Hi everyone,

I am new to this board and a new 03 Maxima SE owner. I bought this car about 2 months ago and love the power, design and feel but I have noticed something that is irritating me. I live in NJ and ever since the weather got cold recently, I have noticed a rattling noise that seems to be coming from the passenger side dash. It only occurs when the car interior is really cold (i.e. mornings at startup) and when I hit small or large bumps. As the car interior warms up or on wamer days, the rattling noise is at a minimum or gone. Since the noise seems to occur depending on the temperature, I assume it's the interior material growing or shrinking that is causing parts to be loose but I have no idea where it is isolated. Being that this car is completely new and with the entire winter to come, I feel this rattling noise will annoy me like crazy eventually. Anyone else experiencing this problem? Any ideas on how to fix it? Should I bring it back to the dealer or will they just make things worse trying to find it and fix it (I have been warned about this from other people)? Will the dealer even try to fix it since the rattling noise only happens under certain conditions and not all the time? I suppose I could be too picky about this as I love the car but just seeking some of your thoughts.

Regards,

 

just bring it in, it won't hurt, usually if its a problem, they'll fix it under warranty. but if its just when its cold, it would be harder to replicate the situation at the dealer.

 

I've been chasing cold morning rattles in my max for almost 3 years.. appearently they havent fixed much in that department.

 

I have a 2k max se, and i have a similar problem, except its behind the driver side seat. can't make out where the noise is coming from, since i can't drive and hang out in the back, its a sqeaky noise kind of like rubbing styrofoam together noise. its somewhere near the door area. but its driving me crazy every bump i hear it.
2. then theres another squeaky noise under my seat, it again squeaks when i get bumps, i think thats the nut or bolt that holds the seat to the ground.
does anyone have any solutions?
thanks in advance

 

Welcome to the rattlebox that is the Maxima SE. I've been chasing rattles down in my '02 since March, and am pretty close to eliminating all but the ones that occur on sharp bumps or horrible roads (which, unfortunately, pretty much describes a lot of roads here in central NJ).

I don't think you are being too picky - its Nissan's Flagship and not a Kia after all. I've been buying new Nissans since 1984 -- build quality seems to have taken a nose dive in the mid 1990's when Nissan had its biggest financial troubles. The new Nissan may be making a comeback in styling, but the quality still seems to be lacking. The bad news is that my 02 Max is by far my worst Nissan yet in terms of initial quality issues. The good news is that its been my experience that once you get the initial defects and warranty issues taken care of, Nissans are pretty great cars, so don't lose hope.

As far as your dash rattle, you may wish to try inserting a strip of foam beween the side edge of the dash and the front A-pillars. That took care of it for me. Also check that the tweeter is in place on the A-pillar. For more details on these and other rattles, check http://www.fourthrock.com/maxima/issues/issues.html under "interior", issue 2. There are links to a 24 page TSB from Nissan on isolating and eliminating squeaks and rattles in 2000 and 2001 Maximas. Since the 2002 and 2003 are identical, you may find some insights in there.

I get occasional creaks and pops from the center dash that are caused by the hard plastic vent material being cold. Once it heats up, those tend to go away. Other noises come from the head unit of the audio system, which is also made of creaky plastic. I get pops and ticks when hitting a sharp bump or even expansion joints on concrete highways. Not much to be done about that given the SE suspension. (When I have to replace the Potenzas, I'll get a set of Michelin Pilot Sport AS. They are supposed to have better ride quality.)

Contrary to what you may have seen on this forum, squeaks and rattles *are* covered under your 3 year/36K warranty -- they are not considered to be an "adjustment" (and thus only covered by 12 month/12K warranty). This comes from both my dealer and the people at the Nissan Motors USA zone office across the street from my office.

I've been working with the dealership at trying to resolve the remaining B-pillar area rattles. The lead "interior systems" tech even went for a test ride with me to identify the problem areas. The technique that we've used for "cold issues" is to drop the car off in the evening so they have it cold in the morning. They were able to provide me with a courtesy car, so it was no big hassle.

The key is finding a good service department and taking a reasonable and methodical approach to working with them. If they are good, they'll not have an adversarial attitude. Realize though that some rattles may take a couple of visits to resolve, and some just aren't worth going crazy over.

 

Did you track down a buzzing type rattle on the left driver's side, I've been battling this very annoying one for a while but can't isolate it. Think its either the panel that the seat belt comes out of, or the headliner up above the window, let me know if anyone has solved this.

 

I get a noise that sounds similar to what you are describing when riding over expansion joints on a concrete highway. I suspect its the headliner - something to be checked out along with my intermittant light metallic B-pillar rattles.

In the long-term test of the 02 Maxima overa at www.freshalloy.com they mentioned that the car developed a buzzing that I think they determined to be from the headliner a couple of months into their test. They've not updated the review since July, so I don't know what they found. You may want to keep and eye on the review and see what they say.

 

damn you've done your research. yesterday my passenger side dash rattled for the first time since I got it. I hit the dash with my fist and it went away. it didn't come back today

 

Maybe that $3-6k one saves vs getting an I30/I35 is the difference. While there aren't many I35 owners I wonder how their cars are holding up.