THE WORST JDM ENGINES OF ALL TIME

The Toyota 2JZ, Nissan RB26, and Mitsubishi 4G63 all have one thing in common: they're known as legendary Japanese engines that everyone seemingly loves.

But, what about the engines that not everyone loves? Well, that's what we're looking at today: the WORST JDM engines of all time.

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[Dustrunnersauto]

What engines would you add to this list? 👀

[hunterboone]

As someone who owns an EJ257, a VG30, and a 3V, this video felt like an AA meeting lmao

[AllTheBoost]

I agree the vg30 is hard to work on, but when running 8s on a stock bottom end in the 1/4 it shouldn’t be on this list. No de/hr/vhr can do that

[MasterYotaRunner]

I ended up buying a 3vze 93 toyota pickup with 200k that spent a few days at the bottom of a lake. Drained all the fluids, refilled them and used it as my daily/mud truck/rock crawler for years. That motor never gave me a single issue despite being bounced off the limiter almost daily. Maybe a factory freak??😅

[thatloudCG]

7M just needs a Hoonigan spec torque down with the torque wrench which is basically all of it. Delete the head bolts, get ARP studs, new head gasket, and SEND IT HOME.

[dmandman]

I had a 7MGE non turbo. The only problem I had was indeed the head gasket. Thankfully, it failed INSTANTLY . The engine didn’t even overheat. All I had to do was replace the head gasket. I didn’t even have to resurface the head. I torqued the bolts a bit tighter than the specs required and was good to go. I did the same with a customers turbo equipped version. Other than that, they were excellent engines. This was a self imposed problem by Toyota. They should have torqued the heads a bit tighter at the factory.

[jamescarrick]

The 3.0 in 4Runners does have a nasty head gasket issue but, rerouting the exhaust from manifold back resolved that problem for me. And using a Magna-flow cat, a Flowmaster muffler, and a twerk to the air intake system did a lot to resolve the power and fuel economy issues of my '95 4Runner with over 350k miles. Other than timing belt replacements @ 75k and general maintenance the motor is still running great

[LarsonPetty]

Sh!ts on the 300hp by a 3.0l Nissan VG. Meatrides the 300hp 3.0l Toyota 2jz. Seems legit.

[SenorSiesta]

Subaru marketing: “this year’s model has a 25% increase in miles per head gasket.”

[robwhite]

Subaru diesel needs to be on this list.

[nickknee]

I've heard the head gasket issues on the 3VZ usually rears its ugly head after 300k+ miles, usually by then the frame has been disintegrated and it just time for a new car.

[boeing]

As the owner of a 760rwhp/731ft.lbs torque(see linked video)1995 300 ZXTT, that I've owned since 96, I can attest to some of the problems you mentioned. Yes, the VG is a tight fit, but unless you are doing something major, everything you would do under the category, Routine Maintenance, is easily done as everything, including replacing the spark plugs, are right there and easily accessed. The "hardest" part is removing the five bolts, also easily accessible, of the balance tube and lifting it up out of the way, in order to access the number 6 plug. Moving the tube takes about two minutes. The bad news is, actually removing the engine from a stock Z IS a pain. Nissan WAY over engineered this car. It literally has brackets to hold up brackets. I guess that's what happens when you own the first, fully CAD designed car. And for someone who has never done it, it can, will be, a daunting task. If pulling your engine is on your list of things to do, I highly, HIGHLY recommend you have someone else help you that has done it before and actually knows what they are doing. Otherwise you may get so frustrated you end up kicking a big dent in the side of your Z. The good news is, once you do get the engine out, your Z KNOWLEDGEABLE buddy can show you what you can eliminate, things like the EGR valve and all its piping for instance. You will be shocked at the pile of "spare parts" you'll end up with, and how much easier it was to reinstall than to remove the engine. But, the key is, knowing how and what you are doing. Have I mentioned that enough?

As you mentioned, the oiling system does have some problems. And I agree, 4.5 quarts of oil is not enough for a sports car. Also, the opening for the oil pickup tube sit only about a half an inch from the bottom of the pan. and it doesn't take much of hit to dent the pad enough to actually block oil from entering the tube. I've seem three instances where that has been the cause of the rod bearings being starved of oil. I personally have never seen a rod bearing oil starvation issues that was not related to a blocked, or almost blocked, oil pick up tube. But I have heard of another issue, not related to a blocked tube. This one gets back to the low 4.5 quart oil pan capacity. It just doesn't hold enough to insure the oil pickup tube opening will not be exposed to air when running on a twisty track. A Specialty Z, seven quart oil pan solves these problems and fits perfectly.

However there is one more problem, that on its face, appears to be an oil system problem, but in fact has to do with the width of the rod bearing journals when the engine is highly modified to say 600 or more HP. Modern engines have wider bearing journals then older designs. So what happens is, the increased pressure placed on the rods and bearings of a highly modified engine will overcome the stock oil pressure and squeeze out the protective oil film between the bearings and the journal, causing a spun or seized bearing. However, the fix for this problem is an easy one. The oil tree has two pressure regulators on it. Shimming both with three small 1 mil thick washers will increase the oil pressure substantially. I routinely see cold engine start up oil pressures of 107 psi, and high power setting pressures of 90 plus PSI. More than enough to overcome the added forces placed on the rod bearings, keeping them well lubricated. But. its VITAL that you remove and block off the two ball and spring oil filter bypass valves located on the oil tree. The springs, despite being old, were never designed to hold those high pressures. If those valves are not removed and the holes blocked off they will stay open pretty much all the time, sending unfiltered oil throughout your engine and taking out every bearing within a few hundred miles. DON'T FORGET TO BLOCK OFF THE BYPASS VALVES! And never, EVER use any head gaskets other then the flimsy looking stock ones, sprayed on both sides with copper spray. Trust me on this one, I know from personal experience. All those expensive multi layered aftermarket head gaskets look impressive, so it's very easy to believe they will be much better, but they will eventually fail in this engine. My $200 plus Tomei multi layered ones failed on me shortly after installing my newly fully built engine, racing a Hellcat. But at least I won, by a lot.

EVERY engine has its issues, and the VG is no different, but it certainly does not deserve to be in a video titled "The worst JDM engines of all time", THAT'S for sure. And it's winning racing history is proof of this.

[lukesimmons]

i had a 3vze in a 95 4runner, tipped it on its side. whole passenger side block was flooded with oil. pulled all three plugs and it ran on 3 cylinders. never had issues after that

[davidtaing]

Owner of a VG30DETT here. Main thing that makes these engines a nightmare is the coolant lines under the intake plenum. Delete that and it makes working on the engine way easier. It really isn't that bad once this is done.

Every engine has it's issues. 2JZ requires a stand alone just to allow basic tuning and can't have any mail-in ecu/chip. I could run over 18psi with a $250 ECU upgrade and injectors.

The VG30 will do over 400whp with basic bolt ons with injectors. You'll touch the 600whp mark on stock motor, stock fuel pump on street fuel.

As for the oil, I agree that the pan is quite small but I just do shorter oil change intervals. I do my oil changes every 2000km and it's not just my 300zx all the other turbo cars imo.

[malrofo]

Dam i liked the VG engines. I had a pathfinder with a vg33e. It was incredibly smooth, never have me a problem, and had heaps of mid and low end torque.
It had absolutely no top end however

[ZX-eszw]

I've owned 3 Z32s and 2 had the VG30DETT.
The cramped workspace was the only thing that bothered me.

[yosvanirodriguez]

Another YouTuber spreading misinformation about the VG. If you’re a shade tree mechanic, just say it. Everyone with a VG upgrades the turbos and oiling is perfectly fine if you’re competent enough to keep a eye on your oil. But it’s okay, keep the value down so we can keep buying them 😂

[sannissansanjuan]

Your Forgetting the Mitsubishi 6G72 V6 Twin Turbo, 3 times worse than the Z Twin Turbo V6

[Zi.Zenior]

Thanks for being fair to the VG30DETT. The oil capacity is sometimes remedied by adding 5 quarts to the engine and it runs fine. Some people add oil coolers for extra capacity. It being hard to work on isn’t really a problem with the engine as much as a problem with space in the chassis 😅

[SnapOffFilms]

I really don’t understand why so many people have issues with their EJs… mines got 228k of almost daily abuse and I’ve never touched it. I have a NA sohc Subaru that’s got a wicked set of cams on literally stock EVERYTHING but exhaust and still no issues.