engine ticking

[squadone619]

man, just my luck i guess. I recently posted about my 99 y33 having problems with it shaking at idle, wasn't too bad, still drivable. I had the car sitting there for a couple of days and just drove the gs300 around. Yesterday, I went to warm it up to take it out for a cruise. So, started it and went inside the house while it warmed, then I hear a loud ticking noise. The engine was making this loud ticking noise. Upon closer look, seems like its coming from the pass. side of the engine, from the head. any help as to what this could be? car has 147k miles and has plenty of oil. thanks again!

Allen

[maxnix]

Hopefully you don't have a blocked HLA port.

Depends on how often you change oil and filter and use BG Quick Clean or something like http://www.envirolution.com

Might try some high detergent oil in combination with Quick Clean and see if that will restore its function.

[Q45tech]

Please provide mileage and date of each of the 90 day oil changes........10 years should be 10 x 4 or 40 changes.If you expect the engine to remain quiet beyond 100k what you do in the beginning is extremely important and nothing beats 90 day oil changes.

Cheap oil changed at 90 days can beat expensive oil changed at 6 months unless extreme conditions are the norm. As the filter can only store so much microscopic dirt.

[NJ 666]

Long shot but, wet ecm held an injector driver on and possibly hydro'ed a rod? This could cause rough idle and tick noise. It's a way out there call but seen it before.

[Infinitiguy19]

Could be spark knock from a bad coil pack, Bad injector due to E10 (Unlikly because of no reported failures on the FGY33 (Your Car)), or a bad lifter.

I would suspect coil packs first, do you have any records of coil pack or spark plug replacement?

If they are good then flush the engine with BG Quick Clean for Engines, and change to a sythetic oil.

Good Luck

[Q45tech]

Never seen an ecu fail and hold injector open on a 90-95 Q..........they [driver transistors] are designed to fail open.........................the converse is usually the rarity..........loss of drive to injector.

Don't confuse experience with peak hold injectors to saturated type used on Q.

Members must be careful about following advice of posters with less than 10,000 posts and low experience [those that don't work on multiple Q every day].They will often rehash what the read not fully understanding the details.Reader Beware Is The Mantra Here.

[squadone619]

I'm not sure of the car's history with oil changes. I know its due for one right now. I was experiencing problems with the coil packs, so this ticking may be as a result of that. I'm not confident enough to try to diagnose the problem myself, so going to call on a Nissan mechanic I know. Will keep you guys up to date, but I'm surprised there's no other posts regarding on this for this model. thanks again guys!

[Q45tech]

Nissan mechanics may not have experience on 4.1 V8 try an Infiniti TECHNICAN. Who see them every day.

[Q451990]

In San Diego, it might be worth having Jerry Tucker (or his shop) take a look at it. http://www.jerrytucker.net

Heath

[NJ 666]

I thought he said it was a 99. I've seen wet ECMs on both. On G50s the cowl panel distorts from age, water tracks underneath the panel and drops into the HVAC air horn. It will drip from the fan box onto the ecm holding the injector driver on(the corrosion shorts the driver).

Put a rod and piston in one back in 95 on a 94my and the primary failed part(on the claim) was the windshield cowl cover. Seen wet ecms on FGY33s as well. Sorry if I spoke out of place.

[SteveTheTech]

The ECM in my J was corroded internally and shorting #1 injector to ground. Fortunately I was able to clean out the damage and resolder some of the connections with more advanced damage. A faulty sunroof seal was the cause of the water intrusion into the interior cabin on my car, although it was neglected to the point that the lower floor pan was damaged. That is an issue for the summer though. Water damage can cause all kinds of crazy electrical gremlins especially in some of these older cars.

[NJ 666]

I've seen that on J's before but more often it is the plastic windshield support seal that leaks water into the HVAC box onto the ECM. The sunroof drains go all the way into the rocker panel so it's USUALLY not the drains.

[maxnix]

In San Diego, it might be worth having Jerry Tucker (or his shop) take a look at it. http://www.jerrytucker.net

Heath

This is the best advice so far (not to discount our other knowlegdeable sources!).

Take it and have them look at it.

[kdkrone]

Actually, Jerry retired last year. He sold his shop to the mechanic who had been working with him for years, however.

Ken K

[SteveTheTech]

I've seen that on J's before but more often it is the plastic windshield support seal that leaks water into the HVAC box onto the ECM. The sunroof drains go all the way into the rocker panel so it's USUALLY not the drains.

Yeah I know their actually run in a much smarter manner than what they use now. The main reason I suspect the sunroof seal is that there is a large section of the rear that is missing. I have temporarily filled the gap with butyl gum until I actually order the part. I keep spacing on getting it.

When I get some free time I plan on putting the shops smoke machine to find the root cause. At this time my fingers are crossed that the gap in the seal is flooding the sunroof rail when it rains, inundating the drains.

[NJ 666]

On a J I think you can pull the blower motor out(might be a bear with the recirc door) and look up into the box to the cowl area. Water test the cowl and you might see water dropping from the clip, or evidence. The clip is usually pink or green. What I usually do is just remove the clip, clean the area with tar/wax remover and put a piece of sealant material over it. Early G20s leaked in the same place. Fairly common after a windshield is replaced and the clips are disturbed.

[Q45tech]

Bad bad posters [hit dog with newspaper] How did a question about a 99 Q41 digress to a Q45 then to a J30. It's a wonder someone didn't chime in with a G20 or 35 or me with an AMG.

Ever wonder why search functions don't work well.

[NJ 666]

Bad bad posters [hit dog with newspaper] How did a question about a 99 Q41 digress to a Q45 then to a J30. It's a wonder someone didn't chime in with a G20 or 35 or me with an AMG.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Never seen an ecu fail and hold injector open on a 90-95 Q..........they [driver transistors] are designed to fail open.........................the converse is usually the rarity..........loss of drive to injector.Don't confuse experience with peak hold injectors to saturated type used on Q.

Members must be careful about following advice of posters with less than 10,000 posts and low experience [those that don't work on multiple Q every day].They will often rehash what the read not fully understanding the details.Reader Beware Is The Mantra Here.

don't work well.

Blame whoever posted this. Since we're here what was the final verdict?

[sandor]

It sounds like it could be a noisy HLA to me. If that is the problem, it will go away after the engine idles some and it pumps back up. Using some MMO during your next oil change should help. Please keep us informed of what you find.

Good luck!

[SteveTheTech]

Bad bad posters [hit dog with newspaper] How did a question about a 99 Q41 digress to a Q45 then to a J30. It's a wonder someone didn't chime in with a G20 or 35 or me with an AMG.

Ever wonder why search functions don't work well.

The search function works relatively well when you use the topic body feature, and many cases are worthy of a new thread, or the information can be found on articles sections.

Take a deep breathe Dennis. The OP is going to have someone look at it. Whether they are qualified to be working on an older Q is something we have to assume the OP is going to take into consideration. As we have to assume that all the people we have interaction here have basic common sense (until the prove otherwise). Qualifications to provide accurate information is not post count dependent, or solely based on what someone claims in their profile. Experience isn't everything, and inspiring a conversation that can help anyone reading this learn something is the reason we are all here. Many people will indeed read this now and in the future, this should have become a conversation relevant to the changing topic, as the OPs question was answered.

I started taking this thread off topic with my personal experience with long term water intrusion and the potential effects of having ground circuits cross. Although it's not common it does happen, yes even on a 99 Q, I have dealt with this first hand.

[NJ 666]

How can a noisy/loose/worn HLA cause a rough idle?

Thank You, Steve the Tech. I may be a rookie or one of the best techs in the nation. Posting has to start somewhere. Most people here give suggestions or a direction to go in for a accurate diagnosis. Sorry if I spoke out of turn.

squadone619, what was the outcome? See I'm trying to learn.

[SteveTheTech]

Giving advise on Nico is a very fine line, on one hand we know the basics and theory behind the operation, and common faults. On the other hand we are still blind guessing at anything, and everyone really needs to know that. Many people take the information they take from the internet over information that is provided to them in RL. I see this all the time at work, people come in with printed tsbs or threads (I lol at the Nico ones what I participate in)(I am all for consumer education) and they regard the information that a bunch of strangers tell them over the information provided based on their exact concerns(that's not the rule just an increasing percentage). If you are just starting out, be patient and keep an open mind. Don't be afraid to admit you don't know something,feel free to ask (don't get cockstrong) no one knows everything. Most days I have three or four tabs open in my browser with various ESM windows to answer questions throughout many model boards, being able to give someone a visual to match the information significantly improves the effectiveness of your incite.

All participation is welcome on Nico, and differing view point only fuel discussion. At the end of the day we all log into this site to talk about cars and learn from other people.

~NJ~ What's up with your website?

[NJ 666]

Steve, sent you an e-mail. Do you think I could be a benefit to some people on this site?

[Kiven422]

It sounds like it could be a noisy HLA to me. If that is the problem, it will go away after the engine idles some and it pumps back up. Using some MMO during your next oil change should help. Please keep us informed of what you find.

Good luck!

Yes. Just start it, let it run for a good while. You need to start and run the vehicle at least ONCE every 2 weeks. Oil needs to circulate and gravity just pulls on it.

[sandor]

How can a noisy/loose/worn HLA cause a rough idle?

Thank You, Steve the Tech. I may be a rookie or one of the best techs in the nation. Posting has to start somewhere. Most people here give suggestions or a direction to go in for a accurate diagnosis. Sorry if I spoke out of turn.

squadone619, what was the outcome? See I'm trying to learn.

The rough idle could be caused by lots of things...Open injector (Although you would have drivability problems at all times.) Dirty plenum, or MAF connectors, etc. It's possible the idle problem and noise are not related. There are many here more experienced than me to weigh in on this.

[squadone619]

wow, sorry haven't been keeping up guys. I've been out of town and the car was just sitting there.

Finally had a chance to start her up on Sunday and to my surprise, no more ticking. Drove her around for the past 2 days with about 100 miles or so and she's running and idling just fine. maybe she really is like my wife, just gotta get use to "that time of the month" and leave her be!

I've read all the responses and did another search based on the HLA issues and found a couple of helpful threads on google:

this one i found really helpful-

zerothread?id=102790

http://autorepair.about.com/li...g.htm

I think the most helpful hint is this one from this forum:"Per Q45Techs recommendations, I would change the oil first (with the cheapest conventional oil and filter you can find)... add 1/2 can of Quick Clean, idle for the time it says on the can, then immediately drain. Add more conventional oil, another new cheapie filter, and run the other half of the can through at idle for the time specified. Then drain again, and fill with whatever type of oi and filterl you normally use.

I've also heard from a few techs. that BG MOA is a good additive to help with HLA noise... you might try it in your final oil fill. It's a pretty common Nissan problem, so they may be on to something."

so I will try that this week and keep my fingers crossed. thanks again!

[maxnix]

Not specifically addressing this problem is also a thread about using high detergent diesel designated oils and short change intervals.

BG Quick Clean immediately (15 min. of idling) before an oil drain is also another tact.

[Q45tech]

The problem with selecting a SPECIFIC SOLVENT is you need to KNOW FOR SURE what you are trying to clean. Your brain and ears are very sensitive if trained just like a doctor uses a stethoscope. You can use two sthetoscopes [one one each ear] one on injector body and one one valve cover to differentiate WHERE the sound is coming from................or you can use an oscilloscope to view the injector waveforms and determine the time differences between the sounds of injector clicks and HLA clicks.

BG MOA is just a ZINC additive in oil designed to provide some buffer if the oil degrades near the end of its life and during a dry start like just after an oil change for the first 15 seconds. Remember oil pressure is lowest with a hot engine just after oil is replaced. Don't expect anything more from it!