Nissan VQ35 (VQ family, 2.0–3.8)

Nissan's 3.5-litre V6, and one of the most widely praised engines of its generation — the Maxima, Altima, Murano, Pathfinder, 350Z and most of the Infiniti range have carried a version, and it appeared on Ward's Ten Best Engines list for fourteen consecutive years.

The faults are age faults rather than design ones, with one well-known exception: early VQ35DE engines are associated with oil consumption, traced to the piston rings and to a PCV arrangement that draws oil under some conditions. As with the QR25, consumption is only half the problem — the other half is what running low does to a chain-driven engine, and to the catalytic converters downstream.

The later VQ35HR and direct-injected VQ35DD are substantially revised and should not inherit that reputation automatically. Across all versions, the transverse installations bury the rear bank against the bulkhead, so rear-bank service is the expensive half of any routine job.

This page answers for the whole VQ family, not the 3.5 alone. It carries the VQ20DE, VQ25DE, VQ25HR, VQ25DD, VQ30DE and VQ38DD as well, so the cars listed below run anything from 2.0 to 3.8 litres. The architecture is what the faults above belong to; the displacement is what a part number belongs to, so read the code off the block before ordering.