Roblee22

Hey just picked up a 02 GLE for cheap because it has a couple of issues. There is what sounds like lifter tick coming from the motor, its pretty loud and it increases with rpm. The car has had all of its oil changes on time and was maintained good through out its life, according to the oil change sticker thats on the windshield, the next ones due in roughly 300 miles. The car has a slight miss while sitting still, especially in drive. But it runs SOO good, very powerful and its pretty easy to go 50mph in a 30 zone by mistake, very responsive car... It could be a bad coil or anything since i haven't yet did any diagnosing yet. I searched the net and came across several 3.5 owners with this noise, some say these engines can make this noise when its nearing it next oil change and somepeople suggested switching to thicker oil. Besides the stand still miss, the car runs great, i bought the car knowing its a possibility i might have to toss another motor in it. Friday, im gonna change oil to mobil1 high mileage 10w 30 or 40, install new plugs and coils and go from there, any suggestions?

Roblee22

Extremely clean, hardly any rust.

Roblee22

One more post, its defiantly not a rod knock or timing chain noise, this is lifter noise im hearing, light ticking sounds. I had the car to a few shops and they say that the lifters can get louder as the motor age and to just keep the oil topped off and just drive the car, im currently looking for another motor, but i need the car to get me to and from work for the next few weeks while i search for my motor. Love the car already, been cruising non stop since i bought it friday, btw it has a little over 189k miles on it.

Donkeypunch

ya i suggest you get real rims for that thing
looks great otherwise.

Roblee22

Roblee22

A short recording i took earlier today, the rims are the first thing to go once i get around to it. Haha

Child_uv_KoRn

iTrader: (7)

It eats oil (engine is trashed from precats no doubt) and was ran low. Buckets are smashed.

They sold it, b/c engine is bad.

Roblee22

Well i got the car for super cheap knowing i might have to put a new motor in it, i would hate to put another motor in it and the samething happens, but i guess this can be prevented by always making sure the oil is topped off. Question, will the car possibly run for another 3 weeks til i can get the replacement motor in? What would happen? I found another motor for $650 with only 123k miles on it that came from an rear ended 2002.

Roblee22

It runs great from all rpms.

Donkeypunch

i would take the cams out and see if the buckets lifters are ok.
WAY cheaper then a motor.

Roblee22

Alright that sounds good, i have pretty good mechical abilities, so im pretty sure im capable of doing this, i narrowed the noise down as coming from the front valve cover(closest to radiator). It probaly won't help, but im gonna be changing the oil to 10w40 high mileage synthetic along with a good oil filter this weekend, its crazy that the car can have issues like this since its running so good. Oh well, i got it cheap, pre owner has kept up with timely oil changes and he told me the ticking started after the last oil change roughly a month and a half ago, so it hasnt been doing the ticking very long.

maxinout93

Are you sure the noise is coming from the engine itself? Sometime the precat material gets loose and bangs around inside the the ceramic housing and sounds just like a timing chain or an engine tap.

Child_uv_KoRn

iTrader: (7)

It'll run like that just fine.

"hr" swap or don't bother

Roblee22

It sounds like very much like its coming from the front valve cover but im probaly not 100 percent certain. And I heard the HRs have more power, but wouldn't it be more an more involved? Since the 02 Max has an different tranny? If i was to swap motors i really thought about the motor from an 6th gen. But i may just opp to have this motor looked at or repaired in a few weeks or so since i really don't trust used motors especially with these motors, btw, according to the carfax, this car has had some timing work done around 50k miles ago, so thats an added plus. Im sorry i know i shouldnt be concerned with this, but those wheels HAVE to go, found a guy selling a set of the 17inch aluminums off a 6th gen SL, which would look great on my car.

Roblee22

Anyone near the Illinos area would like to give me a hand checking/adjusting valve lash? Id feel more comfortable with someone walking me through the steps, Ill pay for your time.

Child_uv_KoRn

iTrader: (7)

It's not adjustable. The buckets have to be replaced, which is more or less tearing down the engine. It's literally much easier and faster to swap it. Plus, you won't have trashed cylinders/rings eating 1 qt oil every 500 miles with 2nd gen VQ. You should be able to find a 2013+ for about 500.

Roblee22

So a motor from a newer Max would drop right in with no modifications? So just skip the 2002-2003 motors all together?

Child_uv_KoRn

iTrader: (7)

Slight modifications, but very simple. Check the "5.7" and "hr" swap threads. It's also on Darren's site nisformance.com. The only thing you have to get are the cam signal inverters. The tensioner can be modded with a few washers and make a little alternator bracket out of scrap metal.

Roblee22

Thanks ill most definitely keep that in mind, since there are alot of 2004+ motors for sale at good prices aswell, but wouldn't a bolted on DE make around the same power as an HR. The car flies as it is imo(I drove a heavier but powerful 1999 Cadillac SLS the last 2 and a half years, so the Max is feeling like a rocket ship right now &#128516. I would love to do headers, y pipe, cai and tune once i get my engine issues intact. A 3200lbs car with maybe a little over 300hp crank is gonna seem very fast imo.

maxinout93

IS the check engine light on? If you have a code for a pre cat then i can guarantee that is probaly what is making the noise. Just some advice before you swap the motor. I had my i35 did that before and i thought i was a timing chain noise. Ended up being the pre cat broke apart.

User1

That's a clean car! You will eventually regret doing anything other than a 2009-2015 VQ Maxima engine swap. Check car-part.com and ebay for motors.

https://maxima.org/forums/5th-genera...adventure.html

http://www.nisformance.com/Articles.asp?ID=252

Child_uv_KoRn

iTrader: (7)

6th gen engines are trash unless they've had a full timing kit. 2nd gen will make 25-30 whp more, but the big deal is the power band. It's flat (1st gen is peaky).

Roblee22

Update on the ticking issue... Took the car to good independent shop i used to take the Cadillac to. I paid 3 hours labor and they removed both valve covers to check things out. He said one of the shim buckets had wear allowing more clearence between it and the cam and that was the reason for the tick. He recommended that i switch to 15w50 oil to reduce the clearance, he assured me that the motor was not being harmed by running it like this for awhile(he swore to god on it). They will charge $1,287 minus the diagnosis fee to repair this issue. He said its better to get it repaired than to swap in another used motor, but once again he assured the motor was not being harmed and that it was no emergency rush to get it repaired. But im paranoid and **** so im still gonna get it repaired at my earliest convenience... So child_uv, thats right inline with what you mentioned earlier in the thread. Any thoughts about this diagnosis? This Maxima is in GREAT shape, its not rusting away like alot of Nissan's/Infiniti's from this era, so it's definitely worth a repair bill imo. Any thoughts is more than appreciated!

krismax

iTrader: (15)

Way cheaper to swap another motor in. I got a 3.0 motor for 1k with 40k miles on it.
A 3.5 is way cheaper.

Roblee22

A vq35 being cheaper than the vq30? Not from my search, i commonly spot vq30s for much cheaper than the 3.5. I found several motors for about 700ish and cheaper, but i also gotta pay for labor since i cant swap a engine. So lets just say i find a motor for about $650ish, and it'll probaly cost another 6 or 700 to have it installed. With the diagnosis fee discount, I'll end up paying right at $1,100 to repair my current motor(which doesnt burn oil). That may be the route I'll take, but its kinna early to tell what im gonna do yet, ill have my mind made up in a few weeks or so...

krismax

iTrader: (15)

Find a vq30k with 40K even and tell me what it costs.

I have bought VQ35 for $300 with 13k on it.

If you can't do it yourself then have the garage fix it. But in my experiences if one part is worn ,then you shall find later, other parts that are worn.

$1300 + on a over 200k engine. No thanks.

Roblee22

Update on the misfire issue... Took the car to advance auto to finally have the codes scanned, no misfire codes, but it threw a code for a bad bank 2 o2 sensor. So this probaly explains why it stumbles from time to time at idle specially in gear and why the idle is a tad rough. Good thing is, from research, this is the sensor thats right in front of the radiator so at least i dont have to get down under the car. Gonna change it out sunday. Other than that, no other check engine codes and the car is running very good, even with the AC blasting all day... The only thing i dislike is the instrument cluster, i loved the instrument cluster on my 2000 SE much more, so im gonna hit the junk yard and take a instrument cluster from an 02 SE as the SE's cluster is much better looking than the GLE/GXE cluster.

Roblee22

Sorry for continuous post. But the responsiveness of this car is ridiculous, i always accidentally jump the car accelerating from a red light, on the highway, if i push the pedal even just a little bit, im on the verge of 90mph by a complete mistake! Like i say, im used to driving a 4000lbs cadillac seville, that northstar has good power but its heavy. The Max really feels like a rocket ship right now and I oftenly find myself doing 45 in a 30. Happy to be out the problematic Cadillac and back to a Maxima! Especially a 2002(my favorite ones). Im done ranting. Its only been 2 weeks, but i think i found a keeper!

Roblee22

I have a code for the precat!!!!! The code is p0430!

Roblee22

So what if the shop charge me 3 hours labor for nothing and there was really nothing wrong with buckets! I guess the very next thing i need to do is replace that pre cat, i assumed po430 was a code for the o2 sensor itself. But after doing more research it appears the problem is always solved by replacing that cat. I remembered what code i had and just remembered maxinout's post.

JSutter

iTrader: (46)

You have to fix the root cause of P0420/P0430 first. Bolting on a new cat isn't going to fix fuel or ignition issues.

Roblee22

I only have P0430, according to my research, the pre cat on bank 2 is 99.9% the cost if this check engine light. I still have some more diagnosing to do, this is just a starting a point.

Roblee22

I plan on doing brand new plugs and coils anyway, ill probaly replace the maf sensor and upstream o2 sensor aswell before i replace the cat.

JSutter

iTrader: (46)

So ask yourself why did the cat fail?

Another possibility is the cat has been gutted already.

Roblee22

Well according to others that has had this code it could be anything from a coil pack, a spark plug and can very well be a o2 sensor on the bank 2 side. I believe if it was a maf issue wouldn't both banks be affected? Im gonna start with the cheap/easy stuff abd change the bank 2 upstream o2 sensor and all 3 coil packs on the bank 2 side and go from there.

Roblee22

Its been a little over 700 miles since my first oil change(used 10w40 valvoline syn blend high mileage) and the oil stick indicates the level is still at the h mark, exactly where i filled it to. So it appears its not an oil drinker. Planning on putting it in the shop to have some motor work done in a few weeks or so.

Prophecy99

iTrader: (1)

just continue to monitor the oil level, the dirter the oil the easier it is to burn, in 700 miles i dont burn much, but at 2000 miles into the oil change it begins to burn.

Roblee22

I'll definitely continue to monitor the oil level, i check it everyday before the first start of the day, that may be a little extreme haha, but it is what it is.

User1

Nah man, I'm under my hood staring at things almost daily myself. It's man stuff. It's just what we do

Prophecy99

iTrader: (1)

please remember there are 4 o2 sensors, and only the FRONT 2 sensors effect fuel and trim. the rear 2 do not do diddly for fuel, except monitor , so depending on where your failed sensor is it could or could not effect fuel and performance.