my early '03 automatic car has an engine rattle right around 1750, sometimes. usually when sustaining or lightly loading at that engine speed. What's up with that?
In case it matters, she's got 113k.

 

yea i have the same rattle, not sure what exactly it is, cause ive gotten many different responses. oh well, someone should chime in here and tell you to search or where to search, cause im sure this has been mentioned before.

 

Yea I have the same problem too on my 03 GLE with 65k. if anyone knows what this is I would love to know what it is and how do i fix it. The thing that really sucks is that if I put the car in park and rev the engine to check it out, I don’t hear it. It's only makes this noise when in drive.

 

Got the exact same thing. I'm thinking it's the firewall shaking a bit - maybe some welds are lose. It's annoying as heck but I doubt very serious. Not worried about it enough to take it to a mechanic and waste money on a problem they'll probably be guessing at.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....37#post4891137
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....72#post4483472
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....19#post4194719

 

hm, thanks...

 

seems that this issue only affects teh 3.0's and not the 3.5's.

 

http://maxima.theowensfamily.com/tsb/NTB03-060.pdf

 

I have been having this issue as well, and the problem occurs even after driving for 15-30 minutes. Always at 1600-2100 rpm, always that rattling noise from the engine bay. I switched from Chevron to 76 last week and I haven't been able to re-create the rattling since. Perhaps, 76's 92 octane is better than Chevron's. Guess which gas is cheaper?

 

soooooooo,
it's either my timing chain oilers clogged, or the precats, or knock, or an exhaust shield, or a motor mount, or the VTC, but nobody's really sure?



on the e30 website when a newb asks "why do my valves chatter so loud?" we just say "yeah, they do that".
thanks for posting what little info there is out there.

 

It's hard to put a finger on exactly what it is - I have the same issue with my car on many occasions.
Even though there's a TSB and I have a warranty, I'm not sure I want the Nissan techs screwing around with it - although a new engine wouldn't be a bad outcome.

 

guys I had the same problem and its really simple .. change you plugs . I did this a few days ago and now my rattle is gone.

 

Mine has yet to do this... 75k....Changed the plugs 5k ago.

 

it has nothing to do with the sprocket, gas or the damn plugs, it is definitely something else, and it is pissing me off..

 

Spark knock, rod knock Explain...

 

Update: The rattling has gone away mostly, but it still rattles sometimes if I let the engine work in the 1600-2100 range for a long time. I'm gonna do Seafoam just before my next oil change and hope it solves the problem completely....

 

You have headers.

IT'S THE PRECATS!!!!!

 

what the HELL can possibly vibrate in precats? Plus on 3.5L, the precats are integrated into exhaust manifold and on 3.0L they are made as a part of Y-pipe...

And even if the hell freezes over and it is the precats, how come i cannot duplicate that sound when my car is stationbary?

 

I have this rattle also. Annoys me alot, although it usually only does it after driving for a little bit. 94K.

 

yes, it only happens after you drive a few miles...

 

Odds are that it's the infamous timing chain rattle. This has been discussed many times on the .org

 

why can't this be duplicated when the car is not moving then?

 

When the car is not moving there is no load on the engine

 

Suppose it's the timing chain, what is the proposed solution to stop the rattling?

 

If it is the timing chain, please let me know too what the solution will be......its driving me crazy and i get the odd people on the sidewalk turn their heads back beacuse they hear a rattle!!!

got 90 k

 

Is that because you have the 3.0 and threads I posted & the TSB relate to the 3.5?

 

this is too easy -

its an oil consumption problem (read all the others threads)

the timing chain tensioner uses oil to work. when the oil is low the chain rattles against the tensioner. it happens under load when the chain gets tighter

 

why is the rattle only isolated to a small range in the low rpms then?

 

i dont know...but mine does the EXACT same thing

 

IIRC from previous discussions on the subject some folks successfully eliminated the rattle by topping off their oil to the correct level, while others replaced the chain tensioner. Poke around, there are existing threads on the subject.

 

Do you have an aftermarket y-pipe?

In any case, my oil is not low and it makes the sound regardless...

 

It's harder than you think..... I have never had oil consumption problem on my Max and it makes the rattling sound anyway. Suppose it's the tensioner, why doesn't it make the noise under load at 3000-5000 rpm?

 

He is a 3.5.

 

I found that by adding a catch-can, almost 90% of the low rpm rattle is eliminated. Blow-by is greatest at low rpm when the PCV is open. Try adding one and see how much oil you get. It only takes a few drops of oil to lower octane and cause a ping.

The rattle you get when you start the car is completely different and makes a different sound. That problem is with the tensioner.

 

The load is on the crankshaft, connecting rods and pistons. There's no load on the timing chain (making it move faster is not load). As you apply load to the engine, it doen't make it harder for it to open valves...

It cannot be the damn sprocket because it is too audible. The sprocket is under the timing chain cover and if it was in fact causeing the rattle, it would not be as loud.

I put in 4.5 quarts of oil.


What is the largest amount of Oil you can put in your engine SAFELY (withouth causing it to foam)?

 

I saw no decrease in the amount of rattle I experience w/ the addition of the catch-can...

 

he might as well add a straight-pipe that produces 100 dB at idle. That would make the rattle go away also

 

As I said, some of us don't have burning oil problem and yet we're experiencing rattling problems also.

 

Once again... who is precat-less and has this problem??

 

This thread has gotten confusing with the inclusion of startup rattle discussion.

Do you mean the 1500 - 2000 rpm while coasting rattle or startup rattle?