Please Help Possible Timing Chain Problem ? Vq25de

[2002stagea111]

2002 nissan stagea rs250 FOUR

car starts fine idles fine but when revs brought up slowly to around 2000rpm in gear,neutral,park whatever theres quite a loud mettalic sounding rattle ka clink ca clink ca clink doesnt seem to affect performance ,iv brought it to my local mechanic and his thoughts are the chains not being tensioned properly at low load therefore rattling but im not 100% sure needs a oil change thats for sure im just hoping the chain hasnt stretched or some expensive bs like that but any thoughts will,upload sound recording asap

[scotty nm35]

It's the cam actuators, have a search on here I have covered it a few times, check the V35 section.

Do you know what oil grade he is using in the engine?

[2002stagea111]

well its just had a service with fully synthetic 0w40 i think thats its a bit to thin ae? would u recommend oil additives ? il read up what you have suggested thanks alot mate

[2002stagea111]

It's the cam actuators, have a search on here I have covered it a few times, check the V35 section.

Do you know what oil grade he is using in the engine?

"It is just the cam retarders, are they making noise? will it break if i leave it ??

when i say oil additive i mean like engine tune up or clean out or ., 0W40 fully synthetics not the right oil ae, since i just got it serviced i might leave it 5000km than change it back to 10W30? cheers mate sorry about the bombardment of questions

[2002stagea111]

If i replace with 10W30 oil grade will it improve or is something actually broken that can lead to serious damage

[Brick]

You should be running 10w40

[2002stagea111]

cheers brick

[KiwiRS4T]

You should be running 10w40

Why is that? Doesn't manual say 10W 30?

[Brick]

Why is that? Doesn't manual say 10W 30?

No it says 10w40

[Reprieve]

No it says 10w40

No it actually says 5w 30.

[junkie]

Nissan would use 7.5w30

But, for our climate 10w40 is perfectly fine, my 250gt loves it

My mother in laws maxima was running some unknown grade from a service done by a local hack, started whining from around the cam gears shortly after... 10w-40 full synth fixed it, its been silent ever since

Edited September 12, 2015 by junkie

[2002stagea111]

cheers junkie i will do that tommorow 10w40 full synthetic.. Reprieve awesome to see your also in new zealand yeah i have the manual it does say 5w30 bare in mind that might be for japan but ima hope 10w40 is also good . thanks alot for everyones response inrelation to oil grade i just hope if i get the correct grade in the car the noise from the suspect cam actuators gets better hope nothings broken ., will post after oil change and service

[2002stagea111]

Nissan would use 7.5w30

But, for our climate 10w40 is perfectly fine, my 250gt loves it

My mother in laws maxima was running some unknown grade from a service done by a local hack, started whining from around the cam gears shortly after... 10w-40 full synth fixed it, its been silent ever since

that whining your talking about what exactly did it sound like ? must be different to my problem mines a mettalic crunching sort of noise yours must just have been the belts? sorry if i dont know what im talking about

[scotty nm35]

that whining your talking about what exactly did it sound like ? must be different to my problem mines a mettalic crunching sort of noise yours must just have been the belts? sorry if i dont know what im talking about

Did you have a search for the other threads yet? I suspect yours is a metallic clunking noise right? I would be getting on to it quickly, before the actuator gets damaged. I have had to replace quite a few of these actuators, it's not an easy job.

[2002stagea111]

Did you have a search for the other threads yet? I suspect yours is a metallic clunking noise right? I would be getting on to it quickly, before the actuator gets damaged. I have had to replace quite a few of these actuators, it's not an easy job.

It will be the cam actuator assembly hitting the end of it's travel, not necessarily the spring. Do you know what grade of oil your mechanic was using? I usually try a thicker oil before swapping parts, as the camshafts need the correct grade to work properly, they could also need a re-learn.

$500 for the parts sounds cheap if they are new, the job may be quoted much higher if you include labor, it's quite a job to replace, especially if he wants to drop the engine.

is that what i should be reading sorry mate i really dont know what im talking about i really do appreciate your help tho godamn this terrifys me i havent got 5k to spend on a rebuild

[2002stagea111]

would changing the oil back instead of 0w40 to 10w40 make it better or is it just going to break eventually anyways., whats the worst it could cost to fix ? i need to find a mechanic locally whos done this before

[scotty nm35]

If it's banging the end of it's travel it may already have snapped, if not the oil grade may fix it, I always suggest trying a thicker oil before disassembling the engine.

The Consult 3 unit allows the cam timing to be re-learnt, but it won't repair the assembly if it is damaged obviously. Oil viscosity is critical to cam actuation which is why they don't operate until the engine is up to operating temp. That's why the engine feels so lethargic at warmup.

If you pull the blue plugs on the front one at a time you can find if it's one side or the other. You may be able to see if there is anything broken by just dropping the front cam actuator cover and having a look. Did you see the assembly in operation in that thread?

[2002stagea111]

thank you so much. i actually did not find the assembly in operation still learning whats where haha., friday i have got a full service booked in., fresh oil 10w40 hopefully does it wonders, if not and the grindings still there il go ahead to identify which side it is thats making the problem than have a look to see whats going on under cam actuator cover., that explains everything because it doesnt make that noise on a cold start only once up to operating temp., fingers crossed the oil makes it better ., 1 last question mate would you trust your local mechanic to try fix it or is this a critical fix once again thatnks for your help your a legend mate

[scotty nm35]

A local mechanic should be able to replace the assembly, but he would likely have to pull the engine out, or at least the front off the car and motor to access the chain assembly. I do it from the keyhole in the front, but I wouldn't recommend it for someone who hasn't been inside a VQ before.

Here is the assembly in operation, click on the pic to see the GIF.

Some light reading, there are many more if you search. http://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/340012-clickingrattling-noise-when-engine-rev/page-3

[2002stagea111]

Scotty your a legend mate ., well got rid of the old oil which was 0w40 fully synthetic turned out to be absolute crap was the consistancy of gas when drained .. mechanic put fresh 10w40 in and that has done wonders, it appears as tho nothing is actually broken maybe slighty shaken doesnt appear damaged due to the crap oil put in previously but the rattle at 2000rpm has gone! i was grinning ear to ear, car is alot more responsive power is constant no stutters or nothing ., appears it just needed a good service new oil of correct grade fingers crossed for no more problems il keep posted thanks everyone for your help