Hello fellow G drivers! So I'm gonna get right too the point. I committed the taboo and bought an auto g35 instead of the manual. Originally I wanted the manual but due to my situation I settled for the Auto. Now a little background for me though. My first car was the unfortunate 2001 2.Slow Jetta automatic that I bought for $2300 back in 2014 that lasted me 2 years. Sadly the transmission died and i sold the car. My Second car was and still is my 94 accord coupe which was my first manual. I bought that car shortly after my jetta died and I bought it for $500 and it lasted me from Nov of 2016 too Jun of 2020. The car was a clapped car but it carried me all the way till I got my G35. I had a Civic but it lived a rather short life and was a complete lemon which brings me to the point of this entire post. I BELIEVE I BOUGHT A LEMON G35. So the guy I bought the car from wanted $4k and I was able to talk him down too $3k because of the body work that it was gonna need. Now when i was checking the car out before buying I checked the oil cap for any sludge and didn't find any and i test drove the car and it ran just fine. Unfortunately last week I was sitting in my parking lot and my foot was rested on the gas pedal and I rev it without knowing and heard a rather strange noise. Upon inspecting it One of my friends heard a ticking noise and said it was normal for these cars but when you rev it up too 1800 too 3500 rpms it sounds like something is hitting something. One of my mechanics said the sound is coming from deep in the engine and another said it could be a rod knock but you really don't hear when it's idle. Some of the guys at my job said it could be a lifter as the sounds seems more like a chatter than a knock. SO now im a little stuck when i t comes too making the best decision. I'd be lucky to sell the car and get back what i paid for it or i can just buy a imported engine for $1200 but I don't feel confident to do the swap my self. As for my original plans I did want to build the car eventually but my cousin who has a 350z told me that building the vq35de was a waste of time and that the automatic trans i have doesn't hold much power and that i was better off getting a manual. SOOO any advice would be appreciated and I do like the idea of building an automatic.

 

bigger taboo is the huge run-on paragraph hard to read that way

Im no expert on the sound, but based on the numerous previous posts about rod-knock (and the history of oil consumption on these motors) that's my guess based on the description.

 

First thing first, check your oil level! If the engine ran low on oil, usually the first to starve are the VTC sprockets and the rods from what I've heard. Either of them if they fail can cause a knock or rattle noise.
Its normal for the VQ's to 'tick' with higher mileage from what I can tell; solid lifters tend can open up tolerance-wise when the miles get up there. Nothing to really worry about, I had a G with 250k miles on it, and it ticked to beat the band.
I'd try to properly diagnose the problem before you jump to conclusions about replacing the entire engine.
The RE5R05A is a decent automatic. Keep the fluid clean and add a cooler if you drive it hard. I added a trucool oil cooler to mine and am very happy with the results. Transgo shiftkit would be a necessity if you decide to add more power then stock.