I brought the Max into Nissan to confirm the wheel bearing issue I had where there was excessive play on the front passenger wheel. Now, I expected that the wheel bearing had failed and would need to be replaced. Since the powertrain warranty is still in effect, I brought it to Nissan. Now, they told me that preload on the bearing had to be adjusted but that the bearing is believed to be fine. They charged me $90 for this. First, should this work have been included in the powertrain warranty? Second, I never saw a mention of bearing preload in the service manual, so how is this adjusted exactly? My impresion was that the bearing was just pressed in and that was it. I'm going to jack it up after work and see if anything has really changed, b/c I couldn't really tell from the ride to work.

 

Well, I just checked for excessive play and it appears to be gone. I still don't know what they did though. The FSM does not show any kind of bearing preload adjustment that I can see. Did they just tighten the axle nut?

 

Powertrain warranty covers engine and transmission mechanical (and some electrical) only.
Wheel bearings are a wear item after 36k and not covered under powertrain, only under 3/36 B2B.

 

i was under the impression it was just pressed in as well. i had the play in the steering just before the bearing went completely out. i took it into nissan to be covered under extended warranty @ 50k miles and they replaced it under my powertrain warranty. i thought i had a bent cv axle but nissan diagnosed it a bad wheel bearing which they mentioned was somewhat common on 00-01 maximas. i was surprised the hub was fine after the miles that were put on it after it was shot due to traveling back from out of town.

 

The fronts are press in and the rears are not. The rear is a simple hub swap (~75) for parts. They should be covered under powertrain warranty(60K)

 

So how do they adjust preload since it seems all of the pressure needed to keep them in position is from the fact that the knuckle is just tight around it?

 

I think they are shooting the BS. Either they are good or the need to be replaced.