ive been hearing ticks from the engine/lower front end area, like really fast ticks (about 4 ticks per second) but the thing thats got me is that it only ticks and idles rough in R, D, 2 and 1. P and N it runs smoothly and no ticks. I thought that the VTCs ticked only when the car is cold and for a short time. Mine ticks mainly when warmed up and in gear. Its a really low volume tick, i can only hear it when im going through a drive thru and im next to a building wall.

 

Unlike other VTC problems, mine ticked ALL THE TIME, warm or cold. I have a 5 speed and even when I was in Neutral, I heard the ticking. I grounded out the VTC, thanks to Craig, and the ticking has stopped. Hasn't ticked since Nov 2000 !!!

 

I heard you lose 20HP on the dyno when you ground out your vtc's.

 

and that is why i'm afraid to ground my vtc's....i'm already at stock level, not tryin to get outdone by a geo metro

 

I hope you're kidding about losing that much HP.
A few people have said they noticed a very slight decrease in power but not anything more than 1-2 HP or so.
If it did do anything dramatic, I wouldn't have done it to my car (same with many other people I'm sure).

It'll take you all of 10 minutes max and it's completely reversible

procedure is in the how-tos on my page

 

Im not completly sure if thats a fact. But i did talk to a guy when i was buying parts off him on the phone, and he said he dynoed his car before and after disabling them and said he lost around 20HP. This is just what i heard, so it may be wrong! Sorry if i heard incorrectly.

 

I should be able to describe the diffference in a few days. I had grounded the VTC's (it didn't work for some reason), and am currently having them replaced with new ones. I'm not sure why they didn't stop ticking when they were grounded, because I had the VTC's diagnosed by 2 different mechanics, one of which was at the Nissan dealership. Either way, I'll post in a few days to describe the difference in driving with busted VTC's and new ones.

 

http://www.geocities.com/maximamike/nvcs-bible.html

 

btw Jeff, I have that article linked to from my VTC rewire page

good writeup Jeffrey

VE 5spd POWER

 

When you guys say grounded, I'm assuming you mean electrically and not with a Dremel tool. What do you ground them to and how does this affect the operation of the solenoids? I read Jeff92SE's writeup, but I'm not understanding this.

 

i listened again today and yes it ticks when in gear (R,D,2,1) when cold AND warmed up

 

When you ground the solenoids, you are disabling them electrically. Basically, the idea is to splice one of the wires going into one of the solenoids (either one will work since they're wired together) and attach the spliced wire to a nearby area on the car's frame. This will cut the flow of electricity to the solenoids, cutting off their oil pressure and possibly silencing them. Check Craig's site for proper instructions. Also, you may want to think before doing this, because it could be potentially harmful to your engine. If you check my recent post about VTC's (should be near the top) I have tried to explain why two mechanics have both told me not to ground the VTC's.