original engine, rebuilt, ~40k or so miles on it now and the VTCs ocassionally appear to tick (but sometimes its the injectors pulsing) No major difference noted from either so I kinda stopped paying attention to it

 

what is the most cost effective way to deal with clacking if you've already used the d3 toyota filter, oil treatment, etc.? I've done all this with my 94 se (156k on it now) and I know eventually I'm gonna have to rebuild or replace the vtcs, unless there's an alternative

 

Did the D3 help?

You can ground the VTCs, that should shut them up, but you will be at a loss of some power.

 

MrGone had his set up to ground them on a switch. When they started to clack (like at a stoplight) he could flip a switch and they would be grounded (no clacking).

That's probably the most productive method I have seen other than rebuilding or replacing them.

 

I'm mad as hell.

I bought my Nissan Maxima, SE new from the Sam White Dealership in Houston, Texas. No problems other than the normal car problems.

I didn't know about the problemic issue with the VTC. I had it fixed at 74,189 miles. I paid $1,273.27 (U.S. Dollars)

Currently, I have 202,000 miles, and I have the same problem again.


I feel like this truck

 

$1273 is CHEAP to fix VTCs. You must have gotten them rebuilt, not replaced. New VTC sprockets are about $1000 in parts alone, then it's over a grand in labor too. The rebuild kit is about $50 and maybe $1000 in labor, depending on where you go.

Also, if they were silent from 73K to 202K miles, consider yourself lucky! That's pretty good.

 

My thoughts exact

 

I agree with that opinion, as well.

 

So do I

 

You guys are making me cry....Perhaps, you are stating this is normal. However, should we accept this nonsense from Nissan.

Is it "reasonable and customary" to accept a $1,200.00 part to go bad every 7 years? This appears to be a design fault (recall) that didn't get recalled.

Fight back, fight back...

This guy fought back and WON

By the way, it was a new part and not rebuilt. Yep, I got a deal

http://home.earthlink.net/~maxfaq/vtc/vtc.htm

 

2 points.
1. Recalls only occur for safety related issues that can kill you.
2. there is an established history of expensive parts failing every 70k or sooner. Chrysler and ford FWD overdrive transmissions are a prime example of this.


If you are really that bothered by it then eliminate the VTCs, it can be done just don't ask how.

 

Now that's a odd statement, you're telling someone it can be done but don't ask how it's done. Why bother saying it can be done?

 

If you got the VTC sprockets replaced, then it would cost you $500 a piece. You'd need two of them. So this guy did the labor for $200? I'd say that's an awesome deal!

I'd like to find some new VTC sprockets that I can buy at a decent price. But I will probably just end up rebuilding them once again. I really think I got a faulty rebuild kit since the noise came back in only 500-1000 miles after I rebuilt them. The springs felt and looked exactly the same as what came out of my car.

I've seen other photos where the rebuilt kit had a spring that was taller AND noticably stiffer. Mine were identical in everyway. I might try ordering the rebuild kit from a different dealership. Plus, while I'm in there, I might as well replace the tensioners since I didn't do that last time.

 

http://www.geocities.com/bracecraig/maxima/vtc/vtc.html

Here is the site...but I'm too afraid to try that stuff. I called around (in the Atlanta area) I couldn't find any mechanic that would touch the VTC (other than a dealer)

PARTS $808.27
LABOR 440.00
SUBLET AMT 25.
TOTAL CHARGES 1273.27
SALES 56.58
TOTAL $1,329.85 ON 4th April 2000

So most of you all feel like I'm .....

 

Any VE owner on this forum knows about how to ground their VTCs. But what internetautomar was talking about was actually removing the VTC sprockets and somehow putting in a nonVTC sprocket on the cam. This could eliminate all together. But I don't see why anybody would want to do this unless if it's causing problems in their 600hp VE (which hasn't been done).

Do you know where this guy got two VTC sprockets for only $800? And who did this job? A dealership?

There are mechanics that can do VTCs, but you will need to find a mechanic that knows Nissans. Try calling import oriented mechanics in your area. Worst case, I bet you could hire Craig Brace to do the job for you. He's good at that stuff and is in the Atlanta area.

 

Craig is in the Atlanta area.....



Yep, back in 2000 I had the Troncalli dealership to do the work; I assumed the dealership used NEW Parts. I need to scan my service order and post it here. Tomorrow...

 

i have the guy who can do it and has done many... but i cant find VTC sprockets. The nissan dealership stopped producing the VTC rebuild kits...

makes me mad. >:P

i asked nissan how much cams were...
cams are like... 240+ a piece <---- i think because if thw price was right... i was just gonna replace the cams with VTC's on them

 

cams don't come with VTCs

 

What?

Please decipher.

 

The rebuild kit P/N is 13072-97E00. Try at Courtesy Nissan in Texas.

 

Yeah that's correct.

That's where I got my rebuild kit from a couple years ago. I dunno if I got a bum rebuild kit, but my ticking came back in less than 1000 miles after the rebuild.

 

this month on max.org just isnt my month...

well... i am learning a lot though... but at my own expense

- The cams do not come with VTCs
- and 1994 they did not fix the problem
- should talk about other stuff and/or

 

I'm back....

Here is my invoice from 2000



I got to get the thing fixed again....cry me a river

 

That's the BY FAR the best price I've ever heard of. Under $400 for VTC sprockets is cheap! And doing the job for only $400 labor is unheard of too!

You got a STEAL! I wonder if they'll do it that cheap again.

You can always rebuild the VTC sprockets. It will save you about $750 in parts. Maybe you could pay Craig to reubild them for ya, then you can pay a shop to swap them out for $500 or so.

But normal VTC sprockets usually go bad anywhere from 60K miles to 130K miles. I dont' think many VE owners have quiet VTCs over 130K miles. So you got almost 130K miles out of the replaced units. That's pretty good.

It just sucks that they went bad on you in only 70K miles! If you were near me, I'd do the job for you.

 

Wow, this post really took off, lots of valuable info to catch up on with the VTC problem. Thanks Cliff for the advice about the coil packs.

I had my mechanic do a diagnostic, and wouldn't you know, most of the rough idle was from a broken valve. What a dummy I am, I never did a compression check on it. But the VTC's are definitely bad. The car "bogs" on acceleration mainly because the knock sensor is advancing the ignition timing to adjust for the messed up cam timing. Anyway, I'm definitely going for a JDM motor swap in the spring.

Question about the process of shorting out the VTC's to stop the noise: How will that affect performance (not that its very good now), economy, and how safe is that for my engine so I don't screw it up between now and April?

 

You're not shorting out any wiring. You are simply grounding the VTC solenoids which stops the noise.

As for performance, you will lose about 12hp on top end. So, it will be a noticable loss in power above 5K rpm. And it's proven to be very safe for the motor. Many people have had them grounded for several years without any problems.

 

I always wondered why you lose top end and not bottom end, since thats when VTC operation is present.

 

The ECU uses zero voltage to control a lot of sensors on the motor. In the case of the VTC solenoids, when the voltage is zero (grounded), the ECU activates the solenoid which advances the cam for better low end power.

The VE is naturally a good top end flowing motor, but it needs the help of the VTCs to give better low end power.

When the cam is advanced, it gives better low end power. That is what happens when they are grounded. And at 5K or so, they don't release. They stay grounded which doesn't help the normal VE make good top end power like it should.

So if you remove the VTC system all together, then you will lose the low end power that it provides. But if you ground them, it helps with low end power, but doesn't release in the top end rpm range.

 

I'm glad I asked, thanks.

 

I was really under the impression that the JDM engine does NOT have this "CLACKING" problem. I thought that was my solution as apposed to replacing them. But I see the pole saying that the JDM has this problem too?

 

JDM does not mean a dam thing. it's a used motor from japan, same POS we got here. no extra power, no red top, blue top, fushia top BS.

 

142,000 Miles on Original Engine and Auto Tranny with no clacking. Lucky me FTMFW...

 

I had mine replace with new one's they go for $700.00 (retail) from the dealer(1992 ve5) 171,000 miles on it now. And another 92 ve5 with 202,000 miles on it that needs to get repaired quiet at starting after warming up tack,tack,tack after 1/2 hour of driving they go quiet or engine revs of 3,000 rpm's or more.

 

Mine had been ticking since I bought the car 3 years ago, but generally it was mostly at start up and some other random times, it wasn't bad enough to make me want to ground them, but this morning on my way to work the engine died and wouldn't turn over.

Upon inspection there is a hole in the front lower timing cover exposing the chain. Seems like my VTC exploded, thus killing the engine... I wonder if grounding them earlier would have saved my engine

 

How many miles are on yours? I get the feeling that I need to fix mine ASAP, and plan to (just the front) during one of the next few weekends, but am getting very anxious about it blowing up.

 

It has 131k on it. Had I known that the VTC's could fail and cause this damage I might have acted differently, I had thought the ticking was an annoyance at worst... live and learn....

 

I've known about the possible damage but have neglected it for other maintenance. It is getting audibly worse though so I will act soon.

 

This poll was something I started to kind of get a feel for generally what happens to these engines. From the poll results, I would say that having the VTCs come apart happens, but not that frequently.

Unfortunately, it can happen to anyone, probably at any time. The VTC assemblies are definitely THE WORST flaw associated with these engines. There are still a lot of members with a lot more miles on their engines, still going strong. It seems kind of random.

 

...I don't know if anyone else caught it.. but i was looking at the VTC repair pdf in the stickys and nissan dated the manual 1995. Did Nissan really know this was going to happen to the engines? and if so, why was there never a recall?

either a) Too much 'free' engine repair
or b) Not enough SE VE's

..either way. It contradicts itself.

 

They had to know right? Carmakers run engines and prototypes in the lab for an equivalent of many hundreds of thousands of miles to find critical issues.

Maybe the VTC issue just didn’t show as often as it does in the real world.

On a side note, I got my spring & cover kit in the mail yesterday so come this weekend I'll be twirling some wrenches.

I plan to open the VTC using a vise, but have also read about the hammer method, and the press method. Any preferences from those who have done the repair?

Hopefully the oil supply line is in decent shape because I don’t think I’m up for the task of cleaning it the proper way.