My 93 SE (160k miles, 5spd, ABS) has the VTC rattles ... what is the downside if I don't rebuild/replace them? Sometimes it makes the noises (loudness varies) and sometimes it sounds like new (no noise at all). The car has run flawless since new, and just recently developed the inevitable valvetrain rattles on the front bank of cylinders. I'm tempted to just keep driving it until something breaks.

 

Mine have been clacking away for 100,000 miles now,havent broke yet.They might break tomorrow.....who knows.

 

Its extremely rare when they break, honestly its an old car, if I had the $$ I probably would have moved on

 

If I had the $$$, I would bring my SE back to mint condition sans the corny OEM wheels.

 

Ive got 174,000 miles on my 92 SE, and my VTC rattles about 60% of the time. Its been rattling for about 45,000.
A local mechanic who is fairly savvy with Maximas, mentioned to start useing 5w30 oil on the next change, with a quart of rislone.

 

My 92SE has been having the problem for a while, like over a year. The mechanic I saw told me I shouldn't drive it anymore (and then offered to trade me a Sentra with 200,000 miles).

So what is the bottom line? Am I slowly (or quickly) driving my car to death? Is there anything I can do about it? Is there more to worry about than just a loud noise?

Thanks!

 

Find another mechanic,this guy was trying to rip you off..

The bottom line,yes eventually the vtc end caps will break from the continuous spring slap on the cap,but it usually takes a while before they do...You can ground the vtc selonoids,this will in most cases reduce the clacking noise thus extending the life of the vtc assembly.

Removal of the vtc assemblies from the engine is quite labor intensive,the actual rebuild of the vtc is not so hard,but still you will need more than average mechanic skill to do this job..


link to instructions on grounding the vtc selonoids.
http://www.geocities.com/craigbrace/


Several other helpful links on the vtc issue..

http://www.mattblehm.com/faq/VTC_tsb.pdf

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=462613

http://forums.maxima.org/showpost.ph...0&postcount=16

 

has any ever had a rear vtc break?
i always see the front ones go

 

When you say rear, do you mean firewall side? Because there is no rear VTC.....

 

The firewall VTC is usually referred to as rear becuase the other one is front, no one wants to confuse themselves with left/right

 

It's always nice when they are quiet but no you don't have to fix them. Know that ultimately they do fail, but typically the odds are in your favor. These cars are getting to the age and point where few people are actually willing to do the repair. It's really a matter of how much you like your car, how much you are willing to spend, or how much work you are willing to do.









Oh, and maybe how dark your windows are tinted

 

My daughter's 93 SE has 199K and still no clack.

Try a motor flush product. It fixed my 92.