Horrible noise/smell on starting car this morning

[SteveTheTech]

The best thing you can do if you are experiencing this noise is let it warm up without revving or driving it. You want to leave let the engine come up[ to temperature on its own with as little load as possible. Not that there is a major chance of damage.

Her quick question. How many of you who have heard this are using factory oil filters?

As for the burning smell, I do not know and I do not know if the two things are related necessarily.

[ken in az]

How many of you who have heard this are using factory oil filters?

That's a good question!

[rsg123]

I had this exact same problem (see my link below for my post). It first started after my car sat at a paint shop for 4 days. The paint people called me and mentioned my car making a strange noise. They thought maybe low oil but the level was fine. I was freakin out because I was over 20 miles from my house so I drove it gently until i could buy some oil. By the time i left the store with 5qts of mobile 1...the sound was gone.

zer...47005

Did you also have a burning plastic/rubber smell? I am just about ready to just let the car idle for a while to see if the noise goes away...I miss driving it.

[tigerclaws1318]

That's a good question!

Werd, some oil fliters do cause a loud tapping noises upon start ups. This is why I pay the extra money for a high quality filter. The OEM filter does contain cardboard end caps which isn't really good. This is the link where I found out about the OEM filters.

LINK REMOVED BY MODERATOR No links to competing forums please.

[mahmudb]

I have an 03' M45 but mine sounded exactly like that when my engine went bad. Black smoke was coming out and it sounded horrible. The reciept for the engine repair said something about a camshaft or something. I don't have the reciept in front of me, but I'll look it up. They ended up putting a new block in under the powertrain warranty.

[rsg123]

I tried to start the car just now to see if idling it for a while would solve the problem, but it wouldn't start! The starter kept cranking but to no avail. The battery is fine. Used a scanner and error code U1000 came up.I guess it's time to start finding flatbed towing services for the 30 mile trip to Sacramento Infiniti (Roseville). I don't suppose a Nissan dealership would be able to do Infiniti warranty work, would they? I just hope Infiniti will cover the repairs under the powertrain warranty.
Modified by rsg123 at 9:46 PM 11/18/2009

[loystock]

The problem indicates a CAN (Controller Area Network) communication problem. And yes, it's time to take it to the dealership.

[SteveTheTech]

Sorry to hear about your recent turn of events. A U1000-1001 dtc looks frightening to many but it could be anything from a water logged ipdm (rotting leaves tend to build up under the battery trays) to some wild like rodent invasion into your main harness. Or something really simple. The point is even on these cars that are out of warranty this code and similar ones are going to kick the a*s of many gas station mechanics and your local autozone will only be able to print them for you.

This is another opportunity for all of you out there to see the benefit of an extended warranty. Hopefully RSG gets this squared up under warranty but many of you will not be so lucky if you plan on keeping these cars. Not that they are going to break but if they ever do it is never cheap.

tiger- it doesn't matter what M1 or other manufacturers use in their filters the engine was actually designed to use the 9E000 filter with its drain back valve. Keep in mind most of the marketing things you read on the internet are trying to make someone richer. Looks can be decieving.

No more driver links

[ken in az]

tiger- it doesn't matter what M1 or other manufacturers use in their filters the engine was actually designed to use the 9E000 filter with its drain back valve. Keep in mind most of the marketing things you read on the internet are trying to make someone richer. Looks can be decieving.

Oh geeze - please don't let this thread turn into an oil filter discussion. It's like Drinking and talking politics - ya just dont do it cause it never ends well. Oil filter discussions on a web forum falls into the same category. Let everyone drink their own cool aid and in 200,000 miles we will all tear down our engines and see how they look

Back on topic - OP, I bet you hit something when you installed your radar detector to cause the fault. This could or could not be isolated from your engine noise as it seems that some other members have had the noise as well but isolated from the "smell" that you had.

I wonder if a CAN comm fault could cause something with the VVT unit to cause the noise. I remember a long time ago Nissan had a similar problem with the VTC unit on the camshafts of the 90-96 300zx where the VTC unit itself would cause it to be noisey isolated from the ecm.

The VTC unit on the camshaft operates at a constant duty cycle actuated on a solenoid that controls oil pressure to the VTC hydraulic passages that articulate the cam phasing relative to the fixed cam gear - if it was left off and no oil was able to cycle through the system could it cause the cam to "slack" out and cause the timing chain to rattle around.

Steve - do you have any input on that theory?

[ken in az]

Oh - and btw I am very interested in this thread because my car has been sitting and not started now for over a week with the battery disconected so I hope I don't have the same noise when I go to start it this weekend..

[M45Runner]

Sorry to hear that - car not starting up.

When mine did that, I called Infiniti and they said it is oil level issue and instruct me to DRIVE to the dealership for an inspection (after add a little over 1, maybe 1.2 qts of oil). So, I did and the noise (Exactly sounds like what you recorded) is gone in a mile or so. They checked everything and said there is nothing wrong and drove it for another week and get the oil changed and has not happen since (which has been 3 month and 2000 miles). Hope this helps.

[SteveTheTech]

Oh geeze - please don't let this thread turn into an oil filter discussion. It's like Drinking and talking politics

I agree and was trying to nip that crap in the bud real quick. There are whole forums for this crap and they are still boring and go no where.

I wonder if a CAN comm fault could cause something with the VVT unit to cause the noise. I remember a long time ago Nissan had a similar problem with the VTC unit on the camshafts of the 90-96 300zx where the VTC unit itself would cause it to be noisey isolated from the ecm.

As a DD of one of these they have their odd quirks when it comes to cam timing advancement. There is always going to be a special place in my heart for the old 3 liter motors. However since OBDII there is far more oversight over the operation of everything.

The VTC unit on the camshaft operates at a constant duty cycle actuated on a solenoid that controls oil pressure to the VTC hydraulic passages that articulate the cam phasing relative to the fixed cam gear - if it was left off and no oil was able to cycle through the system could it cause the cam to "slack" out and cause the timing chain to rattle around.

You pretty much hit it right on the head. Usually this noise only happens right after startup and are very hard for us to replicate. Even if it happens to that extreme it would seem more likely the route cause of the rough idle would be from the valves bleeding down? or oil drainback to the point where the supply. It really depends on the noise, allot of us have seen enough of these to get a decent idea of what it causing that but given the fact that. It seems like the noise tends to go away within a minute or once oil pressure and supply increases. However I saw something I have never seen on a VK today in my shop an M45 with a wicked rattling noise but it is not the noise you guys are talking about at all.

Ken- Try a quart of ester with your next oil change. I know you know engines better than I do and I would like to see your opinion on this. Email me, I will see if I can ship you one to try. There are a couple of my co-workers that run ester in varying amounts and (psychosomatic as it may be) everyone (except my dear wife) hears and notes a change in behavior whether it is cold start or valve train noise.

Have any of you guys seen a supercharged Audi A6 or V8 Mercedes C class start up. Hell even the SL63 I was drooling over a few weeks ago rattled worse than anything wearing a Mt Fuji emblem ever has.

[fiveliterbeater]

sorry to hijack this thread, but steve, have you been a tech long enough to remember the famous VTC failure of the old VE motors that came in the 92-94 SE maximas?

is the technology used in the old motors the same as in the VK, only difference being of course is that the VTC in the VE's was only activated under load only as to the new ones being CCVT (continuous cam valve timing)?

[ken in az]

However I saw something I have never seen on a VK today in my shop an M45 with a wicked rattling noise but it is not the noise you guys are talking about at all.

Look around the valve cover for an oil leak - I have heard of the solid lifter buckets and shims to come loose in the old GTi-R heads from japan. although they actually had rockers to smash around a bit in there.

Ken- Try a quart of ester with your next oil change. I know you know engines better than I do and I would like to see your opinion on this. Email me, I will see if I can ship you one to try. There are a couple of my co-workers that run ester in varying amounts and (psychosomatic as it may be) everyone (except my dear wife) hears and notes a change in behavior whether it is cold start or valve train noise.

I'd love to but...next oil change was going to be Amsoil HDD 5-30 and starting my extended drain intervals with oil analysis done at 7500mi. Anything in there except the amsoil and my EDI goes out the window. To top that off I don't know how noisey the headers will make it

Have any of you guys seen a supercharged Audi A6 or V8 Mercedes C class start up. Hell even the SL63 I was drooling over a few weeks ago rattled worse than anything wearing a Mt Fuji emblem ever has.

I have not - but I did get the chance to drive around an IS350 for a bit - pretty quiet except when you pop the hood. Drives like a dream though. In my hypothetical situation I would definitely take an IS350 over the buzz box G37 sedan

[rsg123]

I am getting the car towed to the Infiniti dealership in Roseville tomorrow. They won't work on it until Monday. I hope it is an easy and quick fix (apparently I am not eligible for a loaner car).Could a bad/contaminated ecu or maf sensor be the problem?
Modified by rsg123 at 8:34 AM 11/20/2009

[rocastro71]

rsg123,Hope everything is well. Any updates on your car???

[rsg123]

I picked up my car last night. They said the engine was flooded with fuel. They cleared the fuel and the engine started. They ran their tests but could not reproduce the noise/burning rubber problem. The car is running fine now, but I am a little worried about the problem coming back.They asked if I have any other Infinitis in our household and I told them we have a G35. They said if we tried starting the car with a different car's key it could cause problems. I have never heard of this.What would cause the engine to flood like this, and if it happens in the future is it easy to clear? Tow+diagnostic fee was $290


Modified by rsg123 at 10:33 AM 11/25/2009

[Double E]

bunch of crapola in my book. Obvioulsy, you did not try to start the M with the G key, right?

They just cranked it and ran it till the noise went away and likely noticed a rich condition.

It's a "characteristic" that I'm likewise not comfortable with, however it is what it is....

74K miles, still strong....

[rsg123]

No, I didn't try to start it with the G key, but I can't be sure no one else did since the spare keys for both cars look identical (no extra keys/rings attached). So bottom line is if you notice this noise when your engine starts, let it run until the noise goes away. I think I simply flooded the engine by turning it on and off so many times.