I was trying to locate some problems I have been having in the car as of late while the blower is off the car. One thing I noticed there is a strange ticking noise and it sounds like its coming from one of the runners of the MEVI. Its like a tick every other second and sometimes every second or so one the car is warmed up. Any ideas as to what that could be?

Second thing there was a little oil in the top of the MEVI when I removed the cover is this normal or is it a sign that something is wrong? I've also been having a bad idling problem with weird exhaust pulses. I figured it could possibly be a bad coil from what I had been told but I checked them all with a volt meter and they all real 0.0 so thats not the problem. Then me and my buddy tried pulling the plugs to check them, and guess what the bastards won't budge. I put everything I had into them and it felt like the extension was going to snap and the plugs didn't move. WTF???

Last thing is upon cold start ups I get a nasty rasy chain type rattling sound that goes away a second or so after the car is started. I haven't noticed it unless the car is cold. Also if Im in 4th or 5th at a lower rpm the car stumbles a bit and rocks back and forth.

Any help would be appreciated bc I dont consider myself a mechanic and im lost. Im just trying to get everything sorted out before I get the blower back from Vortech.

That noise is most likely the vibration of the butterflies...while you hear it touch the end of the rod to steady it and see if it goes away ?..I get the same sound from the butterflies

-matt

I'll check it out later, but the thing is the sound is coming from the rear area of the runners not from the top where the butterflies sit. Anyone else have any ideas about this and the other issues?

The oil is normal, the ticking could be the IACV, they tick loud on some cars (my beater for instance). Ticking could also be an injector, or a valve, but you describe it coming from the back, that's where the IACV is (idle air control valve). The chain noise on startup is fairly common too, my 96 did it and my beater does it, cant tell if the turbo car does it because the exhaust is too loud. Its the tensioner taking a second to properly tension the chain I think.

thanks for the answers, seems like everything Im experiencing is somewhat normal except the exhaust pulses and stumbling. Now I just need to figure out how to pull the plugs...they only have about 1k on them but I didnt gap them just installed them straight out of the box. Im hoping the idling and stumbling is from a bad gapped plug or perhaps a faulty plug but wouldnt that throw a CEL for misfiring? Thanks again.

maybe the stumbling is being caused by the idle air control valve doing whatever it is doing (the reason why its making alot of noise). but yeah I'd be worried about those plugs... having plugs stuck in aluminum heads is not a good thing. you are turning them counter-clockwise right

yes...and they were put in hand tight by Matt when he checked my compression. Is there a write-up anywhere or a way to check and replace the idle air control valve?

I noticed this tick on mine when I did the blower bypass just a few weeks ago (blower is leaking, needs a rebuild). By the way you're decsribing it, sounds a lot like my issue which I have found to be the IACV. Only thing is, I replaced it with a brand new one and it still does it.

On a side note, my idle has been out of wack for a few years now and reguardless of changing IACV's and trying over and over again to reset the base idle, I have not been able to get back a normal idle. Even had the Nissan techs baffled when I worked at the dealership. Might just be a maxima thing

I am also getting the ticking from the IACV, and also have an irratic idle on cold starts. When I changed my intake (upper) manifold, I cleaned this valve like I have done in the past (with brake parts cleaner and rag), but this time I am getting a very rymithic ticking.

Don't worry, ticking from the IACV is normal. I just put a new air idle control on mine and it does it to. Only advise I can give is do not buy a new IACV to try to solve a idle problem because it won't fix it and you just wasted $200.

Well now my only issue is the plugs and the pulsing idle etc. Im hoping its nothing major, possibly a fouled plug or a incorrectly gapped plug. Hopefully I can get all this figured out soon, the stumbling and pulsing I know is not normal now I just need to figure out WTH it is. I should be recieving the T-Trim blower back in about a week and a half and Im trying to establish the problem before I get ready to slap the crickets back on.

A ticking IACV is NOT normal. My IACV ticked but it was because the ECU screw was in the self-diagnostic position. I soon as i moved it back to the normal position the ticking stopped.

but when you car is in the self diagnosis mode the CEL light will continue to blink (I have done this before)

I get the tick from my mevi....but when I move the butterfly into the open position, it stops...so it definitely has something to do with the mevi's turbulence with the butterfly's closed...

Thank god I'm not the only one with that ticking. Now that I know it may be caused by the IACV, I at least have something to check out. I was freaking out with the ticking, it was so annoying and we thought something was about to let go on the motor.

did you try moving the mevi's butterfly open and putting your ear to the top of the mevi to see if the ticking stops? I think it's normal for the mevi...and none of my butterfly screws are loose at all...just opened it up about a month ago and made sure all the butterfly screws were really tight...looks like the previous owner of the mevi put locktite on them...

Well I tried manually opening the butterflies but the ticking continued. Its coming from the rear runner area not the top where the butterflies are.

Not necessarily. Mine didn't. IACV ticking is NOT normal.

/story

well, mine is not coming from the IACV....even if it was....it appears to be doing it's job correctly...car would idle horribly if it was messed up...

so wait it's coming from the back of the mevi, not the butterfly area? so definitely not the IACV area?

Nope. Mine was ticking and it idled just fine. Never said it wouldn't idle. Just said it wasn't normal. You'll never find a brand new car come fresh off the lot with a ticking IACV.

are we all sure this isn't just our injectors/spark plugs/lifters ticking? lol

Bingo. I have the same loud ticking as does a buddy of mine, both coming from the rear manifold/IACV area. I remember that cleaning it on my old car made the ticking almost go away. Try it.