Any updates on the VR30 head issue?

[Apex_Z]

Surprised i haven't seen you driving around orlando, but I'm more on the west side.

ND1's I did hear had transmission issues, though.

They did, but my point is that I enjoyed mine for years with no issues, and beat on it pretty hard. Forum induced worry/anxiety can ruin what would otherwise be a good experience. I don't know of a single performance car that doesn't have some issue being worried about by their perpetually online owners...

 

[Crownleyian]

Fwiw, the possibilities for failures on your car go far beyond the head cracking. You have to decide if you are going to spend your time worrying about an issue that is unlikely to happen, or enjoy your car and deal with an issue if and when it occurs.

Wise words and I’ve done a deep search using several AI tools including paid ChatGPT and have gathered there has been world wide only 3 RZ34 with engines replaced. That’s a very tiny number in the grand scheme of cars sold worldwide, besides they don’t even seem like the same issue.

 

[trackratZ]

Wise words and I’ve done a deep search using several AI tools including paid ChatGPT and have gathered there has been world wide only 3 RZ34 with engines replaced. That’s a very tiny number in the grand scheme of cars sold worldwide, besides they don’t even seem like the same issue.

I'd say at this point the head cracking is an 'overblown' issue, understandable fears but no other verified reports on the RZ34 specifically.

Been tracking my 987.1 Cayman S knowing there is about 10% chance will have IMS bearing or bore scoring issue on the M97 engine, but that is a small number. Oil analysis is fine so far and over 80K miles on the engine.

So, at this point, why worry, I'm willing to wait for more details, proof. Nissan engineers need to come out and confirm yay or nay. There are Lemon Laws for most automakers anyway.

 

[Xylander]

That may be a difference of opinion. Not saying you are wrong, but the possibility of my head cracking to me is very much indicative of a problem.

Four transmissions, that is insane.

I might also be a bit spoiled, I admit. For the past 8 years, my dailies have been Hellcats, C8 Corvette, and a 1300hp S550 Mustang. I didn't modify any of the Hellcats because I don't have $30,000 to replace a blown Hellcat engine or $18,000 out of pocket to fix a C8 transmission.

It's entirely different with this Z, and is exactly why I bought it. A replacement engine for this Nismo Z is about half the cost of a supercharger replacement on my Hellcat Redeye (at dealership new part pricing). As such, I've started heavily modifying it (should be complete by April or May). I don't expect any issues, as I'm building this car up properly, but if I do end up blowing the engine, I can replace it without too much pain. In comparison, if I were to violate the warranty on the Redeye, the engine is $35,000 new in a crate and the transmission is $12,000. If I were to have to cough up that kind of cash for an engine replacement, it might take me a few months to get the cash together, but it could be done. I can thus afford to replace this Z's engine 5 times before I get in a similar pickle.

 

[Retread]

Fuck, I smelled coolant or a rubbery smell from
The engine on Saturday, I keep checking my temps while driving but I need to check my levels when it cools off in a bit

I've noticed this before on multiple vehicles & had the same fear, and it was unfounded almost every time (2 exceptions were both 20+ year old radiator cores failing). It is usually just the coolant reservoir venting pressure (and the sweet aroma of coolant) after it has been driven. See nozzle below the cap on diagram from Owner's Manual Page 8-5:

For now, keep calm & check the levels periodically is probably the right approach. Make an appointment with a dealer if you detect & document a consumption pattern, or coolant signs in the oil.

 

[Xylander]

I'd say at this point the head cracking is an 'overblown' issue, understandable fears but no other verified reports on the RZ34 specifically.

Been tracking my 987.1 Cayman S knowing there is about 10% chance will have IMS bearing or bore scoring issue on the M97 engine, but that is a small number. Oil analysis is fine so far and over 80K miles on the engine.

So, at this point, why worry, I'm willing to wait for more details, proof. Nissan engineers need to come out and confirm yay or nay. There are Lemon Laws for most automakers anyway.

The S550 Coyote V8 went through a similar rash of alarmist warnings about the oil pump gears. They could fail and cause the engine to drop to 0 oil pressure, thus wrecking the engine. It was so pervasive, that you almost can't find even a slightly modified Mustang that doesn't have a billet oil pump gear replacement.

This entire issue was started by a small handful of YouTubers that publicly documented their failures. Less than 10 cars are known to have had this failure (out of something like a half million units), but to this day, people don't trust the OEM oil pump gear in the GT, even though it's the same part number that was used on the 662hp 2012-2014 GT500. I could go into depth how these actual failures were caused by driver error, but that's a bit off topic.

Alarmism makes people do stupid things sometimes. There's not a car made that doesn't have some small % of catastrophic failures. Almost no cars made today are made wholly in-house. These factories are assembly plants where they're installing thousands of third-party supplied parts. These parts are made with modern QC practices and logistics contracts that allow for some % of failures. For example, a factory supplies light bulbs to Nissan. That contract may say, "98% of bulbs must work when tested." During assembly, any defective bulbs are sent back and replaced, but a few squeak through and end up in customers' hands.

If the rate of issues gets too high, Nissan might renegotiate a more expensive 99% quality pass rate to slow the occurrences of defective parts reaching customers. But, usually what happens is they go, "Huh, we could save a LOT by accepting an 80% pass rate and just refine our quality control and inspection processes. That way we save a lot of money and can tell customers we've changed quality processes and made improvements." This is exactly what Ford does

As such, nearly every part in your car has some negotiated acceptable early failure rate. The last time I checked, the industry average says the average new car buyer has 1.8 dealer warranty service calls in the first year of ownership (all models, all makes averaged) and 2.2 visits over 2 years.

 

[trackratZ]

This entire issue was started by a small handful of YouTubers that publicly documented their failures. Less than 10 cars are known to have had this failure (out of something like a half million units), but to this day, people don't trust the OEM oil pump gear in the GT, even though it's the same part number that was used on the 662hp 2012-2014 GT500. I could go into depth how these actual failures were caused by driver error, but that's a bit off topic.

Yeah, this! Why I'm still skeptical. Just because some YouTubers post issues and now publicized over the internet doesn't mean it's representative. We don't know what these 'YouTubers' did to maybe even cause the issue, they are after all trying to get clicks, and/or trying to sell products. Let's keep adding good, verifiable findings in this post, not just heresay, and sure hope our VR30 lives on.

 

[Xylander]

Yeah, this! Why I'm still skeptical. Just because some YouTubers post issues and now publicized over the internet doesn't mean it's representative. We don't know what these 'YouTubers' did to maybe even cause the issue, they are after all trying to get clicks, and/or trying to sell products. Let's keep adding good, verifiable findings in this post, not just heresay, and sure hope our VR30 lives on.

Yep, and in the case of the S550 Mustang, the oil pump gear is driven by the crank snout. Under heavy load (as in, higher than stock via boosting, usually), the crank snout can shift forward and break the OEM oil pump gear.

Every video I've ever seen of someone blowing their OPG was done while doing something stupid to the car. For example, I recall 3 videos, all of which were on 600-800hp modified engines. The drivers were all driving between 45-60 or so at high RPM (2nd or 3rd gear) with RPM at or around 6500-7000 rpm. They then started "goosing" the throttle from idle to WOT in repetitive quick stabs of the throttle. That cyclic action of 600-700 lb.ft. of torque caused the crank snout to shift, break the OPG and starve the engine of oil, resulting in a seized rotating assembly.

Dumb people doing stupid things to their cars is nothing new. If there's anything a dummy can find to blame for his problems, he'll do it and make a loud noise. But, it's been my experience that almost every odd engine failure I've seen on YouTube, they end up being user error. In this case, maybe it's just that im a bit older, but doing this with an old school pushrod V8 could bend valves, So, you didn't operate that close to the redline to begin with, and even if you did, you didn't do that type of WOT stabs because you could easily overspin the rotating assembly far past the redline. Younger people must not be learning the basics of big power cars these days.

It's like that story a couple years ago where a new Redeye owner blew his engine and he said Dodge denied his warranty due to his custom exhaust. This was all over every major car website/magazine until the Dodge engineer that certified the claim denial provided the car's PCM data that shows it was tuned (poorly) and the tuner set the fuel far too lean, and it leaned out at WOT near max duty cycle and the resulting predetonation wrecked 2 rods. The YouTuber got caught being dishonest by reverting the car to stock and tried to hide Dodge's tamper code. Dodge served him a cease and desist order as he'd made a half dozen 20+ minute long, "Dodge sucks, woe is me, I'm a little person and Dodge is going to try and sweep this under the rug" type videos. Last I checked, he had deleted his social media and closed down his YT channel. The car was repo'd after he lost his sponsorships and ended up getting sued by the bank for the balance after they liquidated his car.

 

[Leroy819]

Keep your ear to the ground/forums and take care of your car in the meantime. I check my coolant, engine oil and brake fluid once a month. I always have with every car I have owned. I do my own service every 6,000km with an oil sample and a photo from underneath the car for my records. It's definitely possible they have an issue and people haven't noticed the trend yet, especially if they are following the factory oil change intervals (please do them sooner, so you can at least get an inspection done).

I am waiting to see more hard evidence of stock cars having issues before I start to worry. I did see common issues with stock BMWs when I worked on German cars and I don't doubt we will see some common problems that affect a majority of the Z cars. For now, I will enjoy my car and push it on the weekends but I also don't track my car or push it too hard. It's my daily driver and doesn't do short drives or hard drives which helps with longevity.

So far the only issue I have seen is the paint peeling on some suspension components and I quickly buffed and repainted them during my 12,000km oil change.

 

[kevinbonds]

Every car has some sort of issue, the VR30 is a mass-produced motor, and although there were early failures, I really don't concern myself with it. The VR30 in the Z is a great powerplant and can make great power with some exhaust mods and a tune. The Z is a weekend toy for me, so I don't put enough miles on it worry about any engine issues. And to be honest, the VR30 is so plentiful, if the engine had an issue post warranty, I would just replace it. I had a GT500 previously, and just the short block on those cars is 12-15K a VR30 OEM long block is like 7-8k total.

 

[Crownleyian]

I've actually got a project going with ChatGPT with data relating to RZ34 Engine issues and cases:

3 engines Replacements/Failures out of something like ~20–25,000 RZ34s sold worldwide so far.


If we stick to numbers we can actually see (not guess):

• Japan: about 11,379 RZ34s sold from July 2022 to Sept 2025 みのたけくらし
• USA: 10,020 Zs sold from 2022 launch through Q3 2025 Nissan Z Forum
• Canada: at least 709 (2022–2024) Wikipedia
• Australia: roughly 1,000-ish total across 2022–2025 based on VFACTS summaries (449 in 2023, 320 in 2024, plus smaller 2022 + 2025 YTD numbers) CarExpert+2Driving Enthusiast+2

Just those four regions alone already give you ~23,000 cars on the road, and there are extra cars in the Middle East, NZ, SE Asia, Latin America on top of that. Wikipedia

So:

• Known confirmed catastrophic VR30DDTT/RZ34 engine replacements we dug up: 3
• Reasonable global RZ34 population now: ≈ 23,000+ cars
• Crude visible failure rate:
  3÷23,000≈0.00013  =  0.013%3 \div 23{,}000 \approx 0.00013 \;=\; 0.013\%3÷23,000≈0.00013=0.013%

Obviously that’s only counting cases that hit forums / groups / news – there will be some unreported ones – but even if the real number is several times higher, it’s still very low in percentage terms.


So to answer your question cleanly:

It’s about 3 out of ~23,000+ sold worldwide so far — on the order of one hundredth of a percent.

 

[trackratZ]

@Crownleyian much appreciate your research! Keep us updated. But at this point I won’t lose sleep over this. I’ll still put my money on it, those with cracking issues are from careless damaging mods!

 

[chadhunley]

I just went through the post on FB with regard to the one Nismo that had the engine failure and noticed that the car had intakes and an exhaust. They were running 5w30 oil. The only interesting part is they had a Z1 hotbox on it for awhile until they noticed coolant loss, then it was disconnected.

It's hard to speculate if any of these factors caused the failure. As for the comment about the bottom end of the motor going with no warning, could this be the stuck oil solenoid, maybe, who knows? Hopefully, we'll get more information with their findings.

 

[Peteyboii]

So

On engine #3 now....ugh.
Libbys bulls#it.
Sick of talking about it but wanted it to be known for other Z headz...
First went around 36,000 miles, coolent entered oil, sludge in pan, like the.
Second time wasn't high rpm or anything else (neither was first time) I was actually leaving a well known establishment, just grabbed a burger and a coffee shake, and it starts with the number after 4, and ends with GUYS......A camshaft piece cracked in half, not the wide lobes, the end one, probably 1/4 inch thick with a hole for a pin....looking for pic now

Sorry jusy to confirm your on ur third engine? So I should definitely not buy this car without warranty lol...?

 

[Peteyboii]

How U

look I get you and I’m the first to be concerned about this too but we are talking about 3 Nissan Zs with reported engine replacement, that’s very minimal in the grand scheme of things. Besides their all related to different issues and no tech has reported cracked head yet.
The tech working on the Nismo is actually in that FB group and hopefully he will give us some insight on what actually when wrong.

I should be pissed/concerned because I just got a HKS Super Turbo for my Nismo that’s 5.9k AUD, but you know what f#ck it… one day at a time!

How U gonna run turbos and mods and keep warranty? I'm in Aus this issue makes me not want to buy one