Hey guys,

A few days ago this ticking noise started up from the front of my engine. I took a video, hope you guys can help shed some light on what this noise could be. The speed of the tick increases with RPMs. If there is any other info you need feel free to ask. I'll answer the best I can. Thanks guys.

-Sean

 

Did oil pressure light come on?
check your oil asap.

First time that happened, turned out I had nearly no oil in my block.

That turned out to be the first time I had to replace my motor, scoring of the piston rings.

 

Definitely check the oil, sounds like it's some dry metal on metal action.

 

I can almost guarantee you that your oil pressure light will come on and that you have little to no oil in there.

 

I took my buddy to pick up his car from his mechanic today. While I was there I asked if he could take a listen and give me his $.02. First thing he checked was the oil, he didn't mention anything about it. I'll double check a little later, if there is a problem my Nissan dealer is to blame. They just changed the oil a few weeks ago. I'm nervous now.. That is a serious issue.

 

Something to do with the timing chain (tensioner) perhaps, I would not drive it until it's checked out properly. Then again I have heard AC compressors sound like that when they go.

Best of Luck,
Jason

 

That sound like a extremely plausable answer. The noise is coming from the driver side, inside the timing chain cover. The area that the camera is focused on at 0:23-0:24 seconds.

 

Sounds exactly like what my old prelude sounded like when my timing belt was off.

 

Good luck buddy, keep us posted, lets just hope it's not what I had to do and end up replacing motor, I had to replace motors on my coupe (5at) twice.
third motor now and only with 10k miles put on it, got to love having the hookup at Infiniti.

 

^Well I don't. And my powertrain expiredd last september. Arg. I'm probably gonna just take it to Nissan and have then run a diagnosis on the car. I'm scared I'm doing more damage to the car by driving it.

 

When my timing chain tensions were screwed my car made a similar sound, but yours sounds more high pitched than the sound mine was making.

When you drive up a hill at a constant speed, usually around 2000rpm, can you still hear this clearly? When I had the timing chain tensioner problem, if my car was under load around 2000rpm (the range it was most noticeable), the sound was very loud and sounded like a clanking/grinding type noise (from the chain slapping the tensioners).

If you're wondering if you have the same problem, bring it into your mechanic and have him use his automotive stethoscope. Tell him to put this on the the places outlined in the picture below. If you're having the same problem I did, it will be a super loud and clear as day ticking sound when you touch the stethoscope to these spots. If you don't hear it, then it's something else. It only takes a couple minutes at the mechanic and shouldn't cost you anything.

That's how we pin pointed the sound on my engine and it worked like a charm.

(not my engine, just some picture's I found)




(Automotive Stethoscope)


The sound mine was making at idle:

 

Playa24 7, I actually saw your video on youtube and left you a comment haha. Anyways, the noise is pretty consistent. I would drive next to another car at various speeds to see if I could hear it. It was there at all speeds, RPMs, etc. The noise went away about two days ago, but I'm scared the problem is still there. It's something I'm going to keep my eye on and try to be prepared for. I plan on taking it to my buddies mechanic to see if he can use his stethoscope. Now I'll hear a ticking at times, but then it disappears as quick as it started up. So idk, I just need to figure out exactly what it is. I don't want something small turning into a huge problem like a blown engine or what not. I appreciate your reply, I'll keep this thread updated as I find out more info. I think it will aid the G community as most cars are beginning to rack up mileage.

 

i had similar ticking. Still not 100% sure what it ever was. Ran all kinds of tests at infiniti and they weren't sure without takin the motor out. F that haha. I ran CD2 oil detergent through it 2 times, changed the oil out, started running the 0W-30 german castrol and the ticking is totally gone. I thought maybe it was a lifter sludged up and not pumping up. Still never found out the problem, but that was 10k ago and it hasn't come back. I have 105K on the original motor.

 

Hey, did you happen to fix the problem? I know this is a very old thread but I found this problem today, and I just changed the drive belt yesterday...so pissed...

 

The noise mysteriously went away on its own. I am however burning a good amount of oil between changes. So ive started changing my own oil and keeping a better tab on it. I havent experienced this particular noise again. Im almost certain it was oil dependent.

Do you change your own oil? Also, thanks for doing the smart thing and posting in an existing thread versus posting a new one!