Thread: SR20VE spun a Rod, I want to put a NEW crank in, what can I use? Best place/price?

I put a Sr20ve in my 93 Nx 2000, and was loving it until a rod bearing spun after 3000 miles.

Can I use any SR20 crank as a replacement? Is their one better than another? Out of what car? and what Year?
Any suggestions on where to get one, at a reasonable price, would be really helpful.

1) How was your oil level at the time this happened or what was it afterwards when you checked

2) What were you doing to the car at the time the bearing spun. Driving normally or redlining?

3) The best NA VE in terms of power output is the black top, makes 205HP stock. Assuming you had the red top like most of us which is 187HP stock. But the blacks are expensive.

4) Sucks only 3,000 miles this happened. Usually it happens for a reason, either redlining it like crazy and then shutting the motor off (happened to my brother, he was racing someone in his 93 SE-R, thought he saw a cop, shut the car off near redline and coasted to a driveway, started it back up and there goes the bearing) - but that thing was a sludge monster. Were you using synthetic oil?

any SR20DE crank can be used. You need to have the machine shop line hone the block for the new crank. While your at it get some eagle rods just if you plan to rev it hard later. Might as well since you have to rebuild the bottom end.

Yep that's why there's some people who just put the VE head on the DE block

If you want a four weight crank like the one that came with the motor, source a 2000+ infiniti g20 with the roller rocker engine. idk if they come in any other usdm cars.

To be honest non of those options will be cheap. You stated as cheap as possible.... What's your skill level? Replacing a crank is not that easy for the average garage mech. I get sr20ve motors for 700-800$ all the time. Replacing the motor is easy and cheap. Then sell your ve head and oiling parts to some 240sx guy for 400$ like I do and BAM 400$s for the new motor.

se200 is right, just get another VE motor, sell off the old one for money towards it (a nice looking red VE valve cover can fetch $150 easy itself) and monitor the oil pressure/levels carefully, don't rev too high unless you get N1's and springs..

It is not hard to replace a crank but it does include tearing down the motor, new gaskets, new bearings, water or oil pump, and some machine work. If you plan on keeping the car/motor for awhile i would rebuild it. It seems most motors now are older and higher mileage and prone to the same failure. If you rebuild it with new parts it should last longer than any other VE you find. It is not the cheapest option but will be the most reliable.

I bought a use VE with a spun bearing, i was told (by multiple people) to just swap bearings and run it. I decided to do a total rebuild and am glad I did. We found 6 or 7 bent exhaust valves and other issues that would have costed me more if I would have just swapping bearings.

If you need a cheap fix and want to rebuild the VE, find a DE to through in until the VE is done.

Thanks for the advise. I was taking it up though the gears, hitting red line (7500) each gear, getting onto a tollway (75 speed limit) testing the new vibrant muffler and resonator ( They sound GREAT!!!, powerful but nicely quiet) that was just installed on the car, when I heard a knock knock knock sound.
Turns out my pvc valve was broken and fully open so the intake was sucking major amounts of oil out of the engine. I let the engine get too low previously, and it bit me in the butt. The engine is a black top and the 93 NX 2000 that it was in, has been mine for about 7 years, it was a Georgia car, no rust what so ever.
The motor is currently out of the car and fully dismantled. I am having the head checked, it will probably get a bit of port and polish work done to it.

I saw a thread that was back in 2012, how Mazworx's( Orlando Florida) was having a sale on sr20ve short blocks, seems that they sell alot of sr20ve heads, and have blocks, etc to sell. They are going to sent me a used sr20ve crankshaft , that will have good specs, be able to run standard acl racing bearings, polish the rods and mains, for $200, add another $37 for shipping to the Denver area, and I will be putting my engine back together.

I plan on having this car/engine for a while, and want it to be reliable, I put 50,000 miles on the sr20de that was in the car,(it had 196,000 when I pulled it.)

I second that motion.