What the mileage on your I30 now? And why not just buy a older car that is cheap to drive back and forth that you dont car about?

 

It's got 130k now.

 

dont go through the hassle, its a good car.. Just replace it the chain with a local mechanic, unless you want the headache of looking for another VQ.. I looked for like 2 months before I found my maxima, they were all torn and beat the hell up :\

 

if i have this prob..few secs @ start up.....how much longer before all hizzell breaks loose on me? currently 108k, 95, se...just curious to see how long i can squeeze by..fundage is LOW

 

Dont worry about it until it starts doing it when the cars fully warmed up and lubed.. then you have a tensionor problem.

 

I agree with s0ber.

 

I had my GF start the car this morning when it was cold and I listened to the engine, it sounded mostly like it came from the starter, so there is hope that its not that much noise coming from the left bank of the motor (the front where the coolant reservor bottle is) so I am going to replace the starter soon and see what happens.

You should all do that too if you haven't already, open the hood, and listen to it start and put your head in there and really listen to where its coming from.

 

stick a screwdriver or a pipe or something on the timing chain cover, put it on ur eat and crank it up

 

Just fix your car tortuga. It's no surprise seeing a VQ run 200k miles and not need an overhaul (I'd like to see an American engine do that, I should know, both my parents have fords that are falling apart while all I do to my car is change the oil, hehehe).

Bump A32Matt's question, I'd like to know that too please.

 

Sober's ghetto stethoscope= a screwdriver to the ear, lmao. That's a new one

 

yo guys before you go through all of that check this site out. someone mentioned it before but didnt write it correctly. its MOTORVATE.CA its like a maxima site and go to Engine and then it has an option Starter Noise Fix. i never new about this site it seems ok. anyway check it out.lada

 

My starter went in my 95 a while back. Bought one from a junkyard for 25.00 and now she works great. I'm going to try this on my 96 before I settle on the timing chain tensioner theory.

 

lol it works!

 

No, that's not new. . . old timer mechanics used that trick.

 

yo my car makes noise like that when i first start it in the morning or at nigh when its cold it makes its like for a while i think it is the starter cuz thats where the noise is coming from not the timing chain. ill check it out tonight ill tell u guys whats up when i do it. by the way the screw driver trick is funny but its the oldest thing in the book. just wanted to add that because its funny when someone does it lol

 

There is a spring but it isn't the main supply of tension. I think the spring is just there to keep the tensioner from falling out when there's no oil pressure. The spring is soft so the tensioner is pretty easy to remove and replace. Hmmm....maybe nothing is wrong with the tensioner and it's just the spring that gets weak with age.
The hardest part of the job is the removal and installation of the timing chain cover. I managed to do it without removing the upper part of the oil pan. Haynes manual said to remove it but that looked like too much work. My tensioner was good, well at least I thought is was good, but I had to release the tension to remove my water pump.

 

i used a cut off garden hose as a skethoscope type thing..clacking noise comes from top of the engine where timing chain resides.

 

Hopefully it's the starter!

But I noticed this strange sound after cold starts a while ago too, just for a second or two after start-up. Turned out I was using a non-genuine oilfilter that didn't have a antidrain valve. After oil and filter (OE Nissan) change the noise is gone.
BTW, the oil pressure light would go out exactly when the noise stopped....

 

Thats cool that I ve started a post that 50+ people responded to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

9/23/04 I went out to start my car and it wouldn't crank over. Four days prior I had noticed the car starting to sart slower than normal. So I suspected it was time for a new battery soon. This time when it wouldn't crank, I thought it was a little odd because usually when the battery is dead and I try to start it i hear a repetative clicking noise. But not this time, the lights, radio, etc all still worked full force. Well AAA came tested the battery and deemed it "dead". They jumped me and she started right up. Replaced the battery with a 640 CCA rating and immediately noticed the car still started slowler than normal , but not so slow to where it was obvious. In fact someone not familiar with how my car usually sounds might not find the start speed abnormal. Anyhiw, I drove 7 min to my destination, turned car off came back and the same thing -- had my accessories working but no crank. I attempted to jump it with a 2000 Mazada 626 and that didn't get it. AAA came out again tested this new battery and it came back "good battery". So we then thought it could be the starter or the alternator. Well if it was the alternator the "good battery" should still at least start the car. The starter never hinted at going out other than the talked about rare "humm" that intermittently occurrs due to drying grease or something like that. Well I opted we try to jump it again but this time use a larger vehicle. Got an '84 Crown Vic station wagon to jump me and to everyone's suprise except mine, she started right up. With that I went 7min back to return the battery turned off the car, then attempted to start it back just to see. No start! Autozone tested the battery and it tested fine. AAA using their tow truck attempted to jump me but it was unsuccessfull. On 9/24/04 I replaced the battery with a Die Hard and it is still doing the same thing.........accessories but no crank.

So here is my question, do these cars take a special heavy duty battery? or are the starters for the 1997 maxima problematic. Has any one else had to replace their starter? If so what symptoms did you have that it was going bad? Thanx for any feedback!

P.S. I have no after market accessories on my car

 

is it slow cranking?

 

This past Monday was the only sign I had that something was out of the ordinary. It cranked slower than normal but not obviously so. Now it doesn't crank at all. I can only here a click in the solenoid when I turn they ignition key.

 

ok heres the situation: start up loud tap tap tap noise for about 1-2 seconds...goes away....but when car is fully warmed i hear a tick tick tick sound from under the hood. no where near as loud as the start up sound, but does this sound like a tensioner issue?
also i had to redo the cam shims on all the intakes..that was a caca mess

 

tick tick.. sounds like your injectors.. there all annoying and loud..

the 2 second tap tap tap sound like the timing chain not getting any oil for them 2 seconds..

I wouldn't worry about it until it starts doing the tap tap tap after the cars warmed up and fully oiled.

 

There is a lesson here...use the Nissan filter. I used to use Fram and always wondered what that 1 second clatter on the cold start was. Changed to Nissan filter and problem solved.

 

What does enerybody think of K&N oil filters which are ($12.00) cause i still have that chatter on cold start ups

 

I finally got the sound recorded. You have to turn up the speakers. Listen to both. It just so happens it sounds like a friggin tank crossing by when it was recorded.

http://64.45.19.205/I30/

Thanks.

 

my car makes the same noise when its cold out.its normal for some of our cars,some make the noise some dont.

 

man that sound doesn't sound right! mine sounded nothing like that