hicksjd9

Not trying to belabor a problem, but I am facing a major dilemma, and I need the good advice of fellow maxima owners. Opinions of mechanics or nissan techs would be sincerely appreciated. Here goes.

I took my car to the dealership for a whining noise when I rev my engine. They changed out my alternator and A/C compressor as first steps, and only charged me $100 (because I had just bought my car there the week before). It's still whining and I showed them the TSB on the engine whine, and they agreed that the whine was likely due to the tensioner issue.

They said that I could turn it into my extended warranty (90 days/3000 miles), but they would have to tear my engine down and the warranty rep would have to come by and look at the torn down engine. If the rep doesn't agree that the tensioners look bad enough, I will have to pay for the WHOLE fix (which is around $1500!!!).

I'm at a loss for what to do. Here is a link to the sound my car is making http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8827405/Maxima%20Tensioner.MOV

Do you think that if my car is making the whining noise, the tensioners will be in terrible shape, or could they still be in good shape? I'm hoping some mechanics who have done the teardown can give me an idea (basically if you could say something like, "when they are making that noise and we tear them down, they almost always are chewed up, or they are almost never, sometimes, etc.").

I'm desperate here, because I could take it to a regular mechanic and save a lot of money (or take it to a good friend of mine who would do the work on the cheap). I don't know what to do.

I need your advice. Please help!!!

twentyeggs

WOW... i would be PISSED. you need to raise hell with whoever sold you the car and the extended warranty. tell them if they don't cover the labor necessary to figure out your problem then they will have a lawsuit on their hands. thats F'd up. if they don't help you out, give the car back and do business somewhere else.

you should be able to say, look the car has a whine noise, and they should say, oh ok we will find out what is making it and replace it under warrenty. you need to threaten legal action man.

Lsgun1

iTrader: (1)

100% timing chain noise. I've done many of these and that is the sound no doubt about it.

Also it is not the tensioner that is the problem but the plastic guides on the secondary chains that wear out. The chain eats through the plastic causing it to make contact with the tensioner.

KevMaster

That's timing chain noise........soon is the better if get it fixed.

Raiss the hell on table....seek for BBB or state attoney help.....or whatever you can.......and have them fix this for you with only dime out of your pocket. One more maxima hits the fan......sorry mate but that's not so cool.

hicksjd9

Thank you for the replies. The other side of this is that they have a 70/30 30 day warranty where they pay 70 percent and I pay 30. Should I go with that? Since they've admitted that this is the problem, I could cut my losses and just pay the 30 percent now and get it fixed. I have to wait 30 days for my other warranty (90 day) to take effect and by that time, I lose the dealer warranty of the 70/30.

Basically, I would have a sure thing if I took the dealer's warranty, but I would pay at least $500 out of pocket. If I wait, I might end up footing the entire bill.

Lsgun1

iTrader: (1)

It depends on what type of extended warranty you purchased. If you have powertrain coverage then you SHOULD be fine but there is no way of knowing until you call to file the claim. If the dealer knows what they are doing they will claim the chain itself failed and not the guides that way it should be covered. If this happened within 30 days of purchase you should refuse to pay anything.

MadMax07SL

I didn't see you mention what year, and how many miles the car has on it...could be useful to pass on...

ArmaanOG

When i bought my max back in febuary, i had similar problem not so much whine but rattle. took that car back to where i bought it and they weren't going to change it at first, until i brought the heat down to the table and told them they were going to have a very big law suit. go figure i had the job done with in 2 weeks of that day, and i am a very very happy person

hicksjd9

It's a 2007 Maxima SL with 96000 miles on it. They clearly stated on their cars 30 day warranty with dealer paying 70 and customer paying 30 so I don't think I can argue that.

MadMax07SL

So certainly no powertrain coverage.

Tell them to tear it down now. Tell them to use both warrantee options. Either the extended for full coverage if it's the tensioner, or if it turns out to be something else, that you'll pay 30% towards the diagnostic engine work...

Don't let them tell you it's one or the other, they can help you out in both directions...