RLDWV2003

A few months back I posted my story about my 2002 GLE which my mechanic told me had a blown engine. The radiator had blown on the interstate, and I ran it further than I should have, trying to get to the nearest exit. After the new radiator was installed, I was told it likely had a bent rod or spun bearing. The shop owner offered me $400 for it, which was $100 less than what I'd spent for the new radiator from him.

Long story short - I was ready to make the deal, not wanting to deal with an engine swap for a car with 228K miles on it. Then I found this site, told my story, and you guys weighed-in. What you told me made me think that maybe this guy was wrong. So, I went in and got the car, expectingng it to die any minute thereafter, and drove it home.

I'm very happy to say that 300 miles later, the car still runs awesome. It made my daily commute of 150 miles yesterday without a hitch. The ticking noise is hardly noticeable, and it burns no oil nor makes any smoke. Round trip mileage was about 25.5 MPG. So, I plan to keep on driving it, and maybe finding a new mechanic. Thanks again guys!! You're the best!

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

Good to hear.

How's the engine oil look? Any sound clips of the "ticking"?

RLDWV2003

The ticking sound is very hard to notice now, and the oil looks good. What I noticed about the ticking is that it does not change frequency in lock-step with the RPMs of the engine. In essence, when I rev the engine the ticking does get faster, but not at the same rate as the RPMs go up and/or down. Does that make any sense? I can post another video/audio clip if you think it will help.

The Nissan folks looked at it and said that the sound was in the cylinder head next to the firewall (Bank A, I believe). Short of pulling the valve cover off (which I guess is a big deal these days?), they said that I should just drive it until it stops running. They didn't think it was a stuck valve because of how smoothly the engine runs. They didn't charge me anything for listening, but they did have me cool my heels in their waiting area for 2 hours, which just happens to open out onto the showroom floor. I guess after 1:50 they figured I wasn't taking the bait and decided to give it a listen.

Bob

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

Audio clip would be cool for reference.

RLDWV2003

Posted! Sorry for the wind noise - almost drowns out the engine until the end. You can definitely hear the rattle on deceleration. Here's the link:

http://youtu.be/5RgvsUE2wTU

Thanks for looking (listening)!

Grand_hustle17

iTrader: (22)

ur welcome lol... but yea man good to hear... n when you if u do blow the motor ill pay you the $500 for it... just PM me in the future lol

RLDWV2003

Let's hope that's another 50K miles from now. But I'll let you know!

FWIW, the interior of the car is perfect except the steering wheel is a little rough.

5th gen dd

Are you sure it's coming from the head? That almost sounds like it could be the water pump. If it was ran dry there could be some damage to the bearings causing the noise. Especially if it doesn't follow the speed of the engine exactly.

RLDWV2003

It was the Nissan dealership that told me it was coming from the head. But that could have just been part of the exercise to entice me into getting a new car. Any way to verify if it is the water pump?

Waxima

iTrader: (3)

I also had a Nissan dealership change my oil a while ago (had a coupon for a free one) and they put so much more oil in than they were supposed to that it almost destroyed my car. So I wouldn't trust their judgement farther than you can throw a Maxima.

Definitely get a new mechanic. The one you described here sounds like an idiot/crook.

Rods03Max619

iTrader: (5)

Good to hear...that mechanic sounds pretty crooked....

fatboyslim86440

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like a bad precat...

Gut them and go from there...