allmazda

Going to sell my son's 99. It has a clunk from rear end. No noise on smooth roads. No noise when bouncing the car. Struts were replaced 30k ago with the complete Moog assembly. I have them on my 95 with no issue.

Any ideas? No lift so hard to get car to make noise when on the ground. Had it on jack stands but could not see or hear anything.

I did get the Moog from Amazon. Exchanged the right rear about a year ago but no improvement. If I had to guess sound is coming from the right only.

Trunk has been emptied.

maximaxi

KYB does not make complete assemblies for the 95-99 Maxima

allmazda

Sorry Correct. I meant to type Moog. I bought a set of KYB's today for another project.

maximaxi

Your issue does sound like it could be strut mount failure. Yeah, those Moog quick struts are junk. Just another cheap Chinese strut. I actually contacted Moog around the time they first came out, and they wouldn't tell me who makes the actual strut cartridge for them.


I would suggest Monroe's quick struts.

Violator

If you had to assemble it (strut mount, bearing, etc) you might of put it together wrong. I did one of my front coilovers in the wrong order and had to replace the strut mount because it was clunking

allmazda

The Moog on my 95 ride great. Here is what I found so far. Spoiler was lifted out of the mounts on left side. The spoiler center posts where the bolts are were busted when I got the car and leaked. I used butyl tape and fixed it but the clips were toast on the ends. I used some JB weld for body parts and strapped in down to cure. Seems to hold well.

Sound was a little better.

Exhaust- After the cat and resonator before it take the turn there should be a hanger. There is not one. There is a lot of movement is the pipe.

Does someone have a pic of a 99 California exhaust? Not sure what I need or if I can get a section from a non-CA car from a pull a part and have them weld the bracket on?

KP11520

Yeah, I found out how bad Moog sucks for strut assemblies for our gen Maxes the hard way.



I have four sitting out back right now a little over 3 years old. The fronts were horrible. Mounts, bearings and spring insulators were bad in over a year.


The most likely culprit in the back is the spring insulators splitting and you hearing the metal on metal of compression and releases.


Check your antenna isn't loose of falling apart or the jack isn't loose. You can also inspect the bushing on the trailing arm of the rear axle beam.

allmazda

I thought it was the struts too but for the life of me I can't get a noise when bouncing the car.

I did check the jack. It was tight. But I did find the right sunroof drain hose loose. At one time the drain must have been clogged as the metal where the hose connects to the metal drain tube is rusted away. I saw the hose hanging loose and pulled on it. It made considerable clunk sound hitting what I guess is the wheel well. I used 1/2 inch pipe insulation - about 2 feet and slid as much up as I could. That helped some more.

Noise is about 60% better.

allmazda

On a side note - (noise) I found another one up front. I thought I had a bad axle on the right. Noise under load but quite at other times. Seemed like it was coming from the fan area but from outside the car in the engine bay.

Turns out the rubber insulator on the low side ac line by the strut tower slided out of the bracket. WHile my friend, who is a Nissan mechanic were looking over the engine after he test drove it to hear the noise, I slid the insulator back in place not thinking twice about it.

We took it for a drive again. Noise went away. I had some black silicone so I put some on both ends and crimped the bracket just a tad so the insulator can't slide anymore.

KP11520

I think it's time to get you out of a patrol car and promote you to DETECTIVE! Detective AM. LOL


Can you imagine how many millions of dollars we all have spent cumulatively, chasing clunks that were more evasive than we imagined.


Great Job! And thank you for following up and sharing what it really was!

allmazda

LOL.... It was a drug seizure car that the police department used for a few years in their fleet until it became too well known to the dealers. They sold it cheap. Son drove it for 30k miles. Then I got an 02 Accord (same circumstance) used as a detective's car. Needed a new ATX. Went JDM for $270 and did water pump and timing belt. It has 111K. Son's new ride.

I am always terrified that they left some evidence in them (my 95 Maxima is one too) and I am going to get busted. My latest buy is a trip to the darkside. A 93 Prelude Vtec.

Allmazda came from my first car I started to work on. 88 626 Turbo. Paid $1500 with 180K back in 1998. Sold in 2010 with 368K for $1500. Original motor except for replacement head.

98Marxima

I had similar noise on mine. So when I had my shop check it out, it was basically loose bolts and once they tightened everything up, it's been quiet ever since.