VQ40 engine buzzing noise from timing chain area

[greybrick]

I was wondering if any here have noticed increased engine noise over time and have had the dealership do the timing chain repairs /chain guide replacement as per the service bulletin;ALL NISSAN MODELS WITH VQ ENGINE; BUZZING / WHINING NOISE FROM TIMING CHAIN AREA, this only affects the VQ40 engines as are in the Frontiers, XTerras and Pathfinders from about 2004 to the end of 2007.

From a friend's posting on another board;

"i work at a dealership...
there are to TSB: is a whinning noise which does come from the timing chain, not the main chain, but the camshaft chains. Uses two chains, one on each head. And it is the guides that get completly wore out, where you cant even tell it ever had a plastic guide, thats where the whinning comes from. it doesnt make a rattle nosie like other normal timing chains do.
And for the reason on parts is that, the dealer needs to be ordering special parts listed in the TSB. if they do not follow the parts list in the TSB, then the problem will come back and wont be permenently fix. hopfully this helps out anyone that needs it."

Up until about the end of 2007 Nissan still hadn't developed a wear proof guide so any which were replaced before about 2007 year end will need to be redone, best to get it sorted out with a service manager as if you have to pay for the repair it's something around $1000.

You guys who put on headers and mufflers probably won't hear the difference anyway though.

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[madizell]

Is there a service record so far regarding the number of miles at which this problem generally arises?

 

[greybrick]

The local dealer's service guy tells me it varies but that most owners start hearing the increased noise somewhere around 30-40K kms. At 28K kms I can already hear it on this truck going up hills. The drill is to take the truck to the dealership, once they ascertain that they hear the problem they order in the correct guides if they don't have them in stock, and then book a 1 day appointment as it takes about 6 hours shop time to pull and replace the front plate of the engine. With the new guides installed service guy says the repair is good for the life of the engine, but who knows as nobody has many miles on the new guides yet.

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[articulate]

Thanks to your posting I just made an appointment with the dealer for our D40. We just started to notice a faint whine about 10 days ago. It may or may not be this same issue, but thanks for posting it.

 

[greybrick]

No problem Mark, glad to have helped. I usually post on a PF specific forum which has a fairly good body of knowledge for the R51's and some crossover info for the D40's as well which might be of interest;

TheNissanPath

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[articulate]

Just to update, the dealer ordered my parts and will be installing them next week. Dealer confirmed that my engine whine is likely these bad chain guides. I've got to tell you that I would have never known about this TSB unless you'd brought it up. So thanks again.

Another TSB that goes way back is the squeaky idler pulley. They're fixing that for me as well, and this is the second time around for that one.

I keep getting a P1446 CEL code - evap control valve. They've replaced that once already, but the code keeps popping up. I find this part incredible: they manage to know how many times we've cycled the computer since the code peeped its head. They say the valve is actually working fine - and I've confirmed that myself over the last few months. Something is triggering the code.

The fun of modern vehicles.

 

[greybrick]

Here's the dealership parts list from the invoice from a poster on another forum who had the VQ40 cam chain TSB fix, the list appears to include new cam chains as well;

Replace Cam Chain/ Idler Gear:

(1) 15066-31u02 Seal O Rin
(2) 13028-zk00b Chain-cams
(2) 13070-zk01b Tensioner
(1) 13070-zk01a Tensioner
(4) 15066-31u03 Seal O Rin
(1) 15066-31u03 Seal O Rin
(1) 15066-31u02 Seal O Rin
(2) 15066-ed010 Seal-O-Rin
(1) 21049-31u04 Seal-O-Rin
(1) 21049-31u03 Seal-O-Rin
(1) 13510-7y000 Seal-Oil, c
(1) 13270-ea21a Gasket-Roc
(1) 13270-ea20a Gasket-Roc
(2) 23797-za000 Gasket-Sol
(2) 15066-31u03 Seal O Rin
(1) 15208-9e000 Filter Oil
(6) 999mp-a7000gt Motor oil
(1) 11026-01m02 Washer-Dra
(1) 999mp-a7007p Gasket Sil
(2) 999mp-af000p Long Life

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[madizell]

Just to update, the dealer ordered my parts and will be installing them next week. Dealer confirmed that my engine whine is likely these bad chain guides. I've got to tell you that I would have never known about this TSB unless you'd brought it up. So thanks again.

Another TSB that goes way back is the squeaky idler pulley. They're fixing that for me as well, and this is the second time around for that one.

I keep getting a P1446 CEL code - evap control valve. They've replaced that once already, but the code keeps popping up. I find this part incredible: they manage to know how many times we've cycled the computer since the code peeped its head. They say the valve is actually working fine - and I've confirmed that myself over the last few months. Something is triggering the code.

The fun of modern vehicles.

Wouldn't it be nice if manufactures actually sent notices to owners about service bulletins so we could schedule checks and repairs without finding out about problems in the middle of the night on a dark road?

As for the code, since the engine has a limited number of sensors, and these evap controls are not sensed directly, your tech needs to find out how the system actually works and determine which sensor or sensors are capable of detecting the fault, and work back from there, keeping in mind that it can also be a sensor fault, not a part failure that triggers the code. Sometimes it can also be vacuum leaks or similar small faults that are really tough to detect because they are not outright failures. Personally, I think that cars are dumber than we think for all of their fancy electronics. My 2000 Audi A6 Quattro kept giving me a CEL and a code for secondary air motor system fault. The air system preheats the catalytic converters on cold start, and runs for only 30 - 60 seconds normally, then is not used again unless the cats cool off. After hours of digging around under the hood, and several hundred dollars of diagnostics, I figured I could do no worse myself and went looking around. I found that the secondary air motor, which feed air pressure to two valves, which then provide measured air injected into the heads in the exhaust downstream, was working fine, but one of the supply hoses to the control valve was blown off. Repaired the retaining ring, reinstalled the hose, no problem (except why was it the tech could not see these things himself???). Then found that the output hose from the same valve was torn nearly in half just downstream from the hose clamp. Trimmed the hose and reinstalled. Guess what. No codes. All for free. I admit that the tech spent a lot of time with me the other day going over data available to him online that I could not get to because it is a proprietary service, but with that information in hand and a clear understanding of how the system was supposed to work, finding the problem was not all that hard. Thankfully.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Wouldn't it be nice if manufactures actually sent notices to owners about service bulletins so we could schedule checks and repairs without finding out about problems in the middle of the night on a dark road?

I can't get Toyota to stop sending me notice of a TSB. On the 1989-1995 trucks they are replacing the steering relay rod under warranty (who would expect that on a 19 year old truck?). But I'm not eligible because I've changed out some of my steering parts for Total Chaos parts which required me to modify the relay rod. But still, every 3 months another notice that my VIN has not been fixed. I suspect in this case, being a steering (i.e. safety) issue, it's different and thus why I keep getting notices.

 

[madizell]

I can't get Toyota to stop sending me notice of a TSB. On the 1989-1995 trucks they are replacing the steering relay rod under warranty (who would expect that on a 19 year old truck?). But I'm not eligible because I've changed out some of my steering parts for Total Chaos parts which required me to modify the relay rod. But still, every 3 months another notice that my VIN has not been fixed. I suspect in this case, being a steering (i.e. safety) issue, it's different and thus why I keep getting notices.

Apparently this is because the part in question is under recall. The manufacturer is under an obligation to the fed to contact you. Have you contacted the dealer to let him know you don't qualify, and to ask that your VIN be purged from the list? I was referring to ordinary service bulletins of the sort that we never find out about in time. A one-time mailing would be sufficient. Nuisance mail is always unwelcome.

 

[greybrick]

Dealer confirmed that my engine whine is likely these bad chain guides.

Look forward to hearing how the TSB cam chain swap goes for you Mark and if you notice an improvement in stop light idling smoothness or other, and if any different parts are invoiced back to Nissan not on the above parts list. Thanks.

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[Raffro]

Would this be covered under the powertrain warranty?

I purchased my truck used with about 30K miles on it, so I'm not sure what a "normal" sounding engine should be.

 

[articulate]

Look forward to hearing how the TSB cam chain swap goes. . . and if any different parts are invoiced back to Nissan not on the above parts list. Thanks.

As far as I know, it all went well. They needed the truck for two days, but I had them change the the main belt and tensioner pulley (also under a TSB). The dealership also addressed, for the third time, my ever-so-fun P1446 "check engine light" code for the evap control valve by replacing the entire canister.

I think the cam chain guides is a 6 hour job alone.

Anyway, she purrs like a kitten. I did not get a full copy of the receipt and list of parts (just a condensed version), but I'll call and ask for it.

***
While taking the truck to the dealership for service bulletin work and warranty work is easy and pleasant, the whole process is too sanitized for my taste. You deal with a service adviser, who is not a mechanic. I like talking with my mechanic directly, because he (or she) will usually have some enlightening information as to what's going on with the vehicle, or some small Tom-n-Ray type of advice for preventative measures. You just don't get the same sort of thing from an adviser. I'm old timey in this respect.

 

[greybrick]

The dealership also addressed, for the third time, my ever-so-fun P1446 "check engine light" code for the evap control valve by replacing the entire canister.

Yeah, I've read of a few problems with evap boxes, don't know what driving with those underwater would do but probably wouldn't be good. Someone posted that maybe they should be wrapped in plastic and whatever breathing it needs should be extended and maybe filtered to not allow it to get plugged up, but I don't know as I haven't looked at it closely as I haven't had problems with it yet.

When they swapped the evap canister did they mention what the problem with it could have been so that it doesn't happen again. Thanks, I'm going to added it to my list of things to talk to with the head dealership mechanic about next time I can catch him free.

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[Dave]

Anyone else had their truck in for this? I just noticed a whine on my Frontier this weekend at around 24,400 miles.

Would I be right in assuming this would be covered under the factory warranty if it does turn out to be the TSB that this thread is about?