Yes I did a search on this and I actually have replaced the alternator and the idler or tensioner pulley...neither things were the remedy. I am running out of ideas and so is the nissan dealer I have brought it to. They now are suggesting the water pump but most likely doubt that it is an issue. Anyhow....the car only whines at idle when it dumps below 1000 rpms. I have tried adjusting the idle higher and it really is not a remedy either. I am running out of ideas and I am really getitng annoyed with spending my money on sh@t that doesn't fix it. I am about ready to go back to a honda. Does anyone have any ideas when it could be? I am bringing the car back to the dealership on thursday but I am wondering if this is pointless since they want to charge me another 50 bucks to misdiagnose this problem again. And I am wondering why I cannot get them to look it over for free since they are the ones screwing up.

 

Don't overlook the simple things. Change your belts!!!!!

 

I have considered that. I sort of assumed that the dealer would have checked something like that. And all my belts look like they are in good shape...I will ALSO ask them to check my belts. I have done everything I can with what knowledge I have. Thanks for the idea. ANy other ideas....ANYONE? OR have I actually stumped the gurus on max.org?

 

I have a similiar problem and I feel it's the power steering pump. Ever since I bought the car, there has been a whinning or low-frequency humming sound at idle. If I slightly turn the wheel in either direction, the sound almost goes away. I replaced the belts and tensioner with Nissan parts and had no luck. I used a plastic tube to listen to each of the accessories and found the P/S pump to be the noisiest. I just left it alone because the cost and complexity to replace it. Let me know what you do.

 

I was suggested that by one of my friends who has a honda. But I didnt think that could be it. I will have to check the turningof the wheel to get it to go away...if it works I bet it has something to do with that. I am going to suggest that also to the dealership. I am going to fix this becuase I owe way to much on my car to sell it and I am to obsessive to leave it alone. Should have bought a Honda..that was the biggest mistake I ever made. I never had so many dumb little issues with a car. Plus, I wonder if the Nissan Dealerships share mechanics with ford and chevy becuase the depth of Nissan Mech. knowledge seems to be pretty shallow. My car is a stick and I can almost always get the noise when I leave it in 1st gear and just let the car roll and the idle dips to like 450 rpms.....it whines...so I really lose my mind in slow moving traffic.

 

I was looking at my power steering fluid the other day and it looked sort of blackish brown...I am assuming that means it needs some changing....could this be the problem....would changing the fluid have any effect ont hat sound....well, regardless I will do that this evening....but at this point anything is worth a try.

 

Get a piece of rubber tubing and stick one end in your ear and place the other end near each of the accessories. You will be able to hear the unique sounds generated by alt, p/s pump, etc. This is the best way to diagnose noises. BTW: a Honda can have this problem too. Don't be so negative towards Nissans! My Maxima has been very reliable and as well as the Maximas owned by several of the forum members.

 

My problem is fixed. One alternator, one idler pulley, one battery, all the belts, and countless measures later....the problem is fixed.

It was none of these things. It was my water pump. The water pump had not failed or leaked but it was beginning to "shut down". I have never driven any other maximas so I never felt the difference between my clutch and my steering wheel in relation to other maximas. Let me tell you, once the changed the water pump, the whole car changed. Now, I thought my car was fast and I thought it was smooth to shift before the pump...but now the car is great. Like a new maxima. The noise went away at idle...we left it running for 2 hours and no noise...took it for a spin at sub1000 rpm range and no noise. There was no way to tell but to just replace it and by really researching problems with previous maximas. I had to replace 100s of dollars in stuff in my car to get down to the water pump and that was more money to add on to my troubles. Well, it is all fixed and my maxima is the best it ever has since it has all new parts. ALL NEW PARTS. The pull is great...gas milage is great....clutch feels like new...steering is nimble and accurate. Wish I had known this a year ago. 3 dealerships and 4 garages later...the thing is finally fixed. I tried sooooo hard to fix this thing...an obsession for almost hlaf a year...stressed me out so much....the whining.....I cannot describe how much this bothered me. But now it is fixed. Please..if you hav ethe whine at idle just ask them to check your water pump or have them just replace it. Now I say again, there was no sign my water pump was going and the dealership mechanics at 60 bucks an hour couldnt figure it out tillthey replaced everything that could have been the problem....good luck...and I hope a this post comes up to help others...because I wouldnt have my worse enemy go through this.

 

Congrats on your fix! Now enjoy the ride.

 

Congrats on the good news. My car also has a whine and I'm essentially left w/ the alternator or the water pump. SO i'll check those out.

 

I got that knocking sound @ idle? Is that what you mean off and on kinda? It is my water pump making that noise??

 

I have a strange sound that recently started happening too. I've narrowed it down to either the alternator or the water pump.

Now, get this, I recently had a blacktone labs report on my oil. They found traces of sodium in my oil, indicating a possible coolant leak somewhere. Strange, I notice no coolant loss at all. No overheating problems whatsoever.

Bingo!! It must be the pump then!! The sound and the oil report zeroed it in for me!! Yet another reason to have your oil sampled

By the way, I haven't fixed it yet, but I'm at leat comfortable now that I know what the problem is.

Thx for keeping us informed, buckwilly4.


DW

 

This issue bothered my for almost a year. I would feel so damn cool rolling int he max...then I would come to a light...see some peeps in another car...and then that whine started. I would act like it wasnt coming from my car...no not my car...the nice one that was meticulously maintained? hehehehe. Anyways, once i fixed the pump I sold the maxima. Well, I am pretty sure that the high pitch noise at idle is the waterpump...you have doubts...so did I. But if you cut to the chase and just bring it to the dealer and tell them you think your waterpump is failing..then they will run diagnostics. Once you replace the pump you will realize that your car is a lot nicer anyhow. Once i fixed the pump my clutch, the steering, and all the components just seemed to work a lot better. So, it took me a long time to figure this one out..hopefully you guys wont have to go through the same stuff. I will miss a lot of this max.org..nice to leave on a good note though. But my new car makes up for it.

 

I have that whining noise too, didn't know what it was. Glad I read this thread. How much did the dealership charge to fix it?

 

Did your CEL turn on due to this ?Mine is having all the probs you had but the cel is on and the battery and brake lights are always off!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jayanth
Did your CEL turn on due to this ?Mine is having all the probs you had but the cel is on and the battery and brake lights are always off! [/QUOTE
retrieve the codes from your ECU to find out why your CEL is on. Use this thread http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?threadid=104931

 

I replaced my water pump and thermostat. Guess what, the noise is still there!

But, my water pump was on its way out. My car felt a whole lot better once I started driving around. Before, My car started to get hot, my temp gage would rise to the %75 level. It did it once and suprised me, the 2nd time, I invoked by driving hard at highspeed witht he A/C on. I backed off and blasted the heater and the gage quickly returned to its normal %45 level. So I knew something in my cooling system was not quite right anymore.

After replacig the water pump, the temp gage would not budge past the %45 mark. Not matter what I did. My cooling system is back to normal

Now for that whine sound. My mechanic said just wait until it gets louder. It could be many things. I figured since it's not the water pump then the alternator He said it could also be the power steering pump or the idler pully etc. Too many possibilities. Using the stethescope, he could not pinpoint it, said it was too early. Oh well.

But I'm glad I got the water pump out of the way.


DW

 

What I noticed about nissan service centers is that if they say its the water pump, fix it and it wasnt the problem, they wont charge you. OR at least me. I had the alternator replaced but found out it was not the problem, when does your car make that noise? Is it only during idle? Is it a maual or stick? It could just be a bearing. Depends on what the noise comes. Regardless, i think the water pump fix is a good thing regardless when I did mine...night and day difference.

 

i have no warranty, so no dealer. I use a trusty mechanic.

My car's a 5 speed. The whine is there at idle, and its directly proportional to engine speed, and it is there even when the car is in neutral standing still and juts idling. So it is definitely somewhere in the belts, pumps, alternator area of the car. I'm pretty sure it's a bearing, but which bearing?

Also, as this noise is slowly starting to get worse, sometimes I "feel" a very high pitched vibriation go thru the cabin, I feel it on the brake and accelerator pedal as well. Very subtle, but there. You have to really know your car to be aware of these sensations.

DW

 

Does it get worse when you turn the a/c on? That may rule single out your compressor, or how about listening to the pitch of the whine w/ all your electrical accesories going - maybe alternator. Good luck searching for it.

 

Its your alternator or the idler pulley bearing. That was what I thought it was to begin with...from my searches on max.org I have noticed that the alternator whine gets worse when accelerating. If it is the alternator then i would just bring it to the dealer and have them fix it. IF it isnt that then they wont charge you for it. That is the difference between private and dealer. They have to fix the problem, if not, they cant charge you. or at least theoretically. That was how it worked with the palce I got my water pump done at. They coulnt figure it out. THe replaced the idler pulley, the alternator...etc...finally the figured it out. It didnt coost me for the other work, just the pump and diagonosis. BUt honestly, I think it may be your alternator by the sounds of it. You can just check it I think. Or you could run your engine with the BELTS OFF and if their is no noise then you know it has something to do with the belts or pulleys or alternator. If it still makes the noise then you got problems. At least that is what I gathered from my experience. ANd def. try that other suggestion which would utilze more of your alternator to work...which should make the noise louder...I think

 

Nope. The sound is un-related to A/C. A/C off or on, the sound is there.


I think you guys have me onto something, though. Testing the alternator, the sound gets louder when I put a load on the ALT, headlights and defogger. The sound definitely gets more frantic and stronger.


Now, do I conclude that it's the alternator, or could it still be something else?

DW

 

Yeah, I think that is what it is. I would just get a rebuiilt one for 150 bucks. I got one for my ride and regardless, justlike you water pump, I think you will notice a difference. I mean, is that the factory alternator, if it is then there is a good chace of that being the culprit.

 

Yup. The car was born with that alternator. She's been good. Guess she's tired

Where'd you get yours from?? For $150? I've seen used ones for $150 that I was going to buy, then re-build it myself with the bearing kit and then attempt to install it myself.

I just did a quick check and found one at woodfins.com for $85 + 11 shipping. That price gives me a 2 year warranty

At car-part.com, I find a gazzilion matches, with the price ranging from $100 to $130.

Which one should I go for?

I have the Nissan FSM, it instructs to un-bolt the AC compressor and move it forward a little bit to get full access to the ALT. If it gets too difficult, I'll run to my mechanic


DW

 

Ha! Finally found this thread again using the right combination of keywords.

Anyhow, 2 months ago I changed my ALT and the whine disappeared

DW

 

cool, glad to hear it. DId you end up doing the install yourself?

 

dude i think i get the same thing in first gear, i think the 5spds are just crappy like that, or maybe just us...haha

 

Well, yes and no. I did the install twice. The 1st time was DIY with a used ALT from junkyard. Big mistake. After spending nearly the entire weekend on that job, I decided to let the pros take care of replacing it. I bought a new (but really re-conditioned) ALT from Courtesy and had my mechanic do it the 2nd time. Took him 2 hours to my 14 +. The space is so tight working with the AC compressor and pulling the ALT out, I don't know how they managed so quickly. Experience definitely counts on this one, or maybe it's a 2 person job. I did it by myself, couldn't wait.

DW

 

I was looking at your track times with your 5 speed and I was getting mid 15's with a good clutch and mods. Then I got a new waterpump and got a 14.8 on my first run on street tires and no new mods. Dev, get your waterpump checked out. ANd not just checked by some dumb *** mechanic...because I bet its your waterpump beginning to fail. It will seem to work fine, but that noise is the pump stressing. If you read further down in this thread, my problem was the waterpump because it went away once it was fixed and the max ran like a dream from then on. Well...as good as a front driver with that much torque can run.

 

Yeah, same goes for the ALT. when I replaced that, power, especially past 5000 rpm was like "Whoah!" Didn't realize the sick ALT was holding back power that much. It was like a minor tune up

DW