My 97 SE makes a moaning noise when first starting up in the morning. I know what the maxima clutch moan is, suppsoedly every 5 speed has it--including mine.

Still, after I am driving for a minute and I am idling at a stop light, I can here a noise coming from the engine bay that sounds kinda like that clutch moan. I have no idea how a 5 speed works. Is that just related to the maxima clutch moan? It goes away after the car warms up...My thinking was it is one of the accessery drives (alt., power steering) Any ideas?

Ed

 

The notorious Maxima Clutch Groan is heard only when the clutch is being engaged. In other words, only when your foot is on the clutch pedal, and the pedal is coming up off the floor. If you are idling at a stop light and your foot is not on the clutch pedal, the sound is not MCG.

 

I also have a '97 SE 5spd with 64K miles. Have the exact same thing. After start up, drive a block or two, come to the light, and moooo! like a cow. Or like hydraulic fluid passing a pressure relief valve. Or a vibration. After 5 mins. it's gone. And mine mostly does it with cool damp weather like spring and fall. Mines not the clutch. When it mooo's, I can push in the clutch, in or out of gear, and no change.

 

Since this unwanted sound can be heard with the vehicle stopped, you may use the Rubber Tube Listening Aid diagnostic technique.

A four-foot length of small diameter rubber vacuum hose will help you identify the source of the noise. You can buy the hose in any auto parts store. They typically sell it in bulk for about US$0.80 per foot. Start the engine and let it idle. Put one end of the hose in your ear and the other end near any suspected source of noise. The engine compartment presents a cacophony of sound. The benefit of the hose is that it isolates the sound from one specific area. Work safely! Avoid contact with any moving parts!

You may find it interesting to explore the sounds of your engine with this inexpensive tool. Each moving part has its own characteristic sound. For example, listen to the muted clicking of the fuel injectors. They should all sound alike. If you find one with a different sound (or no sound at all) you have found a problem.

The dealer's service department is equipped with high-tech diagnostic instruments. These are wonderful devices but they are expensive and the dealer has to recover his cost by charging you for diagnostic time. Sometimes the home mechanic can do legitimate diagnostic work with nothing more than a rubber tube.

 

Thanks...yeah I found it interesting indeed! Listened to the injectors, it was cool! So amplified by the hose. My problem is, it's always groaning at a light or when I can't jump out and open the hood. You know, it never does it when you want it to.

 

Yeah, mine does the same exact thing you said--it only does it on cool, damp mornings. I am not too worried about it cause the car is fine after 5-10 minutes and sounds normal after that. If you hear anything or find a fix, please let me know.

Ed

 

Yes...sounds like the same problem. Our cars must be twins, blk/blk, 5spd, leather. Do you have ABS? like I said, sometimes it sounds to me like a pump or hydraulic vibration. Bose? Sunroof? Heated Leather? (Minn.=good option).

 

Wow, it does sound like our cars are twins. Mine is 97 se, blk/blk, 5 speed, leather, ABS, BOSE, sunroof, heated seats, climate control...every option for the year.

I agree, the sound does seem to a vibration and hydraulic at that. I haven't had any porblems with the car in the 2 years I have owned it. The vibration/moo sound does seem to be related to the engine rpms. When I stop at a red light on one of the cool, damp mornings, the engine will settle down to its idle speed. As it does this, you will hear the cow moo.

Its no big deal and not that noticable. i was just concerned if it meant something was going to break.

And yes, heated seats and mirrors are very popular here in new england weather...my wife likes them especially.

Ed

 

We need to stay in touch so we can fix both!

 

Hey Ed, since the weather has gotten dry and cool, the groan has been much less noticeable now. Hasn't groaned the last few mornings. Have you figured anything out yet?

 

curt,

i have a '95 gxe automatic and had the same exact noise at the same instances you did. it usually did it on a high humidity day or when it rained. i expected belts. while changing the oil i decided to do the belts (easier job than i thought) and PROBLEM SOLVED!

joe

 

That's interesting. I'm at 64k, so maybe I'll do the belts. It really wasn't that hard?

 

mine was making the noise at 58k. like yours you wouldn't hear it while driving, but once you slowed down say for a stoplight, enter "the noise". the original belts were tight enough, but oh my the cracks!

this site helped out a lot:
http://integra.vtec.net/geeser/megamax/60k_service.html

good luck!

joe

 

Cool. I looked at my belts with a flashlight and I didn't notice the cracks. Maybe I am missing them. I will look closer tonight. Anyway, I was going to have the belts changed in the spring when I have my 60K service done.

Ed

 

in addition to the cracks the belts seemed pretty dried out and had a lot of brownish soot on them. be sure to use a rag and clean those pulleys too.

joe

 

is the car idleing really low when you first start up? is so you should clean out your throttle body. i dont remember my car mooing before i did this but it stopped a few other things

 

Wow...it's been almost a year exactly since this post. I have done the throttle body cleaning, but didn't affect the noise. It's doing it again now that it's fall. Weird. I'm going in for the alternator recall and will have the belts replaced as part of that. I noticed great increase in smooth running and acceleration after changing my spark plugs too.

Hey Ed, you still around?

 

And yes, it has been over a year since I posted the original message to this thread...and look at the date abnd time I sent it...freaky.

Anyhow, I just had my 60k service done this past weekend. The car still makes that occasional sound we talked about but it is so RARE that it doesn't even bother me. While my car was being serviced, I asked them to check the belts (it was on their list of things to do anyway) and the tech said they looked fine.
I must say with new spark plugs and filters, my max is running as good as new!

Ed

 

Yeah new plugs are awesome! I have like 77K on mine now. I must drive too much. Hey I just picked up a 2002 Frontier this weekend with supercharged V6. Just paid off the Maxima and decided to replace my '93 F-150. Guess I couldn't be without a car payment for more than two weeks. Doh! It's only money.

Did they say anything to you about the alternator recall?

 

They didn't say anything about the alternator recall...I am kinda mad right now cause I knew about it in the back of my head but I forgot to ask them about it when I took my car in for service. DOH!! So, needless to say, I will just go in for an oil change next time I need it and I will make sure they do it then!!

BTW, congrats on the new truck...like you said, guess you cannot be without a car payment.

Ed