About a year ago, I had my 98 Max SE 5 Speed in for a routine oil change and the mechanic told me I needed a new front axle and showed me all this grease on the inside of my rim. I replaced it at a total cost of $500.00 but it did not feel right. The car pulled to the right and had a vibration. I brought it back in and the mechanic replaced the front axle again and at no additional cost claiming that the part had a defect. The latest axle still does not feel as smooth as the original to the car and I am noticing a small fluid leak on the garage floor which appears to be just to the inside of the right front wheel. The fluid appears relatively clear. Is this axle fluid again or something else?

 

The vibration could be caused by the axle not being properly balanced. Depending on the brand used this is highly possible. And axles have grease, not fluid. The fluid youre seeing is going to be from something else. Which side of the car had the axle changed?

 

Both front axles were replaced at the same time and both were replaced again when I brought it back in. It was rough right after the fix, but the new ones are ok. Not as smooth as the original but not rough. I am just more concerned now that I just noticed this clear fluid spot under the car definitely closer to the passenger side. It is definitely not motor oil. Power steering fluid maybe? But so far no noise or whine in the steering...

 

If it's pulling to one side that's an alignment issue,check and see the adjustments on the cast,camber,toe for the alignment and check the tires if theres any wear on them inner or outer tires and check the tierods. This all can be your problems here.
Hopefully this is not a frame issue where it will need a frame alignment.

 

check fluid to feel if its just water or petro product. On the right side at the wheel could be brake, p/s, coolant or just a leaky washer pump. If the shop took off the strut off the knuckle and did not align the car then your camber would likely be off, and cause your pull. Most shops use about the cheapest parts they can find to make room for mark up. Thus you get autozone re builts that can come off the shelf bad, i have been through about 4 now in 4.5 yrs.

 

The only thing that should be clear coming out of your car is water from condensation or from cooling system if you have water in there instead of antifreeze. Power Steering suppose to be ATF Dexron III. If it isn't change before you do any more damage.

 

I hate blown axles .. Being slammed sucks but good to have lifetime warranty.

 

If you live in hot area and using the air conditioning at the moment - it is condensation. This is normal.
Washer fluid - top it up and try not to use it to see if it leaks, or it might leak only when you use it - from the pump. Nothing to worry about.
Brake fluid - check your level. Check your caliper at the banjo bolt and the bleeding valve, as well the brake hose. If there - lot's to worry about.
Coolant fluid - this is where it starts leaking from the weeping whole when the water pump goes. It comes down just where the A/C compressor attaches to the engine (from what I remember). Check the level in the reservoir. Not an urgent fix - you can add coolant for months to the reservoir before changing the pump.

 

All of the aftermarket axles are going to give you some type of vibration. This is because they do not include the dynamic damper on the drivers side axle. This damper comes on the OEM axles and is specifically designed to reduce vibration under acceleration (Torsional Vibration). If you really wanted to, you could disassemble the axle and buy a damper from Nissan. Otherwise, get used to a little more vibration. I have GSP axles and noticed this too.

 

This. I have yet to replace my axles. Ill be looking into something with a lifetime warranty also.

 

Hmmm...very interesting. That must mean that I still have my OEM drivers side axle with 310K on it then...but its making noise I think..

 

Not sure what you mean?

 

Well my driver's side axle has a rubber piece in the middle of the axle which appears to be the damper that you are referring to. Did you buy back OEM axles? If so, how much are they?

 

It could be from the brake caliper, just replaced both of my axle for that same price.
B4 that my car was pulling 2 different ways depending on that lumps and cracks in the road, now it drives solid. U might just be used to driving on bad axles

 

$60-$110 when I was looking when I thought I had to replace mine. Call David Burnette at Southepoint Nissan.

 

That sounds low. Is that for the whole axle assembly? I priced them out at 528 each from Courtesy.

 

Ok. Gotcha. I didn't buy OEM axles as they were 528 each when I priced them.

 

oooh no, Just the actual axle. sorry!

 

Have any of you guys attempted to buy the OEM CV Boot kit and rebuilt your axle?? If so, was it worth it?

 

I ended up doing this on an OEM axle I pulled from my car. I think it is worth it if you catch the boots failing very early on before you lose too much grease and destroy the joint. It wasn't hard, but extremely messy. I followed the FSM to do the job.

 

I figured you used the FSM to do the job as I would. My question is what tool did you use to attach the clamp onto the boot? Or did you use a zip tie to hold in place?

 

Is You Vibration under acceleration or at certain speeds?

No all aftermarket Axles are the same quality.

Not having a Damper on the Driver side will not lead to vibration issues, rather poor qualitity components on new axles.

If your vibration us under acceleration tne the Inboard Joint is at fault (Sticking or too musch clearance between tripod roller an housng track)

If your vibration is at speed then more than likley the Outboard Joint is at fault.

Again, Not all aftermarket axles are created equal

 

most aftermarket axles (and many aftermarket maintenance items) are from Mexico or China. Lifetime warranty's are worthless. When I bought our Maxima 120K miles ago, the previous owner had just had new Nissan axles installed. Even after 80K miles of a VQ35 swap (lots of 30mph burnouts....) they are still in excellent condition. Hopefully I can catch a boot failure early so I can repair them. I WONT put that Mexican or Chinese garbage on my car.

Aftermarket maintenance parts are the death spiral of a used car. People seem to think that their old Honda, Nissan or Toyota suddenly become unreliable after a certain point. But, it's not the OEM's fault, it's the owners who put aftermarket parts on their car.

I know OEM can be WAY more $$$$, but the reliability of my car is worth it. I can't see how people find time to constantly mess around with a unreliable collection of aftermarket parts!

 

Made in China is right here, GSP axles from advance auto parts always made my car vibrate, I put a NAPA reman in my car, no vibration but it sounds like a helicopter landing

 

So here's a related question about how far to push a failing CV joint.

The boot has been damaged for a while now, grease has been thrown all over the place, and in the past few days I've been hearing an increasingly awful scraping sound, which is definitely coming from the CV joint.

The question is: at this point does anyone think I can trust the joint to hold together a few more miles so that I can just get the car to a shop? I'm not about to replace any axles myself. I suppose the worst that can happen is that the joint locks up and I have to get the car towed the rest of the way to the shop, rather than having the car towed from my house. Any major risk other than that?
Thanks.

 

I just replaced my axle, control arm, and tie rods myself on the passenger side. I'm by no means a technician. (19 year old lot attendant at a nissan dealer). I haven't noticed any leaks such as you're complaining of. I'm thinking it would be brake related, as someone said above.

 

My cv joints have been making noise for at least two years maybe 3. Only when I turn, and turn slowly and accelerate. I have never worried. The boots are cracked now, don't know for how long, but I am sure your joints will last a good long while. As I read above, if plan on having them rebiult, better sooner than later. But I don't think that is your case. I'd love to rebiuld mine, but for clicking for 2 years, they are probably damaged.

 

wow 500 dollars i paid 80 bucks at the parts store for a new axel (1), they are difficult to put in seeing as how you must drop the whole strut tower almost , however remember the most important thing is you must align the splines correctly or you will destroy your transmisson. passenger side is most difficult because its longest.it is easier just to buy new because reubuilds cost about as much. If you encounter a bolt on the strut tower you cannot take off, attach a pipe or something of an extender to your socket wrench and simply push it off. Works just like a crow bar no air tools needed.

also always remember after ANY front end work you MUST get a NEW alignment and/or wheel balance if you want your car to feel "smooth" again.

 

Can't agree with you.

After sifting through the OEM service manual for days looking for the need to align, I found none. Then went ahead and replaced struts and axles, all new after market. I was careful to leave tie rods etc. where they were. Now two plus years later no funny tire wear, handling is tight and no vibration.

After a bad experience, I personally avoid alignment until I'm sure I need it.

 

well i didnt align mine either but it you wanted to do it correctly you would balance and align as a auto shop would.when you replace axels it will pull to the left or the right! however its really not an issue for me as my tires arnt the best anyways

 

You don't need to re-align the car after replacing axles as you are not touching any alignment specific components, yeah you're unbolting some stuff, but it all bolts back together the same. The alignment may change ever so slightly, but it won't be out of spec.

And why the heck do the wheels need balancing??? Of course an auto shop will tell you these things are needed, they want you to buy more services. Kinda like when a shop told me the toe on my rear wheels was out of spec and they could align them for $45. I asked them to explain how the rear alignment is adjusted on a Maxima....oh yeah, you can't...

 

yo man, im confused. U guys are talkin about the axle but the FSM isnt using the same terminology. Are we talking bout replace front drive shafts?? What goes bad on assembly. Does the shaft warp or do the bearings jus go?

 

Did he by chance rotate the tires? Drive shaft won't cause a pull, but a bad tire will cause a pull as well as vibration. He may have taken a rear tire, that was bad without your knowing it, and put it on the front where its noticeable.

Our struts are not slotted at the point where they attach to the knuckle. A shop WOULD NOT do an alignment, because there is not one to do. IF a shop charges you for an allign, they are cheating you and you need to call them on that $HlT. Leave the tie rod and lower ball joint attached, remove the two bolts at the knuckle/strut, ant turn the steering wheel all the way to the side your working on. Plenty of room to romve the drive shaft.

Axel is not accurate because it does not support the wieght of the vehicle.

 

Yeah we are talking about the driveshaft (which is the correct term).
They usually only fail because the boot fails, the grease inside is lost, water and dirt get in and eat away at the joint until it can't be saved. A good OEM CV joint could possibly last forever (well, life of car at least) if you always maintained the CV boot and grease.
Aftermarket driveshafts may be built from core return parts which are already worn from exposure and grease loss or inferior quality replacement parts. And the CV boots they use are of inferior quality.

This is true. Shops will tell you that an alignment is needed because it's an easy lie to tell.

 

the fluid is probably from the tranny. axle seals. but thats why you buy your own axles and do it your self.

 

quick question...im having the same prob wit the passenger side on my 1997. never had a prob witH arch axels on my car,an my car is on the floor.BUT! recently i changed both of the axels and the passenger has been giving me numerous probs...like viberation..knocking ect. i went thru 2axels in 3days on the same side. but heres the catch..... my friend messed with my camber on the passenger side only! and pushed it all the way in...could that be the reason of the axels going? i can only think of it being that, and ive never had probs wit axels till my boy pushed my passenger coilover camber all the way in.

 

If your boy isn't a reputable mechanic with an alignment machine I wouldn't let him do anything. Pushing them all the way in makes the top of the tire tilt inward causing strain on the cv joint. No wonder you are blowing axles. It might look cool to some people but when they are changing axles all the time they tend to stop doing it.

 

i am curious. isn't the passenger side axle have to align with the supporting bracket, which that prevents moving to far in or to far out otherwise the supporting bracket just won't hold the axle.

 

return your axles and get ones from raxles. If you put the raxle axles on and you're still feeling this, your boy screwed you and you should go get an alignment