kieranlavin

This is on my wife's 02 auto Maxima. When starting from a standing stop and particularly with the passenger side window down, I had been hearing a little rattle I guess when she starts off. It's gotten worse in recent months and it now seems to do it a little longer and sometimes when accelerating while already moving. The other night, I decided to see if it would do it without load just so I could see where it was coming from. I'm looking at the FSM now and it looks like the noise would come from around the power valve actuator (looking at EC-24). Every time she stabbed the gas in park, the rod would pull back and I'd hear the rattle. I then decided to pull the rod myself and the rattle stayed for as long as I had it pulled. I'm new to the whole VIAS issue and did some reading about this last week but I'm wondering if this noise sounds like something related to the VIAS or might it be something else? The car is under an extended warranty until 100k so I'm planning on bringing it to the dealer tomorrow to let them deal with it but I'd like to know prior to going what I'm talking about and have a little more knowledge.

Any ideas/thoughts/suggestions? TIA

kieranlavin

Well, I brought the car to the dealer figuring I'd play dumb and try to get whatever I can done under warranty. There were three issues... 1) the motor mounts feel worn and I think need to be replaced. 2) there is the rattling I talk about above which I think is associated with the VIAS somehow. 3) there is a check engine for O2 sensor and I bought the sensors figuring I'd do it myself. Since the car was at the dealer and would be on a lift (or at least access to a lift) I figured I'd pay the labor to do it.

The motor mounts they say they found nothing wrong with. Oh well... I'll be back dealing with them before she hits 100k. The rattling they SAY is the siren for the alarm Anyway, they told me that they tightened it and that fixed it... uh huh. The last item they said that they checked the codes and found the O2 which they replaced under warranty (parts and labor!!! I completely figured it'd be a "wear and tear" item?) They also said that they found problems with the valve assembly. Sounded to me on the phone like it was related to the VIAS. They replaced parts 23796-8J100 and 23796-EA205 and they're both labeled "Valve Assembly - Solenoid" Can anyone confirm that this is indeed related to the VIAS? It certainly solved the rattling problem (dopes, it wasn't the siren causing the rattle... yeah, the siren would rattle only when she accelerated from a stop and coincidentally rattled when I pulled on the lever mentioned above) I didn't hear the rattle the whole way home and I popped the hood and pulled that lever to see... no noise.

And now hopefully she'll have some power back (I didn't notice in rush hour traffic) and she'll get some gas mileage back (she's been getting around 12-15 lately

300ZXTT

I see this thread is hella old, but just to clarify...
Part 23796 are the solenoids that control the valve timing advance, NOT the VIAS which deals with Variable Intake Air.

kieranlavin

Ha, my wife's (soon to be ex-wife) Maxima has about 190k miles on it with no major issues. The car pretty much just sits in the driveway now and am not sure if she'll want it in the divorce (doubtful since she TRASHED the interior). Mechanically the car is strong as hell and still easily breaks the tires loose from a stop and feels like it almost wants to slip the tires on loose-ish gravelly roads shifting to 2nd (auto). I'll be charging up the battery this weekend and taking it for a spin. When the weather breaks, I'm probably going to register and insure it for a station car to use daily

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

I suggest that you wait until the divorce is final before fixing up the car. If she sees that you want it, she might take it just to spite you.

MrEous

iTrader: (11)

Thread from the dead...300ZXTT QUIT POST-WHORING.

Good luck kieranlavin

kieranlavin

The Maxima is a very minor piece of the puzzle when it comes to the divorce. I already spent $5,000 in parts and countless evenings after work and weekends taking the car apart and putting it back together so that stuff is all behind me. The only "repair" that I'd need to do going forward would be a new battery and probably new rear tires to pass inspection. So minor stuff in the grand scheme. She wouldn't know what to do with another car so I doubt she'll look to take it out of spite. If she wanted it, I'd be fine with that; I just want to use it since it's sitting in the driveway anyway and feel bad just having it sit there