I have a feeling that my timing chain tensioner is worn out and causing my engine to "chain slap." I currently have 173k miles on my G35, I drive 140 miles a day, 700 miles a week, about 40k a year. I've fed this car nothing, but M1 extended synthetic oil.

I've seen the timing chain tensioner cover (across from the water pump cover) and it looks easy to access. Am I wrong? If anyone can tell me if I just have to drain the oil, loosen/remove the drive/ac belts, and remove the tensioner, please confirm. Or do I just follow the FSM? I read the FSM and it only has the timing chain cover disassembly and not just the timing chain tensioner cover. If there is way more to it, then I'd love the feedback.

I've been told it is a bad lifter, but if it was a bad lifter, wouldn't I experience a loss of power? I have zero loss of power, just annoying tick at idle, and the tick increases with rpm increase. Seems pretty common on these G35 coupes as I've read.

https://g35driver.com/forums/engine-...ml#post5676709

 

I'm on that same boat with you..its the timing chain guides that are worn out...I heard its and easy replacement but haven't seen a DIY..not enough cars out there experiencing that enough yet...but if you get in there to replace i, you might as well replace everything to get it all complete at one time

 

I actually just got this issued resolved last week. It was a worn out bucket shim. I took it to the dealership telling them what it was, they took off the valve cover checked out the top of the engine, put it back, and then took off the timing chain cover, took out the cams, replaced the bad shim (way out of spec), measured the others (all others within spec .30 or .030mm cant remember) put it all back together, came to around $3000 bucks. 2500 for labor around 400 for parts. no more tick tick tick in my engine.

 

This problem is not unique to the G. Check out the Altima and Maxima forums and you'll see it's common with many VQ35 engines. I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm seeing the same work being done on the same engines for a lot less - $1,000 to $1,500. It involves dropping the engine in the Altima since it's installed in sideways compared to the G. Shop around !

 

Obviously it is not. It's just about anything with the VQ35. I never said it was unique to the G at all. Completely aware of the 3.5 used in many nissan models.

If you didn't see where i did the work (the Infiniti dealership), that is why i paid a lot. I said this to let people know what it may cost at the highest end of the spectrum. Yes you can take it to a third party mechanic and pay 1/3 less. Yes true, but I don't have another car and they provided me a g37 as a loaner car, so how could I pass it up? Plus if they F up, they'll redo it. That's why I went to a reputable dealership to insure it is done correctly.

 

Oh wow, my car has been ticking too and couple ppl told me its the lifters. But if you guys are spending over $1000, I might as well put a used motor in mine.

 

whats up guys im assuming this thread is dead but did OP get the probelm resolved? It seems like im running into the same issue..
theres a mildly loud ticking/clicking sound coming from somewhere under the engine cover and it gets louder and faster as i step on the gas. someone told me it might be a belt but im new to the infiniti wolrd still and dont fully know my way around a VQ. I plan to take off the cover this weekend and do a little further investigation but any advice would help !

 

See post #3

 

It is going to be a time consuming and somewhat difficult job. Also, there is no tensioner on the water pump side. However, there is a tensioner on the opposite side where your slack guide is (passenger side, right side). Your going to need to unplug your fan motors and then pull out the fan shroud, remove the oil pan because there are 2 bolts that hold the cover from underneath. Then take all the bolts out from around the front cover, then start prying the cover off. Just be careful when removing the cover...don't want to crack it or anything, the RTV can be a pain to break loose sometimes! If your going this far you should just go ahead and replace everything:
1. Primary tensioner
2. Slack guide
3. Tension guide
4. Primary chain

If you feel comfortable enough go ahead and replace the secondary timing chains and tensioners as well, wouldn't hurt.

If you need some good pricing shoot me a PM and i can order whatever you need (i work in parts for nissan) and we can work something out.

Just shoot me a PM if you have any other questions!

 

If it is the same thing that was wrong with my car then you need to take off your valve cover and check your lifter clearances. More than likely one of your lifters is mushroomed on the underside and the clearances are out of spec. First thing your going to need is a feeler guage. Once you have that you need to remove your intake manifold, spark plug coils, and some of the wiring harness, and then remove the valve cover. get a 17mm socket (i think its 17mm) for your crank pulley so you can manually turn the motor. Then your going to need to do some measuring with the gauge. With the cam lobe pointed up slide the feeler gauge between the cam and lifter...if it slides through without a problem its too loose if it doesn't slide through then its too tight.

To me if it is a loud engine ticking and it increases with acceleration then it is a valve clearance problem and that sound you hear is the lobe on the cam smacking the top of the lifter due to there being too much clearance.

On a cold motor your clearances should be between .0011 and .0015 for your exhaust lifters and I believe .0010-.0013 for intake lifters. Good luck!

 

If the work is done at the dealership nissan also provides 1 year parts and labor warranty on replacement parts. Other shops do not.

 

thanks for the quick write up man.my one question to you or anyone knowledgable on the topic is how big of a threat is this to the reliability of the car? i have yet to take a deeper look in my car when i find time but this issue has been present for a while now.

 

The lifter itself isn't a huge threat. Its just going to be annoying more than anything. The only thing that is really happening is the lobe of the cam is "slapping" the lifter or hat (whatever you want to call it, nissan calls it a lifter) because the clearance is off by a few thousands of an inch. You shouldn't notice any performance issues either. I would get it fixed though. It may lead to a problem way down the road, but it isn't an immediate concern,

 

gotcha will probably look into thsi weekend
thanks !

 

So are there any parts that need to be replaced for this, or just adjusted? I have no problems pulling my valve covers, just need to see if i need any parts before hand. Is there a write up on how to adjust? Where do i get the feeler gauge from?