USA spec Frontier YD25 engine swap

[YD25Frontier]

Today I spend the afternoon pulling the front core support out with a come along and tree!! It's all lined up now. I was able to test fit the Navara air box I received in the mail yesterday and it fits perfectly and all three bolts line up. I'm taking my time and repainting the front end with multiple coats of paint and then coating it with an anti corrosion coating. Here in Florida the front ends can start getting rusty in just a few years. The truck is actually in very good shape so I want to protect it while I still can. I'll post some pics later this week.

 

[YD25Frontier]

Here is a few pictures of this weekends progress. I ordered a set of silicone radiator hoses from Australia and they fit no problem. I put a little bleeder hole in the radiator cap on the radiator itself so it would bleed any air out to the tank on the passengers side like it did for the VQ40 motor. I need to have a power steering line made and I can put the last belt on. I have 2” aluminum tubing so I can fab up the charge piping for the front mount intercooler which should be here soon.

 

[YD25Frontier]

So the gauge cluster and 4WD module showed up today. I plugged in the Navara 4WD module to test my theory and sure enough the 4wd light went off as soon as it started to communicate with the ECU. Next is the gauge cluster!

 

[YD25Frontier]

I installed the cluster and everything works perfectly!!!

 

[gethro]

I installed the cluster and everything works perfectly!!!

Can you post a pic of the cluster? I've been looking for one from the states for ages with the oil pressure and voltmeter but they all seem to be the petrol variant (redline at 6000)

 

[YD25Frontier]

Can you post a pic of the cluster? I've been looking for one from the states for ages with the oil pressure and voltmeter but they all seem to be the petrol variant (redline at 6000)

 

[YD25Frontier]

Does anyone have a power steering pump pulley they’re willing to sell? The pulley I put on was bigger and does not make enough pressure at idle.

 

[gethro]

View attachment 38020

So basically the same as the AU variant. Shame that, really want one of the extended four minor gauge ones...

 

[YD25Frontier]

I got the intercooler mounted solid on the crossmember and some of the charge piping mocked up. The drivers side (LHD) will have the most bends, but will have plenty of room without cutting into the body at all. I have a 45deg silicone reducer for the throttle body side that should be here this week.

 

[YD25Frontier]

Question for you guys. Does the Glow plug relay operate off a PWM signal during warm up? The other day I could hear the relay cycling right after I started it for the first time that day. I’m wondering if I need to switch to a solid state relay?

 

[Old.Tony]

Not as far as I'm aware. From my reading, it's supposed to simply come on solid until the coolant temp reaches 85C and then it turns off. If it was modulating it might be trying to reduce the temperature of the glow plug, which doesn't make a lot of sense either. You want the fuel to combust!

 

[YD25Frontier]

Ok, I’ll try it again and see if it does it. Thanks Tony!

 

[YD25Frontier]

It looks like it does pulse the glow plug relay on warm up so I'm going to swap out the relay for a solid state one. I'm having the issue where the truck goes into limp mode after doing the surge dance. From what I'm reading the SCV needs a cleaning or replaced. I'll try cleaning it first to see if that resolves the issue.

 

[Old.Tony]

It looks like it does pulse the glow plug relay on warm up so I'm going to swap out the relay for a solid state one. I'm having the issue where the truck goes into limp mode after doing the surge dance. From what I'm reading the SCV needs a cleaning or replaced. I'll try cleaning it first to see if that resolves the issue.

The SCV is a known issue with these engines. I've had to replace mine a couple of times and have run injector cleaner through to resolve the hunting issues a few times now.

 

[YD25Frontier]

I pulled the SCV off today and it looked like new and operated just fine when I taped 12v to it. After doing more research I found out you can get the same surge from the engine if it detects the torque converter slipping. Turns out I was 2.5qts low on transmission fluid!! Topped it off and working like a charm now.

Can anyone tell me if you can hear the factory glow plug relay when it’s energized or is it silent? That will tell me if it’s a solid state relay or not.

 

[YD25Frontier]

So the surging came back and I ordered an SCV hoping that fixes it.

 

[landmannnn]

I pulled the SCV off today and it looked like new and operated just fine when I taped 12v to it. After doing more research I found out you can get the same surge from the engine if it detects the torque converter slipping. Turns out I was 2.5qts low on transmission fluid!! Topped it off and working like a charm now.

Can anyone tell me if you can hear the factory glow plug relay when it’s energized or is it silent? That will tell me if it’s a solid state relay or not.

The relay clicks, not loudy though

 

[YD25Frontier]

I replaced the SCV and that fixed the problem!