Please help, I am expecting the worst.

The car is on 07 Sedan AT, 140k miles. Oil changes at 3850 miles since I bought it at 88k.
For a little over 1 year it would start click when I am creepin' and the car isn't under load.

I always assumed it was a throttle body, but it seems to be coming from the intake manifold and seems louder than ever. No performance issues or CEL.

Only does it between 1100 and 2000 RPM, but not at acceleration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xWj3b_iWfo

 

Check your oil pressure or have it checked by a mechanic,it could be the rear cover seals are leaking and causing a low oil pressure at lower rpm's.Coukd be a bad/worn main timing chain tensioner also!Good luck.

 

Thanks for the input.

With the cover off, the sound is most coming from the intake manifold.

The front/Cam phazers are pretty quiet.

I will check oil pressure.

 

Update with video. Be sure to turn on subtitles. My video editing skills suck.

At start up, good pressure 38psi and slowly drops as warms up. No rattle at 1100 to 2000 RPM.
When getting warmer Idle pressure drops to 6-8 psi and I hear a knock.
When nice and hot I get the knock at 10psi.

I have used several brands of oil filters. Wix, Fram, Motorcraft and STP. So its not the filter.

What do you guys guy think? Is there a valve that closes and opens based on temp?
Would it be worth it to drop the pan and look for a clogged screen?

I really don't want to replace an oil pump.

 

Really?
No input?

Something to add...lot of people will go to a thicker oil in such a cituation. Instead I added Lucas oil treatment. The tic is still there but quieter due to the Lucas' "clinginess".

I am not 100% sold its the pump itself, but a relieve valve. Sadly I think the valve is built into the pump.

 

https://g35driver.com/forums/g35-sed...ke-diesel.html

All I can think of sorry.

 

videos are set to private. contacted the OP.

Thanks

 

Is your oil pressure dropping below 10 psi at around 3 min?

 

not 100% but this video has very little time edited out.

So I would 3 minutes is about right.

 

Based on your video, does the rattling only happen when your car is fully warmed up?

 

yes pressure drops when warm.

Sorry about video, you have to have subs on to get what I am pointing in the video.

Old school knowledge says run thicker oil, I already tried oil stabilizer and it only makes the click quieter.

 

Before doing any crazy repair or teardown, why don't you try changing your oil to Mobil 1 0w40 or Castrol 0w40. I know in the 370z and G37 community they like to run with that oil because the VVEL likes to shear oil.

My car used to make a clicking sound and it completely went away with this oil. I don't know about your car since the clicking sound sounds incredibly loud in the video but give it a shot.

 

I dropped the pan finally. nothing unual. The pick up is nice and snug. I not dare remove it and replace the gasket. The screen had a chunk of gunk that was about a 1/4" in diameter.

Switching to Castrol Synthetic 0w40 definitely made it quiet. The noise is still evident, but its quiet and really hard to induce the noise.

I guess I will drive it till it breaks.

At one point I was going to drop some cash and get headwork done. Now I might just invest in nitrous and go out FATF style.

Thanks the input MistrDough.

 

Nice to hear some resolution