TravisCadello

ok its a 95 maxima with 280k miles but i think the motor has been rebuilt because it didn't leak any oil and didn't burn any oil in between oil changes i ran castrol gtx high milege for past year and a half and this change i went with a mobil 1 fully synthetic 10w30 and everything was good untill 3 days later i notced something making noise in the mornings, i popped the hood and i hear something that sounds loose or broken under the intake manifold on the very passenger side engine it got louder and faster when i revved up the motor.


i dont know what happen but i figured the synthetic oil was to thin for the old motor so i bought some stop smoke to thicken up the oil and it thickened it up quite a bit and helped a little but not much. what could be wrong?



the noise goes away when it warms up.




o, and with the gtx the last 2 year i've owned the car i heard this noise but then it went away after 3 seconds and people on here told me thats normal that it was the timing chain. but it sounded like the lifter to me.


tell me what you guys thinks going on thanks.

cdmapro

go back to gtx high mileage. or find another oil that doesn't cause enigne noises. my 99 w/ 150k miles will make TC and valve train noise on almost every oil except valvoline maxlife syn blend. the maxlife runs smooth and quiet. the noises aren't harmful, just annoying (my oil analyses have always been superb)

TravisCadello

i feel like its a waste of money dumping out the mobil 1 tho lol. should it be ok to keep in for another week or two? i know it sounds nasty but i dont got the money right now to change it again but will soon.

kolbpilot

I went the other way. Had synthetic, now conventional. But it was quiet either way.

TravisCadello

lucky my motor must be old. should i worry about it??

kolbpilot

Just let the clutch out as soon as it lights off & take off to reduce rpm is one way. If it goes away after a quick time, then I would monitor it. It might go away period. Or, experiment with different oils. I don't think I would do any kind of additive. Just pure oil.

cdmapro

keeping the mobil 1 in will do no harm. but how much of that stop smoke stuff did you put in? that stuff may not be so good for your engine. if it thickened it up so much that you can actually tell the difference on the dipstick then I'd dump it sooner than later. the mobil 1 10W30 is a 30wt oil and should not be thickened with anything. doing so will push the visocity beyond what is specified for your engine. as other post said you should not add any additives to your oil. just stick with a high quality conventional oil (like gtx high mileage or valvoline maxlife) and you will be just fine.

cashoit

Its jus the inertia of the chain upon intial startup. It rattles the tensioner cuz its starts from standstill. After it starts and running its fine.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

FYI - The VQ doesn't have hydraulic lifters, it's a bucket and shim setup.

TravisCadello

hmm, i put a risoline like 13oz into the oil and it thickened it enough to feel like my gtx 10w30 did on the dipstick instead of it feeling like water thin.

99zx2

iTrader: (3)

did you drive around for a bit after you did that, let it cool off, and then check?

Paintguy84

Its your timing chain rattling.

TravisCadello

yes i drove it around and then checked oil again it is a bit over the full line. and no its not the timing chain im positive its coming from under the rear valve cover like one the lifters is going out ill try in make a video.

5150pa

Mine actually makes the same noise (98 GXE) very interested in hearing the video as I was worried. Although from what I'm gathering from your description is that yours is loud, mine is really hard to notice with the hood up, nigh impossible with hood down.

TravisCadello

oh lol, mine is loud and very noticeable lol i noticed it in the car with windows up echoing off the car next to me lol. sounds like loud fast tapping. sounds like a car with damn near no oil in the motor put it like that.

Paintguy84

It could be your fuel injectors too. They are very loud on our cars. Listen to them carefully and you can notice it.

TravisCadello

ya i notcied years ago the injectors were LOUD but its definitely not them its more of a metal sound and not a clicking.

cdmapro

that's because the M1 has a much higher viscosity index than gtx. which means it doesn't thicken as much when it cools off (despite it being a 10W). the xW spec comes into play at very cold temperatures. at operating temperature they will both be about the same -- within a range of thickness as specified by the API. however, now that you have added a thickener your oil is likely too thick at operating temperature, even though it feels the same as gtx at room temp. is it a problem? probably not. just don't do it again.

kolbpilot

And, it does, have 280k (maybe not the engine) after all. With any kind of neglect during that life, it speeds up the wearing out process.

TravisCadello

so am i into a costly repair if its a bad lifter? how long will it last?

TravisCadello

Ok, i finnaly got a camera today and went outside to take video of the sound but it DIDN'T MAKE IT! not sure if its cause its like 100 degrees over here or what but ill try in get one up asap maybe tonight cause it didn't make the noise at all on cold start today.

simsbary89

i have a 98 SE with 170k on it. i work for an oil change shop so i get it for free so ive used pennzoil high mileage and then started using full synthetic about 20k ago. the engine was quiet and never made a "bad lifter" noise until about 2 oil changes ago, and it keeps getting louder with every change (i do monitor the oil level and never go more than 2800-3000 miles on a change) and im guessing its the synthetic that causes the noise. it runs perfectly fine, so i wouldnt bother draining it out, but i would def go back to conventional to see if the noise goes away

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

One more time -

The VQ doesn't have hydraulic lifters, it's a bucket and shim setup.

cdmapro

do the buckets go bad, or do you just need to put new shims in to tighten things up?

maxed_out_99

sure, its possible to adjust your valves but... it not a honda even a valve adjustment is really involved. its really a pain in the a** not only do you have to take apart the top half of the engine but theres ALOT of measuring it sucks. maybe only the bottom end was rebuilt it seems to me like the heads were not touched at all

Atimaxx

Are you sure it's not your timing chain? Also, with that many miles, you really should not switch between conventional and synthetic oil. Just stick with one. Your car has probably always been run on conventional and built up deposits that the synthetic just cleaned out. Go back to the high mileage conventional you were using before.

There are plenty of forums and posts in here and other sites about conventional vs. synthetic.

The cost of something breaking will cost a lot more than a few quarts of Mobil 1 and a filter.

TravisCadello

it doesn't make that noise anymore and runs great. i think sludge that mobil 1 removed clogged a oil passage and now its all good cause i dont hear anything sounds damn good.

shadetreemech77

just in case anyone missed it

shadetreemech77

Good deal then, glad it's running good. I'll have to remember this.