no read the sticky and make sure you get both replaced with the new strut. Call Nissan first to see what part #'s you're dealing with incase the dealer is uninformed.

 

Here's a silly question. How do you know your strut is "gone"? Well, I know how a completely broken strut would behave and influence the car dynamics, but somehow I get the impression this is not what most people are talking about here. It sounds like a "milder" problem with struts. So what are the symptoms? Just the noise the strut makes? I just got a 05 Max SE (5 speed auto) and I'm curious what to look for.

The only problems I've had so far are a few sqeaks, and rattles in the interior, slight pull to the left (probably due to unbalanced tires) and annoying, quite loud whisling noise when driving at about 110 km/h or above.

 

My front left strut went bad at about 2k miles. I now have coilovers on order.

 

well get new ones under warranty then you have a good set in case you need them, or sell them.

 

I just got an 04 leftover and I'm having a problem similar to when I had a Passat and one of the rear struts went bad. When i hit a bump the rear kind of hops out of position and at times the front has done it as well. Has anyone experienced this. They don't make any weird noise but I just want to know if this hopping is normal.

 

Mine are still good on my '05 max (low K though). Perhaps nissan addressed the problem silently..

 

I'm about to bring mine in for the third strut replacement on the right side, this is getting aggrevating. I got rid of a clk to avoid problems but WTF is this for me.

 

did you read the Sticky? if you continue to receive the same underperforming part, of course you will continue to replace it.

 

When was yours built, mine was built 02/05, just hit 3k and no signs of problems yet.

 

Yes, I did read the sticky. The mechanic even told me about the new part number. I don't think I'm the only one that had to go back more than once. I'll update when i go in next week.

 

Hey im new in this site and assuming im not the only one having this issue. I work in Used car lot and got my 04 SL /w 30k on it like 3 months ago. I had these problems but dont know if its only struts problem or combined /w others.

1. car makes grinding noise from front wheels when im moving forward or reverse, the sound get bigger if i turn my wheels either right or left.

2. Noticeable shake/rattles when im driving 70+MPH, the shake gets life threaten when it passes 85+MPH.(feels like you are driving 4 cylinder 4X4 pickup truck with big-o-bad balanced-tires)

3. I made a quick lane change on highway(about 80MPH), car almost went outta control(like front wheels jump to right and rear jumps to left...)

 

It sounds to me like your wheels are falling off. Check your lug nuts.

 

Ok, so I finally had some time to look at my car at close detail. Turns out the part numbers don't match the paperwork. So now this makes me wonder what is it that the dealer has done all these times and what is up with those part numbers? I am totally baffled.

 

Hey Guys, I am new here. I just purchased a 2004 SE and my struts are making that same noise.. it is coming from both front right and left. The place where I bought the car from will do a 50/50 deal with me.. I pay half and they will replace it for me.. is this a good deal? It is out of manufactors warrenty but still under the powertrain warr. Is this something covered under the powertrain warr??? I love the car.. fully loaded with navi system and all. Also, my light switch on the roof is broke, the insides of the plastic switch are gone and it will not turn the lights on with DOOR/ ON/ or the OFF position. ANy ideas on fixing this... i could just use a piece of metal to make the contacts contact each other for it to work with the doors opening. Other that that it is a great car. Any help would be much apprectiated!!!

Thanks

 

I had my car in for service at the end of June and on the repair order, it says they replaced the two front struts with the correct replacements in which the part numbers end in 6. Where is the part number on these struts? Also Nissan corporate advised the service manager at a particular location that they were coming out with a NEWER suspension setup than the one they already came out with. Has anyone heard this.

I'm experiencing A VERY ROUGH RIDE while driving over minor road bumps. There is far more activity from the front and rear ends of the car than I feel there should be. The car wasn't like this when I got it and I only have 3000 miles on it. I have already taken it in for suspension and they "say" they replaced it. I'm taking it back tomorrow and HOPEFULLY they're less full of feces than the last service center I brought it to. Nissan is on the line and I am the proud owner of a 79cent spiral notebook ....

 

I thought struts had a long warranty. No way would I go 50/50. Call Nissan and find out the true strut warranty. It was redisigned. Even though it's not recalled (yet), they know the original design was bad and should replace free.

 

I'm not 100% sure about Nissan because i'm back after 6 years of owning a VW but VW only offered a 12,000 mile / 12 month warranty on the suspension. However I have heard of people getting 3 years/36,000 on them. I guess it depends on whether or not the service guys got some the night before. I keep having nightmares of service departments !!!!

 

I was at my dealer today for some work on my '04 and heard the dealer say "do not replace anymore struts in the new maxima's w/o calling nissan". Apparently Smyrna wants to know about it before they get replaced

 

That's an interesting comment. I think that many of the 6th gens have at minimum noisy struts. Perhaps they are going to finally recall the car and put on some decent struts....Wouldn't that be nice...now to dream about $$$ and women....

 

All sounds good but I want to think that all of the struts that are on nissans shelves are the "newer" ones without the "thump problem". They had the stock pilled in all of the nissan delerships ready to put in the maxipads.

I noticed mine rides a lot tighter now. I will have to look at the part number and post it for all of you.

Also, anyone have any suggestions on how to fix the dome light switch (on, door, off) main switch for the interior lights????

 

it appears that KYB will be making some struts for our cars soon, but no date has been established yet. I don't know about KYB's reputation. Any word?

 

well, i have kyb/back konis/front so i can't really say. i haven't experienced any problems with them, so far

 

i had my front struts replaced twice next time i want to go have them done with aftermarket parts and new springs and bill nissan for all the time i have wasted

 

Well it's been a while for me, but I had only had the car about 3 months and I had the front 2 replaced.

Seems ok so far, and Im at 16K miles.

What are symptoms of bad struts?

 

Signs of bad struts are:

Oil leaks. A light oil film is acceptable.

Binding or freezing.

Shock will not extend/compress.

Mounting problem.

Worn bushing or mount.

Wear.

Does not dampen. Fails bounce test.

Gas leaks.

Rod fails to extend fully on its own.

Noise.

Internal clicking only. Excludes loose mount or worn bearings.

Most often you will know your struts are bad because there is a clunking noise coming from the wheel well when going over bumps. Also if you have an older car...if you push down on the car and it takes more than 2 bounces to stop the car from bouncing then you probably want to look at buying some new struts.

Nissan struts are noisy. I feel that there is a design defect with the struts on 04 maximas and some early 05's. I think Nissan fixed this issue mid 05 production from seeing few complaints on 05 models. In the stickies, and on past pages in this postr are the correct strut p/n's. At this Point I know that the SE model with 5 speed tranny should have a 54302 7y426 and 54303 7y426. I don't know about the SL models, but I think those struts are way better than the SE model.

I think that the low profile tires plus a larger rim and poorly designed suspension has cause a lot of struts to fail prematurely. Altough I cannot prove this, it appears that 50%-60% of SE owners have had strut issues. To me this clearly proves something is wrong with the struts and or design. Nissan issued a TSB for the noisy tires/struts in a TSB that calls for extra padding in the carpeting to isolate the noise. They are just putting band-aids on the true issue. I think Nissan learned from this mistake and the next generation will be better. I have little confidence in the fron suspension/steering setup. Too many people have issues with the struts and shimmy. The maxima is not the only vehicle effected by the shimmy. The SUV's aren't much better from motorweek reports on TV. Overall the maxima provides great value for the money, but if I had to do it all over again I would have waited for a mid generation vehicle.

 

KYB makes our struts FYI. There is one other supplier, but I don't know who.

 

Last Saturday I took my car in AGAIN for the clunky noise coming from the front. They replaced both struts, spacers and the stabilizer links (recommended by my mechanic that used to work on my benz) and you know what, its still clunky. Once I leave the dealer the noise is not apparent, but after one or two days its baaack. It also never seems to make the noise the day before I bring it to the dealer, WTF. The service department has been helpful but this is getting on my nerves, and I've started to just look at this car as a daily driver (in a rental sense) and not much more than that. The front end of this car is just flakey. Sometimes it feels on point, and sometimes it just seems loose and uncontrollable.

 

you think there is any chance to get the struts replaced with about 42k on the car? you think they will put out a tsb on this?

 

getting an appointment for my wifes 04 tomorrow. 20,000 and clunky as a meat wagon.

 

04 leftover - replaces both before 10K. new ones seem to be holding up. so far....

 

I purchased my 2004 Max back in July and it only had around 21,000 miles on it. The dealer sold me the car which was advertised as passing a quality point inspection. Obviously they had failed to inspect fully or they overlooked problems. When I drove the car home i noticed a noise coming from the front end when riding over bumps. I definitely did not hesitate taking it back to the dealer when they discovered I needed new front struts. Both were replaced free of charge.

 

I bought my car in April 2005. At 2500 I got both front struts replaced. Now after 15000 I got front right strut replaced again. But then again I live in NYC and work downtown Brooklyn - the roads here are non-existent for the lack of a better word.

 

Help,
I purchased an 04 SE back in May. The vehicle had tire noise when I bought. The service guy indicated that it needed new tires. I purchased 4 new tires, and four months later the noise returned. I started also hearing clunking noise. Therefore, I took the car back to Nissan. The service guy indicated it was both front struts. As I left the dealer, it still felt like heard the same noise, however, not as loud. I drove it for two weeks and noticed the noise had not disappear. I took the car back two days ago and the techincian indicated the problem could not be duplicated. Yet agin I took it back insisting the clunking noise exist, however, very subtle. The service technician called me back and indicated it was the sway bar that needed to be changed, however, I picked up the car and still noticed the same noise. Can someone guide me as to what this noise can be? Has someone had this similar problem?

 

is there any news on a tsb for these strut probs? i have had mine for a little over 2 1/2 years and want new ones, but dont want to pay for em

 

I had my struts replaced last May 04. Well my right side has gone bad again.
I am out of the 12 month\12000 mile Warranty. I have 52000 miles now.
To replace the one side is $279 at the dealer.

What would you do? Call Nissan and complain? like that will get me somewhere. My first set lasted 34000. The new one didn't evan make a year but has 18000 miles on in. ughhh

 

Wow, that is pretty disgusting. What kind of roads are you driving on? Do they even have a strut boot over them?

I'd definately file a complaint with both Nissan and the better Business Bureau if they dont handle it. Not sure what good that will do. But I say replace those struts with some aftermarket ones, Tokicos, KYB, etc. and call it a day.

 

question slash help

did you guys have to pay when you got your strut replaced??

my front passenger side strut blew and i had to pay

 

........

 

I had to repace struts for the third time. At 29500 miles.

 

No it was still under warranty. Once you hit 36000 miles warranty is out and you would have to pay.