kingofquartz

iTrader: (3)

I had a local shop install new C/V's and after the work was done I took it out for a test drive and discovered a problem. Under hard acceleration the drivers side would pop (way louder than your usual c/v pop) and acceleration would become jerky.

So I take it back to the shop the next day and I cant get it to make the noise or jerk with the mechanic in the car. Seemed to me the problem solved itself, well 3 days later on the interstate it did it again when I floored it at 80mph.

Anyone know what this could be? The mechanic had to screw something up.. but I cant figure out what. I am starting to consider taking it to nissan and having them pull the axle to see if they can figure out what the mech messed up.. but I dont want to waste anymore money.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

sounds like either a bad control arm bushing or subframe. my guess is on the control arm bushing

kingofquartz

iTrader: (3)

Those could cause both the jerking under acceleration and the awful popping noise? Can I visually inspect the bushings too see if there is a problem?

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Are you nuts? The work was only done a few days ago. Take it back, they must warrenty their work by law. Maybe you have a bad axle, maybe the joint is bad. The only way they are going to figure it out is to reinspect their own work. Take the car back, tell them what's happening and let them work on it again.

It's just a simple FWD setup, there's nothing special in a Maxima front end. Don't waste your time and $$$ with the dealer.

kingofquartz

iTrader: (3)

I took it back the next morning and drove the mechanic around for 20 minutes.. couldnt get it to make the noise. Then he starts trying to say it sounds like the tranny might be going bad.. he says "people always neglect their tranny". I responded with.. I have a stack of paper work that documents each tranny fluid change done at nissan. The tranny didnt just decide to go bad all of a sudden. If he doesnt hear the noise.. then he isnt going to bother will pulling it apart to inspect it.

I'm at a loss here. Could it be the axle/joint or could something else have gone wrong. I hate driving it like it is.. it rarely makes the noise but when it does and the car starts jerking it sounds like the sucker is going to fall apart

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

Take it back to him. Drop it off, tell them the noise it makes sounds like the axle is popping in and out. That's not acceptable and they need to look over the work and the part they put in your vehicle. They are required by law to warranty their work!

ImmaSquashYou

iTrader: (7)

njmax is correct. Ask them what axle did they put in. Did you pay for a new axle? They might of used a remanufactured and it was bad. When i replaced my axle, i went though 3 napa ones. Returned it one after another, 3 in the same day. After the third one, i finally said eff it, told them to return my money, and ordered raxles. So yes, axles can come bad.

blindsteal

what happens if they put on the wrong axle? like putting on an ABS or LSD axle on a Max that doesn't have either would that affect anything?

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

5 month old thread...

ABS or not doesn't matter.

You can't fit a limited slip axle on an open diff, and vice versa.

jdooley

Interesting story regarding that last point, a bit embarassing but I will relay anyway.

I recently replaced my driver side axle mostly because I was getting noises from that side and I had also recently installed a Lower Tie Bar (radiator support) which had rusted through completely. I figured since I wasn't sure how long it had been like that and that the sagging engine would have resulted in a drivetrain geometry change thereby affecting the outer CV joint.

So, looking at resources I found here, I determined that I did not have a LSD. I purchased the appropriate axle new from Advance Auto for $59.

I took out the old axle with little or no drama but when I compared the axle that came out with the new one is was easy to see that the one that came out was for an LSD! So I says, "It must be an LSD after all" and proceded to track down a new LSD axle. Another Advance Auto had the right one and I traded them. The rest of the project went without a hitch.

The outer CV on the old axle came apart inside it's boot which seemed to confirm my suspicions about the drivetrain geometry.

A week later I was under the car trying to track down a very slow ATF leak and happened to notice that the shield on the axle that's there to protect the seal in the tranny, was about 1" away.

I just figured it needed to be tapped in a little further but my attempts to do so only got me a tear in the inner boot. I obviously couldn't live with that so I set about taking the axle out again and had a whole lot harder time of it this round. I even took the stut out this time so as to get myself more room to work.

As some may have guessed by now, I double checked the whole LSD thing again, including looking in at the ring gear inside the tranny, and what do ya know, it is not an LSD after all. I went back to Advance Auto and told them my story, though I didn't mention the fact that I put my old inner axle boot onto the axle I was returning. So they felt sorry for me or something and allowed me to swap the LSD axle back for the one I returned the week before.

The thing virtually put itself together from that point now that the proper axle was in place. I don't understand why I could get the old axle out only by disconnecting the strut given that the LSD axle is an inch longer than the proper one though I suppose that would imply that you would need a different method to remove the axle with an LSD.

So, as I said, a bit embarassing that I didn't stick to my guns when I got the correct axle originally. So if whoever worked on the car prior to my owning it had been smart enough to install the correct axle then perhaps I wouldn't have been dumb enough to repeat their mistake.

One last note; I believe that the axle may have bottomed out on the shaft for the planetary gears inside the tranny and because it stuck out of the tranny 1" more than it was supposed to used up all the axial travel in the inner CV joint. So, when the cars' off the jacks, and the axle approaches horizontal, I think the inner CV was bottoming out and therefore transferring all kinds of abnormal forces to the outer CV and, consequently, the wheel bearing. Now it sounds like I have to replace the bearing ....again, sigh!