The 2.5-liter Nissan QR25DE engine (or QR25 for short) has been assembled at factories in Japan and the USA since 2000 and is installed on such popular concern models as the Altima, Caravan, Frontier and X-Trail. The engine was seriously upgraded in 2007, so some distinguish its two generations.
This engine with distributed fuel injection had a rather progressive design: an aluminum 4-cylinder block with cast-iron liners and an open cooling jacket, an aluminum 16-valve cylinder head without hydraulic compensators and an inlet phase control system, a timing drive with a leaf chain, individual ignition coils, and also a block balancers.
In 2007, an updated version of this motor appeared with an impressive list of changes: other pistons, camshafts, an intake manifold, a block of balancer shafts were shifted to the center, additional support was added, and another anti-friction coating of friction surfaces. The latest versions of this engine were equipped with dephasers on both camshafts.
The QR25DE is rated poorly by owners. It is a pronounced “one-time” with a mileage of just over 200 with an extremely attentive and careful attitude. The engine appeared due to a significant expansion of the piston stroke (by 20 mm) in the two-liter QR20DE with the replacement of the crankshaft and camshaft at the exhaust. Oil problems and resource depletion are more common here, but after 2007 the engine has become much better.
The QR family: QR20DE, QR20DD, QR25DE, QR25DD, QR25DER.
Specifications
| Manufacturer | Yokohama Plant Nissan Decherd Powertrain Plant |
| Production years | since 2000 |
| Cylinder block alloy | aluminum |
| Fuel system | distributed injection |
| Configuration | inline |
| Number of cylinders | 4 |
| Valves per cylinder | 4 |
| Piston stroke, mm | 100 |
| Cylinder bore, mm | 89 |
| Compression ratio | 9.1 9.5 10.5 |
| Displacement, cc | 2488 |
| Power output, hp | 152/5200 160/5600 173/6000 178/6000 182/6000 200/6600 250/5600 |
| Torque output, Nm / rpm | 245/4400 240/4000 234/4000 244/4000 244/4000 244/5200 329/3600 |
| Fuel type | petrol |
| Euro standards | Euro 3/4 |
| Weight, kg | 121 |
| Fuel consumption, L/100 km (for Nissan X-Trail 2005) — city — highway — combined |
12.6 7.6 9.4 |
| Oil consumption, gr/1000 km | up to 500 |
| Recommended engine oil | 5W-30, 5W-40 |
| Engine oil capacity, liter | 5.1 |
| Oil change interval, km | 15000 |
| Normal engine operating temperature, °C | ~90 |
| Engine lifespan, km | ~300 000 |
The engine was installed on:
- Nissan Altima 3 (L31) in 2001 – 2006; Altima 4 (L32) in 2006 – 2013; Altima 5 (L33) in 2012 – 2018;
- Nissan Bassara 1 (JU30) in 2000 – 2003;
- Nissan Caravan 5 (E25) in 2007 – 2012; Caravan 6 (E26) since 2012;
- Nissan Frontier 2 (D40) in 2004 – 2021; Frontier 3 (D23) since 2014;
- Nissan Murano 1 (Z50) in 2002 – 2007; Murano 2 (Z51) in 2007 – 2014;
- Nissan Presage 1 (U30) in 2001 – 2003; Presage 2 (U31) in 2003 – 2009;
- Nissan Rogue 1 (S35) in 2007 – 2015; Rogue 2 (T32) in 2013 – 2020;
- Nissan Sentra 5 (B15) in 2001 – 2006; Sentra 6 (B16) in 2006 – 2012;
- Nissan Serena 2 (C24) in 2001 – 2005;
- Nissan Elgrand 3 (E52) since 2010;
- Nissan Teana 2 (J32) in 2008 – 2013; Teana 3 (L33) in 2013 – 2020;
- Nissan Terra 1 (D23) since 2018;
- Nissan X-Trail 1 (T30) in 2000 – 2007; X-Trail 2 (T31)in 2007 – 2014; X-Trail 3 (T32) in 2013 – 2022;
- Renault Koleos 1 (HY) in 2007 – 2016; Koleos 2 (HC) since 2016;
- Suzuki Equator 1 (D40) in 2008 – 2012.
Disadvantages of the QR25DE engine
- Until 2004, motors were equipped with not very durable catalysts, which quickly collapsed, and their crumbs were sucked into the combustion chambers. Also, engines until 2006 had an intake manifold with turbulator flaps, the bolts of which were unscrewed and fell into the cylinders with similar consequences.
- Most of the complaints from the owners of such a unit are somehow related to the oil burner. The reasons are not only scuffing in the cylinders, but also the wear of the valve stem seals and the occurrence of thin oil scraper rings, which often occurs even up to 100,000 km. On long runs, a significant ellipse of cylinders also joins the culprits.
- The Morse thin plate chain is also not the highest resource here, it can stretch critically and start making a lot of noise already at 150 thousand kilometers. It is often recommended to replace the phase regulator with the chain, but you can simply wash it.
- Another common problem here is the regular breakdown of the cylinder head gasket. The culprit is usually a failed thermostat or dirty radiators. In this case, deformation of the head is often encountered, and sometimes the appearance of microcracks.
- A lot of trouble is thrown by unreliable camshaft and crankshaft position sensors, a rather buggy electric throttle, as well as eternally flowing candle well seals. And do not forget to adjust the thermal clearances of the valves, there are no hydraulic compensators here.
