3 things:
1. Whenever I turn the wheel all the way to the left while moving slowly in forward or reverse, I hear a weird "grinding" noise coming from the wheel well/under the car.. Any clues as to what this could be? bad strut/spring?
2. When I start the car, the sometimes I hear a grinding sound.. Is this a bad starter?
3. The idle is very loud when standing outside the car.. almost like the fans are running super fast. THe dealer didn't think it was any louder than an average max, but I disagree.. Anyone have a similar experience?

TIA

 

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The first thing sounds like a bad C/V joint...
2nd thing no ideas
3rd thing...yes the Max has a loud engine from the outside, esp if you have an intake...amybe your idle is set too high?

 

Thanks for the reply. My car is all stock. And it idles at less than 1000RPM. It just seems a lot louder than it used to be.

 

My 2k idles about 600rpm I think once its warmed up...don't recall if it was the same with stock air box...could also be your a/c compressor making the extra noise?

 

A/C Compressor? Sure, I guess it could be that. I just know it's louder than my sister's 2000 Maxima SE. (which is also what I have)

I think I am going to start by changing Spark Plugs, Ignition Coils, Air Filter and possibly my starter. I will get my suspension checked out and the CV boot as well. It has 70k miles on it so I am sure it is about time something went wrong. (so far, only 1 coil has gone bad in 70k)

 

I get the same with what you see in your point#1. Infact it gets worse when you are turning left and going over bumps....going to the dealer..will let you know how that goes.

 

Any updates? I just got back from NY and took my Max out and I have the same grinding noise when turning left. It was there before I dropped the car, but its gotten a ton worse since I got back.

 

finally got the chance to go to the dealer and got the thing checked...they said its the front sway bar which is loose..and when going over bumps..it hits metal on metal...BTW: this happens only when you turn left/right at crawling speed( slower than parking lot speed)

 

#2 is a tsb issue.....i forgot which one it was, but many of us have that issue here and don't wanna bring it to the dealer because it's hard for them to diagnose. they have to let the car sit for at least 6 hours then they turn on the car while someone listens. there's a piece comprised of 2 parts. 1 of the parts (unknown) causes that rattle so they have to stand in front and catch on to that part. annoying part of all this is

1) leaving car overnite
2) hard to "listen" to which 1 of the 2 pieces is making the noise
3) the grinding doesn't happen everytime, so if they don't hear, they blow you off.

in general, this is an annoying tsb cause of all the things just to find the wrong piece. from what i understand, it's not causing damage other than just causing a rattle at startup. the rattle isn't coming from the actual engine. it's more from the actual piece.

EDIT: VTC Sprocket TSB

 

Just for the record, I've noticed the same grinding noise while making left turn going slow. Front sway bar loose? sounds like a serious issue, I only have 20k miles on the car and I take bumps and curbs very slow. I sense yet another TSB soon.