The last two days I have noticed my car is making some strange noises. It seem to be only happening when I am pushing on the gas pedal. I am pretty sure it is coming from the engine area or appears to be. It does not do it when the car is in park and I rev the engine, It seems I only hear it when I am driving the car and at that it does not do it all the time. Im not sure if I am explaining it or describing it correctly as a rattling noise. Somethings wrong or is about to go wrong. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

That's hella funny. These couple days I get the same thing.

I think mine is drivetrain related though.

 

I had the same exact noice. It was my precat, sometihng broke loose inside it, and it rattled like hell when i was in Drive at certain RPM's

 

I have Cattman Headers and the full cattback along with the FastCat, could it have gone bad that quickly. I only put all this on sometime around March I believe.

 

Nah. I checked my car out again today. Its wierd, I can't find anything loose - I know its not exhaust either.

 

Im just wondering if it is safe to drive. I have no choice but to drive it until I find out what it is. Its my only car. Grrr.

 

That happened to me too. I got a rattling type noise when I was accelerating and the rattle would happen just as the gears would switch. I took it in to get it checked thinking it was the transmission but thought, "what could possibly be rattling in the transmission??". Turns out it was nothing....for the last couple of months I had been using lower octane gas...87, I thought, what is a couple of tanks here and there going to hurt?

I asked the tech to do a diagnostic and he did and said there was nothing wrong with the car but he heard the noise (we went for a drive together). He said he thought it was some kind of "pinging" and asked me about what gas I had been using. I admitted that I put in a couple of tanks of low octane gas and there was 87 in there at the time of the test.

Anyway, I used up the rest of the low octane gas and put in 93 and it cleared up. No more noise. I know everyone is going to laugh and call me a dumb-*** but oh well! I learned my lesson and I am glad that it wasn't too expensive.

 

Nothing has gone in this car except 91 since I bought it brand new, not even once. This is perplexing.

 

I've pumped 93 (Shell V Power) since I've had my MAx and I had a Nissan Tech to take a look at it and he rev'ed it in park and then held the brake and rev'ed it in drive and shut it off and told me it was a gas knock and told me to pump higher... When I told him the octane I always put it in, he told me to go to a different gas station (Mobil) and pump premium. After I emptied my tank I went and filled up and the noise went away.

 

Nah, my problem is not pinging. I'm gonna go back to 19" wheels and raise the car a little bit

 

Is it only occurring in a specific RPM range? If it's the infamous timing chain clatter at ~2K rpm, don't lose sleep over it.

 

It could be. I dont think so though - only happens when I'm in gear.

 

I am getting a rattle all of the sudden as well. if it is the timing chain, does the tensioner need to be adjusted or changed, or do I need to put on a new chain? My rattle is at certain rpm's but doesn't happen all of the time either.

 

I was talking about Snolife's rattle. I have no clue whether or not any other VQ besides the 2nd gen 3.5L develops this clatter.

 

I always change my oil with Full Synthetic Mobil 1. I was told I could go 5000 miles in between changes with Full Synthetic. I was currently sitting at about 4000. It dawned on me that my wifes 3.5 Altima started making the same kind of noise about a month ago. We took the car to the dealer cuz it is under warranty, not knowing if it was something big or small. They came back and said that the oil needed changing and it was dirty. Same case with hers, use full synthetic was at about 4000.Noise went away.

So I said well lets try it, went in and had the oil changed. Guy came back and said I was low on oil. Have not heard it since, hopefully it will stay that way. Has anyone heard of this happening? Thanks.

 

I was just reading sooners thread on low oil levels. I guess I need to keep a closer watch on the oil. Could the rattle have been my timing chain as sooner explained in their thread? Now Im wondering and getting worried if I am having oil burning issues. I hope not, sounds like a fight with Nissan is tough to win. Car has 71k on it and is under warranty until 100k or 9-2008 which ever comes first. They could give me crap for all the mods and void the warranty. Hope this is not bad news. Have not heard any noise since changing the oil a few days ago.

 

And yes, oil loss does contribute to the rattle. But my car's made the sound even after an oil change (4.5qts). But like I said, it's nothing serious. You won't be left stranded or anything like that...

 

im paranoid about my oil levels also

I had a rattle as well and when I got my HS headers installed the rattle went away. I checked my precats and they were fine so it had to have been a heatshield.

In your case Im not quite sure what it could be besides the timing chain. I always wanted to know if oil burning resulted in performance loss