Car making a "clickety clickety" sound

[whattaguy]

he sound is more pronounced in between shifting when i put in the clutch and the engine freely spins. The sound is almost like a card in the spokes of a bicycle.

One guy (CarX) says that it's my tranny, and says I should go see the guy who changed my clutch, master cylinder, and welded the clutch bracket w/out changing the slave cylinder or resurfacing the plates.

So, I went to the other guy, and he said that it was not my clutch, but said it was my cat converter, but that he would have to charge me 4 hours of labor to open the engine up to see what was really going on. He said it was my exhaust rattling.

I walked out. I'm thinking of just going to the dealer to find out what's up. Any clues or guesses on what's going on?

Thanks

Btw, I drive a 2005 V6 Altima

 

[madeuce]

How much engine do you need to open up to find where an exhaust is rattling?

 

[Pulsar]

How much engine do you need to open up to find where an exhaust is rattling?

When you said clickety clickety, I immediately thought valve train. Does this only happen when the car is in motion? Need more info!

Cats are a ceramice subtrate coated with precious metals. There is a foam layer on the outside of the ceramic, then the metal shell around that. Many times the ceramic is broken and can rattle.

It should be easy to have someone rev the car and determine where the noise is coming from. That will help.

 

[angry hampster]

Could be a throwout bearing or retaining springs/clips.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Shut Off your darn turn signal! You've been driving with it blinking for miles!


Sorry, don't have a clue. But, clickety click reminded me of turn signals.

 

[whattaguy]

When you said clickety clickety, I immediately thought valve train. Does this only happen when the car is in motion? Need more info!

Cats are a ceramice subtrate coated with precious metals. There is a foam layer on the outside of the ceramic, then the metal shell around that. Many times the ceramic is broken and can rattle.

It should be easy to have someone rev the car and determine where the noise is coming from. That will help.

Funny thing...the car almost never makes the sound with just reving the engine. It mostly makes the sound when the gas pedal is depressed while in gear. When it's bad, it will click even while I accelerate. It's usually the worse when the car has cooled down, and in cooler weather.

 

[Painman]

Could be a throwout bearing or retaining springs/clips.

This is what I was thinking, since the sound is more pronounced when you throw out the clutch.

Maybe the guy who "changed my clutch, master cylinder, and welded the clutch bracket w/out changing the slave cylinder or resurfacing the plates" neglected to swap that out. Once you have the car opened up that far, EVERYTHING should be swapped out. Clutch jobs are 90% labor.

 

[whattaguy]

This is what I was thinking, since the sound is more pronounced when you throw out the clutch.

Maybe the guy who "changed my clutch, master cylinder, and welded the clutch bracket w/out changing the slave cylinder or resurfacing the plates" neglected to swap that out. Once you have the car opened up that far, EVERYTHING should be swapped out. Clutch jobs are 90% labor.

Thanks...that's what the guys at CarX said. I'll probably take it to the dealer because there's a chance that it'll be covered by the extended warranty (if it is the catalytic converter).

 

[whattaguy]

So...I took it to the dealer, and they found out that I had absolutely no oil left. It was completely dry. I have an '05 Nissan Altima V6, with about 90k miles on it. The engine showed absolutely no signs of damage in the past. I cannot see how my car can be eating that much oil. It's been about 5000 miles since my last oil change (I switched to Mobil 1 synthetic about 30k miles ago), and not once has my engine burned oil like that in the past. I suspect that the last place that changed my oil "forgot" to put oil back in after they drained it. However, I have nothing to "prove" their guilt at the moment.

I guess using synthetics saved my car, since it bonded to my engine parts and lasted that long. Thankfully everything's ok now.