Everyone remember how old tv shows have the kids riding bikes with a baseball card on their back wheel to make that noise? Well that's what my engine sounds like now. I've searched and read the FAQs and I have a 94 SE, but this sounds way worse than just the "tick tick tick" noise. You can hear this audibly at idle over the radio while you're in the car.

The steady ticking gets louder and faster as the RPMs increase and it's darn loud. I have some motor mounts that need replacing and an oil leak somewhere, but I don't know enough about the Maxima to say that either one or both of these are causing the tick, and how loud is this "normal" tick tick tick supposed to be? All I can tell is that the noise is coming from the main body of the engine and it sucks. Looks like I'm driving an overgrown John Deere. Help!

 

Next time you have a question look at the MAX FAQS above. There is alot of usefull info there and no one will give you a hard time. This will answer your question: https://maxima.org/maxfaqs/sub_gener...html#General_6

 

Read his post again. I think he was saying that he thought that was LOUDER than the VTC's should be. I think he DID read the FAQ first.

Anyway, if you have a LOUD sound I would look for exhaust leaks. You may have a split Y pipe or a cracked manifold. Exhaust leaks like those are REALLY LOUD. Also you COULD have some sort of internal engine problem... but I would look at the exhaust first.


Good luck,

 

It sounds like the one of the bolts that holds the exhaust header to the manifold might be broken. Take it to an exhaust specialist (who normally would know the problem once they hear you clicking in)they would put it on a lift and show you the broken bolts. They will then tell you they would rather chew glass than do the job. My mechanic charged me $500 and it took him about 4 hrs.

 

With regular oil changes, aren't the VTC's supposed not to fail in the 94 SE's?

 

I found a Sprite cap right near my coolant tank. Don't know how it got in there nor how long it was in there. I took it out. I don't beleave in the power of sprite.

 

Could it be lifter noise? I hope not, because that will be a pain in the neck or pocketbook. Hydraulic camshaft lifters (or adjusters as Nissan calls them) make loud ticking noises also when they fail (or begin to fail).

 

nope... the 94s are just as susceptible....ask me how I know.

 

Might be bad tranny bearing

 

How do you know?

 

I have a 94 SE and my ticking was very loud also. Louder than what was described on this board. I tried the Craig Brace method of grounding out the VTC and it helped !! It helped so much I sent Craig a little something something for that info. Ground out your VTC, you will love yourself for doing it. It takes about 2 mins and less than $5.00. If this isn't the problem than, oooweee you wasted 2 mins and less than $5.00. But if it is the problem, you will thank yourself and Craig for the instructions on how to do it. And if it helps, I say you send Craig a little something to show your appreciation. I sent him some money because I spent $900.00 back in 1996 to get the VTC fixed. It worked for about 12,500 miles. My warrenty stated 12,000 miles or 12 months. Nissan would not help me out even though it was only 500 miles over the warrenty. They told me I would have to pay for it to get fixed again. So sending Craig some money was nothing compared to what I would have had to pay.

Sidney

 

Wow, sounds like it could be a bunch of things. For simplicity's sake, I hope it's just as sxwk12 described. I thought this tick tick was louder than "normal" but I guess it can get even louder. I emailed Craig for instructions after not finding it in searching. Hopefully that'll do it.

 

Sorry to butt in another question, but I have this tick tick noise too but not that loud. You can hear it when the car is accelerating the first 5 mins after the car starts when it's still cold. When the engine gets to the proper temp and ran a couple of blocks, it fades away? The thought of having internal engine problems scares the crap outta me. Any thoughts? Initially I thought there was a leak somewhere in the exhaust pipes (Y->cat->muffler) but the sound will always be there and wouldn't fade away like that. What else can this tick tick tick tick sound be coming from when I'm accelerating (not wot) on a cold car?

and btw, I have a '94 vg

 

That kinda sounds like busted exhaust studs to me. The noise goes away after warmup because things expand and seal up the gaps and cracks that create noise.

Second opinions anyone?

 

Yea, I second that, based on personal experience. I replaced 3 busted studs last year - had to drill out and re-thread one!!

Also, I had to grind the rear manifold about 1/16" to correct the warpage.

 

exhaust studs eh? How many studs are there? 3 in the front and 3 in the rear of the engine going down to the y pipe? Isn't it hard to tell where the noise is coming from? What will happen if this problem is left untreated? I just installed the wsp y pipe a month ago and everything looked okay, wut gives? Thanks for the input btw guys!

 

There's actually 6 per side (2 for each exhaust port) for a total of 12 studs to replace. If the problem goes unfixed it will get worse and louder, and eventually your exhaust manifolds will just fall off once they all break! Also, the hot exhaust gases eat into or warp the material of the manifolds and/or the cylinder heads themselves, which is why Martin had to machine his manifold. I also know this problem is either a real pain to DIY, or expensive to get it fixed because it's pretty labor and time intensive. That's all I can tell you since mine were already fixed by the previous owner!

Good luck.

 

This may be a shot in the dark, but I had a Jetta that had a timing belt that was on the way out, and a piece of the belt had separated, and was slapping around behind the cover, making a ticjking sound that would change with engine speed.

 

Thanks for everyone's tips. It might be one of those listed problems in this thread as the true cause, but ever since I have added oil to the car, she has not been ticking any louder than usual. I'm not sure how the low oil affected it, but putting in a quart helped. I thought this might have been a belt on the way out or exhaust-related. Hopefully I don't have to ground anything out either.

 

Nope. Can't be the timing belt cause the Maxima with the VE30DE engine comes with a timing chain not belt.

Sidney