Man, I thought I was the only one having this problem. I know exactly what sound you're talking about too. It is very annoying when I drive next to a concrete divider on the highway and hear that sound. If you accelerating uphill, you'll definitely hear it. I thought it was something wrong with my valvetrain. I had the dealer do an oil consumption check and everything was fine, but that sound is still there. If you know what this sound is, please help us out. Thank you!

 

There is a Technical Service Bulletin covering this issue on all 2003 to 2005 G35 Coupes. I actually can't believe that nobody mentioned it here.

I brought my car in to have it fixed like 10 months ago to have it fixed under warranty. They have to unbolt the rear axel and replace and torque down a few bolts on it in order to fix the problem. I guess the noise manifests itself as either a clicking noise at low speed when accelerating(loading the drivetrain) and supposedly sometimes the chain dragging noise that you speak of.

 

party man i think you are talking about something else. I have had the rear axle TSB taken care of and still have the "chain dragging" noise a bunch of people have described. The axle clicked and was taken care of....the dragging noise sounds like a metallic whine that is probably coming from the rear or something transmission related.

Sounds like a bunch of people have it...has anyone ever had anything negative come of it (besides the annoying noise).

Mine is a 03 6mt with 66k by the way

 

By the way....when you said this, i knew we had the same issue going on...I HATE THAT SOUND. hahaha

 

Had it on my 03 350Z before I totaled it , fawking weird. Even my girl noticed it

 

Hello all.. I recently started hearing this noise as well. When I start my car (cold start) in the morning and while it's idle it makes that noise from the front of the car, so I opened the hood and noticed it was coming from the belt pulleys.. possibly a bearing or two cracked or needs greasing? Not sure. I will be going to my friend's shop on Wednesday to check it out. It makes that noise usually after letting go of the throttle but it also makes the noise while on the throttle or during shifting gears. I will try to update on what exactly is the problem when I get it diagnosed.

 

It sounds like the factory y-pipe heat shields rattling. This will happen at the RPM levels you are all stating.

This is a very common item that has been brought up from 2004-2006 models. You can hear it in many ways and times. Sometimes while driving, sometimes when revving the engine and the RPM's drop.

What happens is the heat shields warp over time and tend to 'loosen' and rattle. With the RPM and load, there is a bit of vibration from the turbulence and low tones of the exhaust, thus the rattling sounds or chain dragging sound.

The reason it is not a simple quick rattle, and is longer lasting, is the frequency band in the exhaust will last about 800-1200 RPM's at 3-4 different areas in the power band. This also varies with the amount of load, engine breaking, etc.

The sound is even more prevalent on AT cars, as most MT's have some similar noises from the MT itself.

Hope this answers the question of what it is...now to stop it, can be difficult.

Typically, simply bending or 'tightening' the heat shields will resolve it. By tightening, I refer to the bending that stiffens the 'play' in the heat shields. This has also been seen in the shields on the CATS themselves. So bending and checking with someone in the car revving the engine can really help.

Give it a try and see what you get. The only 2 other items associated with this noise are the flex-joints on the y-pipe and possibly CATS that have broken down or are in the process of breaking down. The CATS are likely not the issue though, as that would be pretty rare, unless you have 50,000+ miles on the car or have modded and tuned as well. The flex joints however, after about 3k-4k miles, have heated and expanded and cooled and shrunk so many times that they begin to have 'slack' in them as well. It only gets worse over time as well. This loosening can also cause the noise during high load or RPM travel, as mentioned above for the heat shields.

I guess the worst case would be heat shields and the flex joints. I have noticed when exhausts are changed, the issue goes away, and MOST aftermarket systems do not have flex joints...HOWEVER, I have also seen the issue 'come back' after a new system is installed as well. Most systems will alter the tone of the exhaust to be deeper, thus adding more resonance and vibration issues, that are then attributed to the heat shields. Keep in mind as well, all exuast systems, stock or aftermarket, will get deeper over time and as they season. Also, brand new cars, that are test driven a bunch of times, also can have the flex joint issue from day one of YOUR ownership.

OK - so I'm done ranting now. I'm not going to re-read my post - so sorry for typo's, repeats, and the length in general.

Rick

 

You hit the nail on the head, Im going to take mine in for this!
Everytime I hit the gas I hear it..

 

A word of advice... take pictures of your rear rims before you bring the car in for the service(since they have to remove the rear wheels). I did this and I'm glad I did, because the techs at Infiniti tend to overspin the lug nuts on the wheels inside the channels in the rims, and it chews up your paint leaving ugly black circles or half circles on the outer edge of the sockets in the rim. Make sure that when you go to pick up your car(before even stepping in the thing), do a visual walkaraound of it, and pay special attention to the rims, ensuring that there is no black circles inside the sockets where the lug nuts go. It looks hideous if they are there, and it should not be something that we should have to deal with unless we did the damage ourselves. If they screwed up the rims, you will have pictures to back up your story that the damage was not there before... and they will fix the rims for you at no cost.

 

Thanks for the tip, I absolutely will!

 

Also - make sure you take the car in CLEAN...wash it perfectly...if it's dirty, they may try to get away with something or even wash it for you...and we all know you don't want them washing it

 

OK guys.. I found out the problem. I have a 2005 6MT Revup motor and I've heard that the Revup is known for oil consumption.. Well, this is the first time it happened, but I got an oil change (I use Mobil 1 Synthetic) 10W-40 and my mechanic drained the oil and there was about a quart of oil left. Mind you, I put on about 4,200 miles on the oil. This is why I was hearing this "chain dragging" noise. Lack of oil. In the past I've never had this problem.. I've put on up to 5,000 miles on my synthetic oil (even though you should change it ever 3,750 miles). I now have about 39,000 miles on my car. Now that I got a fresh oil change, the noise is gone. I guess it was a close call because my motor could've been totally f'd up. It was most likely the pistons rubbing against the walls due to the lack of oil. My mechanic told me to put in a quart of oil every 1,000 miles from now on and I will be doing that, and will be getting an oil change every 3,000 miles.

 

I wouldn't recommend indiscriminantly adding a quart of oil every 1000 miles. You're better off trying to just pull the dipstick and checking the level of your motor oil in the sump and then reacting accordingly by adding the necessary amount of oil to bring it back up to the full level.

The noise you were hearing sounds like it's probably different than what others generally complain about. Most of the posts that I read reported the chain dragging noise coming from the rear of the car, from what I remember.

Definitely keep an eye on your oil though, and check it very often. Maybe you should consider switching to a thicker oil. Just so you know, Mobil 1 full synthetic oil is one of the thinnest oils out there compared to other oils with similar weight ratings.

 

I have the same problem, it sucks!!!! I will get a video of the sound tomorrow to make sure we are on the same page
(Now I am having a problem of my car almost like down shifting when I am accel. fast)

 

Wow guys -

1st - never 'just add a quart every month' without actual reason - in fact, I wouldn't go back to that mechanic either after that recommendation.

2nd - the 10w-40 your using, is already to thick. You should be on 5w or 10-w 30. When you use an oil that is too thick for the need and usability, you force the engine to pump and squeeze it through it's system..that causes wear and heat and a loss of longevity.

3rd - check your oil every week! Until you know the depletion rate to begin with. If it keeps burning oil...go to the dealer and get warranty coverage and go through the process. With 40,000 miles and a decent investment at this point, and likely a desire to keep the car for a while longer, fix it right and stop using band-aids, like thicker oil and random additions of oil to top off the system. You'll then end up 'making it work' long enough to get out of warranty..by 100 miles, an then you'll blow the motor and actually have to pay for it on your own.

4th - for about $20 or less, install or make an oil catch can. This way, you can EASILY see how much oil is passing through the system and gauge when you need to add oil...but then again, it's a band aid as well. If the car is built or FI - you should have a catch can anyways to monitor your oil usage from blow-by increases.

Anyways...my thoughts...

Rick