Hi everyone,

I just purchased my first maxima. It's a 2001 with ~240km. The front end seems to have a whine that resonates throughout the car at ~60km/hr (~40mph). It goes away above that speed and below that speed. I'm quite technically inclined, but I don't really know where to begin looking... It occurs under acceleration as well as coasting, so I don't think it's a driveline issue.

could this be wheel bearings or something? It's kind of hard to explain, heres a quick video of the sound.



Thanks!

 

Any changes in pitch while turning the wheel?

 

I didn't take too many turns at that speed... But it did seem to be slightly quieter on wide corners. There's also a slight steering wheel vibe at highway speeds which may be connected

 

Maybe you should check the wheel bearings.

 

I will look into the wheel bearings when I get home tonight and post back. Thanks for the help!

 

on wheel bearings. I had one that started at 30mph and got louder with speed...but went away with a right turn. Ended up being right rear bearing.

 

Hmm for some reason I was thinking it was just the front. I'll check them all. The rears are easier to replace since they're not pressed in, correct? I'm basically just looking for the wheel to "wobble" slightly when it's jacked up?

 

yes basically...but the wobble is only on the fronts. Grab the tire at 12 and 6 o clock and shake. Should be no play.

With the rears, spin the tires and listen for grinding / scraping.

 

so I checked the wheel bearings. The front end ones seem quite good, as there is absolutely no play in the wheel at all. They might have even been replaced recently since the nut holding the axle into the hub looks freshly tightened.

where to look now? The front CV joints may be worn, I've never actually worked on these before since I usually work with U-Joints. I can turn the outer hub a couple of degrees before the inner shaft engages and begins to spin. Is this normal or should there be no play that way either? I don't know where else to look right now... Do the 5spd transmissions ever have issues like this?

The rears look ok, although the brakes look like they never engage. There might be air in the lines, I will have to check that. But I think the bearings are ok?

Also, are the bearing/hub assemblies the same for ABS/non-ABS on the 2001's? I'm looking at replacing them anyways with some ebay hub assemblies, these will work? I believe mine (20th anniversary 2001 maxima) has ABS.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Front-Wheel-H...vxp=mtr&_uhb=1

 

Just as a followup if anyone else sees this... I decided to pull my wheel bearing anyways and they are definitely bad. Even though there was no play in the wheel, the bearings are shot. Here they are removed and making a terrible noise.

 

I have never seen a bearing that was still intact that made a noise that loud when turned by hand.

All 5th gen Maximas came with ABS brakes. there is a transducer pickup that mounts in the steering knuckle and senses a toothed ring that is on the axle. The parts you are getting in that e-bay kit don't have anything to do with the ABS.

BUT the e-bay kit lists Nissan part numbers and they are NOT the ones for your car. The bearing part number (40210-3Z000) is for a 2004 and newer car. 5th gens use part number 40210-2Y000.

I hope you didn't order that e-bay kit.

 

Thanks for the info DennisMik. I did not order that kit yet, I decided to just replace the bearings with local ones myself. I haven't pressed them out yet though. Is there anything in particular to look for to see if the hub is damaged? I'm hoping I don't have to replace those as well

 

wheel bearing