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Recently I've been hearing a whining noise from the engine bay. After checking, it seems to come from the valve cover. I've checked the motor oil; level seems ok although the oil is black but not smelly. There´s no white foam in the oil either. It is about a year ago (c:a 13000 kilometers) since I changed oil and oil-filter. The car is a Nissan Primera P11 hatchback with CVT automatic gearbox. The whining noise is there all the time, already at idle revs.

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  • since it seems you have found the source of the sound could you post it as answer and award the correct answer to yourself in order to have this question answered? It's good for the site and provides future users with assistance should they encounter the same issue. thanks! :) Dec 17, 2015 at 5:18

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It sounds like your engine is oil starved due to how old/dirty your oil is (mileage). The first thing you need to do is get your engine flushed, then quickly followed by an oil change (with filter). 13000km (or ~8000 miles) is quite a bit to put on an oil change/filter. I would bet your owners manual probably says to change it every 5000km. Smaller engines cannot run as long as larger engines, mainly due to the fact they don't carry as much oil in them. I would bet, your engine probably holds about 4 liters of oil (4 quarts, whatever). Newer cars which allow their engines to run 8-10k miles between services have between 8-10 quarts of oil. Hopefully this will help your engine noises; hopefully the lack of engine service has not done your engine permanent damage, but chances are the damage is already done.

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  • Now that was quick, thank you very much, i´ll go on and change oil and oil-filter right away, and hopefully report back a positive result, meanwhile back to oilchange.
    – Learning
    Jan 11, 2014 at 17:44
  • I cannot tell you this is absolutely the issue, but it is a very good place to start. I hope it makes things better without any residual issues or noises. Jan 11, 2014 at 21:07
  • Hi again, it seems as if the sound is still there, having changed oil and oilfilter. I´m afraid i couldn´t get hold a proper product to flush the engine before oilchange, however thanks a lot for your effort. I guess i´ll just have to keep on investigating what is causing the issue.
    – Learning
    Jan 12, 2014 at 22:32
  • Did the sound change at all? Is the engine is the 2.0T or 1.6? Does the noise change pitch with the engine? Does it get louder as you rev it up? Does it seem to go up slower than what the engine is revving, then not come back down as fast when you let off the gas? Give us some more specificity as to what's going on and we can help you further diagnose. Jan 12, 2014 at 22:59
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    Ok, as it turns out, the "whining" noise, was actually caused by a leaking hose (ventilation from the valve cover), annoying and hard to find, one of my friends nailed it right away. Thanks a lot for your help after all.
    – Learning
    Jan 21, 2014 at 20:22
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Ok, as it turns out, the "whining" noise, was actually caused by a leaking hose (ventilation from the valve cover), annoying and hard to find, one of my friends nailed it right away. Thanks a lot for your help after all.

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