The car is a 2003 Maxima 3.5L. 28,000 miles. In December I changed the oil to Castrol Syntec 5W-30 and used a Pureone oil Filter. Everything was fine. Then about a week ago while driving from a stop, at about 2K RPM's and above I was hearing this "Ticking" type of sound coming from under the hood. So we pull over in a CVS lot and I pop open the hood. I tell her to lightly rev the engine to about 2-3K Rpm's and I heard the sound coming from her intake manifold area and near the engine cover. At first I freaked out because I made her change her oil to synthetic and I figured the oil filter maybe causing lubrication problems BUT it sounds wonderful at startup and if anything this is where an oil filter would give problems. Her oil is looking gorgeous and is full. Car runs smooth as always (smoother now then ever) I just changed her air filter and popped in a bottle of Valvoline Fuel SYSTEM cleaner. Still hear it but not as loud.

The sound is hard to explain. Imagine your Hard Drive in your computer seeking for info. Loud type of ticking sound right? Amplify that sound and put it under your hood (sorry guys weird explanation). It's not pinging and I'm not sure what knocking sounds like. it's not really a rattle.

Any idea what this is guys? My old 90 Mercury Sable had this ALL the time and ran fine. My buddy says his 95 Camaro and other cars did this sound too. It was just to quiet to actually hear. He says it's some type of sensor. Any help is appreciated guys.

If need be I can try and get a sound sample for you guys.

 

That's weird, it would suggest valve tick to me... although I wouldn't discount pinging completely.

 

I hope it aint the oil filter. I just put a pureone filter on my car this weekend with mobil 5000 oil. So far no problems and I don't see how a filter would cause a problem. Pureone is a premuim filter and should cause problems.....

 

I have the same problem , I use mobil 1 5w30 with oem oil filter and 50% of the rattling whent away .

 

mine started doing that right after i got my timing advanced. im gonna change my oil what oil works best to get rid of this......for myself and jibberish

 

A) use a high grade gas
B) make sure you have enough oil in it (possibly low causing the timing chain to slap)
C) it's under warranty still (3 yr/36k warranty bumper to bumper, 7 yr, 80k powertrain warranty): take it to the dealership.

 

alright, but would 5w or 10w help it any. i am using high grade i do not know about jibberish though

 

Check the owner's manual, but I'm prety sure that 5W-30 is the manufacturer's specification (10W-30 can be substituted in environments which do not get below 0*F or something like that).

 

As stated above, use higher grade gas and try to Seafoam it. You may just have some nastiness in the lines. Seafoam cleans out the manifold, and you can use it as a gas additive.

 

I had the same issue in my engine....its pinging or might be a lose screw at worst in the throttle ...

get your engine replaced by warranty!!!! Go to a dealership you trust.

 

This is great guys. Sort of. I'm glad to see she's not the only one experiencing this but then again I'm wondering what it is. She uses only 93 octane Shell or Amoco. Is this car made to burn 93 octane? I mean even if it isn't it shouldn't matter but if it's made to burn 87 it'll just be harder for the car to burn the 93 octane.

According to her, her car ran out of warranty. Does it really have an 80K miles powertrain? I gotta talk to her about it.

Her oil is almost full and looks gorgeous! I just put in a bottle of Valvoline Fuel System cleaner so that should be strong enough to at least somewhat clean her fuel system.

I don't think it's that serious. It MAYBE a loose screw somewhere but I doubt it's gotten into the intake. If that's the case her piston is in trouble. Besides would a screw even make it past the intake valve? I'm going to try and take a look at her engine bay a little more closely and see if I spot anything. ICEWAKE lemme know if you have any luck with the oil filter?

 

weren't the 5.5 gens having a few problems with the butterfly valve screw (in the throttle body) coming loose and getting sucked into the engine?

also could be the standard 'heat shield" rattle that most of us have had at one point or another.

 

Has to be something loose and flying around, because the valves dont just stick at that rpm and and not on higher rpm's.

 

not that I've heard. Maybe 2k2's.

 

The powertrain warranty will cover engine repairs. It's still under warranty. Check the owner's manual. It's in there.

 

I heard this happening on pathfinders and altimas, never a maxima. It sounds to me like the typical timing chain rattle. A lot of people's timing chain rattles start at about that mileage.

EDIT: or maybe since he said its not really a rattle maybe its not the timing chain, but it says rattling in the subject! And the powertrain warranty is 60months/60,000miles, so you're car is definatly still covered.

 

Awesome! I completely forgot about her powertrain coverage and I was so pissed because she never mentioned it. When I asked her she said "I think I do". Ahhh! Women man. If it wasn't for me her dad would just give it oil changes and leave it be until something else goes bad. But I digress.

So I guess I will take it to the dealer. Only problem now is finding a decent Nissan dealership I'll report back with the problem if they find one so you guys can give your dealerships a hint or fix it yourself.

BTW kudos on having a timing chain rather than belt (Do most V6 cars have chains nowadays?)

 

let me know what you find out jibberish, i got a new filter and put 5w-30 in it last night so i will be able to tell in a day or too

 

On my 2k2 the butterfly valve screw came loose and was rattling around in the intake manifold. You would hear the sound as soon as you turned the key. Fought with my extended warranty and got them to replace the valve. Even worse, stupid dealership mechanic just revved the engine until the screw got sucked into the engine. Morons.

I have the same rattle noise around 2,000 RPM. There is a lot of talk about that symptom, but no real "fix". Lots of people just get the engine replaced.