My sister inlaw, has a 2005 Nissan Altima 3.5 5 speed, with 112k miles,
About 6 months ago, they drove it threw a puddle and it stalled out, the attempted to start it but wouldnt start they let it dry out then it started they have been driving it but a Tick from the Rear Head has got louder…
Im looking at picking up a Head for it… could it be somthing Else? How hard is it to replace the Head on the 3.5?
Thanks Mike
I have a vid of the car running ill post when I get home Im at there house now with Dial up…
Does it tick when its first started after sitting for at least a few hours? Or does it tick when its warmed up, progressivley getting louder?
How certian are you its the rear head? A video or audio clip would help alot here.
I also have a 3.5 altima w/ 120ish K, mine also seems to have a “tick”. Well 2 ticks I guess. Once the car is warmed up and Ive been driving for a bit I notice it when Im driving and its going thru the RPM’s. Its louder inside then car than if you pop the hood and listen for it. My buddy has a 3.5 altima as well and said his makes the same noise.
The other tick is when Its cold and I start it… but that goes away eventually. Personally I cant tell if its coming from one of the pulleys/accessories, timing chain related, or something else. But its always on the timing chain side. I thought it was the idler pulley, but after replacing it, 2 days later it was back.
Anyways, If anything you can always try the nissanclub.com forums there is a large section for 3.5 altimas. Or last resort take it in to nissan just for diagnosis and then you’ll know what to fix for sure. Thats probably what Im going to do in spring.
Forgot to mention maxima.org , same motor anyways, and generally they know more lol
Removing the heads is not fun because you have to take the wet timing case off the front of the engine before you can get the heads off and there is not a lot of room between the case and the “frame” rail. I cursed in at least four languages for 4 hours trying to seal that sucker back on without smearing the liquid gasket all over the chain.
On other hand I’d try to locate where the noise is coming from - sometimes the chainguides wear and the chain starts making a bit of noise… or even a loose spark plug.
You can try getting to the place where the picture was taken and pulling the valve cover off and seeing if you can find a stuck lifter or something… but really I do not see how you’d get a stuck lifter from water… not like it got inside the valve train case. Are you getting misfires or anything? Maybe the insulator cracked around the coil pack and shorting out on the block and clicking especially with the added moisture.
VQs do tick a lot normally, see if you can find an alitma or a maxima of a similar age and see if it sounds drastically different.
I agree I dont see how the water made the car tick, Im thinking its just a coincidence really.
I also have talked to enough 3.5 owners who do hear ticks as well. Mine has over 121K and still runs great and I do drive it hard enough, have never had to do anything to the engine repair wise but its not the quitest motor…
Maksim2000: are the 3.5’s common to wear out Timing chain guides?
I went and listened to afew 3.5’s and none tick like this one.
The water my just be a coincedence I agree, as she is also vary poor about keeping up with oil changes, and she runs non synthetic oil (Ive tryed Soooo hard to convince her it better and cheaper to run synthetic, being so bad about the changes) I don’t think it’s chains possibly coilpack… It does have a missfire underload, maybe I’m hearing the arc?
Edit: they also have a cai that runs right to the ground (that’s what scooped up the water)
3.5’s in general are a lil noisy due to the tolerances they run. sounds like its timing chain related if u ask me. almost every nissan ever made with a chain clakcs n makes noise
