Engine Nissan QR25DE

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.

QR family: QR20DE, QR20DD, QR25DE, QR25DD, QR25DER.

Specifications

Production years	since 2000
Displacement, cc	2488
Fuel system	distributed injection
Power output, hp	152/5200 160/5600 173/6000 178/6000 182/6000 200/6600 250/5600
Torque output, Nm	230 – 245
Cylinder block	aluminum R4
Block head	aluminum 16v
Cylinder bore, mm	89
Piston stroke, mm	100
Compression ratio	9.1 9.5 10.5
Hydraulic lifters	no
Timing drive	chain
Turbocharging	no
Recommended engine oil	5W-30, 5W-40
Engine oil capacity, liter	5.1
Fuel type	petrol
Euro standards	Euro 3/4
Fuel consumption, L/100 km (for Nissan X-Trail 2005) — city — highway — combined	12.6 7.6 9.4
Engine lifespan, km	~300 000
Weight, kg	121
Oil consumption, gr/1000 km	up to 500
Oil change interval, km	15000

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.

Frequently asked questions about the Nissan QR25DE