Hi everyone, i'm new on the forum, but i've been following the discussions for a while now. a lot of great valuable information on this site.
i need your help to diagnose or to give me some new ideas.

my car is a Maxima 2003 automatic with about 140 k miles.
i have a clunk coming only from the passenger side when i hit potholes or dips in the road.
Up until now i went by elimination and i have replaced balljoint, control arm, complete strut assembly ( including top plate, spring, etc), inner and outter tie rod, hub and bearing and stabilizer link kit and stabilizer link kit bushings and also the engine mount on the passenger side.

i noticed that i have some play in the right side drive axle ( axial play inboard/outboard) but not much more than on the left side which is perfectly quiet.
however the Cv axle does not make any noise ( no clicking, no ticking and no noise when i step on gas, put in gear). so i don't believe it's the culprit.

what else could it be?

 

On our cars, passenger-side noise is most often caused by a worn passenger-side engine mount or by a bad/loose stabilizer link. I would double check both. Make sure that the stabilizer link is tightened according to spec. It will clunk badly when not tight enough.

I am speaking from my own experience. It took me 6 months to diagnose my engine mount problem. Subsequently, I replaced my SB bushings and did not tighten the link bolts enough - what a riot just a few hundred miles later.

 

you're right but they're new parts and everything is torqued with values from the FSM with torque wrench. i read a lot about passenger engine mount and stablink bushings and link end. but it doesn't seem to be the fix. i also noticed that when i turn left ( putting more weight on the right wheel) there is less noise. and more noise when i turn right ( hitting a pothole in curve) as i unload the suspension/spring on the right wheel.

 

Yes, that's when my passenger-side engine mount was clunking.

 

Good question same thing in the 2001 after removing the wheel and lugs for repairs maintenance then re mounting it.
I just wrote it off as a noisy coil spring from being jacked up.

 

Maybe it's because the car was jack up with a floor jack and put some stress on the parts suspended in air.

 

funny thing is that after i jack it up...and put it back on ground, and drive it, it's quiet for 2-3 corners, then the clunk starts again. it's like it's being re-positioned while in the air..that's why i thought strut/spring first..but even after trying Tokico, kyb and Monroe..they all make the same noise. it's not coming from there.

 

What type of jack are you using and where do you apply the jack pressure to? If you have a rusted lower tie bar(Rad Support) maybe that's the issue. Maybe the clunking could be from the pressure put on the lower tie bar that is connected to the skid plate that has mounts attached to it.

 

i'm starting to think that maybe it's not wheel related but something that's loose and banging on the underneath every time i hit a pothole on the right side.


the jack is a Black Jack from Walmart and i lift the car from the round subframe support.

 

The sub-frame support? You mean the front skid plate? I found out after casing out the oil pan seal that that plate has two engine mounts attached to it. If you apply pressure it may crack the lower radiator support because the lower support core goes bad in those cars.

 

It could cause some unusual noises I would assume if you apply pressure to the jack point on the front end.

 

it's behind the wheel, more inboard. it looks like a big washer. that's where i place the jack. it's got nothing to do with the radiator or the front of the car.
the round jack fits perfectly i believe it's the back subframe bolt and bushing.

 

curious to what this part is you are referring to cause I have a noise just like your that i'm chasing down.

 

So your jacking the vehicle up sort of behind the front wheel towards the back of the car? That's where the guy that sold me my jack suggested to jack it up at. when I read through the Nissan workshop manual, Nissan suggests carefully lifting the entire front end then carefully supporting one end with the proper rated jack supports that will hold the weight. I can't say for sure but I get a lot of strange noises from my 5th gen GLE after I let it down and drive it. I kind of think it's got something to do with jacking it up and applying pressure. I can't give you a specific answer.

 

i will bring it to a garage this weekend and keep you posted as it currently surpasses my technical troubleshooting skills.

 

I'd like to hear what you find out as well. I have a 2000 Maxima that does essentially the same thing. Clunking sound from front passenger area when front right suspension is moving around.

 

Don't drive it! It's probably got a bad radiator support! The engine is probably ready to fall out!


That's what I got going on from a bad tie bar and the clunking gets worse as it's about to fall out.

 

It can't fall out.

Check swaybar bushing and endlink (take endlink off swaybar and feel for play in both). Any play in those will definitely make noise. Strut mount can definitely clunk when they get old. Control arm bushing would have to be really shot to clunk. I doubt the motor mount is that wore out, but it doesn't hurt to check.


You can narrow it down by process of elimination.

 

Passenger side engine mount...

 

does the rack have bushings that wear out. the clunk I'm hearing is coming from the pass side but I can feel it in the floor board. I know the rack is essentially mounted in this area.

 

double post

 

How would a newbie such as myself do this? I'm no mechanic, so removing stuff isn't really something I would ever try to do. Is it possible to check the sway are bushing and end link by simply looking around with a flashlight and/or removing a couple of bolts? If it's more involved than that, I'll leave it to a professional

 

If you hear clunking I'd stay out from underneath it!


Bring it to a professional immediately for inspection!


Do not mess around with it, it's SERIOUS!!! Clunking has got to be the worst sound you can get from a car!!

 

are you for real?

 

No I'm not the bolts that attach the side mount to the engine will snap and the engine falls through!!


Exhaust mounts snap and break right off!

 

Indeed, Donkeypunch is right on the money: ARE YOU FOR REAL?

You know so little, yet you think you can come in, and start publishing this non-sense that may appear as "advice" to some. Your posts are damaging the reputation of this site, which has been excellent so far.

 

I'm not a mechanic but if you hear a clunking it's bad. So where in the engine would you assume the clunk is originating? Would you think it could be something serious?

 

Its says it could be the stabilizer bar bushings however those were already replaced. Could be a loose jack in the trunk. Maybe they're not done to engineer specs. The bolts holding down the bushings go to 37-44 ft lbs.

 

I've seen, and worked on, more cars with a "clunk" than I can remember. It's almost never something serious or dangerous. Sometimes it's difficult to diagnose since it usually occurs when the car is moving.

If it's something dangerous it's usually something obvious and easy to find.

 

If you can recreate the sound at low speed you can have someone walk next to the car and listen for it.

 

Bruh if you hear a clunk the engine is about to fall out. Stay far away from the car until you can have a nissan dealer evaluate the issue

 

Don't mean to sound redundant, it would seem to be suspension issues bushings, mounts, ect however this guy already replaced everything. Only conclusion any one that has already solved these issues is that the work was not done to engineer specs or it could be something real bad.
Sometimes DIY guys use inaccurate repair instructions. When I joined up with the Org the Wizard gave me the inside scoop. https://maxima.org/forums/new-member...joined-up.html


and about the reputation of the site, I would not feel good about compromising the reputation of the site.
How many posts about clunking noises?
All the members replace everything and still a clunk.
Maybe they are just not tightening the bolts tight enough or something.

 

+1 It's usually the struts or some bushing. If it's hard to replace (expensive) or the parts costs good money, then they just elect to not fix it when I tell them it's not dangerous.

The only thing in front you can actually tell by looking (generally) if it's bad is the control arm bushing.

 

But this individual says they've already replaced it all and still a clunk right at the floor.


There's a TSB on a clunk from rear brake calipers but the noise is from the engine.

 

Actually we don't know where the noise is coming from. Noises like this are notoriously hard to pin down as the sound travels through the car body.

I've driven miles in cars trying to figure out which side of a car a sound is coming from. Sometimes with another mechanic in the passenger seat arguing about where the sound is coming from.

It could be something as simple as a broken exhaust hanger allowing the exhaust to clunk into the car.

 

Yeah, pull over and have it towed straight there.

Funny thing is that the dealer is the LAST place I'd take an older car to diagnose a clunk. A lot of those guys won't know what to do if they can't plug in their Consult and get an answer. If they do find it, it's going to cost you.

If I had to take it somewhere I'd find an old school alignment shop. An independently owned one with old guys working there.

 

I'm pretty impressed with the Nissan dealership here in Clearwater. They've been very reasonable. But I could drive 30 miles to a Tampa Nissan dealership and get lousy service. The price is always reasonable though. So some are better than others. If you don't get good service at the one by you maybe try another one in a close by town.
They did a radiator for $275 and put a new lower arm in for $350. I figured it would've been more like 600 for the radiator and 600 for the lower arm.


To research the issue yourself is really heading in the right direction.

 

To be fair, those are very simple jobs that require virtually no diagnosis. Any DIY guy would handle them in their garage or driveway. They probably had a young trainee do them. Hardly a measure of skill or talent.

I've seen, more than once, where a dealer voided a cars entire remaining warranty when they couldn't diagnose or repair an issue.

"To repair the issue yourself is really heading in the right direction."
Fixed it for you.

 

sorry for the lack of update. so i brought it to 2 independent garages ( not dealer yet). they all checked the regular stuff and came to the conclusion that the front end is solid ( balljoints, tierods, link end, bushings..etc) and that it's "normal" for the car this age to make a clunking noise which is complete bull**** as the left side is super quiet.
the second garage couldn't replicate the clunk....
i guess i'll try the dealer but they're only open mon-fri meaning i need to take a few hours off work.

my opinion is that i'm not looking at the right place. as the clunk does not "deteriorate" or becomes worse..it's always the same, therefore i don't believe it's a bushing/balljoint as this would get worse within a few weeks/months. and always weight shifting related, when the right wheel gets loaded ( left turn), the noise goes away and when unloaded, (right turn) it's worse. ( btw hub and bearing are solid)

 

I guess it's possible that the clunk could be coming from inside one of the axles or maybe the carrier bearing on the passenger side.

Noises like this are very hard to diagnose online without having the car. We can tell you where we've found them in the past or try quoting from the shop manual but there's no substitution for driving and inspecting the car.