My car makes a low groan from the left rear whenever I take off from a start. It sounds like it groans for one wheel revolution and then it goes away. I thought the brake caliper might be sticking. Then I noticed that it will groan constantly at low speeds...sometimes. It's not consistent when it groans once, or keeps groaning.

How can I tell if it's the bearing or a sticking caliper?

 

I hear this noise every so often. It's been happening ever since I bought my 95 SE. It usually happens when it is cold outside and I drive it for the first time that day. I took it to the dealer and they never found anything. I have 142K miles, and haven't had any rear wheel problems. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

 

Try pumping the brakes a few times to see if the sound will go away...or better yet, have a friend peek into the wheel well and take a peak if you can see your brakes

 

Just out of curiosity, when is the last time you changed your rear pads? If never, I'd say both your pads are thinning and your caliper is sticking a little (from personal experience)

 

There are 60,000 miles on the rear pads.

 

To check rear brakes: Jack up the back end with parking brake off. Try to spin each wheel. They should spin without a whole lot of effort. If one is harder than the other, the hard wheel is affected (sticking). Sometimes just a disassembly, relube, and re-assembly will take care of this.
To check rear bearings: With rear wheel in air, grab the top and bottom of the tire and try to pull/push the top and bottom to check for movement. Also try to push and pull entire tire in/out. There should be no play or slop.
Listen very closely to the wheel area while doing these. You may hear something and find something else making the noise, like a dust shield rubbing, a stuck rock, etc... (You'll probably hear the rear brakes making a slight scraping noise while spinning; this is normal as long as it is not excessive and the wheel spins freely.)

Dave

 

mine use to do that...that grone sound,

i got rid off it when i changed my rotors and pads.

 

Requires disassembly, but when I had the very same question, I took the caliper off and tried to turn it in. I couldn't and it was the caliper. Mine was also getting real hot, so I kinda figured it was the caliper.

 

You'll know if its a sticking caliper if the wheel is hot to the touch.

Worn bearing will make noise.

 

We had just picked up my car over the weekend from getting the front brakes done and knock sensor replaced. I was driving through the neighborhood when I noticed a strange metallic grind sort of noise that came and went with the rotation of the wheels. I only noticed it on left hand turns, it seemed to be coming from the right rear, and when I parked the car I went back and felt the left and right rear wheels and the right one was definitely hotter than the left. D'oh!!!

So we took the car back out to our guy and sure enough, the rear brake pads were gone too. The noise was metal-to-metal contact of the pad on the rotor. A little while longer and it would have started eating into the rotor. So we went and got a set of pads for the rear and were all done in like an hour.

 

Rear brake groan: Nissan Technical Bulletin

NTB99031

If a 1995 to 1999 Maxima vehicle exhibits a groan or humming noise from
the rear of the vehicle after releasing the brake pedal and moving forward slowly at approximately 5 mph (8 kph), use the procedures in this bulletin to repair it. The incidentmay be intermittent and may be duplicated by releasing the brake pedal while the vehicle is stopped and then moving forward at approximately 5 mph (8 kph). This incident can be caused by a slight tension on the parking brake cable resulting in the brake pads not withdrawing completely from the surface of the rotors after release of the brake pedal. This contact results in a low frequency groan or humming noise

You can link to the above information at:
http://www.nissan-techinfo.com/nissa...9.asp?mscssid=

Now, curious if anyone has access to this TSB? If so, can they post for the group. Would be interested in seeing what the factory recommends.

 

I have the same problem. Showed up a few weeks ago but I've had so many other little things to fix I have just ignored it. Slight groan from the right or left(I believe) rear wheel. Most noticeable after the car has sat for a while and only does when car first starts to move.

 

De Ja Vu - I just posted this in another thread.

I first read about this problem in a magazine while waiting for my alternator to be replaced as a result of the recall.

The article (and the service tech upon querying him about it) said that there is a kit to replace the rear portion of the cable with a longer one if my memory serves me right. He said that, if you could change your brakes, you should be able to do it yourself... I do remember that part.

Asking a parts guy about it should result in the part number at the least.