off plate for the exhaust.

 

[Phunk]

A nice engine choice is the VQ3.7. It doesn't suffer the timing chain issues as the VQ4.0 and has plenty of tuning capacity too.

There is a guy I've been watching on YT doing that exact same conversion

 

[YD25Frontier]

I have a question for you guys I'm hoping you can help with. The engine harness that I have does not seem to have the same ECU connector I see pictures of on the internet or in the Navara service manual I found on line. It's a 96 pin connector and does not have the larger 5 pins on the side, they are all small. I found a Jaguar ECU configuration that looks the same. It's definitely a common rail throttle body engine. Am I missing something here?

 

[landmannnn]

It sounds like you have the wrong harness, do the other plugs match? Are there any part number stickers on the harness?

 

[YD25Frontier]

I ended up finding the Navara ECU model that fits the connector I have. 23710-5X32B is the ecm part number. VSK automatic Navara VIN. Below is the hard to find wiring diagram!!!



-Ed