i just noticed this about a week ago. whenever i make a sharp right turn in my 92 and i have to hit the gas moderately hard to get into traffic, theres a clunking noise from the front right wheel well and i can feel the vibration of it on the pedals, steering wheel, and seat.

its recent, and the only thing i can think of is when i took all the rust and dents out of the car earlier this month i had to rip off all of the fenders because rust crept under them and the fenders themselves had rust allover. the front right wheelwell, the one making the clunking, had stripped screws on the fender so i had to remove the wheel for a few hours (with the car jacked up of course), drill out the screws, take care of the rust, then put it back on with no trouble but now the clunking is starting

any idea whats making the clunking?

 

This may not have anythingto do with the body work. You may have actually pulled the CV shaft slightly out of the transmission when you jacked it up to do the work. You probably turned the wheel to make the repairs. You'll have to take the wheel off and remove the spindle nut and see if the CV axle will go in any further. You shouldn't get a vibration from body work unless the tire is hitting it. Hope this helps.

 

Well it's certainly not the fender work

The first thing you want to do is physically check the balljoint, strut mount bolts, axle nut, knuckle to strut bolts, etc. - did you check all these?

If none of those are loose then I'd say your control arm bushing is probably the culprit as that side usually goes bad due to power steering fluid leaking on it over the years

 

i'll give those a try, i did have to turn the wheels to do the repairs to get the drill straight to drill out the screw

 

+1 to the power steering leaking on the control arm bushing...I think alot of us have been there and done that.

Not exactly a fun repair.

 

i couldnt see anything physically but i went to a repair place and the earliest appt. is tuesday morning. ive got someone else coming over tomorrow to take a look too

my last oil change was early June and they said that there were only very minor leaks but otherwise everything is good, could it be the power steering really?

also is it driveable until tuesday if i make wide turns so the clunking doesnt happen and i only drive it a few KM a day?

 

i hear clunking in the back right. i think its my kyb shock cartridge, mite be bad.

 

my bet is on the CA bushing or something loose on the strut/bad strut bearing ring.

 

i'm hoping its just a small physical problem, i have money and everything to fix it but i just feel bad for the car

i had the struts replaced in January 2008 though, could it be them still?

 

Clunking when you hit the gas is usually a CV joint or strut problem.

control arm bushings, tie rod ends, and ball joints are all a maybe too. (nothing is out of the question on a ~20 yr old car).

Also this is dumb, but check the torque on your lug nuts. I've had some clunking and creaking on one wheel before and found it to be lugnuts torqued to only about 20-30 ft lb. why they were loose, I dunno.. but they were.. tightened them up and voila.

 

i'll go give them a tighten and see if that helps

is it that bad if i drive it as long as i dont turn hard enough to cause clunking?

 

i cracked open the lug cover, and all 5 lug nuts were able to move a little bit. i took it for a test run and took sharp right turns and i couldnt hear loud clunking, its heavy traffic still so there may be a quiet noise so later on i'll give it another spin and see if theres noise

 

after, i took it for a spin and took sharp fast turns on the corner where it always clunked loud. i could faintly hear the clunk. I went back, popped the cover again, went ape on the lug nuts and they moved a bit more. took the sharp turn literally about 25 times and it seems like its gone, i'll check again tomorrow

is it worth still going to the repair place if the clunking noise is gone?

 

What do you mean the nuts "were able to move a little bit"?

Do you mean they were able to move a little bit by hand (i.e., obviously loose), or do you mean with your lug wrench and attempting to tighten them that you were able to tighten them up a little bit?

If it's the latter, then that's probably normal...

And dude we can't really tell you what to do, as it's quite hard to diagnose these things over the internet. If the clunking is gone, then you should be fine if you actually did PHYSICALLY check everything is tight, then nothing can really fall off. Of course, that's a generality.

For what it's worth, the clunking I had on my new Maxima was in the strut (or the strut mount itself), although that was clunking over bumps and not only when turning or whatever.

 

yes just to get it diagnosed....also check to see if ur lug nuts or studs thread is in good condition...if its not they will come lose with time and wouldn't hold...

 

yep it was with a wrench, i guess i'll still go get it checked to be on the safe side

EDIT- She's still clunking gonna have to take her in

 

I second that it could be a dying drive axle. Check the boots if they are torn or cracked and the clayish grease is starting to come out. Mine vibrated BADLY near the end before it felt like it was going to split in two, and I always felt the vibration directly through the gas pedal.

I'll also add that you should buy yourself a 1/2" Drive torque wrench to do the wheel nuts, as well as some anti-seize (72 ft-lbs). As well, did you ever touch your wheel bearing lock nut (axle nut)?

 

1992-VG30E-GXE got it, i took a better look and the wheel boot is gone on the side thats clunking

 

That's a clue that it could be that side drive axle slowly dying. Mine vibrated for a year but then got INSANE through the gas pedal. It would jiggle on every little crack in the road.

I did go for about a yr though with it vibrating.

If you stick the finger in and the grease feels very clayish almost thin, kind of watery, it means it probably got attacked by water, slush, and road salt and the damage is likely done and eventual failure.

But whatever you do I suggest you buy a BRAND NEW axle, i've heard of guys buying refurbs and the vibration was still there. EMPI makes good ones for the maxima that are cheap OEM price.

 

the guy i had with me has worked on cars for over 60 years and he said that no damage has been done, i try not to drive my 3rd gen in the rain and i'll drive on the other side of the road before i hit a puddle and it hasnt rained since the clunking occured so i'm hoping no damage is done

thanks for the help everyone, glad i finally found out what has been causing this dam clunking noise.

 

axle is toast, good news is i get the car back in a few hours and everything will be fixed at least. $480 with parts and labor and all at a small garage (big repair places arent my thing), ive got the money so no worries

thanks for the help everyone, glad we sniped out what caused the clunking

 

Hopefully he replaced the tranny oil seal.

 

If the axle is already clunking, then it's dead. too late for it- the damage is already done.

$480 for that job is INSANE. Labor should have been 1 hr ($60-100), and the parts shold have been about $75 for a reman axle or 150 or so for a new aftermarket one. new OEM axles are in the $300-400 range.... so for $480, I sincerely hope you got at least a new OEM axle and hopefully a reacharound as well.

 

Isn't it hilarious what mechanics get away with these days. I'm telling you guys, all shops try to squeeze a minimum of $500.00 - $900.00 per visit regardless of what you are doing. That's how it is around here at least.

 

yep, theyre doing the whole deal.

I know i probably overpaid a bit but these guys do a crazy good job

 

it's not exactly a hard job to do tho... no real heavy lifting or high-precision stuff, as long as you get the axle seal in alright. you could have done it yourself in 2 hours depending how rusty stuff is under there. are they putting in all new tranny fluid at least?

 

First time I had an axle seal go bad after I bought the car, I was afraid to work on it. Took it to a shop and paid $120 to change that seal. It took them 15 minutes.

 

somehow it's hard to imagine you being afraid to work on a car i'm assuming this was on the gxe tho cuz i saw a writeup you did of an axle replacement on the GXE at some point.

 

I had a similar noise in my left wheel well, and I already needed to replace the control arms and when I did the noise was gone.

 

$500-$900? isnt too much to accuse lol?

we usually change axles and it doesn't cost over mostly $300 of wat i see...unless its a super rare car...3rd gen maxima axles cost 120 with core and around MAXIMUM 100 labor thats it

 

That's life in Toronto. Many shops have a mark up of 300% on online pricing, just on the parts. Maybe in BC they are a little more laid back - but here it's a feeding frenzy.

 

This is priceless and has to be in stickies .

 

I must have had a issue long before the clunking, early this year when i went over 90km/h the car would shake really bad, i thought it was the road or my max just being a old car. I always drive with one hand and if i went over 90 i was worried my max would fall apart driving with two hands.

Today, i went 140 on a highway and it was like being on a cloud, so something was up