infmaous clicking noise

altimatech · #1 (**permalink**) 08-19-2008, 09:24 PM

hey all, long time altimas.net/nissanclub member just wondering if anyone has experienced this problem with their altimas yet. problem being there is a loud clicking noise coming from what sounds like the timing chain area. i've tooken it to the dealer once for this problem and was told it was being caused by my oil being 2 quarts low and not lubricating the chain properly, so had them do an oil change since i already had the stuff to change it in the back of the car and after that it ran fine with no noise at all, that is until it came time to do another oil change. changed the oil myself and put the recommended 4.75 quarts in and changed the filter. Started it up and low and behold the clicking came back, now i've been driving like this for the past few months faithfully changing the oil every 3,000 miles and am still having the same issue. Tried changing over to 0w-30 as one member suggested here which does seem to alleviate the clicking some as it clicks when the engine is cold and goes away after about 5 minutes whereas with 5w-30 it clicks for about a good 10 to 15 minutes and then goes away. Other things i have tried are a motor flush, sea foam in air intake crankcase and fuel tank, and of course several different brands and weights of oil (only switching between 0w and 5w-30)...heck i even tried royal purple oil and that had no effect...am i missing something or is it just time to change the timing chain? btw the car has 165,000 miles on it now and it been doing this since around a little over 100,000 miles. oh and as a last note i've changed the spark plugs too from some auto lite pieces of crap that a shop i took it too put in there back to brand new ngk oem spark plugs still to no avail...someone please heeeellllpp!!?? lol

froedrick · #2 (**permalink**) 08-19-2008, 10:55 PM

Assume you have a 3.5. I've been using ow30 German Syntec since my 2nd oil change. I used to (up till I changed to Syntec) get the chain rattle on startup. Now I still get it for just a barely noticeable split second. That's all. I'd say you're most likely OK. Most of the 3.5s do it to varying degrees. It's when they continue to do it after warmup that would cause me to worry. It's also possible that you may be hearing a bit of cam follower rattle. We do have
"solid" followers (lifters for the old school) that will wear to a degree. The rattle can be gotten rid of by changing all the followers to new with the proper tolerance; but that's a very expensive prospect that's not really necessary unless the sound just drives you nuts.

altimatech · #3 (**permalink**) 08-20-2008, 01:09 AM

yeah i do have a 3.5 and yes as i stated it does go away after about 5 minutes when using 0w-30, it just concerned me is all cause i thought the timing chain might be going out and looking at the cost of those i just about crapped myself. the only other reason it concerned me was that somehow the nissan techs got it to go away when they did the oil change and i havent been able to duplicate that.

froedrick · #4 (**permalink**) 08-20-2008, 10:45 PM

I'd say that it's probably time to just go ahead and start using 10w30 oil, considering the amount of your mileage on the car. With the probable amount of wear on the engine, you would be better off going to a thicker oil, maybe even 10w40. The best thing for you to do would be to pm il_signore97 for his opinion, or check out bobistheoilguy.com. I'm not an oil expert.

altimatech · #5 (**permalink**) 08-21-2008, 06:29 AM

hey froedrick thanks for the input, however one thing that i mentioned in my original post is still bothering me and that is that when i took it into the dealer and had them checkout the noise they said it was cause the oil was 2 quarts low. i had alreay gotten a 5 quart bottle of 5w-30 mobil 1 and a new filter and they changed the oil for me for less than what they usually charge. long story short after they did the oil change at the nissan dealer the sound went away, that is until the next oil change that i did myself which is when it came back. one thing to note is i have always used synthetic oil ever since the car reached 3,000 miles.

fishbone · #6 (**permalink**) 08-21-2008, 03:10 PM

Are you using OEM oil filters? If not, aftermarket filters have different flow rates especially when the engine is cold. Go back to an OEM oil filter and see if it makes a difference.

Nismom · #7 (**permalink**) 08-21-2008, 07:40 PM

Mike!!

Hit me up on AIM sometime, hon!

froedrick · #8 (**permalink**) 08-22-2008, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by altimatech

hey froedrick thanks for the input, however one thing that i mentioned in my original post is still bothering me and that is that when i took it into the dealer and had them checkout the noise they said it was cause the oil was 2 quarts low. i had alreay gotten a 5 quart bottle of 5w-30 mobil 1 and a new filter and they changed the oil for me for less than what they usually charge. long story short after they did the oil change at the nissan dealer the sound went away, that is until the next oil change that i did myself which is when it came back. one thing to note is i have always used synthetic oil ever since the car reached 3,000 miles.

It might be the OEM filter as mentioned by fishbone. I use a Bosch Premium 3323 and have had good service. I've been hearing for quite some time that it's a good idea to put your engine back on petro oil after it gets mature (old). Not sure why, but if you're still getting good service out of synth. Might just as well stick with it.

PbLead · #9 (**permalink**) 08-22-2008, 04:57 AM

I'd hate to be the bearer of bad news but I have fixed two of these. If it sounds like a rattle, like a baseball card in the spokes of a bike, you may have a broken primary timing chain tensioner guide. If you are realy knowledgeble and have some pretty nifty tools (swivel sockets, 1/4" air ratchet impact etc.) you can gain access to and remove the engine mount infront of the front cover, then you will see a black cover, clossest to the firewall. Remove the 3 10mm bolts and the cover and you will see the guide. If the tensioner looks fully extended and is ontop of the flat ledge of the guide. the tensioner is suspposed to push against the flat face of the ledge of the guide. Then the guide has brokend and the guide has slid down causing exccess slack in your chain. If you do not have any professional tools, take it to the dealer. It'll be more trouble than its worth. If i'm right (which I can't really tell you because I havn't heard your noise for myself) then, the engine will need to come out (easiest way) and the front cover will need to come off. You mightg as wll replaced the secondary chains and tensioners while your there, they have problems with excessive wear and cause a whining niose regardless of temperature.

Oh, if it lasts for a few seconds on a cold start, I wouldn't worry about it, but if it lasts longer than that yeah.

altimatech · #10 (**permalink**) 08-23-2008, 02:36 PM

thanks fishbone, froedrick, and pblead appreciate the input and will look into all your suggestions as i do have access to a swivel socket and air impact wrench. one question though if i switch back to the oem oil filter what petro oil would you suggest puttin in with it? pennzoil, castrol, mobil? and as far as how long the sound lasts, it will only do it for literally less than a block and only 2 minutes at most.

p.s.

i do have a digi cam if any of you would like me to upload a short recording of the sound that im talking about. just let me know how to do that here as i have never uploaded anything to nissanclub, lol.

froedrick · #11 (**permalink**) 08-24-2008, 02:11 AM

I'm still inclined to think it's worn cam followers. As to what petro oil to use, any name brand will do; but I'm partial to Castrol, having used nothing but that (0w30 Syntec) in my 3.5. I used to have a Triumph TR-6, which never saw anything but Castrol (petro) for 10 years and 175,000 miles (20w50 racing oil.) By the time the TR-6 had that many miles, the engine was still strong and ran about 75-100 lbs. oil pressure under load. BTW-I wouldn't use that heavy a grade oil in the 3.5 however.

altimatech · #12 (**permalink**) 08-24-2008, 05:59 AM

well went to the dealer today after taking a video along with the sound to them and the first words out of the guys mouth were "timing chain is going" so i went ahead and scheduled an appointment for end of next month and hopefully it she survives that long cause at the moment i dont have quite enough funds to cover the labor and the chain itself. i did however switch back to the oem filter which seemed to help a tiny bit as the noise went away after about 2 or 3 minutes instead of the 5 and a half minutes i timed it at with my digicam this morning.