myer84

iTrader: (1)

That is the same answer I got from the stealer, but I have no warranty anymore. It's not a loud sound, but knowing that its there is annoying. I just hope it's not the guide pins. Let me know what they tell you.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

did you watch the 2nd video? it's a loud whining sound that increases with engine speed. kind of sounds like a supercharger. i would take it in and have them diagnose it.

my car been out of the shop for almost a week now. the noise is completely gone.

hmr1979

I listed all the problems that was found in my other post, but I think you need to check the drive belts. That was what was making the whistling sound in mine. It's not too expensive for what they quoted parts and labor - $153 and that would be oem.

The clanking sound on my other video was due to bad motor mounts indeed. A whopping 375 bucks! Thank god I got the "gold" coverage with Fidelity. Had I gone with the silver, that would not be covered. I already dropped 6 bills on shocks and struts last week.

hmr1979

I did watch the second one after the fact, sorry. But yeah, I can definitely hear it. I was sweating thinking it would be the same problem with mine, but it wasn't. it was the drive belts.

If my tensioner go bad, it better go bad before 75k, that's when my warranty runs out. but it does cover it thank god.

Kryogen

Mine was whistling when cold at idle, it was the belts tensionner pulley or something, was covered under warranty. They changed the belts too, and they charged me half the labor for that (retarded cause they had to take em out for the pulley that was covered, anyway).

Jeez are we all gfoing to get that chain problem? How many miles ?

hmr1979

seems that the couple of people so far had em after 65k it seems.

turbizzy

iTrader: (3)

YUP! Thats definately the secondary timing chain whine sound described under that bulletin. Im a Nissan dealer tech and i've done ALOT of these jobs on both the VQ35s and the VQ40s in the trucks and i once did it on a 05 Xterra with only 39k miles but yea the most common mileage i see them occur on is around 60k.

Im kinda new to the org but are you a tech or do you work at a dealer, you seem to know alot about what goes on? Yeah the first few times i did this job i dropped the engine/trans out and did it that way but now i have a couple short cuts and i don't even yank the engine out at all and barely come out even with warranty time. Only fluid i need to replace is just the oil and filter. However on the Quests its ALOT tougher so i typically end up droppin the motor. On the truck though, its cake walk. Super easy since its all there right in front of you, not fightin the strut tower like on the FWDs. Ironic part is they pay more on the RWDs than the FWDs yet its alot easier on the RWDs. I think warranty time on the RWDs is like 7.8 hours 2wd/8.3 hours 4x4.

And yea the new tensioner caps are of a different material and i beleive the camshaft chains are as well but not 100% on this.

Wow 19 hours if kinduv a jip. Warranty time is only 6.6 hours HOWEVER this job can be very intensive if your new at it and also 6.6 hours warranty time is total BS in the tech's point of view. During recent Nissan training i was hearing the fastest time for this job was around 8 hours. Theres alot of cleaning and envolved and meticulous work involved.

Typically for retail customer pay work we charge whatever warranty time is times 1.5 so in your case they should be quoting you 6.6x1.5= 9.9 hours approximately. So you figure 9.9 hours times whatever they charge per hour. We charge $150/hr of labor (SF Bay Area) so 9.9x150= $1485 just in labor is what we would charge. Plus about 100-200 in parts and fluids.

19 hours of labor seems very high to me. The only thing i can think of is either the service advisor is just taking a rough estimate and/or the advisor asked a tech what he thought would be a fair amount of time and being as these jobs really suck they probably gave some rediculous time like 19 hours lol. Thats prob somethin i would do haha.

Yep thats exactly what they look like when they wear down to the metal piston and thats whats causing the whine sound. There isn't really a specific side it does it on, i see both sides go bad but rarely see them both go bad at the same time.

Powertain warranty is 5 years/60k miles. Only way you would get any coverage higher than this would be if you have an extended warranty like Security Plus. The secondary timing job is covered under the 5/60 powertrain warranty. Infiniti has a slightly different warranty coverage than Nissan which im not too sure on exactly but i think the powertrain is similar coverage. Basic warranty on Infinitis i know is also 5/60 whereas Nissans is only 3/36. Basic warranty being bumper to bumper coverage.

Lovemycar

Can u here this whine during exceleration? or just idle and reving the motor?

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

the whine was constant. when the motor is on, the whine is there from the chain rubbing on the metal tensioner piston.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

yeah 19 hours estimate was insane. i was talking to the supervisor too. she said the tech will have to take the engine out to work on the chain/tensioners, change out all the fluids, recharge the ac etc etc. i ended up taking the car to a shop i know. i only paid for the parts

what they did was remove the passenger side motor mount and the timing chain side plate. front valve cover was removed as well to get to the front tensioner. as for the rear they took off the upper intake manifold and the rear valve cover to get to that back tenionser. then reinstalled everything once the new tensioners were in place.

Lovemycar

Well im not hearing any constant whine my engine is pretty smooth at idle at least i know what to look for when and if at happens

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

that's the thing though, it could be wearing down close to the metal piston and you won't even know it. then when it does get down to metal, you'll hear that annoying whine. hopefully yours won't wear out for a long long time.

Lovemycar

Well i have a 100K or till 20011 whatever comes first if it goes bad im covered also why is it that some of are nit having this issue

Proceedbob

Turbizzy, not a tech anymore, I worked at a Nissan dealer nights while I was in the Coast Guard for extra scratch years ago and I was a mechanic (Machinery Technician) in Coast Guard lingo for twenty three years.

The noise starts under load (accelerating) as a faint whine like a turbo or alternator whine, as time goes by it gets progressively louder and will eventually be heard at idle and under no load.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

^ what he said. I couldn't hear the whine earlier on probably due to my exhaust's tone. It's louder than stock so it can masks other noises unless it's reallllly obvious.

hmr1979

Oh Great, I am almost positive I am having this issue too now.

The link above that explains this issue...do I have to register somewhere to open them? They all have a locked icon beside them.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

what's your email? i can email you that PDF.

hmr1979

hmr1979@Yahoo.com

and thanks bro, preciate it!

Lovemycar

I have another rquest can post a youtub clip when you have time of how your car sound now when you rev the engine i really need to determine if
im having the same issue because i can here what my be the same noise
or just the engine reving not sure because my engine is smooth no rattling
noise like your first vid on that side no clicking at startup but i want to be sure


Thanks

turbizzy

iTrader: (3)

Lovemycar, its not the rattly or clicking sound in the vid, those are normal (lol), the tensioner noise is the whine sound when you rev it. In fact, he's goosin the throttle kinda hard in those vids, which isn't necessary. Only giving it a little throttle to rev it to say like 3k rpms you should be able to hear it.

Whine kinda sounds like a really high pitched power steering pump sound, like when it runs out of fluid.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

you got mail.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

sure i'll try to shoot another vid as soon as i can (my old man took my digi cam out today, not back yet.) the whine isn't there anymore, but there is some slight ticking sound.

and yeah i gave it a bit of gas in that vid haha. i think revs were up to 4k or so. but it's definately noticable when the engine is at idle, and increases with engine speed.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

Alright, here's the replacement parts information as requested by some of you fellas. I typed it into Excel for easier viewing. This is what Nissan gave me when I took the car in for a diagnostic:

turbizzy

iTrader: (3)

And here's whats not really needed



I don't get why they replaced your water pump o-rings or even rear timing cover o-rings, thats not even part of the bulletin. Whatever...

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

^ yeah, the shop that did my repairs didn't even bother getting all that other stuff. they just got the main things that needed replacement.

ScottF

Hey guys -- I'm sorry to break into your forum as I don't have a Maxima, but I do have an 05 Xterra with the VQ40. I just started getting the whine at about 2500 RPMs about two weeks ago. You still can't hear it at idle, but it is definately there when accelerating. Anyway, my problem is that I'm stationed in Korea (with no Japanese company dealerships!), and therefore I can not have the car seen until May when I send it home. Turbizzy, or any other techs here, do you think I can stretch it for another 3000 miles or so? My current mileage is less than 34,000, and I already have this problem. If the chain were to go, would the repair still be covered if I "had no idea there was a problem?" I really have no choice, as I'm trapped over here with no alternative but handing my car over to a machanic whose only tool is a hammer.

What do you think?

turbizzy

iTrader: (3)

The way i see it you should be fine. Im pretty sure the chain won't let go, its tough. More than likely the piston in the tensioner will wear out before the chain breaks. You have until 2010 or 60k mile on your powertrain warranty so youll be ok.

wolf2989

Great, now i'm convinced i have this issue too.

Does the sound kinda sound like what an alternator hum in a poorly grounded sound setup? I kept hearing this whine lately and thought something came undone from the carpc or something but even killing the radio all together i still hear it, just under acceleration.

Proceedbob

That is exactly what it sounds like or a turbo whine, after a couple thousand miles it will grow louder and be heard all the time. What folks need to understand it's not if your car will do this it's a matter of when, it is a badly designed part and it will fail. Everyone needs to file a complaint with these guys -> http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/ If the receive enough complaints they may force Nissan to cover out of warranty and reimburse folks who paid out of pocket.

Proceedbob

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/ I went here and did a full text search on 2004 Maxima's, WOW! I hope you guys with automatic transmissions carry cab money with you. It looks like complaints on the Goodyear RSA's contributed to the recall, it may work as well with the cam chain tensioner.

cfr94

What you might consider is once you PCS stateside, take your orders to the dealership and see if they can make an exception to the warranty or reduce the price somehow due to being in an area with no dealership and being military. Being in the service does have it's benefits.

PeaMAX

What's that clicky/rattling noise when you crank the engine in video 1? My '06 SE with 17,500 miles has the same noise too when i give it lil' gas. I'll let the dealer know coz i got an appt for a failed lumber support next Monday.

turbizzy

iTrader: (3)

Thats the main timing chain rattling upon startup do to leakdown of the main timing chain tensioner oil supply. Many things can cause this such as low engine oil level, aftermarket oil filters, dirty oil passages, weak tensioner, internal oil passage leak through timing cover and just normal wear. Its nothing really to worry about PeaMax, i think just about everyone's car does it lol.


Just FYI guys, have a 2005 Frontier with rougly 34k miles in the shop right now and im barely starting to hear the whine noise. I ordered the parts but they're on national back order for some reason. It might be a few days before i get the parts.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

the parts are on backorder? wow...must be a lot of VQ engines facing this stupid issue.

PeaMAX

How about i use Lucas oil stabilizer for this timing chain tensioner noise? Any suggestions? I have a stealership appt on Jan 5th...for failed lumber support.

turbizzy

iTrader: (3)

I don't think itll do anything. Just wait it out.

Talon05

I called the dealership today about the whining noise and he told me that there isnt a recall or any problem that he knows of. I asked if this would be a problem with the car in the future and he did not have a good answer. Need the experts here to chime in on this. Talon 05

jtjohns

I bought a 2005 SL with 37k miles about 5 months ago. I started noticing the whining noise shortly after. This was my first time being in a maxima for an extended period of time and the noise was so faint that I thought it was just the way the engine was built. Anyway, I began to hear the noise while idling and no longer just on acceleration.

Luckily, I found this message board and I now have an idea of what is going on with my ride.

I dropped my car of at the shop today, so hopefully it will get taken care of!!

Thanks for the posts!!

turbizzy

iTrader: (3)

Glad to help. And Talon, its not a recall its a bulletin meaning its not mandatory. It may be possible some dealers haven't dealt with this yet, maybe some of the smaller dealers. Just show them the bulletin number and there you go.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

definately glad this thread helped. much thanks to proceedbob as well for his input regarding this issue.