gbsocial

2001 MAXIMA 3.0L

Intermittent rubbing sound from front (passenger side, sounds like)

Developed in the last 4 months. Has not become worst over that time period.

New pads and rotors 7-8 months ago.

Shocks are noticeably weaker ... in that car dips lower when braking.

Sound is certainly related to something rotating.

There is no vibration in steering wheel or any noticeable handling differences due to what ever is causing the sound. (at least not yet)

When pushing hard on top of tire, when on ground there is some play. Watching it from underneath you can see the CV and shaft move .. a very small amount BUT the driver side does not do this.

A sound file can be found at the link below. It starts at 19 seconds in. (there is some cracking foreground noise, on the audio but that is not the issue, just noisy environment)

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resi...int=file%2cm4a

Would a worn out strut or bearings cause this?

Other causes could be wheel bearing, ball joint, CV joint and various bushings (maybe)

The sound seems to be affected by temperature (noisier in cold) and humidity [though that could certainly be random .. just saying]

There is no noticeable difference when turning right or left ... the sound seems to be mostly there all the time (at higher speeds you don't hear it much, but I'm sure it is still there]

Appreciate any input ... hopefully someone will recognize the sound from the recording.

Child_uv_KoRn

iTrader: (7)

Wheel bearing, I'm sure.

Jack up front, grab the wheel and push/pull it in and out, up and down. I'm sure they'll be noticeable play.

Brudface

For sure sounds like wheel bearing noise. There can be two types of this noise, what sounds like an airplane taking off OR what sounds like a helicopter. The later is what I had and there was absolutely NO play in the tire (which sometimes happens RARELY) just a crappy bearing.

Yours sounds like the airplane, IF you are driving on a not so bumpy road and slightly drift left or right it should get louder or quieter depending on what wheel the weight is on. In your case it should get louder when putting weight on the passenger side and SLIGHTLY less noticeable when on the drivers side. Which is a pretty easy diagnosis IF you dont have access to a jack or don't want to whip out the emergency one.

maximatech12

The how-to-sticky threads on the 4th generation page has a very helpful write up about wheel bearing replacement.

nestorlugo

iTrader: (11)

Make sure your slide pins are greased up and the pads are fully retracting when checking the wheel bearing!

gbsocial

That was mentioned by a buddy as well ... The car doesn't get much use currently so it spends a lot of time sitting and letting rust etc build up. What they mentioned was the clips the pads slide in. Thought being rust etc. build up may make sliding more sticker, causing the pads not to fully retract.

The brakes/rotors were replaced by someone out of their HOME garage. He was a previous mechanic ... still is ... but I'm not sure if he cleaned things up well or replaced the clips or applied any grease. Because the car is mostly sitting, less margin for error there.

I did use some WD40 there to see if that was an issue .... very small amounts and overnight to see if things loosened up a bit, slide a little better. [off course, well testing the brakes before driving anyway]

The noise did appear to lessen quite a bit this morning. Could be unrelated certainly and I only applied wd40 to outside pad.

But I agree, the pads and caliper should be checked/cleaned to insure that is functioning well.
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There is a small pull to the right, towards passenger drive, under harder acceleration. NOT sure if that's new or not. Not really easily felt in the steering wheel, but if you don't hold the steering wheel, vehicle consistently pulls to the right ... though I would not expect it the pull perfectly straight under acceleration without holding steering wheel.

There is also definitely some play in the tire, vertically for sure. I suspect there is an issue with the wheel bearing ... thought the ply could be from something else.

Hard to really look without out putting it up on jacks/lift. I don't have any of that stuff. So I have to find someone willing to look at it for a decent price.

Wheel bearing does seem like the most likely problem, unless there's something silly going on. Vehicle has about 300K kms on it.

Appreciate the responses .... great forum.

Brudface

I see you are from Canada if you are in the 613 area I could take a look at it for free. I dont really mind doing free estimates at my shop. Plus I'd give a discounted ORG rate for repair as I know these cars in and out and book time doesnt mean much to me when working on ANY nissan.

gbsocial

thx ... unfortunately I am in the Toronto area ... 613 is ottawa I believe.

Brudface

All good man. Wheel bearing is extremely easy to diagnose by just jacking up the car and seeing where the play in the tire is. You can easily use the emergency jack. If you arent doing it yourself there might be a shop in your area that either gives free estimates OR a small diagnosis fee. Just make sure to do your research and make sure the shop is actually reputable and not going to throw you for a loop.

gbsocial

Couldn't use a normal emergency jack on the car do to rust. Too many creaking/crushing sounds ... Luckily a neighbor happened by who when jokingly asked, wouldn't happen to have a hydraulic jack, would you, replied yes.

After popping the front end up ... ALL kinds of play in the wheel from every direction. The sound on the recording was MORE the wheel wobbling a little and hitting the pads. ( I think ... -- there was no noticeable difference in handling or vibration, which I would expect if there was significant wobble)

Anyone have an idea what repair costs are like for this. Likely 2 hrs in labor. From what I can tell from looking thru the web so far .... you can get just the wheel bearing itself, pop off the knuckle, press out the old bearing and then press in the new one and reinstall on car. [snap rings, elbow grease etc. included] -- I seen one post somewhere suggesting removing the knuckle is not necessary ... but not sure it that applies to 2001 maxima.

** not something I will do myself .. no tools **

I only intent to replace the wheel bearing that's bad. Some suggests doing the pair, thinking the other will soon go ... but no way of knowing that, or knowing it will go within a year.

I did get one quote for $CAN 300 taxes in ...

Child_uv_KoRn

iTrader: (7)

If there's excessive play, then you probably need a new hub, too. There's likely no bearing left, just shards of metal (seen it twice now ). If it got really hot, then you'd need a new knuckle, too (had a hub weld itself to the knuckle).
The next time a wheel bearing went bad, I just went to the junkyard and found a super tight one (felt brand new, had that resistance when you turn it by hand when they're fresh) and swapped the whole knuckle. 40 bucks for it and hours saved (unless you have a real press).

You'll want to source your own part (so it's made in Japan). There's been a fairly recent wheel bearing thread with info. Shop around for quoted labor.

maximatech12

Funny, sounds like an intermittent rubbing from passenger side. Sometimes this automotive talk cracks me up.

gbsocial

The first thing I checked was, if there was someone on the passenger side making balloon animals

gbsocial

The car hasn't been getting much use since this problem first showed up (approx 6mos ago)... mostly a short trip of 10-15, say every second day ... around 1500 kms .. Problem has not increased in sound or anything else I would notice.

Any one have experience in how long you could get away with this problem before fixing? [there is no loud screech, just the wub wub wub sound, which hasn't changed any since starting]

Brudface

Lots of places will just press out the bearing for you and press the new one back in as well as the hub for 60-80 dollars IF you can bring them the knuckle. If you can't then yes you're looking at close to 300ish. depending on the bearing used, the Timken's are about 80 bucks. My suggestion would be don't let it go too long as you WILL have to replace everything, OR just go to Kenny U-pull or whatever one is close to you and get an entire knuckle. You might find a guy there who is willing to help you out as well.

gbsocial

Just to close off the thread ....

I did get the wheel bearing replaced ... for 250. I couldn't get much traction from parts yards to get a complete knuckle/hub/bearing and do it that way. Since I don't have the tools to pull it myself, it may have been too much hassle for them to deal with. However getting the entire knuckle etc. as was suggested would have been a good option if I had the necessary tools.

The hub itself was worn some. Probably should have been replaced as well ... but it should last as is for a year or two ... rather than spending the extra money. An older car, so I would "hopefully" have gotten something else by then and there is no way to predict what other problems may crop up.

Interesting to note .. the abs light came on about a year ago. could be a bad sensor or something else ... or it could be the sensor signaling an error condition because tone ring readings were erratic. Sometimes, an abs sensor issue can be a result of wheel bearing no longer being perfectly true.

The abs light has NOT reset yet. NOT SURE if abs will reset itself after a few cycles or not ... if indeed wheel bearing was causing the abs light. I am not overly keen on abs, traction control, or anti slip. So it's kinda of a non issue for me. WELL anti slip/ traction is not such a bad thing ... in rain or snow ... that can help at times ... if you're paying attention.

I know, grounding select obdII connector pins can give flash codes for the abs error ... NOT sure if you can force a reset that way.

anyways ... appreciate the help.

Child_uv_KoRn

iTrader: (7)

Battery pull overnight should work.