all of a sudden this noise appeared around my timing chain side of the engine. Anyone know what it is?

Please go to http://eliterit.nismo.org and click on sounds and videos and the two links listed are the sounds.

eliterit I don't know if I am alone but for some reason I can't download the sound file.
Jack your car up and get real close to the oil pan and see if the noise is loud from the pan. If your noise resemlbles a rattle and is loud at the pan you may have the rod bearing failure problem.

FYI when my rod bearing went it sounded like it was coming from the timing chain side from the top of the engine.

Sounds like a bearing to me :(

damn that sounds awful. mine makes a very very very small sound like that, but i hope it is because of the high mileage/

jr

okay, i drove the car some more today hoping it would go away, and as i drove it, eventually it got quieter and late at night when i left my friends house i can't hear the noise at all anymore. Do bearing noises come and go?

my friend said that it maybe that a pulley is loose and it may need tightening. He said this because i told him that when this noise first started i did hear a belt squeel for a little moment.

any thoughts?

Nah, If you spun a bearing, the tapping noise gets louder and louder as you drive the car more. Taps to the point of the rod starting to knock.

That sounds similar to what my car sounds like, but not quite as loud I dont think, noisy lifters I assume. Haven't looked at it yet though.

okay, well, today as i was driving home, the noise came back and when i came to a stop sign the car squeeled its belt and the car died along with a puff a smoke. I start the car back up and the Brake and Battery light are on. So from reading other threads about the batt and brake light, i'm assuming its the dreaded alternator. i had to drive home all the way with these lights on and made it home. I guess i'll have to start looking for alternators now, can anyone point me in agoodplace?

hopes everything works out, keep us updated.

I have a question for you guys??? The other night my car started making this tapping noise and as I stepped on the gas it got louder... So lastnight was the first time since Sunday I got to look at it Mark and Tom came over to check it out too.. We started the car up and for a minute it was a faint tapping noise, then all of the sudden it got very loud.. It seemed like something was smacking the top of the valve cover very hard.. So it went from a lifter we thought to maybe a Rocker arm... Tom thought maybe it was off or broken.. We took the valve cover off and everything seemed to be okay.. So I dont know if we over looked something or if its a spun bearing???:( The car is a 97 with 31k on the motor.. I just installed a T-28.. Hopefully tonight we can figure out the problem.. I just figured someone would have some good suggestions on what to check or do.. I want to think positive and that is not a spun bearing...

Ok here's my theory on it. My car used to make this nasty noise. Everyone thought that it was something VERY serious. Well come to find out my alternator pivot bolt fell out. I replaced it but by for some reason the alternator kept making that noise. I thought the bearings in it were going out. Yanked it out and took it to a place and had them test it. They looked at me like I was stupid.. lol Put it back in and tightened it down. No noise for a while.. Then all of a sudden it started again. So I was thinking that it was something in my VC.

Well my brother had this screwy idea. He said take your antenna off, and use it as a stethescope (sp?) Well I did I placed one end on the alternator and the other to my ear. While the car was running, and watch out for moving parts! I could distinctively make out that the noise was coming from the alternator.

So I bought a used alternator from Andreas Miko. Did the whole process of taking out the old one again. Come to find out the bottom holes (the one's that the pivot bolt go through) had somehow become oblonged. So that's where the rattling noise came from. I have no idea how it happened. But I replaced it and haven't heard a noise from it since. So maybe that could be your problem. I couldn't DL the noise but it from the way you describe it, it's worth checking. Good luck.

Sounds like what my alternator sounded like....It didn't cost too much to get fixed. Don't drive too much or you'll end up stalling out like I did.....

well, i got the alternator out already and wanted to ask u guys a question to make sure it is the alternator, If i remember correctly when i got a hold of a new alternator for my 76 B210 i think i remember that i could turn the pulley on it freely. Now the alternator i took out of my se-r, the pulley doesnt budge at all. I'm assuming this makes it a bad alternator, right? oh and the belt must have busted because it wasnt on the pulley assembly.

sounds like lifter noise. hears a trick i learned at work. us a long screw driver and point it wear you think is coming put your ear on the other end and you will be able to pinpoint the noise a little better;)

Yes the alternator should spin freely.
The alternator bearings seized (sp?) up in it and smoked (literally) the belt. Get a new nissan alternator and belt and have fun again.

Trust me on the nissan alternator.
Later
Rick

well tomorrow i'm getting a remanufactured alternator from pepboys for 90 bucks at cost, because a friend of mine works there. It sounds pretty cheap compared to the costs i hear of other people on this board paying.

thanks for all the help you guys have given me, oh and would it be better to go with a nissan belt rather than the one from pep-boys?? Sorry, i can't afford the cost of a nissan alternator right now.

Originally posted by Matt4Nissan
Ok here's my theory on it. My car used to make this nasty noise. Everyone thought that it was something VERY serious. Well come to find out my alternator pivot bolt fell out.

What size bolt is that? (6 mm?)
Mine broke and my car died on me... gotta fix it tomorrow...

it has a 6 on top of the bolt and i even compared it to a 6mm socket and is the same size. as far as the length of the bolt goes i dont have measurements but i did take a pic of it on my keyboard keys so u can get a good guess at it.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid33/p2dfc7cee334a384bc1961f6bedcd14d5/fd3aa166.jpg

damn my keyboard is dirty

Mine doesnt look like that, its threaded the whole way... but anyway it looks to be 6mm...
How hard is it to take out the alternator? I'm doing it tomorrow and i want to know if there is anything major to remove... I have acess to a FSM and i have a HAynes, but I'd like some pointers from someone whos done it already.

Ok well I assume you already bought the alternator. I don't know if this is your only transportation or not, but you could have gotten a Nissan unit from Andreas Miko for $75 shipped. They're used but mine looked BRAND NEW! He also said that they're the better version of the alternator.

Now on the removal process. I have hotshot headers so it was easy to get my arm down there. I just moved a few things around and got it right out. I wouldn't know where to begin with a OEM header. As far as the bolt goes. It's like $16 from Nissan, and if I were you I would ONLY put a Nissan bolt in there. The bolt that was in there broke because it was not intended for use like that.