i have a 2003 nissan maxima se whenever i turn my car on in the morning it makes a wierrd clicking noise for about 3 seconds then goes away does anyone know what this problem could be? and i have another problem is i got gas yesterday and when i pulled up to a red light the car was making a weird thumping noise but only l/asted for about 30 secs on and off but hasnt hapened since yesterday


Modified by whippin03max at 9:06 PM 10/30/2008

Where is the clicking coming from?

its coming from somewhere in the hood the clicking noise when th car first starts up

My car is doing the same thing. Its done that since I bought it with 5k miles on it, so I thought it was normal. Almost sounds like relays clicking. It's annoying, but I got used to it. If there's a fix for it, I'd love to know about it.

Not to hijack your thread, but mine seems to have a whirring/tapping sound on cold starts, too. The whole thing just sounds clunky and whiney - very unrefined sound for an infiniti. I know this isn't normal.

most likely its a really thats got corrosion on it or it could be your starter solenoid charging up next time you start it whens it been sitting over night have someone else start it if possible while you listen under the hood does it make the sound after you start the car or before

ZGadson wrote:My car is doing the same thing. Its done that since I bought it with 5k miles on it, so I thought it was normal. Almost sounds like relays clicking. It's annoying, but I got used to it. If there's a fix for it, I'd love to know about it.

Not to hijack your thread, but mine seems to have a whirring/tapping sound on cold starts, too. The whole thing just sounds clunky and whiney - very unrefined sound for an infiniti. I know this isn't normal.

The whinning you hear on cold starts would be your starter. It is going bad in a couple years from when if first did it. You will notice it starts doing it in the summer sometimes to later on.

I bet you replace the starter and that will be cured.

BOBCAT wrote:
The whinning you hear on cold starts would be your starter. It is going bad in a couple years from when if first did it. You will notice it starts doing it in the summer sometimes to later on.

I bet you replace the starter and that will be cured.

It's been pretty warm here, and it's still doing its thing... Any idea how much it would cost for a new starter/installation?

Starters are relatively easy to put in, at least on my 95 Maxas they are higher on the engine upon top. With my old Ford you hadto take off the right wheel and get under it.

An OEM starter will be about double the cost of one from an autoparts store. Seem like autozone was about 100$. If you keep thereceipt, it might be a lifetime guarantee though? (ask them)

100 bux, but they want the bad starter. This means you need another person with you or an extra car when you get the sucker out.

You will have to take off most of the air box to get to it and the battery. After that you should be able to barly see it. take the wireing clips off and there will be two bolts. Make sure you dont drop them when you get them out and one of them will be a ***** to get lose so you will need a breaker bar.

After you get it out, go to autozone then put the starter in the oposite way you got your old one out.

Took me all night but autozone gave me the wrong one at first and i thought it was off center so that was several hours lost. Should take you about 3 to 4 hrs if you dont know what your doing.

I know that for the 3.5L there is a TSB out for the timing chain tensioners. When they go bad they allow a chain "slap" type noise only for a few seconds on start up. I dont know if this is what you are hearing or not, but if it is I can look up the TSB number for you. Lemme know.

Well he said it is more of a whining noise than a slapping chain noise.

I think they will charge you for the old one and give youcredit when you bring it back?

whippin03max wrote:i have a 2003 nissan maxima se whenever i turn my car on in the morning it makes a wierrd clicking noise for about 3 seconds then goes away does anyone know what this problem could be? and i have another problem is i got gas yesterday and when i pulled up to a red light the car was making a weird thumping noise but only l/asted for about 30 secs on and off but hasnt hapened since yesterday

Modified by whippin03max at 9:06 PM 10/30/2008

Lifters? Common problem! Let it go! It costs money.. To fix!! It will be fine.