JAANND

I just took my 04 Maxima to Nissan service. I was getting the steering wheel shimmy, my brakes were pulsating, and I had a blown strut. The replaced my RF strut, replaced 2 rotors (b/c I had a brake problem a couple thousand miles ago which they turned the rotors), and they also balanced my tires. It's not shimmying anymore so I'm guessing that the balance fixed the problem. I also had them check the tire pressure and make sure I was running 32 psi in all my tires. My question is, if the I was having the steering wheel shimmy problem and balancing the tires fixed the problem, is that covered under warranty? They covered everything besides balancing under warranty. I was a little surprised when they told me I owe them 71 dollars and some change. I paid it b/c I wasn't positive but shouldn't that have been covered under warranty? Can I go back with some type of documentation if it is and ask for them to refund my money? Please advise. Thanks.

Tek-Niq

iTrader: (3)

I heard nissan was getting a new balancing machine for their dealers, so maybe..

Smoken'04

iTrader: (2)

the last time I brought my '04 in for the dreaded shimmy, I paid nothing out of pocket including balancing

Monotaur

When I took my car in, they didn't even want to see the TSB - just told me to go balance the tires (because that is the problem...). I would think that the road force test (or whatever it's called) would be covered under warranty because it is called for in the TSB... but I don't think a normal balance is.

Oh, and after balancing the tires, my wheel still shimmied... but they couldn't reproduce it of course. So, I'll bring it up again when I go in for the next maintenance.

NismoMax80

iTrader: (6)

did you call nissan?

04BlackMaxx

In my experience its something that comes and goes with no apparent rhyme or reason. Its nothing really major though, and I have the best of tires and a balancing done twice.

HzMajesty

iTrader: (1)

i have a VERY slight shimmy at 80mph (not nociable by anyone i let drive my car-but i know its there)...

being as detailed as i am, i HAD to get it fixed. So i had the dealer balance the tires at my request (paid $101.22) - but its still there.

NashMax

HzMajesty- If you are very, very picky about it....have the tires balanced on the car. That made mine ride smooth as silk. Because of this, I am going to try replacing the rotors. I had Michelin tires put on, rotors turned and steering rack friction adjustment and still shimmy. I then (for no good reason) had the tires balanced on the car and voila!! no more shimmy. This is only a temporary solution as now I can't rotate tires, but at least I know it IS a balance issue...just not the tires. Tires were balanced 4 times at the dealership when the Michelins were mounted and still had the shimmy but 2 days later balanced on the car and none. Look at this thread...

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=374766

As bad as the grammar is, I think it may shed some light on my problem. Something that rotates on my car is out of balance. It is not the tires or rims, but I will find it. And when I do.....

NashMax

Call 1-800-Nissan-1 and tell them that you got charged to have a TSB service performed under warranty. I have had my tires balanced no less than 10 times at the dealership under warranty. Then I hit Goodyear up for some more freebies. Goodyear won't even take my car into their shop anymore. The only balancing I have had to pay for was the on-car balancing at a hole-in-the-wall speed/custom shop here in Nashville. See above post.

HzMajesty

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info!!

will the dealer balance them on the car? or do i have to go somewhere else?
estimate on cost?

thanks

brewboy13

My story is almost identical to yours as far as problems go. However, I have not paid for a balance job nor will I. They did a Road Force balance two weeks ago still a shimmy. Then I took it back because my rf strut was in so they did another balance, replaced the strut, but said there is no shimmy. Bull $hit I still have a freaking slight shimmy. A $31k car that shimmy's Also I had to have my rotors turned which really baffles me that rotors had to be turned at 11k miles! I had about three problems period on my 95 MAX SE and I had 250k miles on it. What is wrong with this car? I love it but there should not be problems that can not be eliminated quickly. I would have bought a Domestic car if I wanted problems. I have other issues as well but they have been resolved quickly.

I will say this though I bought a warranty that gives me a rental car and that makes it easier to be away from my ride. So far I have had a Lincoln LS and Nissan Armada and let me tell you that thing is a tank very nice but a tank!

NashMax

You will have to call around to find someone that does this. I think there is only one place in Nashville that will do it. I called a custom automotive store and asked them where to go. The guy who did it said $20 per tire CASH. I said ok. He did his thing while I watched and he only had to do 3 of them. He then told me to drive it and then come back and pay him the $60 bucks. I asked him what if I am not satisfied and he said "Oh, you will be back." Cocky, but he has every reason to be. If you have never seen this done before, there is a guide that is put on the inside of each rim and the tire is spun in the air. The guide tells the operator how much weight is needed, but not where it is needed. That part is visual. This guy had a strobe light and a tire pencil and he was good.

While I was at this place, the guy mounted 4 red line tires onto corvette rims, worked on a Toyota Tundra with 20's, a denali with 22's and the Max. Respect.

lobewiper

I'm happy that you're happy! So, why don't you tell us the name and address of the store so others can benefit?

NashMax

Alex Hendry's Alignment and Balancing in Nashville, TN. Local shop.

Proceedbob

My tires were balanced three times (Hunter) road force, blah, blah... No change other than it varied in intensity. I took the car to a Goodyear dealer for tire warranty possibility, they road forced/balanced also but used a clamping fixture that holds the rim by its lug nut holes (five fingered thing), not the center hole with a cone, fixed the problem. Even the TSB shows using a cone, seek out the dealer with the fingers.

Baloo588

Hey guys, please help me out, My car steering wheel is vibrating when I am breaking and I only got 19,000 miles on my car, and it is a 2004 SL. I heard that it had to be the rotors being warped, and is it covered under warranty??? It better, or else its gonna be a pain to pay up.

Dave

04BlackMaxx

Whoa Whoa....whats he talking about?

BadBlackMaxSL

iTrader: (1)

First, I thought it was the tire that was plugged to fix a flat right front tire. I didn't know the tire was like this when I bought the car 2 weeks ago. They gave me a new Conti tire and I got the car back Friday night. Drove it on the highway today and it had the shimmies, it was really bad when the tires were cold (it was 55 degrees out today) and it seemed to get a little better after 20 miles of highway driving and the tires warmed up. After doing more reading on this subject I am scared to death of what problems lay ahead to fix this. Let's see, some of you had rebalanced tires, replaced tires, rotors, struts and steering components and no ONE thing has fixed the problem. I need advice, I am calling my salesman tomorrow, Monday, to tell him about this and that I want it fixed, permanently. What will it take for this problem to go away? A new car? Refund? An Altima? An Accord? Man, my wife is gonna be pissed when I tell her about this, this car was 100% my call and she won't let me forget it either.
This is not my first Nissan, I had a 2002 Max SE, had some steering issue problems too but those were fixed with new ball joints and I have a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder LE. I just got rid of my 2002 Acura TL for this new Max SL and now I'm doubting if I made the right decision. My Acura never had a defect in the 4 years I had it, just changed the oil and put gas in her. **** me, I love everythig else about the Max but I can't stand the shimmies.

Monotaur

I've been in the same boat ever since I got the car... whenever I had to take her in for a TSB, I was always afraid my wife would get mad at me for choosing the wrong car (she wanted the 300M...I wanted the Max). Luckily, I think I'm over most of the early-produciton related TSBs now... basically, only the shimmy remains.

Good luck.

BadBlackMaxSL

iTrader: (1)

My dealer just got a brand new Hunter GSP9700 in their shop and I will be one of the first customers to use it. I will be going in next week to see if I can shake my shimmies once and for all.

JPBOSS

Be sure to come back and let us know what happens with the new Balancer?

JP

Glude

iTrader: (5)

Man I had my car done on the new hunter machine and I still have the shimmy. I just live with it. Its not near as bad as my rotors when I brake. Now thats scary.....

glennjr

Just got my 04 back from the dealership. Rotors had to be reindexed and front brake pads needed to be replaced. Rotors were done under warranty as the car only has 17K but they charged me $79 for the pads. No more pulsating or shimmy during braking. Tech told me tires need to be replaced thru goodyear as the sidewall was seperating and he said when balanced correctly the shimmy will be gone. They also replaced my grill due to the peeling. The stock rotors on these cars are made of a composite material (garbage). The steel ones are a little heavier but will last a hell of alot longer than these frisbees. A side note: when can I post new threads, I have been a member for over a month?

04BlackMaxx

kinda strange im at 34,000 miles with original brake pads and rotors and no shimmy or shake whatsoever.

BadBlackMaxSL

iTrader: (1)

I look forward to being able to post some good news about my shimmies going away. It really takes away from a great driving experience with this car.

BadBlackMaxSL

iTrader: (1)

Hey Glude,
Did you change your front springs, struts and got new tires and you still have the shimmies? If so, then the problem we have is in the steering column or elsewhere. It does mention to adjust the steering rack sliding force in the TSB 04084. I wonder if that's where our problem is?

qlaval

You need to answer threads at least 15 times before you're able to post new threads, this is done to avoid spammers.

glennjr

Thanks Glaval!! In an effort to get this shimmy taken care of I took another large step today. As per Nissans advice I took the car to the local goodyear dealer and requested 4 new tires. Guy at Just Tires put the car on the lift and agreed with the Nissan Tech that the tires were defective so new ones will be ready to go on Friday. I am contemplating getting the liftime service plan on these tires since they cost so much and seem so sensitive to balancing. The charge is $150 but gives me unlimited balancing, rotating, and hazard insurance for the life of the tires. Tires are $217 each so it may make sense. Has anyone upgraded the stock rotors yet?

BadBlackMaxSL

iTrader: (1)

Do you have to pay for the new tires since the old ones are defective or are they prorating them based on treadwear? I have the ContiTouring on my SL, 3 wear made in the USA and my newest one (the dealer replaced a fixed flat tire) was made in France. I have heard great things about the Bridgestone Turenzas but you have the SE so you would probably prefer something a little more sporty, like the Potenzas.

Proceedbob

This: http://www.hunter.com/pub/product/ba...3T/3203T-7.htm look for it, it works, if you continune to balance using the rim center hole you are waisting time and money.

Galo

Glenn....first of, youre not contemplating actually paying for these defective tire, right?? If you are, you cannot be seriously contemplating re-instaling another set of SR-A's, right? I mean, thoise are lousy, lousy tires.....there are FAR BETTER tires out at MUCH LESS $$$ than the RSAs.

Check the TireRack web site, the RSAs are rated very, very poorly in just about every category. They were the OEM tires in my old Gen4 Maxima and they sucked....

JAANND

The TSB shows using a cone? So then the way Nissan does it is correct but you're saying that Goodyear used the clamping fixture, which worked better? Wad that a typo? Did you mean that the TSB shows using the clamping fixture? Also, did Goodyear charge you for that, or is that covered under some type of tire warranty?

glennjr

Galo, hell no I am not paying anything for the tires. They are putting the same ones back on which I am not thrilled about. They did not give me any other options. I just want a car that does not shimmy when driving over 35MPH. Is this so much to ask for Nissan?

glennjr

No charge for the tires Bad, no prorate charge either. They are charging me $13 for balancing. If there are any issues with these new ones I am going to raise hell and then look into something like the Potenzas.

diamondgirl

Hi. I am going through the same thing. It started at 150 miles. First they aligned and balanced the front end at 3500 miles. Everything seemed fine for a short time. I have now had the car back in the shop seven times for the same problem. Today I took the service manager and the lead technician for a ride just they could feel what I was talking about. So far they have turned one rotor, done two alignments, rotated the tires and balanced and just recently replaced both front rotors and brake pads. Today they said that they are going to try adjusting the rods and rack. Is there some sort of defect here or what? I will tell you one thing. I have not paid one dime, not even for the oil changes that were done while the car was in for the other problem. They just did it for free b/c of the other issues. I did not ask for the freebie. I just want my car fixed.

diamondgirl

One more thing: when I asked the service manager what was going on he not only told me that they have had trouble with the rotors warping on this model (because they are 12.1 inches and not high performance with the holes in them, so not enough air flow is getting to them to cool them off) but also with front end vibration. My guess is the front end suspension is what is causing all of the rotor and alignment issues. Something and I don't know what is definitely wrong. If anyone can help me, I would sure like to know more. I am just persistant woman with not much knowledge about cars except that they should not shake and shimmy when you are driving.

04BlackMaxx

Hey! I think you're the only 6th gen girl here!

diamondgirl

This is my third SE Maxima. I am really disappointed. I just need to know where to go from here. Obviously, there is some kind of major front end problem. Help? Thanks for the welcome.

Tek-Niq

iTrader: (3)

looks like we got a few new people.......

pae1215

iTrader: (3)

get your tires balanced somewhere else. I went in to nissan for 7500 mile check up...because i had aftermarket wheels they sent them out to a speed shop to have them balanced. he gave me a story that he couldnt balance them (didnt charge me either for it) Well no shimmy what so ever. I still have the stock RSA's on them.

also how are the roads by you...yeah I get a shimmy like sometimes, but thats because of the roads arent paved that great.