Hello all. My 03 G35 sedan is making an engine ticking noise coming from the area of both front wheels. Seems to be louder after driving around for a good 20 minutes. Doesn't seem to be there until motor has warmed up. Just changed the oil and the oil level is right on the money. 113,000 miles. This is my first VQ so I don't know much about them but I have heard they are noisy but I don't know if this ticking is normal. I've attached a link to a vid I took of the noise. My camera spazzed out halfway into the video but the audio is still there.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

 

Could be lifter noise. Did you change the oil regularly? What type do you use? My motor ticks but not that loudly and has for the whole time I've owned the car, 8 years.

 

I had a tick on my sedan for a few min after I got it. Changed the plugs (they were past overdue) and the ticking went away.

 

That's exactly what I was hoping it wouldn't be lol, I've had the car since October so I'm not 100% sure on the history of it's maintaince. I first noticed this noise back in January until I had the oil changed, they used full synthetic (not sure what brand) the ticking seemed to quiet down after that. I changed it myself 2 weeks ago with castrol edge extended performance 5w-30 full synthetic. Seems to have returned now. Its an intermittent issue so it makes it difficult for me to diagnose

 

@ blue dream
That's exactly what I was hoping it wouldn't be lol, I've had the car since October so I'm not 100% sure on the history of it's maintaince. I first noticed this noise back in January until I had the oil changed, they used full synthetic (not sure what brand) the ticking seemed to quiet down after that. I changed it myself 2 weeks ago with castrol edge extended performance 5w-30 full synthetic. Seems to have returned now. Its an intermittent issue so it makes it difficult for me to diagnose

 

Was it coming from the wheel well area?

 

my car has the same issue for a few years not, it's not really normal, meaning a regular vq motor doesn't sound like that, it's a valve tap more than likely and it costs well over 1000 bucks to get into the motor to get it adjusted, that's why I haven't done it

 

A few years? That's sort of a relief, I thought valve ticking meant the motor was on the verge of dying. Has yours gotten progressively worse? Any other issues associated with the ticking? I'm not interested in tearing apart the motor, if I can get by for a while longer with this engine, I'll be happy.

 

yea I've had it for the longest time, I don't think it affects the performance or reliability, I haven't had any mechanical problems, it's more of an annoyance because it makes the car sound old

 

not trying to thread hijack here, but I have a very similar tick/clicking noise which increases with engine RPM, doesn't matter engine temp. I haven't located the source, but seems to be in the rear drivers side, but seems more pronounced under the car on the bottom of the engine. I have 158K and its been making this noise for 20K+ miles now. No power loss, no sputtering, the engine runs as strong as day 1. Mobil1+ filter every 5K. Oil consumption about 1/2 - 1QT every 5K.

From everything I've read, most say it needs a valve adjustment, a major job. Loose spark plugs can also create a ticking noise, but idk if their tick would increase with engine speed.

This may sound weird but, when I go to start the car.... but hold the starter for a few extra seconds, there is NO tick. This makes me believe maybe its something related to the starter motor/flywheel?

 

Valve ticking, while it doesn't necessarily mean your motor is going to die soon, does mean that something is out of adjustment (or maybe even broken) and can affect the long-term reliability of the motor quite significantly.

So if you hold it for a few extra seconds it doesn't make the sound at all after that? That's odd. More or less rules out anything internal to the engine, I think. You could remove the starter and see if anything looks off with that, otherwise you'd need to drop the transmission and inspect the flywheel/clutch assembly.