I have a 1993 maxima SE. I have the the standard tick tick tick noise coming from my valves. I think it is only on the front head. Does anyone know if this could cause my car to serge and have the idle vary by 500 rpm?

If this happens to be the VTC does anyone know where I can get the repair kit ahd the directions to rebuild this thing??

 

The ticking most likly is the VTCs if your car has higher mileage on it, although I'm not sure about them being the cause off the irratic idle.

I think that nissan has the rebuild kit for the VTCs, but it's recommended that a shop do it. cause it's said that without a bit of automotive knowledge and whatnot that it's almost impossible to do the right way. the proceedure is precise with markings and whatot and you have to make sure that everything goes back together like EXACTLY the way it came apart. theres a write up on it but i dont have the link on this comp. good luck.

 

I have been told that Nissan has discontinued the rebuild kits so you might have to call a bunch of dealers to find one in stock. I would rebuild both while the engine is apart. FWIW, Aaron92SE rebuilt his and 1k miles later they started ticking again, but others have gone 30k+ on rebuilds without ticking.

 

are you hearing a ticking sound after you turn the car off, or while you are driving.

 

The ticking occurs when the car is started then goes away but when the engine is at operating temperature the tick comes back and my cars performance goes down and I can accelerated to fast.

 

Sorry I mean I can't accelerate to fast.

 

hey I was looking at the TSB for the VTC what is this special tool I need to have to do this job?

 

I used a ball hammer, regular hammer, short exhaust piece and a vice. Did a really good job.

 

try east coast nissan in North Plainfied, New Jersey or
courtesy nissan in texas
or hilltop nissan in east hannover, New jersey
i got mine at east coast.

 

Is the tick ONLY at idle? if you give just a little gas does it go away?

 

It hard for me to tell,l it seems like it disappears when I give it gas. but I am still trying to figure out if this VTC problem is the reason I am not accelerating that quick still and having the idle problems I have been having. Does anyone know if only one of the VTC assemblies is bad does that cause one side of the engine to have a different timing in comparison to the other side of the engine?

 

well the VTCs are for use at top end, so I'm thinkin that theyre not the cause of the acceleration problem. On the other hand, take out the coils and check them for cracks. Any cracks in the coils could cause arching from the coil to the valve cover, not allowing the plug to get power for its fire. If this is so then that could very well be the cause of the rough idle and also acceleration problem.

Also, it's known that 3rd gens go through fuel injectors like it's their job and theyre gettin paid over time, so a bad injector, or injectors, could be the idle and accel problem. But check the coils first.

Also, that was a good call on Mizeree X's part, if your gonna delv into the VTC rebuild, then do both. Good Luck

 

stupid question:
Have you checked your oil?
are you using the correct oil?
BTW .99 oil is generally not approved for use in our cars. the last one I looked at was SB rated (1964 and OLDER cars)

 

VTC's produce low end power, they are OFF during high end.

 

So this VTC thing has been a real pain. The mechanic I originally took this thing to wanted to change the head. Have any of you heard about mechanics wanting to do this?

 

Oh sorry. I was mistaken then. I was under the impression that they worked kinda like v-tec in a sense. Sorry for the bad info

 

Don't let him change the head, unless he knows exactly whats wrong. He sounds like someone who is inexperienced with maxima's, or experienced in the art of theft.


In your first post you said the idle varies by 500rpm, by that do you mean its hunting or going up and down continuously?

How many miles do you have? I'd guess you have one or more bad injectors.

 

Well, the car seems to do both, like when I am going around a corner and get off the gas the tach drops nearly to zero then climbs and drops again. I would have to say it is hunting more then anything. This doesn't happen all the time though.

If it is bad injectors how would I go about checking them??

 

A simple resistance check, should be 11-14 ohms. The front three are easy to check, the rear three have a sub harness at the left side of the intake manifold. When checking the rear three, make sure you only probe the side that runs to the injectors, because the other side always has a +12v comming from the ecu even when the car is off, so this is just a word of caution so that you don't short out the ecu.

That is only the solenoid portion of the injector, the other problem with injectors is their filter screen becomming plugged up, and the last problem is a leaking injector seal.

 

If I need to replace some of the injectors where can I get some for a reasonable price?

 

that would be my cue.

www.internetautomart.com

BTW don't buy rebuilts unless you like doing the job twice

 

IS there anyway that My Oxygen sensor is causing these issues??

Oh yeah while I am at it can someone explain to me where the ECU is I must be stupid or something. I am looking at My chiltion manual and the illistrations suck. Is it in the center consel?

 

if you see where the radio is. it's literaly right behind between it and the firewall.

 

Do you lose power when the VTCs are ticking? or what? cuz my car has the same issue, but it seems like the car is fine... please tell me if it only loses power while making ticks.. thanks guys

 

That is what it seems like to me because when the cars first start the car ticks then goes away. I have noticed that the car has power untill the car is warm. When the car is warm the ticks start and so do the power losses.

 

My 92SE has been having the problem for a while, like over a year. The mechanic I saw told me I shouldn't drive it anymore (and then offered to trade me a Sentra with 200,000 miles).

So what is the bottom line? Am I slowly (or quickly) driving my car to death? Is there anything I can do about it? Is there more to worry about than just a loud noise?

Thanks!