Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

I have what I think is a hydraulic lifter that's ran out of oil. I get a loud rattling/ticking noise everytime I rev past 2500rpm. Cold or warm. Of course I've checked if it's a vtc or broken stud. I've written the faqs on both I'm pretty sure it's a lifter. I was really low on oil before this happened. Refilling has not helped. And according to the FSM, once the lifter looses it's oil, you have to take it out and push down on the check ball to refill it. It specificly said, these types of lifters can't be refilled by running the engine. I might try an engine flush but I don't think it will work.

Anyone just replace a lifter? How did you determine which one it was? I know at least one cam has to come out, did you remove both?

Agh, what a pain.

RosenKen

The lifters are easy to replace in a VE. They are right in the head, not buried in the block like a domestic V-8 or something. Each valve has a lifter so you're looking at a total of 24 lifters. To replace them, you'll have to pull the valve cover and the camshaft (which one depends on which lifter you are replacing!). Of course if it's a lifter on the rear head you'll have to remove the intake plenum. Overall, not too bad of a job and it could be done in a few hours (I know you've removed your engine before so you shouldn't have a hard time).

The hard part will be diagnosing which one. You have an FSM so if there's nothing in there, then I wouldn't know how to diagnose them either. Try getting a mechanic's stethoscope and listen for the noise by placing the thing on the valve cover in certain places. On each spark plug coil hole, there is a lifter at each corner (think of a square pattern fitting tightly over the hole). The intake cams are nearest the intake manifold (duh). I have a picture of a VE head sans valve cover right here but my scanner is broken, therefore no pics of my tri-turbo setup either

Here, I drew it out on Paint. Enjoy!

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Thanks. I'm hoping I don't have to take off the front covers to take off the cams(ie.. front cam bolt) I don't think I have to. I know it's one lifter(sounds like one lifter anyway). I was using a hose(DBM method) to try to pinpoint the noise but it's difficult as it's one of the rear bank lifters(duh!). If I can narrow it down to the intak or exhaust side, that would help. Or after I get the valve cover off, I can "push" down on each lifter to see if one is more mushy than the other. If not, I'll have to take a few out and dump them in oil and try to refill each one.

Thanks for the reply!

RosenKen

No, you shouldn't have to take off the front covers. That's generally only if you're removing the head. There should be plenty of clearance for the wrench, especially on the exhaust cam (no VTC)

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

BTW. Any thoughts on a way to replace the valve stem seals w/o taking the heads off?

male

I think you have to remove the springs from the valve to get to the seals..that would require a method of holding up the valves so they don't drop into the cylinder, I believe the usual method is to get a brass fitting that threads into the spark plug hole and use compressed air to hold the valves up. Then you can remove the rockers, springs and keepers, replace the seals andget it all back to gether with no worries. I'm not 100% sure of the valve arrangement on VE's so I'm just going on what generally applies to most OHV engines.

eric93SE

iTrader: (1)

Hey Jeff, maybe you'll descover a bad valve stem seal, and that'll be the end of your oil consumption issue. And if it does turn out to be bad valve stem seals, it could be a burnt/sticking valve causing the noise your hearing.

On my last car, one of the valve stem guides dropped into the head. That caused a burnt/sticking valve, and at low rpm and under a load the engine would miss (it was a four banger). But on the max you probably wouldnt feel much of a power loss.

Sawby4president

I have the same problem with my '94 VE, I think. The odd thing is, it's bad (around 2500 -3500 rpm) on a cold motor, then it quiets down for a while between cold and operating temperature, and then at operating temperature it comes back, but only when the engine is transitioning from throttle on to compression braking (5-spd trans). So, if I shift at like 3000 rpm, when I let off the gas I'll get a sound like you describe. Or, if I'm in gear at 2200 rpm or higher and i'm coasting on a slight decline, it'll make the noise when the engine isn't really under load or compressions braking, just with enough throttle to keep it from slowing down. Ha, that wasn't clear at all. Oh well, maybe someone else knows what I mean. Let me know if the lifter fix quiets yours down.

Maximamike

=X

gdmaxse

iTrader: (1)

I have the exact same thing, i dont really have the time to fix it fight now though.
how long will it last before causing any big problems?

RosenKen

Hmmm, I've never heard the lifter noise myself (except for a few minutes after I started up my engine after I had the heads off for a few days (new VTCs and all) and it was quite loud at idle. What you're describing, a tapping noise occuring when transitioning from load to no-load, sounds like it may be bearing knocking at the very worst. How many miles do you have and has the engine ever run low on oil?

Sawby4president

Sawby4president

I have 108k, and I just bought it, so no knowledge of what the previos owner did. I thought it might be bearings too, because my dad had an ancient jeep cherokee 4.0 (which were notorious for loud main bearings) and it sounded like this sound my maxima makes. I always thought maxima engines had really solid low-ends though?

gdmaxse

iTrader: (1)

any update on the lifters jeff?

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

What I thought was a lifter, turned out to be a main or rod journal going bad. I seized the motor shortly after making this thread.

todamax

iTrader: (6)

woah, thats bad. You getting a new block or rebuilding the old one? And whats a rod journal?

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Good a low mile used motor. My motor/tranny is already out and I have the new one in there as well. Waiting on some upgraded exh studs, some gaskets and a new ACT clutch kit. Rod journal is the large side. The side that attaches to the crank.