W SERIES WOODRUFF KEY

Why not just go to the dealership and buy about 5 of them in various sizes. They are all about 1 dollar each.

A 1999 Nissan Quest key will work. I'm confident in telling you that most keys from the VG33's will work. Frontier, Xterra, Quest, Villager, etc. as my Z31 key fits well into the VG33 slot, and are the same dimensions. Heck, even my RB30 key is the same as the Z31 key. Try any late 80's early 90's Nissan or try a key from the same engine classification (VG-E and VG-DE being your only options here).

Maybe even a Z32 key will work.

[quote]Careless wrote: You must have missed the part where I said that the dealership claims they dont have the right size. I pulled the key out of my extra motor when I got home.
I did pick up a package of various size keys from autozone hoping that they would work and one seems to be close. I have never seen one shear off though, so I was a little leery of getting the exact one I need. I have pulled plenty of motors apart and have never had to replace one or have one slip out, so I was like "WTF!! IM SCREWED!"

You are right about nissan using a general size, but I dont happen to have 10 different motors laying around, bro. I did order keys from courtesy and will replace the one I stole out of my 87's motor.

Thanks for the reference though, Careless. Some other goof like me will run into the same problem and hopefully stumble on here and not feel like a total moron lol.

I do think the crank snout is messed up though from the pulley wobbling around on it. Luckily I have a friend with another W-series crank that I can score from him.

Hey Todd,

no I didn't miss that part where you said the dealership didn't have any of the correct size, because that's not what you said. You said they did not have any for a Z31.

Nissan likes to superceed numbers and sometimes they are not put into the suppression chain / breakdown on the FAST system they use.

That's why I recommended ones from other motors, to see if your dealership carried them. I know the VG33 and the Skyline numbers are different, while they are the same key. And some of their ignition and fuel components from Skylines to Sentras do have the same number… So it was something to look into.

However, if your key is messed up, your keyway is probably shot all to hell too, like you suspect.

Good luck with the new crank, get some new bearings and why not get some ARP rod bolts pressed in to the rods while you're at it. Nissan rod bolts are the weak link in most of the bottom ends if the combustion cycle is spot on. The pistons will survive but the rod bolts tend to stretch real fast.

That's looking at RB25's… but then again, I can't see Nissan using a different casting process for the pistons in that respect… and the rod bolts always go wonky, so it's just something to think about.

Raff

That is great advice and I will definetly do that if I have to replace the crank. I do appreciate the heads up, Raff!