I am really confused now.
the tapping is about 10 taps per second. it doesnt happen unitl after the car has settled into regular idle (700 rpm)and it starts there and continues for about 10 minutes or so. then at that point the engine is fully warmed up I guess and the sound goes away.
I popped the hood while it was happening and its kinda loud, seems to be coming from just under the upper intake manifold and the sound seems to be louder when listening to the left side of the engine (while facing the front of the car).

One person told me it could possibly be a tappit/cam follower?

any ideas are greatly appreciated guys! Thanks!

 

Jeff92se I'm suprised at you! you're late on this one!

 

if its not the VTC then i have the same exact problem...it only happens when cold and goes away when warm..people were saying lifters but wont it always tap...even when warm? please help us???

 

I though I would escape such a fate because I have a '94.

Jeff already replied to my original post on the 3rd gen bbs, i just have more observations now!

 

Jonnymax... oh how I hurt for you man... thats what VTC's sound like!! I never really believed they fixed it good for '94.. heck I don't trust the brand new ones I have(in my blown motor). I am certain they are due to go out anyday now. Maybe you should change your oil every 3,000 like the rest of us and get the sludge to not build up in the oil galleys in your engine, and use freakin' MOBIL ONE instead of that American Made SOIL in your high quality nissan motor (I am sure that some Honduh engineer gave the VTC's to nissans after he was passed over for his colleague's idea(VTEC)).

Hope you can laugh through your tears!!!!

One other possibility is that your timing chain tensioner is going out, but that bites the pocket book about as much. You can find out which prob it is by using CONSULT to turn off your VTC's while you hear the tapping. If the tapping quiets down, its your VTC's. If tapping continues the same, Its probably your timing chain tensioner. Either way its the same noise as both will cause the timing chain to flop and hit the cover.

 

do a search for VTC failure using the search link above. you will find your answers in posts by jeff92se

Fro

 

this will happen in cold weather untill the oil pressure comes up. this is not somehting to worry about unless it happens at say 2-3K rmp while you are driving.

my car makes a ticking sound for 2-3 seconds after startup in cold weather.. it doesn't happen in warm weather from what I can rember.

Fro

 

Jonnymax you have about 85-90 K on your car right? I have a buddy @ work that has same year as mine w/ 80K. He doesn't believe anything will ever happen to his car and I say that it's just a matter of time.

 

Ok I want to figure out what you (Czar) meant by both would cause it to flop and hit the hood. I've heard that the VTC is nothing to worry about really, but then again I've heard it can really damage your engine eventually. If damage in is the case, then what about the grounded soleniods? Will that prevent damage? Help!!!!

 

No neither one will cause real engine damage. I suppose if your timing chain tensioner got loose enough your TC's could jump a sprocket and that could mess up your engine. Basically your timing chain(s) is bigger than the distance around the sprockets, and the timing chain tensioner uses oil pressure to move the chain in for tension. The VTC makes noise because: it is designed to adjust the intake cam timing, but when the spring gets weak the unevenness of the way the cam turns causes the VTC to flop around alternately pulling on the chain and then trying to go backwards pushing the chain back. This causes the chain to intermittantly have slack which hits the timing chain cover. Also if the timing chain tensioner does not tension the chain enough the same slack develops and again the unevenness of the way the cam turns causes the same noise. The VTC grounding is fine because it applies the oil pressure into the VTC and locks it into the advanced position and the VTC doesn't have slop in it to cause the slack.....

Hopefully this explaination helps somewhat....

 

Johnny, take a piece of hose and start the car. When ticking put the hose to your ear and position the hose near the area you think it making the noise. The chain tensioner is down behing the timing covers so if that's the problem, I "think" you will be able to isolate it from the VTC assemblies. You could also try disconnecting the soleniod connectors to see if the sound gets worse or not.

 

Thank you very much to everyone for all the advice and help. It is hard to try to figure these things out when one lacks the mechanical skills as I do!

thanks agian!
Jonny

 

Its funny because I felt that the car had been taken good care of by the previous owner and I have flushed the engine and switched to Amsoil 5w30 synth. hoping to reduce the possibility of VTC failure, but its my luck. :P

now if the VTC ground fix is used I understand that reduces low-end power, but that it can be gained back with a timing advance? and if so wouldn't the JWT ECU automatically do that? and would advancing the timing reduce top-end power?