I have recently bought a second hand Nissan Maxima TI-J31. All is pretty good with this car except for a few irritating problems including a "clacking" sound under the hood. It gets worse when I go up a hill. Sometimes it's not there. When the sound is there, the car is pretty sluggish. Sometimes I think its my transmission or a thrust bearing or even a timing chain. When I start up the engine it is pretty rough for about 2 seconds and then settles down. Also the transmission has this lag in it from first to second gear, you tend to come forward in your seat a little when it happens. Also when you park and apply the hand brake, the car can roll about 3 inches before it grabs. I like this car but it has these problems which I will need to get sorted out. I am no mechanic and so find it hard to figure out. Has anyone got any ideas and is this a common problem on this model of Maxima?

 

Maxima ti-j31? Never heard of it. The models are SE and SL. Where are you getting this ti-j31 from?

 

http://www.redbook.com.au/cars/resea...POT-ITM-264566

 

I see, you are in Australia. Nissan uses different names on the different continents. I don't have access to technical information about your specific model, so I will give you some general things to check.

The clacking sound could be either a severe engine ping (pre-ignition) or maybe an ignition coil failing under load.

Running rough after starting could also be an ignition coil.

The parking brake thing may be just a simple adjustment of the parking brake cable, but first check the rear brake pads that they are not worn out. The cable could also be binding and not not moving smoothly.

 

Hi Dennis, Thanks for getting back with that info. I took the car down to a local mechanic and he found a worn out engine mount at the front of the engine - near the radiator overflow bottle. I will get that changed in the near future and see how it runs after that. The rubber was well worn out and metal to metal. I think though it might be more than that. If it continues after that is changed I will see to get the ignition coil checked and the mixture too. I must say though the sound certainly sounded like metal. You would think it was a hydraulic lifter (tappet), out of oil, or something like that, but when the car is not in drive, and the engine is running it sounds pretty smooth. When you start driving off from a stopped situation, as the gear changes in the transmission, on that first change, you can hear this metal sound pretty loud (rattle, rattle etc...) and a sluggish change, slight loss off power at the change and you move forward in the seat slightly. At times though it is really smooth and brisk. So I will need to do more investigations I think. Thanks anyway for taking the time to reply. Kind regards, David.

 

Hi David... I have a 2006 J31 VQ35DE

the rattle you can hear sounds like a timing chain issue...maybe.?
The timing chain tensioner is a hydraulically driven piston held in a housing and pressured by engine oil, they do have a life expectancy of 100-150 k's, also the main chain guide is an arm made of cast aluminium with a plastic runner clipped to the face of guide, these have a tendency for the retaining clips to break off and cause the rattling sound as well...

I wouldn't leave the engine mount problem for too long, or it could end up costing you a lot more in repairs...

in America I think our J31 model was called A34

Jack...

 

everything about this car is still good, only the high mounted third break light is malfunction.
owner's manual doesn't mention how to open it, even I bought E-manuel from internet, no information either. I have LED and electronic knowledge basically, If I can take apart of it then I can fix by myself
The back of backseat is not foldable, above the third brake light, there is a cover, Does any one know how to do it? Thanks in advance

Merry Christmas and happy new year

Cheers Steven Has