Hey all

question - How common is it for the Timing Chain tensioners to go out on our cars?

I'm getting the notorious rattle when I step on the gas but then goes away. I can't really pinpoint a specific RPM that it does it on but it sounds like its starting to do it in almost every gear. It's a really light rattle almost like a pinging sound. I've haven't been able to replicate the rattle on Idle for some reason. I didn't find any thread of anyone having an issue for Timing Chains for our car. So was curious if anyone has ran into this issue.

I'm going to lift up my ride this weekend to check all the heat shields again and my CC's to make sure those are still good. I'm going to take a stethoscope to everything to see if i can identify a general location.

Not common at all. I say remove the accessory belt first then start the car.

Not even the rails for the chain?

Not generally. The FWD VQ in the altima maxima, and a few others have plastic timing chain tensioner guides that would sometimes break and create a situation with the chain rattling. But the RWD VQ35s have metal backed guides everywhere. It is very uncommon to have issues.

Awhile back I worked on a G37 and the owner went to two mechanics and they said the car prolly needed timing chain work. Knowing this was super rare of an issue I said how about we just take of the accessory belt first and see if the noise persists, well long story short it ended up being a bad alternator and idler puller making a hell of a racket.

Its not very hard to remove the belt, so I say start there, if the noise is still present then sure, it's an internal issue

Alright. I'll try that along with the other checks I'm going to do this weekend. I'll report back with my findings. Thanks for the info.

So I lifted my M and got under my vehicle and took a stethoscope to everything that I could underneath the car and in the engine. I couldn't here anything unusual. I'm not able to replicate the rattle on idle but I was able to somewhat pinpoint when it rattles. I had this issue a few years ago when the honeycomb in my Catalytic Converter dislodged from the inside and would rattle around in there. I recently replaced my cc again about 6 months back so I don't think its that again, but I could be wrong. I noticed while driving that the rattle would occur around 2700 RPM's in 2nd & 3rd and sometimes in 4th gear. It has the same characteristics like before.

Next I'll remove the accessory belt and start the engine and see what I hear.

Very frustrating..

I think I'm having the same issue on my 2006 35X (143,000 miles) that you've described. Been driving me crazy! Mine sounds like a heat shield or something rattling on acceleration as it shifts from 2nd to 3rd.

Yes! It sounds like a heat shield. But I checked all my heat shields underneath my ride. I already tightened up all the cracked heat shields and have no loose shields. Still haven't had a chance to try starting without the accessory belt.

There was another check we used to do with our FWDs - oil.
The rattle was usually very noticeable when oil level went low. Although present when accelerating at any gear, the lower RPMs were loudest, and more so when decelerating.
For some, the rattle was a reminder to check the oil in those burners.

If your oil is low, and topping it off makes the sound go away, then the timing system might indeed be the culprit.

midnightclub619 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 08, 2019 11:42 am

Yes! It sounds like a heat shield. But I checked all my heat shields underneath my ride. I already tightened up all the cracked heat shields and have no loose shields. Still haven't had a chance to try starting without the accessory belt.

Any updates yet????

So I had finally had enough amd decided to jump underneath and not come out until I found the problem. Turns out that the heat shields on cats were rusted through and banging. 2 quick screw clamps and all is well. Sanity has been restored......

Vanv wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 12, 2019 11:51 am

midnightclub619 wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 08, 2019 11:42 am

Yes! It sounds like a heat shield. But I checked all my heat shields underneath my ride. I already tightened up all the cracked heat shields and have no loose shields. Still haven't had a chance to try starting without the accessory belt.

Any updates yet????

Sorry about that, I didn't get this notification. But for an update, I checked the oil and topped it off per the dipstick. From time to time it still comes back and rattles. I haven't had time since to check by removing the accessory belt. I'll be doing that in the next few weekends since i need to do other work on my car. But i have tried to recreate the rattle while idle but it doesn't become audible like it does while I'm driving.

Thats great news that it was an easy fix for you!

Update:

So last week it decided to rain pretty heavy for a day or two. So I decided to remove the long ram CAI tube and make it short ram. Right away I noticed that the rattle was gone. I shifted from 2nd to 3rd and 2500 > 3000 RPM's and no rattle. I shifted from 3rd to 4th and 2500 > 3000 RPM's and still no rattle. I got more lower throaty tone because of the short ram but other than that, the rattle went away. I'm pretty confident it was from where the long ram tube and short ram tube connect. The thick rubber seal must have stretched or the ring was getting loose... In a few days I'll convert it back to long ram CAI and test it out again to confirm. I'll update this topic with what I find out.