95 J30t engine noise

[Run262]

My 95 J30t has a peoblem that puzzles me. At idle the car makes lund noise like knocking or something rattling. However, if I hit the gas pedal to ~ 2000 rpm, the engine smooths out and no more noise! Can some one please give some idea where I can look or check for?

Thanks

[DAEDALUS]

Is the engine running rough, or is it something else? Maybe something is just loose and vibrating against something else?

[driverdriver]

Sounds like your engine solenoid, I had the same problem years ago. Its an expensive repair becuase of the labour involved. The part is cheap. If you haven't done so, get your timing belt replaced at the same time.

[DominickJ30]

Sounds like your engine solenoid

What is that?

What kind of fuel do you use?

[Run262]

What is engine solinoid? I've used octane 93 gas all the time!

By the way I searched old posts and noticed that the problem could be timing belt or timing belts tensioner too! What do you guys think?

Thanks

[metaverse3]

The only engine solenoid I can think of is the VTC acutator solenoid also known as valve timing control solenoid valve. This is basically nissan's version of VTEC, nissan being the first to implement it over honda or anyone else for that matter.

Failure of this solenoid will cause a failure to regulate oil pressure which cannot control the intake camshaft pulley position. This will affect low to midrange power. This will cause a rattling noise or a tick tick noise depending on the stages of the failure.. One thing that contributes to this failure is the oil galley blockage due to poor oil change habits. The solenoid rarely fails.. To test the solenoid, just apply 12v/ground across the terminals and you should hear it click..

This is a known problem on the 3rd gen maxima with the VE30DE engine block. However, for those who are religous with maintenance, this issue does not seem to rear its ugly head..especially those who run synthetics. On my maxima at 120k, they seem to be fine with no noise whatsover and I always ran synthetics since day one..

Attached is a pic from the J30 manual to test this solenoid.

A simple way is to ground the solenoid to prevent it from activating to see if this fixes the rattle. Test your solenoid first to see if they are working and go from there..

[Run262]

Thank you very much!

[Run262]

I forgot to mention to you guys about the car just have a timing belt job done recently. I think it could be the belt is too loose and causes the noise too! Can you guys tell me the procedure for adjusting the timing belt tension or point me to some links?

Thanks

[DAEDALUS]

Please tell me you had the tensioner replaced along with the belt!

[Run262]

No, I did not. That's why I think it could be the problem! Funny though when the rpm is 2k or over, the engine is very smooth.

[metaverse3]

You did a timing belt without investigating/replacing the tensioner ? Good luck on doing the job twice.

Another overlooked thing is the idler pulleys. See attached pic for both of them..

[Run262]

Thanks for the diagram! I did put the new timing belt exactly as that. However, I wonder how I woulld determine the tension is right?

[metaverse3]

Attached is an exectuable zip file with 3 pictures of each page of the timing belt install.. No viruses when I checked it..scan it just to make sure before you run it. It should execute to the desktop..

Here are some timing belt links. They are for the 300z..same engine as the J30:

http://zhome.com/ZCMnL/PICS/ti....html

http://www.z31.com/repairs/tbelt.shtml

http://www.ttzd.com/tech/timingbelttech.html

I would buy a new tensioner, period. If you've come this far, an extra ~$100 will not hurt for something you don't have to revisit for another 60k, especially since you're going back in... I hope you also replaced the water pump as well.. Good luck..

[Run262]

Thank a lot to all of you! I'll let you know when I re-install the timing belt with new tensioner.

[Run262]

I put a new timing belt tensioner in. The problem goes away. Thank you all for your help.

[metaverse3]

You are very lucky the bearings did not seize and dislodge the belt off it's path, or tear the belt up form heat strain. All is well that ends well..