while driving home my lifters started making all kinds of noises and its hard to keep at idle as it wants to stall out....

is this the oil pump fail? i have no codes and my oil light is not on

255,000 kms
2003 pathfinder

Your lifters are solid, not hydraulic, so oil pressure has no affect that would cause the lifters to make noises. Crankshaft or camshaft position sensor maybe an issue to test for but you would probably have a code flagged for either one of those if they were actually out of spec.

Interesting. Well as soon as I start it you can here the lifters just clicking away or maybe it could be the valves? I just did an oil change a week before. Oil looks good.

maybe the clicking sound you hear are the fuel injectors firing

It’s pretty loud, definitely not a knock however it’s loud and it’s multiple ticks

Your lifters are a bucket style cam follower that sits on top of the valve stem end and floats in a bore hole. This bore hole and body of the lifter can get a varnish build up of oxidized oil which can make the lifters sticky in the bore instead of floating as they should. It's the same thing that often happens to hydraulic lifters. If it is the lifters that you hear, they may need a good oil detergent additive to free them up. However, you mentioned that it's hard to keep at idle as it wants to stall out. That sounds much more involved than just sticky lifters.

i wonder if it a bent valve, maybe my timing chain skipped

To All Viewers of This Thread: Not to sound alarmist but it dawned on me that since this noisy ticking sound accompanied by the engine wanting to stall out at idle came on rather suddenly and dramatically, is it possible we have another dreaded case of Power Valve Screws falling out? It's not happened, and I made sure it never happens, to my Pathfinder but I know there are several of you out there that have had this issue. rgk, are you reading this? There certainly isn't enough information here for me to jump to this conclusion or drastic assumption but I'd rather say something and be totally wrong than say nothing at all if it's a possibility. Is there a simple way to know for sure without removing the intake plenum?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pqwD_tiG2c

this isnt my video however my pathfinder sounds exactly the same

palmdizzo wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 18, 2020 10:09 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pqwD_tiG2c

this isnt my video however my pathfinder sounds exactly the same

Yikes! That's a horrible noise. Sounds like the timing chain tensioner guide slipped out of position.

Have you checked the oil?

rgk wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 02, 2020 9:18 pm

Have you checked the oil?

yep, oil is good

Any check engine codes?

rgk wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 03, 2020 5:48 am

Any check engine codes?

no engine codes

I agree with mdmellot, it does sound like timing chain action. Specifically, it sounds like when you first fire up the engine after servicing the timing parts, before air has bled out of the tensioners. I don't really think it sounds like a dropped power valve screw. That would sound like metal-on-metal, and this sounds like metal-on-plastic, which makes me think of timing chain guides.

I would take a long screwdriver, carefully put the flat end to various spots on the engine, put the round end securely in my ear, to try to pinpoint the sound.

Is this a 3.5L V6? If so, you can open up the two black lower access ports on the front cover (the water pump access and the timing chain tensioner access) and see whether your chain is tight. This may require temporary removal of the serpentine belts. You can actually run the engine with these covers off for a short while, and that should show you whether your chain is steady or whipping around. It could be that one of your tensioners has collapsed or a guide has broken. You will have to seal these access ports with RTV once you are done with this inspection.

It is also possible that you have low oil pressure, and that oil is not reaching the tensioners. You can check for oil pressure at the tensioners by removing the VVT solenoids and watching for a fountain of oil come out of the camshaft cap while the engine is running. However, this will get your engine all greasy.

Start by listening around, but be careful around the serp belts and pulleys. If the sound is coming from the front cover, open the right access port (left when facing the engine) and inspect the chain, tensioner, and guide.

mdmellott wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 17, 2020 9:22 pm

To All Viewers of This Thread: Not to sound alarmist but it dawned on me that since this noisy ticking sound accompanied by the engine wanting to stall out at idle came on rather suddenly and dramatically, is it possible we have another dreaded case of Power Valve Screws falling out?

I was thinking the same thing. Should be on the top of the list of things to check out.