tapping noise in colder weather starts...??
11-04-2007, 03:44 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: in my max, pa. :p
Posts: 6,804
tapping noise in colder weather starts...??
allright, i have had a tapping noise when i let the engine oil get a quart low but i just had the dealer change the oil and shes still tappin. i listened and it almost sounds like a pulley rubbin or a belt tensioner?? but i doubt it. i goes away after she warms up, but after i let it sit for a few hours it comes back. i put the bg treatment in with every oil change cause she;s at 170,000 and it seems to help. engine guru's please step in!!!! btw its a 95 gle, thanks
Last edited by max ride 41; 11-04-2007 at 03:55 PM.
11-04-2007, 05:27 PM
#2
what I'd suggest is when it is making the noise, pop 'she' hood and take a long socket extension(or a screwdriver/whatever) and use it like a stethoscope(sp?) by putting one end to your ear and the other on the area its coming from, the loudest point you check will give us (and you ) a better idea of what it is.
11-04-2007, 06:12 PM
#3
Senior Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: in my max, pa. :p
Posts: 6,804
i did pop the hood and its comin from the left side as your facing motor, it sounds defintley like a tapping noise somewhere at left side of engine. it used to go away when she warmed up but now it takes longer. also, i have a whine that sounds like its comin from behind the passenger seat and goes away after a sec or 2???? fuel pump going??? please maxima god, spare me!!!!!
11-04-2007, 06:59 PM
#5
i had this issue with my 93 SE. on cold starts it would knock (like a thin "clacking" - sounded like something was hitting some place on the manifold) for about 20 minutes or so and then stop. but after a couple of hours of driving, way after the engine was warmed, it would come back.
i took it to a dealership in rhode island in 2004 and the tech said it was a thing called a "rocker pivot". i had never heard of such a thing. he said it was a 2 dollar part but about a 5 hour job and said it wouldnt hurt the car if i just let it be.
i got into the habit of putting lucas oil stabilizer in there in place of a quart of oil. it would stop the knocking for about two weeks and then it would return. i assumed it had to do with the viscocity of the Lucas.
hope this helps
i took it to a dealership in rhode island in 2004 and the tech said it was a thing called a "rocker pivot". i had never heard of such a thing. he said it was a 2 dollar part but about a 5 hour job and said it wouldnt hurt the car if i just let it be.
i got into the habit of putting lucas oil stabilizer in there in place of a quart of oil. it would stop the knocking for about two weeks and then it would return. i assumed it had to do with the viscocity of the Lucas.
hope this helps
11-04-2007, 10:27 PM
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Silicon Valley
Posts: 655
allright, i have had a tapping noise when i let the engine oil get a quart low but i just had the dealer change the oil and shes still tappin. i listened and it almost sounds like a pulley rubbin or a belt tensioner?? but i doubt it. i goes away after she warms up, but after i let it sit for a few hours it comes back. i put the bg treatment in with every oil change cause she;s at 170,000 and it seems to help. engine guru's please step in!!!! btw its a 95 gle, thanks
11-04-2007, 11:46 PM
#7
Senior Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: in my max, pa. :p
Posts: 6,804
ok mr.tech, assuming its the lifter what can i do about it??? im broke, and i need to do other work to the car. i'm thinkin that maybe he did'nt fill it up all the way cause that engine has always quieted down after an oil change and i had another shop under-fill it before. damnit.........
11-05-2007, 08:35 AM
#9
yea. if you dont want to pay for 4-5 hours of labor then you shoulld just learn to deal with it.
you can minimize its effects by using thicker oil and/or lucas in place of a quart. that should at least slow it down for a couple of weeks per fill.
you can minimize its effects by using thicker oil and/or lucas in place of a quart. that should at least slow it down for a couple of weeks per fill.
12-04-2007, 12:49 PM
#11
likely the tensioner yes, but thats just speculation if you don't know where the noise is coming from on the engine.
And I'm pretty sure our cars don't have a 'lifter' persay, they may be commonly called that but IIRC its more aptly a follower, and on OHC nissans this is rarely a cause of ticking noise in my experience. most people who assume ticking is a lifter are used to older cars where there is an actual 'lifter' because the cam's are in the block.
And I'm pretty sure our cars don't have a 'lifter' persay, they may be commonly called that but IIRC its more aptly a follower, and on OHC nissans this is rarely a cause of ticking noise in my experience. most people who assume ticking is a lifter are used to older cars where there is an actual 'lifter' because the cam's are in the block.
12-04-2007, 12:55 PM
#12
I looked at a maxima and when the engine ran at idle it make a sound like a marble rolling around in the engine. I was told it was a lifter getting starved for oil but something that didn't need to be fixed and could run as is.
12-04-2007, 01:03 PM
#13
yea pretty much exactly what i was told cept the part he referred to was a "rocker pivot" . he said just live with it, not worth the money.
this was in a 93 mind you
Last edited by ROCKART; 12-04-2007 at 01:05 PM.
12-04-2007, 01:27 PM
#15
auto-rx.com...................the Castrol German 0w30 (if you can find it).
clean it so oil can get up there during startup and then give it great oil that will clean and protect it while flowing great during the winter.
clean it so oil can get up there during startup and then give it great oil that will clean and protect it while flowing great during the winter.
12-04-2007, 01:44 PM
#16
i tried all kinds, all viscosities over the years. i drove it in hot climates and freezing climates, no difference........the only thing that even slowed it was lucas oil stabilizer, and that only worked for a week or two.
i eventually just got used to crowds of people stopping what they were doing to watch my clacking car drive by.
i eventually just got used to crowds of people stopping what they were doing to watch my clacking car drive by.
Last edited by ROCKART; 12-04-2007 at 01:47 PM.
12-04-2007, 02:06 PM
#17
Member
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 148
This may not have anything to do with your particular problem, but on a hydraulic lifter stanza I had a few years back, I had a sticky lifter too -- made a racket when cold, then quieted down when things warmed up.
My mechanic suggested adding about 1/2 quart of ATF to the oil and running it at idle for about 10 minutes just before my next oil change. Apparently ATF is *very* detergent and a little like a solvent. What it did was open up the hole where the oil gets in/out of the lifter and allowed it to pump up, which it was unable to do beforehand. At least that's the story he told me.
So, I put in about 1/2 quart of ATF, ran it at idle for about 10 min, CHANGED THE OIL, and viola, the lifter noise went away.
YMMV of course.
My mechanic suggested adding about 1/2 quart of ATF to the oil and running it at idle for about 10 minutes just before my next oil change. Apparently ATF is *very* detergent and a little like a solvent. What it did was open up the hole where the oil gets in/out of the lifter and allowed it to pump up, which it was unable to do beforehand. At least that's the story he told me.
So, I put in about 1/2 quart of ATF, ran it at idle for about 10 min, CHANGED THE OIL, and viola, the lifter noise went away.
YMMV of course.
12-04-2007, 04:21 PM
#18
This may not have anything to do with your particular problem, but on a hydraulic lifter stanza I had a few years back, I had a sticky lifter too -- made a racket when cold, then quieted down when things warmed up.
My mechanic suggested adding about 1/2 quart of ATF to the oil and running it at idle for about 10 minutes just before my next oil change. Apparently ATF is *very* detergent and a little like a solvent. What it did was open up the hole where the oil gets in/out of the lifter and allowed it to pump up, which it was unable to do beforehand. At least that's the story he told me.
So, I put in about 1/2 quart of ATF, ran it at idle for about 10 min, CHANGED THE OIL, and viola, the lifter noise went away.
YMMV of course.
My mechanic suggested adding about 1/2 quart of ATF to the oil and running it at idle for about 10 minutes just before my next oil change. Apparently ATF is *very* detergent and a little like a solvent. What it did was open up the hole where the oil gets in/out of the lifter and allowed it to pump up, which it was unable to do beforehand. At least that's the story he told me.
So, I put in about 1/2 quart of ATF, ran it at idle for about 10 min, CHANGED THE OIL, and viola, the lifter noise went away.
YMMV of course.
12-04-2007, 10:39 PM
#21
Senior Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (4)
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: in my max, pa. :p
Posts: 6,804
wow, i started this thread a month ago, and the tappin noise is not as bad as it was for some reason??? maybe the lifter noise subsided cuase it was clogged or the tensioner had to adjust to the cold weather??? i barely hear it now, but than again i have the windows rolled up too. 
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
My Coffee
New Member Introductions
15
06-06-2017 02:01 PM