Blown VVEL !!!

BGTV8

Oil pump gears in the OEM VQ37 engine are not very robust. Any of the race teams running the VQ engines will replace the oil pump gears (NISMO Japan offer replacement gears). For me, "if" I was pushing hard, I would go dry sump right off the bat ... cheaper than an engine re-build.

IMHO, if a car is being pushed "hard", then making sure the oiling is solid is the first place to start - at the very least, consider an accumulator.

Over the years (the last 40-odd), I have lost maybe 4 engines to oiling problems, and these are full-race engines. It really, really ruins your weekend and the following 6 months - no seat time and mega-expense (usually unscheduled) which causes the "trouble-and-strife" (wife) to go ballistic.

The other thing to do is data log oil pressure and make real sure that you have a 40psi external pressure switch plumbed into the high pressure circuit which is hooked up to a big red light in the dash somewhere - if that puppy comes on, shut the engine down ... driving back the the pits slowly risks catastrophic component failure. Check the data logging after each run looking for oil pressure drops which indicate time to pull the engine and check bearings.

NISMO VQ engine parts on NISMO.JP site are here (is mainly VQ35 but still applicable).

NISMO | VQ35DE Engine Parts