Has anyone noticed aftr driving the car has a lot of engine noise when off. I know its cooling down, but i am curious if this is the norm. its almost like a ticking sound

 

In a word, normal.

 

that usually happens when you drive it a lot....beat on it... or just drive aggressively without beating on it... my altima got 53,000 miles and it still does it... when i drive it hard ...i wonder if it will ever stop doing that...

 

This loud snapping/clicking/creaking is often especially noticable when a car is fairly new, but usually becomes less loud and happens less often as a car ages. To still have it at 53K is a little unusual, but not surprising if you are making good use of the nice power train. I wouldn't worry, as it isn't harming anything. You shouldn't even hear it at 53K miles after leisurely drives.

 

I haven't noticed the sounds as much as the heat, I have raised the hood after normal short in town runs, the entire underhood area is untouchably hot. I mean shock towers, everything will nearly burn your hand, it almost seems like we need a heat extractor hood.

 

I wonder if we take off the passenger side plastic cover, that hides the belts and fluid tanks, if that will help?

 

My plastic covers are removed. Doesn't help.

 

It gets really hot under the hoods of Maximas. My '04 seemed hotter under the hood than my '00, and my '09 seems even hotter under there than my '04. This heat is very hard on things, and shortens the life of the battery. Heat worries, and living in a very hot climate entered into my decision to go with white as the color of my '09.

 

Did you take off your covers for the racingline fstb? i took mine off as well and cut them to fit back on got them to fit but decided to paint the covers and i messed them up.

 

great input everyone! thanx

 

I decided to just keep them off. I really don't want to f*ck up the plastic I figured if it ever came down to it and I had to sell it I would just take off the FSTB and put the plastic back on. Besides those plastic covers were kind of a pain to take off, I could see them breaking really easy after repeat removal.

 

happened to me a few days ago.. hiting the highway hard and when i parked up i kept hearing this loud ticking noice... it went away after a while though......

 

does anyone know the name of those screws that go into the plastic covers (engine)

 

These motors run hot! You get so much better times at the track if you drive around the side road to cool the motor down rather then wait in line and get heat soaked... just gotta time it right and do it when there aren't that many people at the track ....

 

I'm a new member. I'm driving my second new maxima w/sport package

I''ve wondered about what i thought was excessive cool down noise...and saw enough responses to convince me that alll is well. thx

 

My 06 made these cool down noises up until the day I traded it with 65k, Im so use to it I don't pay attention to it anymore

 

This noise was very noticable at the time I bought my '09, but gradually grew quieter. Unless I drive the car hard on a hot day, I seldom hear this creaking, snapping and popping any more.

 

Very normal with the ticking, popping and creaking noises, all of my Maximas (09, 03 and 00) do it.

It doesn't seem to indicate or lead to any problems as far as wear and tear on these engines or things underneath the hood. My 03 has nearly 200K on it (original motor, no engine work) and no problems whatsoever.

 

I took one of the covers off and they have 2 different types of pins, one is just a push pull and one is a screw type, I went to the dealer and he had to order it. cost a whopping $1.95. cant remember actually what it was called tho.

 

Autozone carries those plastic rivets, take one out and go compare it to what Autozone has, 4-12 for a dollar is better then dealer prices

 

Maybe Im the only one who does this but usually the last 2 miles before I get home I coast, I try and let the car cool down on my drive home, it amazes me how much heat pours out of this thing.

 

Like you, I take things very easy the last mile or two as I near my destination, especially in hot weather. The heat in the engine compartment of this 7th gen Maxima will fry an egg in less than a minute.

Likewise, I take things easy the first mile or so when starting with a cold engine. I don't pull out of my driveway until there is an opening in traffic large enough that I can accellerate to speed very gradually without impeding other traffic.

 

I try to do this... but my leadfoot usually gets the best of me

These VQ's do produce an absurd amount of heat. When I hit the 1/4 mile tracks, I usually only do 2-3 passes before I park it and pop the hood for a cool-down cycle. Yet another reason why I keep pricing out oil and trans coolers!

 

I thought these things had large coolers on them already, guess that is not enough, oh and I like your license plate, never noticed it

 

They already have both oil and trans coolers, but they are marginal at best if you flog your car hard. Been looking at B&M Supercoolers (19 row for oil, maybe something a tad smaller for the trans). After my trip to the Dragon this year and making the trans go into "safe mode", the amount of heat spewing out of the engine bay after popping the hood is enough to cook a burger.

Thanks for the compliment on the plates! Spent a year figuring out what the hell I wanted

 

How does/did the Maxima drive when it went into safe mode

 

Thanks normal here in AZ, we call it "summer time" and that's the car just sitting in the sun.

 

This only happens when you've been flogging it in manual mode. The trans starts upshifting on its own, even when the shift lever is in the manual gate. This typically only happens when the trans gets too warm for the car's liking (I was running in M2-M3 at about 5-6300 revs). I just put the lever back in normal "D" mode and after 5 mins or so, it'll let you upshift on your own again.

 

Can't imagine what your ambient temps are right now. At least ya'll don't have the humidity that we got here on the east coast!

 

Yes, with humans, the humidity is critical. I lived for several years in the southern Arizona desert, and could walk the streets of Tucson in 115 degree heat without breaking a sweat, because any moisture is immediately evaporated. I did always have a hat on to keep from frying my noggin.

But with automobiles, high or low humidity makes little difference, and brutal desert heat can put a real load on a car's cooling system.

 

A lot of late model cars are running hotter. That is designed in. The hotter you run the engine, the more efficient it is. I have a 2011 bought back in January. While I haven't looked under the car to figure out the source, the crackling noises are probably coming from some aluminum heat guards. They usually place these around the headers to protect other components that might come in contact. Metal expands under heat and contracts when it cools back down. Over time, this results in creep, and over time things will loosen up. Same reason you hear a lot more interior noise in an old car - vibration and creep. Well, it is the exact opposite for those guards. The creep makes them crackle less over time.

Point is, it is normal. Nothing to worry about.