Piston slap or rod knock
2004 Nissan Xterra, vg333 v6 212,000 miles on the body but unknown miles on the engine. I picked up this Xterra with a missfire in cylinder 5 so I wasn't able to hear this.
I thought it just needed an oil change because of how dirty the oil was but now I'm thinking the last owner was running 15w40. It has 160 compression in all cylinders except 125 in one, I'm assuming cyl 5.
I stuck a borescope in and the lack of varnish makes me think this might be a lower mile engine, either that or they did a very effective flush recently.
I think it's a piston slap because it goes away with higher rpm and quiets a bit more when its warm, but I'd love some second opinions
P.s. the smoke is because I missed filling the oil and got a ton on the exhaust like a pro