Hey everyone, this is my first time posting. I usually do more reading and learning on this forum but i could use some knowledge. I have a 04 base with 110k. When I am driving normal everything seems fine. But when I mash the pedal and ride her hard I hear a pretty loud and fast ticking, only at high rpm. it seems to be coming from back of motor possibly underneath. also at high rpms I have a good sized cloud of smoke. not sure of tint but it seems dark and a slight burnt smell. I parked the car and neutral reved and those symptoms were gone. any help narrowing this down for me would be greatly appreciated. if more info is needed just let me know if will help. thank you

 

You might want to alter your driving style and quit "mashing" it until you determine if you have a problem. Have you checked you oil and your coolant levels? The smoke would seem to indicate you are burning oil or leaking coolant into the combustion chambers. If the smoke is black, you could be running way too rich.

 

Hmmm well I know the vq is a smelly engine but it shouldn't smoke at all. Sounds like could be something internal or a oil leak. Our engine is pretty loud for example when I go above 4k rpm it's a nice v6 sound.

Can you scan your ecu to see if any codes are pending? If it's not rpm dependent than I really don't know. I would think it would happen as well if you were in neutral. Do you think it could be your clutch?

Any way you can take a video of the ticking sound?

 

KC beat me to it.

I was editing the title of the thread.

 

I dont "mash" it all the time haha. it just happened today. I usually take it pretty easy in that car. the ticking ive heard before but never noticed the smoke until today. oil and coolant levels are good. and I dont have coolant in the oil. I can get a scan on it tomorrow but as of now, no check engine light. the whole, not doing it in neutral, is whats throwing me off! in neutral she still sounds healthy. I was thinking maybe clutch but wasnt sure if that was a legitimate answer. thank you for fixing the title smoothz. and all "mashing" has stopped until further notice haha. thanks again guys

 

Edit: Sorry, just re-read your description about parking the car, revving in neutral with the ticking noise. Sounds drive train related...


Just don't mash the gas like this :P

 

Haha, I definitely dont do that!! I have been researching this as much as possible and still haven't come up with anything. Im thinking the smoking problem might be air/ fuel problem, not sure. the ticking/rattle noise, I don't know where to start. it is only at WOT and at the higher rpm. the noise is at a relatively high rate and gets faster with higher rpm. the sound starts at around 4500-5000 rpm I believe. also coming from possibly rear engine/under car. again, any suggestions on what to check out first or how serious this might be, would be greatly appreciated.

 

Also, check your oil, and run the engine with the oil cap off for a bit. Listen and look if smoke is coming out of the oil filler hole. Does the ticking noise come from the heads? Maybe valve train related? Videos would help.

 

Oil is good. I will run it like you said and get back to you on that. I will also try to capture the sound in video after work. I was messing with my car during my lunch to try to narrow it down. In neutral, no matter what I do I cant replicate the sound or the smoke. tried cold and operating temp. I have a faint ticking from the valve train at idle, but I understand thats perfectly normal due to the noisy vq35? its hard to explain the noise so I will do my best on the video. its louder than a tick, like a fast rattle/grind if that makes sense haha.

 

Ok guys, this I what I got. I pulled off oil cap and ran for a while, no smoke at all. I tried to get the sound on video and no luck, the sound is still there just not loud enough for my phone to pick up while driving. I narrowed it down to just being first and second gear. WOT just over 5k rpm it makes that clicking/rattle noise(loud). second gear WOT it still makes that sound but really faint, hardly even noticeable. Did a ECU reset while at work, smoke is gone. I believe it was also build up from all the easy driving its had lately, thoughts? Im still lost on the click though so if this sparks any ideas just let me know. if not, thank you all for the help.