Ticking sound and hesitant acceleration/gear change
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Ticking sound and hesitant acceleration/gear change
First time posting what up yall.
My 2002 Maxima has 218k miles. There’s a ticking sound from the engine—likely the lifters—and it struggles to accelerate and shift properly. If I try to speed up quickly, the RPMs shoot up to 3-4k and flutter, but there’s no real power.I bought it a year ago with 205k miles for $1,500 and drive 60 highway miles daily. It’s been reliable, but the lack of power makes merging dangerous. I’d prefer to keep it and considering buying a used engine and transmission. No check engine light FYI
How much would it cost to buy and have both installed by a shop? Or is there a more affordable fix for the hesitation issue?
My 2002 Maxima has 218k miles. There’s a ticking sound from the engine—likely the lifters—and it struggles to accelerate and shift properly. If I try to speed up quickly, the RPMs shoot up to 3-4k and flutter, but there’s no real power.I bought it a year ago with 205k miles for $1,500 and drive 60 highway miles daily. It’s been reliable, but the lack of power makes merging dangerous. I’d prefer to keep it and considering buying a used engine and transmission. No check engine light FYI
How much would it cost to buy and have both installed by a shop? Or is there a more affordable fix for the hesitation issue?
Last edited by Blackcloudmax; Jun 4, 2025 at 05:39 PM. Reason: Clarity
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 646
to answer this would require a diagnosis to find the actual problem.
as for cost to install a used engine/trans would depend on the shop, labor rate, markup, and willingness to do the job. in my shop it would be about 3k in labor plus fluids/parts. addl labor if you want to do any preventive maintenance on the used components before installation. if im sourcing the engine/trans figure another 3-4k for those.
as for cost to install a used engine/trans would depend on the shop, labor rate, markup, and willingness to do the job. in my shop it would be about 3k in labor plus fluids/parts. addl labor if you want to do any preventive maintenance on the used components before installation. if im sourcing the engine/trans figure another 3-4k for those.
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Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 44
Could it be your clutch? It's been a long time since I've driven a car with clutch failure (premature failure thanks to lots of high revs and clutch dumping) but with an extremely worn and slipping clutch, it just revs and does nothing when you stomp on the accelerator. Driven slowly and moderately, you can limp it around if you drive it like Grampa Joe would and you'd probably never notice.
As for the ticking sound, that's normal for a car with over 200K. It's a light rhythmic ticking at idle that is easily drowned out by the cooling fan when it cycles on and off.
Disregard the first statement if it's a slushbox automatic. You didn't say and I assumed it was a stick.
As for the ticking sound, that's normal for a car with over 200K. It's a light rhythmic ticking at idle that is easily drowned out by the cooling fan when it cycles on and off.
Disregard the first statement if it's a slushbox automatic. You didn't say and I assumed it was a stick.
Last edited by Harquebus; Aug 4, 2025 at 05:31 AM.
We can't diagnose ticking sounds unless you give us more or do more test yourself. These engines are usually super stable and quiet at idle. I would do some throttle response test in park or neutral at first before thinking it's an engine issue! Could be a bad knock sensor that's not sending a code. 218K isn't anything....
1. What grade gas are you running?
1. What grade gas are you running?
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