Whoops i spelt squeaks wrong, oh well...

Yes i have minimal experience with braking systems. So i have a few questions for the maxima guru's. Please no bashing me!

1. Im hearing some squeaking from the drivers front wheel. I suspect its brake related, it almost sounds like a rubber squeak not a braking squeak. The squeak goes slower and softens when im at low speeds, then when i go faster it gets louder and sqeaks faster. The squeak is relitavly quiet and can not be heard unless you are driving under 30 MPH with the windows open.

2. How do i check my pads to make sure that there not all the way worn down? Without taking off the wheel! I dont have a jack besides the maxima jack and i dont have a breaker bar or anything to take off my wheels with. All i have is a wrench but thats never gona get the lugs off.

Any ideas on whats going on?

 

The wrench that came with the car should be sufficient to get the lugs off. If they are tight, try a little WD-40 on them an hour before hand. Use your weight to get them off (push down, don't pull up) and they should come off fine. In terms of checking the pad thickness, I suppose you could get an idea by looking at them with the wheel on (I assume you have the SE 5 star wheel) by simply lining the gap between spokes to the caliper and looking in. If you don;t have much experience with brakes though, you might not know the difference between moderately worn and worn out pads from that angle. What you did not mention is if the squeak is only when applying the brakes or all the time. If it is when you are applying the brakes then it is most likely a brake issue, if it is all the time then maybe not. The pads do contact the rotors at all times however so it still could be a brake issue. Generally the warnings on brake pads (the squeaking sound) only appear when you are braking, and should be present at all speeds. Brake jobs on Maximas are straight forward and relatively easy, though quite dirty jobs and can be done for a small amount of money if you shop right. Good luck.

 

The squeak is occuring all the time, it squeaks while accelerating and braking.

 

Also i have an idea on what new / worn pads look like, its just a matter of getting to see them. ill take your advice on the spoke thing, i looked here and got an idea on what im getting into. Also i totatly forgot about the included wrench, duh. Is it safe to use the jack with the car for a job like this? i assume so because its mainly for just removing the wheel..... Also when i use the jack raise it on the pinch weld most towards the wheel im working on? Right? Any other usefull advice is appreciated.

Well anyways that would be cool of some one got an idea on what the squeak would be.. My tire seems slightly flatter where the squeak is coming from, so ill goto the gas station and fix that later....

 

unless you recently filled your master check your fluid level. if you cant take a wheel off what are you gonna do if you get a flat?

 

I know how to take a wheel off, i forgot that nissan includes the wrench. I want to be extra safe because i may go under the car for other fixes that need to be done. So putting the jack in the best location is to my advantage. Im not going to get crushed by my car.

 

Yes the jack lines up with the pinch welds closest to the tire you are working on. The jack is pretty stable, keep the car in park and put the emergency brake on, so you have 3 locked wheels touching the ground. Do it on a nice level surface and you should be fine. Two pointers: First, slightly undo the lug nuts BEFORE your raise the car in the air, and if the wheel won't release from the hub (sometimes they rust to the thing and are a pain to release like my old Subaru) you can leave the lugs halfway on the bolts and drive the car slowly around the block. The weight and force of the car turning the corners should release the wheel from the hub. You will know when it happens as your car will then feel wobbly. Go slow. This most likely isn't going to be an issue, but since you live in Denver it is possible.

 

The fluid level exactly at the maximum. The brakes have not been serviced in a while regardless i will probably need new pads. But i dont think thats the problem as far as the squeak...

 

that has got to be the worst advice ive ever heard in my life. never in your life should you crawl under a car with just those piece of sh*t scissor jacks. get a jack stand for 20 bucks from kmart or even a cinder block. second if youre wheel is stuck just hit it in the back with a hammer if you dont have a hammer hold a brick in your hand and smack it, if you dont have a brick use the heavy end of your club, if you dont have a club face away from it and kick the sides with the bottom of your foot. last thing you need is your lug nuts to walk off on you and have your wheel roll off and your car slam down in front of your neighbors driveway.

 

i wasnt trying to say low levels would cause a squeek. im trying to tell you that if its low your pads could be low and causing a squeek. but if your oil change place tops off your fluids when you get it done youll never know.

 

Your pads are worn out. That squeaking you hear constantly comes from a small metal projection on the brake pad that is now contacting your rotor. All pads have these and they usually start making intermittant noise about a thousand miles or so before the noise becomes constant. If you don't have much experience with changing brake pads then just let a dealership or a local mechanic you trust do it for you. It's not difficult but does require some mechanical know-how along with some specific parts and details that need to be addressed that an otherwise inexperienced person can miss.

 

Really? You honestly and truly think that is the worst advice you have ever heard in your life? You need to get out more. For those of us who live in apartments, or in this case I assume his parents house, and don't have room to store jack stands in the bedroom, or are maybe a little light on funds and can't really afford to buy a new peice of equipment every time we have a minor car problem the standard jack works fine. Maybe I didn't understand just how much he wants to crawl under his car, that I don't recommend, however to remove the wheel, check the pads, and even replace them there is no reason to go under the car and the Nissan jack should work well enough for said purpose. Maybe you have never lived where the roads are salted six months out of the year and have never experienced the seizing I describe, but a hammer is not enough to get a seized wheel off. You will also notice I said for him to drive SLOW (I mean about 5 mph) and I assume that he will use the utmost of caution if this step is even necessary. The ways you discribe to remove a stuck wheel will most certainly require jack stands (or maybe a lift) since you will be applying lateral force and the Nissan jack is not designed to handle this type of abuse. In this case, dispite the dangers of a lost lug nut, or the nearly impossible loss of five nuts and the the wheel coming off, my way is considerably safer. Remember, you are talking to a kid of 17 (no offense kid) and not an experienced mechanic. Thanks for being reasonable.

 

If you loosen your wheels off before you raise the car then put the wheel under the car beside the jack you can get away with doing some work. In the long run get some stands much safer. As for pads I can only talk in metric sorry you can let your pads get down to about 3mm - 4mm till you get to the acutal backing plate of your pad. if the are like this its time to change them you also may need to machine or replace your rotors. I have just expierenced that my rear pads havea piece of metal that rubs on the rotor thats tells you its time to change the pads. The funny thing is there is about 8mm of pad left. Thank god im a fitter i feel sorry for the people that have little to no mechanical knowledge and how cars like these are a dealers or mechanics best friend cause they cost so much to fix. sorry im waffaling on. hope this helps

 

i live in new york so i know all about snow salt rust and corrosion. second of all a good 30oz hammer will take off any wheel as long as you dont swing it like a sissy girl. third jack stands arent special tools for certain endeavors theyre necessary for every job that requires the car to be raised. plus theyre cheap as dirt so theres no reason for anybpdy who wants to work on their car to own one. plus theyre the size of text books and can fit under your sink so storage isnt a problem for any size home or apartment.

 

None of my lugs were rusted on, and i dont have a seized wheel where did you guys think of that? Anyways i had 2 stuborn lug's that were on tighter but the wd-40 fixed that real fast. I wanted to go under the car and check out the suspension and check if anything was rubbing. Mostly to check if somthing was rubbing down there. I dont think that the metal warning things on the pads are contacting the rotors yet. I would also note that i did take extra precautions on going underneath the car. I have a toolbox that can take up to 5000LB of abuse so i put it underneath the pinchweld alongside the jack incase the car would collapse. I will post pics of the pads but they still have about 25% of there life left, well from my eye. Pics coming later and yes im alive, all is good. Oddly enough after putting the wheel back on the sqeaking has stopped but i will still need opinions on the pads!