2003 Xterra V6 SE

[dwingra87]

I own a 2003 Xterra with 103k. There is a I guess you could say a grinding noise upone starting which is coming from distributor cap area. At higher rpm's it's smooth upon settling down to around 2-3k it's apparent. I seem to think it's not lifter's or anything from "engine". Does this distributor have a bearing that might be bad?

[Desert Rat]

I haven't been able to diagnose the exact cause of this, but it is something in the distributor. My '02 has done this literally for years and is currently at about 78k miles.