99 QX4 - horrible noise.

[99QX4]

I already wrote this in the Pathfinder/QX4 section but got no help...Last week my '99 QX4 made this absolutely horrible noise. I was in a rush to pick up my mom and and the noise happened at some high RPM. I didn't hear it again that day but within the next day or so it happened again. It is not at a specific RPM though, it mostly happens at higher RPM's but i've had it happen at 2K when i was driving normally. Now this noise has gotten worse and its' hard to describe...the only way i can really explain it is if you would put marbles into an emtpy coffee can and shake it around. I gave the truck to my dad to take it up to the muffler shop. When he picked the car up that day they said they couldn't find anything wrong with it, but they put a resonator on. This obviously did not fix the problem. So a few days later i had my dad bring it back up there. After them having it all day they said they still could find anything wrong. Now I got annoyed and said that the morons should drive the car and then they'll see that there's something wrong with it!!! So i went up there and made the guy go for a test drive with me. When he heard the noise he looked at me and said "oooohh, we didnt' hear that" so i turned to him and asked "well what is it?!" His response was "well it could be the transmission, the rear end or the tranfer case (<- or something like that, i can't remember)" Then a second guy went for a drive and said that it sounded like a structural noise. He said the shifts are fine so it shouldn't be the transmission. Now i am stuck and don't know what this could be. I'm sorry for the long story but i'm trying to give some backround info on what happened. Does anybody have any idea of what this could be??

[AZhitman]

Tell the muffler shop guy he's a moron. They PUT ON A RESONATOR? Jeebus.

Sounds more like pinging to me.

If it's happening under load (accelerating) at wide-open or heavy throttle ONLY, then there's your culprit.

It's often described as sounding like silverware rattling in a drawer...

Pre-detonation (pinging) is VERY damaging, so the first order of business is to buy a higher-octane fuel.

Let us know if that helps.

[maxnix]

What's a paragraph?

[99QX4]

Hmmm...well its weird cuz it has happened at low RPM's more than once, but i am gonna try putting 93 in instead of 87. I have been putting in 87 for most of the time that i've had the car (with putting in octane booster or 93 every once and in a while) and have never had a problem. Thanks for the help though...it's veryyy much appreciated. I am gonna be getting gas within the next couple of days so I'll let you know if it helps.

[goody90q45]

If changing to premium doesn't solve the issue....Take it to your local AutoZone and pull the codes off the engine computer (ECU). Their service is free. Depending on the neighborhood they will either hand you the reader and let you check the codes yourself, or they will rent the reader to you for a fully refundable deposit, or they will send a guy out to read it for you. Take advantage of this free service.

If it's like the Q's, the OBDII plug is in the fuse box below the steering wheel. The check engine light doesn't come on for knock sensors and many other issues but the code is stored until you clear it with the reader. Check the codes stored in your ECU, the answer to your issues may be waiting there for you. Good luck.

[99QX4]

My dad has that scanner...i've done it myself to my car a few times in the past. The "service engine light" just came on a few days ago too when i happened to be driving up to NY to get the car fixed again so they plugged it in and it came up that i need an O2 sensor...which i knew for a while now and told my dad. He brought it up to Infiniti months ago telling them that i needed an O2 sensor but they said that no codes came up saying that it needed one so they didn't replace it. And while i am thinking about it, the idiots at the muffler shop (who ran the scanner this time) said that my truck has no "check engine light" it's only the "service engine light" so that when this light comes on (the service engine) its bad like a check engine light...??? I have no idea so i'm asking you guys...

[Q451990]

Time to dump the muffler shop! Sort of interchangeable terms - check engine, service engine soon, whatever.

I would lean toward the transmission theory though... I've heard that exact description for a transmission failure. How's your transmission fluid level and condition? What maintenece has been performed?

Heath

[99QX4]

That's what worries me, that this is a transmission problem. I have had a couple of random instances in the past (a long time ago, none recently) where I the car wouldn't shift right. I would be driving and the the RPM's would go up sorta high upon acceleration and then would take a while to shift...i got worried about it but it would only happen once in a while, and i couldn't make it happen again when i tried. I'll ask my dad about the maintenance on it because his diesel mechanics at his truck shop do all of that stuff.

[AZhitman]

Lauren, we love ya babe, but you gotta quit letting the MONKEYS (yeah, I said it) touch your QX4.

Diesel mechanics and muffler salesmen?

You'd be WAY better off doing it yourself with some good guidance from the crew here.

Time for some transmission maintenance. It's still relatively new, so I can't imagine it being a mechanical failure.

[99QX4]

Well yeah the muffler guy was a complete moron...so i'm obviously not bringing it back there. The diesel mechanics work for my dad so i have/had a little more faith in them! And my dad said there was no maintenance on my transmission so far... Now the only problem is for me to work on the car here in PA is difficult because i live in an apartment building and am not allowed to work on my car in the parking lot. However, i am going up to NY tomorrow (wed) for a few days, so i can do anything at my house...i'm open to suggestions, tips, anything! Thanks!

[99QX4]

Okay, well I have found out some of what is wrong with my car. Apparently there are two different noises...i knew it did two different things but i thought they were part of the same problem. The front and rear u-joints need to be replaced...so that is getting fixed right now. As for the other noise which i was trying to explain in this thread, it is still unknown at the moment. However it is still suspected to be some type of internal transmission noise. I wanted to thank everybody for their advice so far, and I will keep everyone posted so maybe this can help people in the future.