TravisCadello

Its a 95 3.0L and the tranny just went out last week. well every morning for the last 5 months that ive owned this car i hear it sounds like a Rod Knock from in the car. it does it for like half a second. well its sat for a week now and i just went to start it and i heard that knocking again it started made the usual noise then got real loud i ran to the front engine and noise went away quickly.

after it warmed up i reved it slightly and i hear a quiet knocking noise from the timing chain area in the rear by passenger side in the back.


The last oil change i did 2200 miles ago and was 10w30 Castrol GTX High Melege oil. Should i change oils? Cause i didn't notice this noise when i first bought it the first 3 days but i changed oil after few days of owning it and then started hearing it every morning.

eFLO

iTrader: (2)

are you sure it's a knocking sound and not the injectors clicking? the injectors are damn loud..

FallenOne

iTrader: (17)

its probably just chain noise.. the stupid tensioners go bad after like 120K miles.. Just let her warm up in the morning before you drive and she'll be just fine. Mines been doing that annoying click for quite some time...

Maximeltman

iTrader: (11)

^ditto....

max ride 41

iTrader: (4)

its not a click, its a tapping noise and i've had it since i got maxy at 129,000. i'm almost at 200,000 and she's gotten louder, but one thing i've done is change the oil at 2,220 to 2,500 miles and added bg oil treatment. the dealer should have it, and its sold as a kit with gas treatment as well. 17.00 plus tax, quiets down the tapping and helps with higher mileage cold starting maxima's, etc. try it, you'll never turn back!

FallenOne

iTrader: (17)

only thing ive ever added was STP Oil Treatment.. that and changed my oil every 3 Religiously..

TravisCadello

Ill try n buy a Digital Camera soon so you guys can hear what im talking about. the very first second of cold start sounds like the wrist pin and the piston hitting or something. it might be normal because i drove it 180 miles aday for a few months with no problems.

92gxe/cg2

iTrader: (2)

Do a search for this its mostly the chain guide tensioner very common. Its fine to drive like this for ever practically it will just get worse and worse and annoy you alot...just replace the tensioner.

cashoit

+1

U can drive like that forever...but u shd replace the tensioner still.

My old 93 tensioner broke and it was bye bye engine. I hear 95 and 96 maxi's have the tensioner issues. Labor to change is like 400-500 bucks

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Change the TC tensioner, it's not that hard to do.

Stop adding oil additives, they CANNOT FIX mechanical problems.
Your wasting your $$$$ on them.

Dark_man_x

iTrader: (4)

^ +1 agreed

max ride 41

iTrader: (4)

disagree 100%. the bg oil treatment has been around forever and recommended by alot of shops in my area. when i forgot 1 time the engine got noisier and louder at every start, especially in the cold.

Elemental

1st not to hijack the thread
They're right, you're most likely hearing noise from the tensioner
It's not terrible to replace

with the oil additives, most of the noise you would hear from any engine would be coming from the heads. So what you're explaining is that I can add a thick petroleum based goop to my crankcase and that will reach my heads faster than the 5w30 i'm currently using??

It won't.

Now, it's debatable and preference when it comes to actual engine operation. Does that 'goop' breakdown thermally and provide MORE protection? I'd rather just stick with my synthetic blend 5w30

cashoit

How many miles on yurs. Im at 115k and using 10w-40. y synthetic?? and y so light??

hynes66

My fourth gen has that annoying ticking sound too n it sounds like it's the chain guide tensioner. Any ideas on what it would cost to replace the tc tensioner... or how hard is it to change for a novice (and I mean NOVICE)

Cablendz

MY 96 Maxima does tha same thing... It starts out loud and then goes lower but the knocking is still there and very noticable.. I have 182k miles on it and the last owner got tha oil changed in december.. I just brought it as is for $700.. I'll have pics up later for how it looks... I was told and given a quote to just get a different engine.. The new engine will have 71k miles on it and it's a 98 engine... they said it'll cost more to replace the chain and tensioners than changing the engine.. Thats my move for now.. Hopefully it goes well..

TravisCadello

Wow guys, Every since i had my max it had what sounded like rod knock in the mornings well i just started using 93 octane Techron fuel and haven't heard the noise at ALL in over a 4 days.

Fiox789

Didn't want to revive a dead thread, but my car starting doing this today when I went to start it. I went to start it like I always do before I leave for work cranked it RPM's dropped to like 200 and a nice loud knocking sound started. hopped in drove around couldn't hear it anymore. I've got a 199k miles. It needs to last a little longer. I hope it's nothing pricey

pixelporsche

iTrader: (1)

Old thread, but not much else is going on around here these days.

Been looking for answers. Somebody should really compile a comprehensive TC Q&A...

Mine rattles quite a bit.



I just replaced timing chain tensioner and did an oil change [car sat for a while]. It got better for cold idles, but now when it's fully warmed up after a drive it sounds just as bad. Not the worst I've ever heard... Maybe it has low oil pressure. Compression is 185 across the board..

What next? A failed tensioner guide? Replace the tensioners behind the secondary chains?

Anybody else, in the history of this thread, figure out and repair their chain noise?


It's one of those things... you could remove the oil pain, timing cover, etc to also replace the timing chain guide... but what if the noise is still there?