Hey everyone .. okay .. soo I just purchased a 2006 G35 Coupe on September 18th. I absolutely LOVE this car but, like all used cars, I have some noises and kinks to work out .. this one noise is getting all of my attention as of right now .. the other is a ping while accelerating but that's for another time .. on to the noise .. I have narrowed it down to occurring two different ways .. one, when I turn the car off without holding the clutch, I get a rattle type noise from under the car .. lasts for 1 - 1 1/2 seconds and then it's gone .. when I hold the clutch in while shutting down, the noise is gone .. that SAME noise is now RANDOMLY occuring at odd times after I've driven the car and it's at idle just resting .. today I was lucky enough to remember to use my cell to film it .. it's the same noise as when I shut down without holding the clutch .. it idles making this strange rattle noise, I hit the gas and it's more audible then it's gone .. SOO strange .. in the short video (I'll post the link) it shows the noise .. you can hear it the best during the first rev and not so good during the second because my friend gave her too much gas :-\ .. if anyone knows what this is, PLEASE help lol .. I have a feeling it's something to do with the clutch .. I already have clutch chatter that goes away when I hold the clutch in .. not normal chatter either so I feel I need a new clutch .. car has 32K miles .. thanks


thanks again .. this "rattle" needs to end .. almost sounds like a diesel until you realize it's a rattle :-O

 

Throwout bearing? Throwout bearing usually sounds like a "whirling" noise inside and happens when you let out the clutch and when you depress it back in it will go away. From the video I am unsure if its a whirling noise or a rattle. From what I have read the clutches on our cars are not that strong and throwout bearings are also weak. Also does the rattle sound sound metallic ? Could just be a loose plate somewhere.

 

manual drive train noise on these is quite loud. linkages, and throwout bearing are to blame. all pretty normal.

you said you hear a ping ... are you using 93 octane? 91 or less will create the ping you speak of.

 

the noise in the vid is "normal". just about every 6mt has it and i had it on mine, you can eliminate it at shut down by holding in the clutch. actually, holding in the clutch eliminates it, period. as for the ping, i haven't heard of it on the g35, but the g37 has a tsb for this that requires the splines on the halfshaft to be re-greased.

 

Yeah, as far as the ping goes, I had everything checked but we're sure it was just bad gas that the dealer put in .. I never run less than 93 whether it be Shell V-Power or BP .. I've put octane boosters in a few seperate tanks but I stilll randomly get ping at times .. more often than not it's GONE but who knows ..

and for the clutch and rattle noise .. I guess it's just more of an embarrassment thing than anything else .. you never want to hear noise from the car unless it's that amazing exhaust note .. I've heard from many people that it shouldn't be an issue because it's not happening too often ..

does anyone think a new clutch would just eliminate this rattle ?? also, someone once suggested a lose part under the car such as a heat shield but would that only happen randomly or all the time ?? thanks a lot everyone

 

Here in the G community that rattle noise you're hearing is referred to as flywheel chatter. This is 100% normal on all G35 and 350z 6mt's. Changing the clutch and flywheel to something other than stock will do nothing more then increase the noise. If you don't like the noise hold in your clutch while shutting down or next to a wall in a drive thru line. I've learned to live with it and remain loving my 6mt coupe.

I'm more then happy to thoroughly explain it if you would like, but if you search 'flywheel chatter' here on Driver you will probably discover endless information.

Matt

 

Definitely a normal noise. If you get an aftermarket lightened flywheel (I have a 17 lb one) the noise will be worse.

As for the pinging, octane boosters don't necessarily help that much. The problem is oil vapor coming into the upper plenum from the PCV valve. The crankcase pressure is venting into the upper plenum, and with that air comes oil vapor. The oil vapor has a lower combustion point than gasoline, which will cause pinging. It will also, over time, pool up in your upper plenum. Fuel system cleaners do not help this issue, because the fuel injectors inject the fuel (and fuel system cleaner you dumped into the fuel tank) AFTER the upper plenum. The only way to fully get rid of this issue is to run a baffled/mesh filtered oil catch can in between the PCV valve and the upper plenum.

 

at the risk of sounding like a complete moron, do they sell this setup specifically FOR this or is it going to be a custom thing that I need to get done ?? like, how exactly would I go about doing this because I have heard about this catch can issue before and I'm honestly sick of "experimenting" with BP and Shell and all of the other stations .. I never put less than 93 in this car .. sometimes the ping is gone but it's at the point where it's just tiny but STILL there .. any guidance would be greatly appreciated .. thanks a lot

is it something like this ??

http://www.mynismo.com/products/?id=5962

 

Kind of like that one, although that one is super expensive. This is the installation DIY I used, and I bought the catch can recommended in the thread. One of the last posts in that thread has pictures of it installed in my G35.
http://my350z.com/forum/engine-drive...n-diy-pix.html

 

wow .. that DIY looks MUCH better than the ones I've been finding .. how long did install take ?? do you think this will eliminate the pinging noise completely ?? thanks again for the post, I'm going to make this a priority .. too bad I just bought my V1 and Country Joy mirror mount .. but this will be my next "to do" project lol

 

Probably took me about an hour. It eliminated a significant amount of pinging. However on your car (and mine as well) there's still most likely oil pooled up in the upper plenum, so it'll take awhile for all the oil to work itself out. You could always take off your plenum and clean it, but that's kind of a pain. It's helped a lot. I've opened up the drain on that thing...and a surprising amount of oil has come out.

 

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not but I was planning on a few upgrades and a Motordyne 5/16 plenum spacer was right up there on my list after the catch can and cold air intake .. now, would it be easier for me to clean the plenum while I'm already knee deep in the plenum spacer install ?? I figure I could take out all of these installs in one shot .. I'm just soo sick of this pinging noise and the dealership saying they either can't reproduce it (which is BS) or that it's normal

 

Yeah you can definitely clean out the upper plenum when you have it open for the spacer install. I would install the catch can now so no other oil gets in there, then when you have the plenum apart you can clean it out then real well.

 

soo .. I decided to call a local Infiniti dealer to run my issue by him .. I told him what I was hearing and under what conditions it was happening .. I then asked him what his thoughts on an oil catch can were .. he said something about it not being emission legal ?? I highly doubt this clown even knows what he was talking about but would this catch can void my warranty at all since I'm playing around with hoses ??

also, I just want to clarify when this noise is happening because it's not a CONSTANT pinging .. it's specific .. the noise ONLY happens after the car has completely warmed up .. in fact, maybe only when it's fairly hot .. it happens between 1-3K rpm .. you hear it the MOST when say I'm in 2nd or 3rd and I'm going up a hill under load .. I can avoid making the noise if I playing with the gas pedal and not push it much (which sucks with a car like this) .. I know it's NOT bad gas, I've ruled that out .. I thought the timing might be off but I was told if my timing was off that my check engine light would come on .. I'm at a loss with this .. if the ping and rattle were both gone, I'd be beyond happy with this car .. any other ideas on how to fix this or should I bite the bullet and just put the catch can in ?? would this be a for sure fix ?? I just hope this doesn't void my warranty .. let me know, thanks

 

it's definitely not something that will void your warranty. I'm almost positive he doesn't know either A) what you're talking about specifically or B) he just doesn't know. I think he might think you are venting the PCV valve to the atmosphere, which "technically" is not emissions legal. But you're not, it's still going back into the engine. All you are doing is removing one hose and replacing it with 2 hoses with a can in the middle. It is COMPLETELY reversible. And easily reversible, if you're worried about the Infiniti tech's seeing it.

Yes, I know. Pinging is the layman's term for "pre-detonation". In other words, the gas and air in your cylinders is exploding before the spark plug is firing (bad). It mainly happens under high load situations, like going up hills in lower RPM's. Like you're experiencing. And yes, you can prevent it by manipulating the throttle (putting less gas into the chambers). One thing that causes pinging is a "lean" fuel mixture (lots of air and not much gas). This will burn "hotter", which heats up the cylinders, which will cause pre-detonation. Lots of low emissions vehicles these days are tuned from the factory to run leaner rather than richer (thereby causing more pinging). Why, you ask? Lean fuel mixtures A) get better gas mileage and B) burn hotter and therefore cleaner and more completely for less emissions. So, theoretically, you could get an piggyback computer and get it tuned and program your car to run richer (which could actually gain you horsepower). Obviously you'd lose gas mileage, and also possibly not pass emissions. I've noticed much much less pinging with the catch can, and I'm sure you will, too. Especially after cleaning the upper plenum.

By the way, if you're worried about a catch can voiding your warranty, you might not want to put the plenum spacer in there. Putting anything on, however minor, could potentially be causing warranty voiding issues, depending on your dealer and all that. A oil catch can most likely will not, a plenum could, they could claim crazy stuff about you opening your engine and all that.