Hey guys,

I’ve been struggling with my 97 auto Maxima for quite a bit lately. Initially, it had died while I was driving it due to a bad valve cover leak frying the alternator. So, I decided it was time to tear her apart and fix some things. After all, I have my 97 5-speed I can drive Long story short, I replaced the valve cover gaskets, upper and lower intake manifold gaskets, alternator, radiator, throttle body gasket, IACV and gasket, EGR guide tube gasket, and cleaned every part mentioned. After all that, I decided to fire her up. She was running somewhat smooth, until I began to hear a noise of something like a fan hitting something. Maybe feces? Anyway, here is the link for the sound:


The car didn’t make that noise before it broke down, but she has been sitting for over a year. You can somewhat see smoke in the video which is also concerning. It almost looks as if it’s coming from the exhaust manifold. It smells like coolant too.. So, I pressure tested the coolant system at the radiator cap, and the pressure began to drop like crazy. From what I read up on, it is supposed to consistently hold 23psi of pressure. Here was my results:


One thing to mention is that I found a leak in my expansion reservoir, which could be causing this problem. I have also realized I left the cap off of it . I will be swapping an undamaged one from my 5-speed to this one to see if that fixes the pressure issue.

All in all, I’m ready to pop a new VQ30 into this one if need be (I’m saving the VQ35 swap for my 5-speed). This is a 200k mile engine, so I don’t have high expectations. I just need guidance so I can figure out what I need to make happen. My next steps are the coolant reservoir and a cylinder compression test. I’m hoping this could be the water pump, so I will be putting a stethoscope up to the cover and listen for the sound there. Any help is appreciated, thank you!

 

That noise is certainly loud enough that you should be able to pinpoint the source of it. If not, try getting an automotive stethoscope.

 

Thanks for the reply, I used my stethoscope and it sounds like the alternator I just installed is the source of the problem. I will be taking the belt off to see if the issue persists

 

If you are very careful, VERY, you can use either a long screwdriver, or a metal rod, and hold it against the alternator, while car is running, and it will magnify the sound, and help with its location. BUT, PLEASE be carefule

 

Wish you'd have left the camera focused on the alternator area a little bit longer, instead of looking all over the place... hard to tell from what you've shown.

 

I took the video before I knew it was the alternator, otherwise I would have. My stethoscope did the trick though.