We had a wierd episode with our '96 Maxima last week. When we started the engine, a loud banging sound came from the engine. Immediately shut it off for fear of doing damage.
Made an appointment with our mechanic and had it towed.
Mechanic starts up the engine. Noise is there for about 5 seconds and goes away.
Been driving the car since and all seems normal.
The car has 102K miles. Oil changed regularly using Mobil One 5-30.
Anybody ever experienced a similar situation?
Doug B
Good description. That's sounds like the same thing to me.
Usually the noise is due to a worn timing chain tensioner that loses pressure and allows the timing chain to slacken a bit over night. Then when you start the car up the valvetrain is noisy until the tensioner gets pumped up with oil. This is a common problem with 95-96 Maximas. I just replaced mine a couple of weekends ago. You say yours has been doing it since new?
Pretty much, but very rarely.
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