Tick tock...time to dump the J? Ticking sound

[jertapper]

From what I have researched people have said the ticking sound could be the VTC Solenoid or the VTC Cams or VTC springs or a lifter issue.

Not being able to be sure what it is makes me want to just sell off the J but I also don't want to do that. I like the car and am always willing to put some money into it to keep her.

Are these springs people suggest replacing the same as the timing belt tensioner springs inside the intake camshaft sprockets? All this terminology is quite difficult to keep straight. Half the stuff mentioned I can't even find in the service manual. Take the "engine solenoid" or "VTC solenoid" for example, I can't find that either.

The key thing is determining what is causing the ticking. If these springs have a good chance of causing this it doesn't seem to difficult to pull off the timing belt covers and change them. Even if they aren't the problem, if I do that then it confirms that isn't the issue and I would have to look elsewhere...but where? If it's a "lifter" issue and that requires pulling the plenum...I'm not sure that's something I want to do. I think I could do it but I don't know if I could get humpty back together and there is so much else that would need to be done when doing that it's a bit much for me. I would need a guide with me that knows more than I do about these engines.

Anyone near Mobile, Alabama want to buy a J or help me fix it? Or does anyone know of a way to find a local shop that is good with these engines?

[yodawill2000]

A mechanics Stethoscope can pin point where the sound is from.
In a pinch a 3 foot piece of tubing will do.

[jertapper]

A mechanics Stethoscope can pin point where the sound is from.
In a pinch a 3 foot piece of tubing will do.

Sounds like a good place to start.

Is this one good enough? 3 bucks is cheap.

http://www.harborfreight.com/mechanics- ... 41966.html

[GerryO]

Try adding half a quart of Castrol 20/50 synthetic blend motor oil when the engine is cold, and before letting the engine slowly warm up while running at idle speed.

If that does the trick, fully convert at the next filter and oil change.

[yodawill2000]

A mechanics Stethoscope can pin point where the sound is from.
In a pinch a 3 foot piece of tubing will do.

Sounds like a good place to start.

Is this one good enough? 3 bucks is cheap.

http://www.harborfreight.com/mechanics- ... 41966.html

That's the exact one I use.
No need for a high end scope.

[jertapper]

Try adding half a quart of Castrol 20/50 synthetic blend motor oil when the engine is cold, and before letting the engine slowly warm up while running at idle speed.

If that does the trick, fully convert at the next filter and oil change.

If an oil change (with that specific oil) causes the ticking to go away, what does that mean was wrong to cause it in the first place?

[GerryO]

Older engines with more miles and wear on them have bigger gaps between moving parts. Heavier weight oils can quiet things a bit, but gas mileage may suffer ever so slightly and engine cranking during extremely cold weather starts might be a bit slower. Synthetic and synthetic blend oils are noticeably more lubricious and will go places that normal oils can't; just rub a drop of each between your thumb and forefinger.

The VG30DE engine has hydralic valve lifters that can get sticky or drain. A low engine oil level can cause noisy lifters. My own story - I parked my '93 J30t in our driveway for several months due to a leaky water pump. For one reason or another the car had to be moved a couple of times and each time I started it, a new ticking sound was louder. Pretty soon I was more concerned about the ticking sound, than I was about the leaky WP. After I replaced the WP, timing and accessory belts, tensioner, front oil seals, VTC springs, etc, I started the engine and the ticking sound was still there. I then added 1/2 a quart of Castrol 20/50 Synthetic Blend and in a few minutes things began to quiet down. The next oil and filter change, and several years ago, I fully converted, have never looked back and now go months between engine starts with no issues at all, other than a low or dead battery.

[jertapper]

Thanks for the in-depth reply.

Apparently the engine is leaking oil from somewhere. It is getting on the alternator belt and slinging around in there. It wasn't low though. It seems like the leak is coming from under the water pump area.

I got it replaced with the recommended synthetic. Now I need to decide what to do about this leak. We'll see also if the ticking subsides at all.

[GerryO]

Possible front oil seal (5) and valve cover (4), along with the VTC spring cover o-ring (2) leaks.

[jertapper]

Awesome pictures. I hate looking back and seeing mistakes I made in my younger, more ignorant days. I did the timing belt myself years ago because it had never been done since I owned it (and ever before afaik) and I started to get scared and didn't know about those seals and VTC spring o-rings

I think I could pull the plenum and I don't think replacing the valve gaskets would be too hard for me...but I wonder just how long it would take and if I could get it back together again. I would want to at least do all the things that someone does when they have the plenum off and are thinking ahead and being smart (like I wasn't when I did the timing belt). It's a big list of stuff to buy and get and do and I would be without a car for a while. It's a tough decision. I work slow and bending over a car doesn't agree with my back for long days. I'm strangely attached to this car though. If I had temporary transportation I think I'd do it.

I would do the water line delete for sure.I would need to replace a lot of fuel hose and vacuum hose and add new water hoses. I'm not sure what else would need to be done but I don't want to miss anything like I did back when I did the timing belt. Anything else that could be recommended would be helpful. I will have to carefully plan everything I would need and price it out to help me determine whether to do it or not.

I did some searching and found this: http://www.thedevilsz.com/site/technica ... m_pull.pdf

It has some good information and mentions these things that you might also want to do:

-chroming/powercoating/polishing the plenum
-porting the upper plenum chamber
-replacing or eliminating the throttle body bypass hoses
-replacing the Idle Air Adjusting unit (and gasket)
-upgrading fuel injectors
-replacing the lower fuel lines (or all the fuel lines)
-PCV valve and hose replacement
-fuel filter replacement

The things in bold all sound like things I would want to do. Anything else?

Does it make sense to remove the EGR stuff completely (I'm not in a state with emmissions checks)? I'm all for simplification and more engine bay space.

[GerryO]

Awesome pictures. I hate looking back and seeing mistakes I made in my younger, more ignorant days. I did the timing belt myself years ago because it had never been done since I owned it (and ever before afaik) and I started to get scared and didn't know about those seals and VTC spring o-rings

A few of the photos are from here:

http://www.z32photoguide.com/

I think I could pull the plenum and I don't think replacing the valve gaskets would be too hard for me...but I wonder just how long it would take and if I could get it back together again. I would want to at least do all the things that someone does when they have the plenum off and are thinking ahead and being smart (like I wasn't when I did the timing belt). It's a big list of stuff to buy and get and do and I would be without a car for a while. It's a tough decision. I work slow and bending over a car doesn't agree with my back for long days. I'm strangely attached to this car though. If I had temporary transportation I think I'd do it.

I was unemployed when I did my timing belt and related items work, and shortly after completion an injector failed, so I chose to pull the plenum to replace all of them, along with some other things, including the TB heating delete. I removed most of the front the car to get it up on ramps for the timing belt work. A lot of debris was trapped in front of the radiator and inside the fan shroud.

I would do the water line delete for sure.I would need to replace a lot of fuel hose and vacuum hose and add new water hoses. I'm not sure what else would need to be done but I don't want to miss anything like I did back when I did the timing belt. Anything else that could be recommended would be helpful. I will have to carefully plan everything I would need and price it out to help me determine whether to do it or not.

The plenum goes on a lot easier than it comes off, especially after deleting the water lines, but all instructions have you delete more than is best. I left as many metal tubing lines as possible and still need to replace the Idle Air Adjusting unit heating line that I removed (it's probably more important for AT equipped cars than it is for those with a MT).



I still need to replace several old hoses with silicone hoses and it really helps to have help with plenum re-install positioning, to avoid damaging any gaskets.

I did some searching and found this: http://www.thedevilsz.com/site/technica ... m_pull.pdf

It has some good information and mentions these things that you might also want to do:

-chroming/powercoating/polishing the plenum
-porting the upper plenum chamber
-replacing or eliminating the throttle body bypass hoses
-replacing the Idle Air Adjusting unit (and gasket)
-upgrading fuel injectors
-replacing the lower fuel lines (or all the fuel lines)
-PCV valve and hose replacement
-fuel filter replacement

The things in bold all sound like things I would want to do. Anything else?

Does it make sense to remove the EGR stuff completely (I'm not in a state with emmissions checks)? I'm all for simplification and more engine bay space.

A working EGR system sounds like a good thing to me, as it provides protection against pre-ignition. Cleaning the IAC unit and it's component parts should be enough. I'm not a gun owner, but found that an inexpensive pistol cleaning kit helps.

‎http://home.swipnet.se/e-solutions/IdleTech.html

http://home.swipnet.se/e-solutions/IdleTech2.html

Watch out for razor sharp plenum edges and mold flash. My EGR tubes were clogged.

How's that ticking sound, since the oil change?

[jertapper]

The ticking didn't sound any better at first but today I thought it sounded better.

I was thinking about it today and if I did the plenum pull and had the engine all apart that much and was going to put the time and money into it then wouldn't it make sense to also do a head gasket job? The engine does seem to eat a bit of coolant.

[GerryO]

There are tests for coolant in the oil and oil in the coolant, compression tests and many coolant leak possibilities. No overheating, I hope?

[jertapper]

There are tests for coolant in the oil and oil in the coolant, compression tests and many coolant leak possibilities. No overheating, I hope?

Never overheated. The reservoir just gets low over time. It might even be evaporation in there. I only fill it up a bit maybe quarterly.

When I started it up tonight it was ticking at bit. Thanks for all your diligent replies GerryO.

If I were to shop for a car do you (or does anyone) have a good site or way to research which older used cars are good buys (reliability/value/easier to get parts for than this car - think shocks here /easy to work on)? I like Infiniti/Nissan but it would probably be a lot to try to go through each section on this site and ask questions. It seems like it's just a crapshoot when trying to pick which cars to look for so I can get a price range to compare to all this work I would have to do to this car.

[jertapper]

I'm about to tackle this plenum removal/water line delete. there is oil all over this engine now...so I need to be able to see what's going on. I'm guessing the valve covers are leaking. Wish me luck.

I'm also going to change the vtc springs and hope that makes it tick quieter.

[jertapper]

Plenum is off. Wow....that is hard work.

It's really wet at the back of the intake camshafts. I wonder if just redoing the gasket will fix that.

I also noticed that it looked like the VTC solenoids had their wires cut, which is interesting.

My EGR tubes are packed. Trying to decide what to do about that.

I wish I could know for sure that the valve covers were the source of all this oil.

I have to replace basically every hose...except the fuel lines from the top of the plenum since I did that somewhat recently.

So much to do. Next is cleaning up the under side of this plenum. I might be too tired to do any more tonight though.

[Junya]

im planning on doing my EGR de-clog after finals. take some pics! im sure we would like to see them.

[jertapper]

im planning on doing my EGR de-clog after finals. take some pics! im sure we would like to see them.

I already dug at one of them. I have never done this before so at first I thought it was clogged at the top. Then I realized it was solid metal there so I went looking for a hole on the side and couldn't find it. Then I saw where it wasn't flush and sure enough solid black material was giving way. SOOOOOOOOOOO clogged. The other one has a tiny little hole. it was dark last night I'll go take some pics now that it's light.

I am still not sure what all I should replace while I have this off. I'm about to price injectors.

[jertapper]

Here are the pics of the egr tubes

http://home.comcast.net/~jtapper01/egr_ ... r_side.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/~jtapper01/egr_ ... r_side.JPG

The passenger side is the one I dug at with a flat head screwdriver. The junk was flush with the outside of the tubing before I did that.

[jertapper]

Here are the pics of the VTC solenoids. Wet and with the wires cut off. Is that strange or what?

http://home.comcast.net/~jtapper01/vtc_driver_side.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/~jtapper01/vtc_ ... r_side.JPG

[jertapper]

I put in a new knock sensor up top a long time ago (where-is-j30-knock-sensor-cable-ecu-sid ... 82494.html) to avoid pulling the plenum and now that I have the plenum pulled, finally, I still can't see where the original knock sensor is.

I was contemplating removing it and putting this one in the proper place but if it's this hard to find and get to then I'm not sure it would be worth it. haha.

[jertapper]

My main issue is all the oil on the alternator and that side of things. Since I have it taken apart to this level I would hate for it to be a head gasket and put it all back together just to have to tear it back down. hmmm.

Anyone have any tips to help find the oil leak without being able to run it?

[jertapper]

I put it all back together. Ticking seems to be less. I think it's just the injectors ticking now. Just need to get my idle issues figured out as it doesn't want to stay running.

[jertapper]

Here are the pics of the VTC solenoids. Wet and with the wires cut off. Is that strange or what?

http://home.comcast.net/~jtapper01/vtc_driver_side.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/~jtapper01/vtc_ ... r_side.JPG

In my research at some point I found out that they did away with the VTC in the '96. I can't say for sure if that's right but that's what I read on a webpage somewhere.