I was on the highway earlier today, when in the 68ish mile per hour range I felt a general vibrating in the car, quite noticeable in the steering wheel and gas pedal - but also just as a vibrating noise. When taking a curve in the road (right curve, if that matters) the vibrating increased slightly - but a clicking noise was heard from the front left of the car.

I'm taking the car in for a general service tomorrow - I'll let the stealership know about this, but I'd like to have an idea myself first.

Anyone have thoughts?

Thanks

 

the vibrations could be from unbalanced tires.

 

Probably CV Joint which is part of your drive axle. You have two drive axles, one for each front wheel. Since you heard the noise from the left one it is most likely your left drive axle. The dealership can diagnose, but they'll charge alot (unless you are under warranty). If this is what it is I would call around and take it to another shop (where there are ASE certified mechanics) and let them do it.

 

Hey,

I do still have the warranty - how will that change things?

 

At the very least you can jack the car up, pull the wheel and do a thorough inspection of the CV boots. If you leave it in neutral you should be able to rotate the hub with a wrench and check every rib and fold of the boots. Usually CV joints fail because the boots crack or rip. Once the seal is compromised, moisture gets into the joint and the grease flies out.

Do this before you take it to a dealer or mechanic. It should talk 20 minutes of your time and may save you money and aggrevation with the dealer.

 

had same problem.... it was the inner tie rod for me tho.... $90 at nissan

 

are any of these extremely serious? I need to take the car on a trip for 3 hours - is this safe?

 

up..
just looking for a quick answer.!

 

Serious......
yes and no

If an axle breaks you lose power to your tires.

I've never heard of one breaking or seizing up, so you should be fine.

Usually if it's the right axle then it will click louder when turning right and vise-versa. the vibration is usually more of a problem w/ tires, steering, and wheel bearings. if it's a "click" it's probably an axle with a potential tie-rod wheel bearing or balance problem.
If your "click" is more like a humm then it's probably a wheel bearing problem.

Like said above look under the car at your boots to see if they're ripped. if not put the car on jack stands and feel for play in the tire. Play up/down is a wheel bearing. Play left/right is usually an inner or outter tie-rod problem.

a check that's quicker than removing the tire is to simply put front tires on jack stands. try to move the tire left/right and up/down. If it moves up/down it's a wheel bearing issue. If it moves left/right it's a inner outer tie-rod problem. Tie rod problems typically vibrate the steering wheel @ speeds around 35 MPH more and usually don't make any noise.