please help..strange noise coming from the front of the motor. doesn't sound healthy.

my girlfriends bone stock 98 max gle sounds like it has a supercharger on it?

coming from the front of the motor by the belts or timing chain area. it is making the whining noise like it has a supercharger on it. it gets louder as you rev it up.

my brothers car had a similar problem but his was the bearings or clutch on his A/C compressor. his was easy to isolate the problem cause if u hit the A/C on (auto) button the noise would go away..turn it off the noise came back.

i used a screwdriver and put it on several areas of the motor and listened to the top of the screwdriver and was trying to pinpoint the problem but didn't have much luck.

i checked alternator, a/c comp, timing chain cover, oil pan, valve cover, etc

i hope it is not water pump or something with the timing chain.

if her car is a 98 max gle with 70,000 miles

if it is the timing chain TSB..how do the TSB (bulletins) work??

does your car have to have less then 3 yr/36000 or 5 yr/60,000 on it??

how do you get the nissan dealer to not charge you if it is the timing chain TSB?

any input would be greatly appreciated thank you

 

I'd say its alternator, but why dont you take it to the shop and have it checked out

 

waterpump is my guess

 

My car made a noise like that just before the alternator went.

 

..

 

Not sure where you're at exactly in Chicago, but there are lots of small shops that give you free estimates and I know the Midas on Lincoln/Devon/McCormick(Kimball) gives free written repair estimates (checked other Midas locations and they didn't give free estimates)

TSB is only free if you still have your car under warranty and if it is a recall then its fixed for free even if you don't have warranty

 

Other option: The PS pump is either bad or starving for ATF.




If this is it and it does need ATF, notice I said ATF, make sure you top it off with ATF and not the crap on the shelf labeled "Power Steering Fliud" because those fluids are NOT the same. The clear crap in the Valvoline bottle is GM formula and is NOT supposed to be used in a PS system that takes ATF, CHF or Pentosin.

 

My cars have always made some really wicked noises right before the alternator went out. One had to do with the bearing retainer backing out and the bearings on the alternator shaft backing out and shearing into the collar, turning them into shavings, but 3 of the bearings lodged in the collar and locked the alternator shaft, my alternator was HOWLING on that one.

 

so did mine, and i got video of the sound too.

 

dropped the car off at the nissan dealership. have an appointment tomorrow morning to get the noise checked out.

 

its the belts

 

Why pay the stealership?

 

it was the alternator

nisssan dealership NO CHARGE - it was a recall

they put on a brand new alternator

i am glad we took it in to the nissan dealership. if i would have troubleshot/diagnosed it... i would have ended up buying an alternator from carpart.com and been out $50-100 plus all the time troubleshooting and pissing with the belts and tensioner.