KK07

Well, not sure how much help I can get over the internet without someone actually looking at the car but I thought I'd try anyway.

About 2 weeks ago, I was driving my 1997 Nissan Maxima SE (automatic) when I started getting this vibration through the pedals (feels like both gas and brake), it seems as though you mostly feel it under the floorboard, right under the pedals. You can also hear a clunking noise. If I have someone else drive, and I sit passenger, I can still hear the clunking noise coming from the drivers side of the car.

I don't seem to notice it as much at lower speeds but if I get to around 35 KM/hr (about 20 MPH), I start feeling/hearing the noise. The clunk feels as though it happens once per rotation of the tire (i.e. the faster I go, the more frequent the clunk noise is there). I brought the car into my mechanic (fearing that it was the wheel bearings, even though I've heard wheel bearings should be more of a "whirring" noise, which I'm not hearing).

The mechanic said he didn't think it was the wheel bearings and blamed my rear tires (he said they were both bad), but wasn't able to explain to me why the noise was coming from the front, in the pedals. So we went and replaced all 4 tires (winter's coming soon enough...) but the noise is still there, just as I thought it would be.

So I left the car there again for 2 days and when I called to check on what they concluded the problem to be, he said this exactly "it's an old car, I can't find the problem so you're either going to have to spend over $2000 replacing different parts until we find the problem or just sell the car". When I went to pick it up, they said that the problem is not dangerous as they can't find anything loose/broken under the car. I did some searching on here but any threads with problems similar to mine, the original poster never returned and posted what the problem was.

I've made 2 appointments with different shops (one is a Nissan dealership). The service advisor at the Nissan dealership said he'll be charging me $112 CAD for a diagnosis but if they can't find a problem in 45 minutes, then I'll need to pay another $112. Has anyone had any problems similar to this? I was hoping to get some ideas on what else I can check because right now it's very irritating to drive this car!

Thanks in advance for any help!

eFLO

iTrader: (2)

i had a clunking and squeaking but it was mostly over bumps as my swaybar links were shot. might want to check those out

stanltod

iTrader: (2)

I had the same sound when my upper strut mount broke. Had to replace the struts. It was fairly easy to check. Lift the hood, push down on the fender and watch the top of the strut bolt. It shouldn't move relative to the car, should just look like it is bolted down. If it move around or looks "loose", it's bad. Mine moved like it was unattached on one side and was solidly attached on the other.

No more clunk clunk clunk.

99superblackmax

iTrader: (1)

I would think it is the cv axle. Does it clunk when you are turning from say a stop sign? Could be in your brakes as well. Maybe a warped rotor?

smai555

ball joints? does the wheel shake as you drive it ?

you can jack up the front wheel

grab it from the top and bottom and see if ther eis any play

then do it from side to side

then but a bar under the tire and pull the bar up

what you are checking are the ball joints and the steering joint (dont remember the name)

GL

Andy2000max

Need some more specifics. You stated there is a vibration AND a clunk. And you stated that it happens once a tire rotation. Are you positive of that? Or does the clunk happen when the suspension flexes (bumps)? Do you feel the vibration in the steering wheel?

Loosness in the wheel and wheel/tire flaws will cause vibration. Worn Inner/outer tie rods, ball joints, wheel bearing can cause vibration that you should feel in the steering wheel. Out of round tires or flawed tires (tires with uneven sidewall flex), bent wheel rims, out of balance wheels/tires can cause vibration. Even severly warped rotors can cause vibration.

Front end clunks are likely either the sway bar end links and/or bushings or the strut mounts. Just a little advice, if you attempt the sway bar end links, make sure you soak the nuts several times for a day with PB blaster. Mine were rusted bad.

The part that is confusing is that you reference a "consistent" clunck instead of a random clunk.

KK07

Thanks for all of the replies guys, sorry about the delayed response, I've been extremely busy with exams/work.

So far we've checked:
- struts (which could probably be replaced soon but don't seem to be the source of the problem
- cv axle - not sure how to check this but I'll mention it to my mechanic, but to answer the question, I feel it in turns as well, it seems more speed related than anything else.
- ball joints - I don't believe I'm feeling the shaking through the steering wheel but I think I'm mainly focused on the feedback through the floorboard when it happens.

@Andy2000max - The clunk is not happening on bumps. As for the clunk/vibration happening once per rotation, it almost seems like a timed clunk (as I said, faster I seem to go, faster the clunk sounds). We are going to check the tie rods (mechanic said they look fine from his quick inspection). We've also checked the rotors (were just replaced about 8 months ago - ~7000 miles ago) and they aren't warped either.

I brought it in for a diagnosis with a local import shop that was not able to find the source of the problem. He did narrow it down a bit though, at around 30 KM/hr (around 19-20 MPH) is when the noise starts happening, and it seems to go all the way up to at around at least 50 MPH (at which point road noise seems to cover up the clunking noise - vibration is still felt in the pedals at this time).

This mechanic thinks I have something going on with my transmission, and until the noise becomes more noticeable, or causes an actual problem with the car, that I should wait and just drive it around before spending big money on taking wild guesses on repairs that may not be needed. He was thinking its something to do with the transmission shifting into 2nd gear, I looked in the manual and don't see at which points the gears shift in an automatic (Could only find the 5 speed suggested shift points).

Not sure what else I can do at this point, it doesn't seem to be causing any actual problems at this point (besides irritating me everytime I have to drive it). Thanks again for the suggestions, I'll be sure to check anything I've missed so far.