Ok so during the last 2 weeks or so in the mornings when i drive I've noticed my steering wheel feeling funny. When I make any kind of turn it almost feels 'sticky' and I can feel some knocking. It's been getting worse. I took it to my mechanic this morning to get an oil change and he knew right away what it is. So I had him write this on my estimate so I can take it to the dealer. Anyone else have this problem? I only have 51K on the car....kinda makes me wonder what else is gonna go wrong with my car so soon,.....

Also I've noticed when my car isn't warmed up all the way when I come to a stop step on the breaks I hear a whining noise...it's stops when I let up on the brakes. Is this part of the rack & pinion problem??


Thanks for any input.

 

i have same thing w rack & pinion and my max is 1997 gle has only 43k miles, mechanic wants $750 for job to replace it.

regarding brake wining sounds, it means they are worn its time to replace them.

 

Thanks for your response....Rack & Pinion is just one thing I haven't seen discussed much around here...
I have a 100K warranty so mine will be covered under warranty...the dealer just better not give me any crap.
As for my breaks, I know they are getting worn down....I'm just waiting for the wear sensors to kick in before I get them replaced..then in the shop she goes!

Thanks cooler.

 

That's what you get for buying a Maxima...they suck a$$.

Oh yeah, it's spelled: B R A K E S

 

Yeah yeah I know this....I was in a hurry when typing...
So if Maxima's suck a$$ so much, why do you own one?

 

hacked?

 

I suck too. It was the natural choice.

 

Get a second opinon. Will93gxe(you remeber him sarah) had a simmilar problem with hard steering in the cold etc. Turned out his belt was loose(but not squealing) and he wasn't getting full power. It was like this for SEVERAL MONTHS. He was conviced he need a rack. He changed the timing belt and other belts and viola.....all gone!

Go to a dealer....dealer estimates are CHEAP!

 

Well it's not the steering so much that's hard, its more of the knocking and stickyness to it.

My regular mechanic checked that out, and its at the dealership this morning for them to look at it.

Problem is it only does it first thing in the morning for the most part, but not so much when it's warmed up. Will they be able to tell if it's bad if it's not doing anything?

 

Why not try simple stuff 1st? Replace your power steering fluid. Put in some synthetic stuff. See how it goes from there.

DW

 

Don't even get me started on this one....

 

Well seeing that I wont replace the power steering fluid myself this one will cost me. Having my mechanic look at my car and taking it to the dealer to fix it doesn't cost me anything.

 

So of course the dealership called me and said they didn't find anything wrong with my car. I told them that was the response I was expecting So they are going to keep it overnight one more time as I told them it has to be first thing in the morning. We'll see what they say tomorrow....If they still dont find anything.....then I'll drive it till it completely breaks on me.

 

Mine says the same thing... when you own a car and pay as much attention to it as we do, you notice things dealers won't find. It's so frustrating to have them say nothing's wrong when you know there is and you know what it is.

 

Hello Sarah:

Have you considered checking out the strut bearings?
They are these small disks about the size of a silver dollar coin and they have a hollow center. They are located in the upper strut mounts. You can find a reference for it in the Maxima shop manual.
Basically, the struts turns against this bearing.

On my old Koni coilovers, these bearings would transmit side loads onto the strut pistons and effectively loosen the adjustments so I'd have to retighten them every few days. But I never noticed any problems with the steering.

Some Koni engineers mentioned to me that the Maxima strut bearings (like some other cars), are "incredibly cheap and inefficient" to use their exact words. Unfortunately, the only way to check them out is to disassemble the suspension.