so i recently noticed an engine tick when i was starting my car up a couple weeks ago and i asked a couple guys at my work (Mitsubishi) what they thought it might be and everyone one of them said lifter. it definitely sounds like a collapsed lifter as the noise increases in speed as you rev the engine. i never over rev-ed it but i have only had the car since February . i was looking on all-data and it said to replace a lifter you need to remove the timing chain and cam. so my question is, is there an easier way to replace it, (its definitely coming the rear bank)? all-data says you get 17 hours for the job, but i don't have the time to do it or the money to have it done.has anyone had this sort of problem and found a way around it? any solutions or help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Does it sound like this?

 

its hard to tell,but i want to say yeah, i cant really tell how loud it is from the clip, but when im driving down the street at like 2000rpm, i can clearly hear it (with no radio on).

 

mine sounds louder, but im not too sure cause urs is a video

 

mine sounds exactly like that what is it??

 

i took a quick clip of my engine and gave it acouple revs, im uploading it now and should be able to get it in the thread sometime today.

 

injectors

 

Mmmmmmmm pulses

 

woooohooooo thanks i got scared for a sec there!!!
i love these forums

 

i definately dont think its the injectors

heres a link to a noise clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGJVy0UbIIc

 

mine sound just like it too whats the solution for these?

 

Mine is injectors, not sure what your are.

 

1. thats a rattle not a tick
2. check your oil level and let us know

 

Yikes...definitely check your oil. Has it run low on oil recently? I hate to bring bad news, but that almost sounds like rod knock to me moreso than lifter tick, and DEFINITELY not injectors on that last video.

 

Take off the valve cover and check if it "collapsed" I dont see how the lifters in our motors can "collapse" as if its a pushrod motor or something lol. It takes like 5 minutes to take off the valve cover if its the front bank.

 

i just got the car in feb and ive done one oil change so im not sure what the previous owner did. the oil level is ok, the rear bank is making the noise. is it true you need to remove the Cam to replace the lifters

 

Try listening from under the car too. If it is a bottom end noise that is definitely rod knock, but if it is coming from the top of the engine, it is probably just lifters.

 

Ok so its definitely coming from the top, and the rear bank is the source. so heres my question/idea. i know replacing those lifters is a big job, and i wouldn't be able to do that at my work on a Saturday because i wouldn't have it done for a couple days. and i don't have the money to have it done since the labor would be like 1700 dollars. so should i find a used motor and just replace mine, i have 74,000 on mine. i was thinking i could get one for like 700-900$, and while I'm in there install a new clutch and better motor mounts and still be less than fixing my original motor. any input or advise on what to do would be helpful

 

You can find engines cheaper than that. Look on www.car-part.com. If you did have a broken lifter or a wiped cam lobe its easier to do this with the engine out of the car anyways. I would just drive it untill the motor went though.

 

thanks for that link, some good prices on that site. prob going to go with the engine swap and part out the old motor or something. seems like the easier/quicker way to go. again thanks for the help

 

if you are going to replace the motor how hard would it be to upgrade I have a 2000 3.0 would it be hard to upgrade to the 3.5

 

short answer...yes

 

thanks

 

What's your definition of 'hard'?

 

I guess the question that I wanted to ask what would need to be done in order to change my 2k motor to a 2k3 or newer?

 

Sounds like you need to shim your followers/lifters/buckets... you may have overrevved this engine/ or slightly bent a valve just enough to created that tick! I would run some synthetic 10W-40 or 20w-50 and see if the ticking gets quieter! You don't need another engine but you may need a valve/head job...

 

ill give it a try, its time for an oil change anyways

 

Was this a sudden thing or was it progressive. Just the one bank? Remove the associated camshaft cover and check the valve clearances. The cam lobe and bucket should have a smooth, relatively shiny contact area. You don't have shims like on the VQ30; It requires different buckets for adjustments which entails removing the camshaft. It's a PITA. Clearances (Cold):
Intake
0.26 - 0.34 mm (0.010 - 0.013 in)
Exhaust
0.29 - 0.37 mm (0.011 - 0.015 in)

 

That all depends on how you intend to approach it you can either:

Completely change out the motor along with the timing and different throttle system (Cable driven TB vs. Drive by wire) and go through the hell of have to swap out a whole lot of wiring, ecu, tcu and transmission. Also you go to make sure that whatever car you are cannibalizing this off of has comparable options to yours or you can lose a few functions like your sunroof.

Because of these complications some people choose to swap the motor and attach the timing equipment from the 3.0 to the 3.5. The disadvantage of this is that you do not get the Variable Valve Timing that the 3.5 offers but you can use all your old equipment but the throttle body cables will require some mount fabrication.

Trust me what I have just mention barely scratches the surface of what is need to be done. Don't even talk about trouble shooting and the fact that it will only get you about 30 bhp and there are fewer FI kits readily available for the 3.5 on a Max. If you are really looking to improve performance you are better off getting a low mileage 3.0 de-k and a turbo kit from turbo specialties. You will get more horsepower with a proper tune for less money than the swap. Not to mention that doing a swap in a 5th Gen won't even get you the "cool" factor that doing the swap in a 4th Gen would do because some 5th Gen's (known as 5.5's) come with them stock.

 

30bhp? Area under the curve is what matters, and that's exactly what you'll get with the 3.5L.

 

thanks for the info.

 

True enough, but for a 5000 dollar job (If you don't have the know how and/or tools to do it yourself) you would be better off getting a FI kit that you could tune your 3.0 to get so much more power after 2500 to 3000 rpm that the rest of the power band won't matter much. Truly between idle and 3000 rpm I would like to have the engine be more about fuel economy than performance anyway. That is partially why I am partial to turbos for performance enhancement on a max because low end power on a Front wheel drive/Front engine car just means more torque steer, more tire spin and that is getting you nowhere fast. True you will probably spend a bit more than 5000 to get it done right but you will also have the car where you want it right away as well.

 

Well that is about as simple of an overview a you can get as the process is a very complex and challenging proposition. Sorry I could not clarify better.

 

Also keep in mind that in order to get that under the curve power in earnest you will have to do the whole electronic swap. Otherwise you just lopped off the greatest reason why the 3.5 has more power throughout the powerband than the DE-K and that is variable valve timing. Nissan could have easily made the 3.0 just as powerful as the 3.5 without the displacement increase. But VVT among other efficiencies afforded through superior technology and no longer being in the economic hole of the mid 90's gave the VQ35 a nice push in it's development. Bottom line: full swap is very difficult and more importantly more expensive than 5000 if you have a shop do it.

 

No that was very clear but like you said for 30 bhp ?????? I never wanted to change mine out I was just asking to see if it could be done or it you had to change out your motor should you upgrade to the 3.5 but I see not. thanks

 

Yeah ultimately if you do the full swap you would be looking at a 6000+ dollar job to take your car from 222 bhp to 255 bhp. Not to mention that now you car will be harder to upgrade from that set up. But as Nmex said the real gains are under the curve where the 3.0 DE-K is for the most part an overachieving 190 bhp engine and the 3.5 is an underachieving 287 bhp engine. But it won't nearly make up for the price paid to get it done.

 

I have a lot of question so thanks for the answers I have been driving my Maxima for about three years and I got out of american car so all this is kinda new to me. Like I saw a thread about a LSD tranny what the hell is that. I reading and reading because I going to start with the mods just have to learn thats all. What I can tell you it doesn't matter how fast you can go it you can't control or stop so thats where I'm gonna start. I just ordered Tokico hp blues shocks and struts and eibach springs and I have a FSB. I guess that was a good palce to start.

 

A Limited Slip Differential prevents the left and right wheel from spinning at different speeds. Or I should say it limits the difference in spin speed so that the car retains traction better especially in off road and extreme uneven pavement situations. It is a more dynamic version of the standard open differential which will for the most part distribute the same amount of torque to both wheels in any situation and hence, can be a problem when one wheel has significantly more traction than the other.(Think having your left wheel in dirt and your right wheel on pavement) A more detailed explanation can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited_Slip_Differential

 

All things equal, the 3.5L will always make more power, given that they both have the same identical mods / enhancements, etc.

Members have done a full swap on a 4th gen for less than 6k, another reason why we have this forum, so we could tell the shops and do things on our own, etc.

 

I had a similar kind of noise from a stuck lifter once. I used Marvel's Mistery Oil and the noise went away. I am not saying it will work for you but it's worth a shot. Do you use synthetic oil everytime you do a L.O.F. or what?