i have a 1990 maxima with about 150k miles on it. its got the VG engine SOHC. and it strarted making a loud clicking/metal vibration sound when driving. its not very noticable until your beside another quite car or a wall where sound reflects off it. it doesnt sound like it really has much to do with the engine because i can hear the sound of the engine behind the other noise and it sounds fine. the cars transmision shifts fine. belts are old and should be changed soon, but i dont think it has anything to do with belts. also timing belt and water pump have not been changed yet for the second time. anyone have any ideas?

 

I take it you hear the clicking when driving? If you only hear it when driving next to something that reflects the sound, then it is almost definitely your axle(s). If it gets worse going around a corner than bingo. If you're replacing them, you may want to consider your wheel bearings, too. Especially if you're planning on keeping the car. ALso, if you haven't ever replaced the axles, I've seen replacing them at 100k listed as standard maintenance in some cars. Sort of like an 02 sensor.

 

not the axels they have been replaced and its not only when driving and does not get worse when you turn like cv axels. when the car is in nutral and i rev it it also makes the noise so it cannot be anything stated above.

 

exhaust studs

 

when was your last oil change?
it could be low or dirty.

 

exhaust studs where what i was thinking was a possiblity. the oil is moble 1 with only like 3000 miles on it. is there any way to check for a bad exhaust stud? wiggle the manifold with the heat shield off?

 

my guess is studs i had the same problem with my vg until i changed the broken studs, just take a wrench and go and see which ones are broken

 

sounds like the common exhaust manifold stud problem, symptomatic to the VG

 

but it doesnt hurt to drive with a broken stud(s) right??? I think one/some of mine may be broken too.

 

depends on how long you plan on driving with broken manifold studs.
here is what happened to me. I continued to drive it (a lil spirited) with what i thought was only one broken stud, then the noise got louder, so i noticed two broken studs, one on front one on back. Next i know it i finally take the car in because its way to loud. When my engine would heat up the sound would go away. which was great, no more noise. but after awhile the sound never went away. i ended up having a total of 4 broken studs in the end. i had them replaced. I guess what can also happen is your manifold could warp. my didnt luckily, but i guess it happens. so yeah you can drive it, but as soon as you can i would get it fixed, make you value your car better when it doesnt make that noise.

i know in the stickies there is a write-up (on blehmcos website too) of how to do the removal and install of new studs.

good luck with it.