Gary95

Car: 95 Maxima SE 5spd

Problem: When I accelerate in the lower gears, a sound starts occuring as the engine revs above 2k. No effect on performance or smoothness. But this "whirr" like sound suggests something might be wearing out (I am at 130k afterall). It started out very, very faintly a few months ago, and now it is definitely noticeable.

Before going to an auto shop clueless, I'd like to be armed with an understanding of what might be wrong. Any suggestions? I can't search the database right now as it is disabled. Thanks for any help!

~Gary

Maxima95Tuner

Thats nearly the same thing that's happenning to mine. I have a 95 se auto with 128k on it. Just like yours, mine started small in lower gears, and is now getting worse. Im very interested in seeing what people have to say about it.

CaLSoNiC

differential bearings...

Gary95

Hmmmm... that seems odd. Because if I slip out of gear while moving at any speed, I don't hear the sound at all. It's only when revving the engine (I can hear it while sitting still if I rev up to 2k). In this case, how could it still be the differential?

Jason R

iTrader: (39)

if its not in gear and you rev it up the differential does nothing. Thats why you only here the noise while its in gear. Differential Bearings are definitely going bad.

dave harms

I would really look into your 'idler pulley'.
I had a growing sound, first noticable when driving through drivethroughs. Initally people asked me if I had a turbo!!
Anyhoo, it got louder and louder, in the end it sounded like valve tapping.
Replace it, and I hear nothing. VERY easy to do.
Stick you head under the hood and listen... close the belt. If it's loud at that end, then I'd look into that.

good luck.
dave

Gary95

I gave a bad example. The only thing I should have stated is that when I'm sitting idle, and rev the engine, I hear can hear the noise at 2k and above. In that case, I'd find it strange for the differential to be the cause.

Gary95

Hey Dave,
Now that sounds more plausible to me. Your description sounds very similar to the symptoms I'm having. Thanks very much for the info! When you suggest checking the idler pulley, what exactly do you mean by "close the belt"?
Thanks,
~Gary

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Check your belts, If there frayed, they could be producing the sound.

Have somebody rev the car while your poking around under the hood. You should be able to pin point whats causing it.

Miasma

i get a whirr when my ac is on

dave harms

Gary,

There is one belt (passenger side) that wraps around a few pulleys.
The idler pulley is about 4inch in diameter. It is near the midle of the pulleys. It may be hard to isolate the sound by ear, but if the sound comes from that area under the hood, then ask a mechanics opinion. I brought mine in to get their opinion, they recognised the sound in about 5 seconds. I replaced it, and it's great. The bearings will go over time, that's what makes the noise.

Let me know if you need more info, I could take a picture or something.

dave h.

Maxima95Tuner

Hahaha dave people have been asking me if I have a turbo recently. I love it, because I whoop up on honda civics when Im stock and they think I have a turbo.

Gary95

Dave, thanks loads. I think I recognize what you're talking about. I haven't had any belts changed for about 40k, so I'm a little overdue I imagine--could probably get both things taken care of at once. Did you replace the idler pulley yourself or did you have it done for you? Thanks again!

Jason R

iTrader: (39)

oh ok. I must have mis-read your previous post.

infinitiman96

Check your belts and you altenator

nismology

iTrader: (8)

That might not be a good thing. Now they think that a Max needs a turbo to be faster than them.

Maxima95Tuner

lol... true

jmax

Could just be that the belts are loose, there is a power steering belt as well. After time and heat they stretch and become more brittle. Could also be the pulley, but check belt tension before buying a $50 pulley.

perfectmax

iTrader: (1)

Dont fret, its just your transmission. That just happened to me. It only costed me $1200 bucks.

J/K, I really hope you have better luck than me

perfectmax

iTrader: (1)

Actually, after reading more into it, it does sound like itz something dealing with the belts. I had my idler pulley replaced cuz i thought that is was causing the sound, but it ended up being the A/C compressor.

jmax

I think the compressor clutch is louder, but mine hasn't gone yet. But there is a lot of junk all wrapped up in those belts.

coooter_13

I've been having this sound problem similar to what has been described here. It sounds pretty benign like it is a pulley that is starting to wear, but here's the deal... It gets louder and higher pitched with the engine rev, the lights don't dim etc.. (not alternator problem)... and when the A/C is turned on... a separate noise comes from that area which sounds like a wobbling pulley. (sort of the sound of a disel motor). The whistling sound while rev'ing sounds like a turbocharger. I'm almost 99.9% certain that there is no turbo on my car... but magical turbo elves might have installed one without me seeing.

Has anyone else had these sorts of sounds? What did you do to fix them?

On a separate note: TB cleaning definitely helps!

bb0ys

My transmission is loud as hell in 1st and no other gears. Just a loud whine. I don't worry about it at all. It's normal.

s0ber

iTrader: (7)

i had the same noise i thought it was kinda cool, everyone thought i had a turbo as well.. When i changed my timing chain tensionor and steering pump it went away..

ajr07

I have the same noise in my 95 max with 150K. Seemed to come on quick but has not become louder even after another 1,500 miles. Mechanic thinks it may be the alternator but says since it has not gotten worse, then just leave it alone! Thinking about bringing it to another shop. I am interested in what other people had diagnosed and/or replaced. If it is an idler pulley it looks pretty complicated to fix myself.

Cumalot

iTrader: (8)

Me too! I have no idea what's causing it though.

jmax

If it's just with the AC it's the AC compressor or compressor clutch.

MoogieBoogie

I have that noise too.

When my friend changed out my accessory belt for me, he noticed that the pulley wasn't aligned correctly, prematurely wearing out the belt. I thought the whistling sound was normal.. it doesn't get any louder and isn't disturbing. The diesel noise is pretty annoying. Is there a write-up on how to change out the pulley? Seems to be a somewhat common problem?

Thanks,
-Brian.

tszymans

I had the same noise as all of you, but it was mainly audible while at an idle. I figured same as you guys that it was just a belt or something. But low and behold all of the sudden everything just started struggling for power. It was my alternator. The sound acted up and got louder and louder for a good week or so but it didn't show any signs of the alternator starting to go. But now the car won't start it attempts to turn over but just starts clickin. So be sure to really check ur alternator, I have heard of people having their alternator checked for power and it gives the proper output, but it still isn't charging the bat right. Just something to look into. Note my problem was mainly noticeable at the low RPMS (idle and slightly above) after that I'm not sure if it dissapeared or just wasn't audible.

jmax

Pulley is pretty simple. Loosen the nut that keeps the pulley on tight. That allows the tensioner to slide up and down. Then raise the tensioner off of the belt and remove alternator / compressor belt. Then go ahead and remove the pulley nut the rest of the way so that you can get to the 3 or 4 bolts holding the tensioner on. Once those 3 - 4 bolts are removed the tesnioner is off. Reverse the procedure to replace with a new pulley.

Gary95

I wonder how often this idle pulley wears out, or typically at what mileage. When Nissan was diagnosing my problem, they removed the belts and the "turbo" sound was still there when revving. So that immediately eliminated the alternator and the pulley as being the culprit.

It's now narrowed down to either the water pump or some bearing inside the engine. Well, I figured with 132k, might as well change out the water pump and see if that eliminates it. And might as well install that timing chain tensioner kit while I'm at it. I hope it's the water pump!

jmax

The amount of time it takes to wear out the pulley depends on how much tension it is under. I have a high amp alternator and my belts need to be pretty tight to prevent squeal. I might go 50k miles between tensioner replacements. The design of the tensioner is too simple for the tiny space it needs to fit. Nissan recommends tightening it with a torque wrench. But I can't find a torque wrench that will fit in the crevise.

Gary95

jmax, you'd mentioned before about the power steering pump. Well, I had a different Nissan dealer examine the problem and the head mechanic said the sound appeared more likely to be the power steering pump than the water pump. The power steering fluid happens to be very dirty, so they're going to do a full service on it. Is the belt that drives the power steering pump different from the one which drives the alternator? If so... well, this could be it--fingers crossed!

jmax

It's a different belt but they both come off of the crank pulley. It's a royal pain to adjust the tensioner for the power steering pulley. Luckilly it seems to go a long time before needing replacement. But you really don't want the power steering to be bad. That is likely expensive. I've never priced any of the parts. But I was told once that cars with variable assist are really hard to control without the power steering hooked up.

Gary95

Hmmm... then I'll bet that this isn't the problem. If the PS belt has to come off when you remove the main belt, then it couldn't be the source. Sh*t. This Nissan service center seems to think if the PS fluid is replaced it may resolve the problem (the pump isn't getting proper lubrication with dirty fluid)--they're convinced it isn't the water pump (contrary to the other Nissan service center). Either way, I'm getting it up the a$$. That's what these places seem to live for--milking $$ out of customers. The "60 minutes" TV series conducted a detailed study and found most of them are dishonest anyway.

jmax

Oh no, no. Let me say that one more time to be sure, no. The power steering belt doesn't need to come off to get the alt belt off. The other way around. The power steering belt is on the smaller crank pulley, closer to the engine. In other words the alt and A/C belt is the outer belt. I think the PS belt only has 4 ribs instead of 6 like the alt & A/C belt.

jmax

It won't hurt anything to replace the fluid. If it fixes the problem then it should save you some money.

Gary95

Well, the shop just called me up to say that the car is ready. They performed a "power steering service", and charged me a whopping $96 for it. But they said the sound is gone. I'll have to see that for myself.

Meanwhile, the Express Lube folks hinted at replacing the PS fluid a few months back, for less than half that. Didn't look all that dirty to me. Should've listened...

95emeraldgxe

alternator........

Gary95

Well, my view of Nissan service centers has lifted a bit. At least Miller Nissan in Fairfield CT has some sharp mechanics there.

This problem which has plagued me for the last 4 months has finally been uncovered. So many things could have been the culprit: alternator, drive belt, idler pulley, water pump, timing chain, etc.

The one thing that everyone else kept missing was... the power steering pump. Turns out the other dealer where I had my car serviced neglected to change my power steering fluid. So it was really fried and dirty. That affected the power steering pump, causing it to produce a whining "turbo-like" noise.

Well, the full service steering fluid flush 'n refill reduced the noise by about 50%. Low enough that anyone unfamiliar with the car wouldn't even notice it. I'm told the pump is working fine and should go at least another 30k miles until the noise gets louder again. (Heck, they could've gouged me and said the pump needs to be replaced).

So, problem solved. Everything else is in tip-top shape. What a relief!!