VIDEO - Grinding noise at startup - 30K 2008 Rogue

[kaylot]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdbtHVsUdJI[/youtube]

**Listen for the sound at the :28 second mark**

Hi all, Longtime lurker to this forum, first time posting.

I have a 2008 Nissan Rogue w/ only 30K miles on it, and for the past month it has been making a weird noise at a "cold" startup. (Meaning, if it hasn't been driven for several hours, it will make a short grinding like sound. If I run a few errands and start up the car, it will not repeat the sound that is in the video.)

I did take it to my mechanic, who said he would give it a look, in addition to the 30K maintenance service. He could not recreate the sound, even after keeping the Rogue overnight, and said everything looked fine during the inspection.

I am hesitant to take this to the dealer, as I am concerned they may have the same feedback. Overall, the car is running very well, and this noise is only upon the cold startup; there are no weird sounds while driving.

Any guesses here on what this might be? Appreciate any guesses here, so I can go back to the mechanic/dealership with a specific concern.

Ken

[kerrton]

It sounds like a metallic rattle, my first guess would be to check the flimsy exhaust heat shields under the car. These give me lots of grief and make a metallic rattling sound, but never have I experienced at a stand still, mine always occurs going over bumps but it's possible that the high idle of a cold engine produces just enough vibration to get one of those shields rattling.

Other than that the only other rattling sound I've had similar to that was when my CVT transmission went bad early on, but you'd know it if your CVT was bad, you'd get that rattling at low "parking lot" speeds, if everything is quiet otherwise I'd still stick with heat shield as my guess.....you can crawl under the car (be sure to chock the wheels and set the park brake for safety) and check these, there is one that runs the length of the exhaust pipe and one up over the exhaust manifold area.

[kaylot]

Thanks for the tip. I am a novice at car parts, but I can look at the heat shields closer to see if one is rubbing somewhere.

Also, here's another video that was shot several days before the first one. The noise is a bit louder and longer than the first video.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMH3kG_TJEM[/youtube]

[TaiLuu]

Sounds like a bad drive.shaft but cars in park so can't be it.
Can't be the cvt cause your in park too.
Does you ac run when this happens?
And does your temp gauge still reads C when this happens?

[kaylot]

Hi TaiLuu,

Thanks for your response. I don't have the AC on when it makes this noise, and yes, it still reads C.

Usually the noise occurs for about 10 seconds and then it once the car is warm, it won't make the sound again.

[TaiLuu]

Holy crap I remember a thread just like this in Honda tech.
It should be your fuel pump.(nothing bad or wrong just happens)
When your key is in the on position not started. let the fuel pump prime for about 10 secs then start the car. The noise shouldn't happen when you let it prime all the way first.

[philipa_240sx]

It sounds like a metallic rattle, my first guess would be to check the flimsy exhaust heat shields under the car.

I'm with Kerrton on this one. It sounds eerily familar to a heat shield rattle. The reason you might only hear it on startup is the metal heat shield contracts when cold. As it expands, it might loosen up just enough to get it to resonate.

It's going to take some careful diagnoses to troubleshoot. If you are unwilling to experiment fixing it yourself, I would perhaps try another dealer.

[otto888man]

It sounds like a loose heatshield. I have fixed a Pathfinder that has the same sound. Ask someone to start the vehicle while you are under listen for the sound. While wearing gloves start holding down or pressing the suspected heatshield one by one. The one i found on the Pathfinder is the one directly underneath the driver & passenger floor. MOst likely the clamps that holds these heatshield has corroded. I hope this helps. Keep us posted.

OM