Joseph Zheng

I just got back from college about a month ago and was reunited with my beloved max however I have some problems i was hoping to get some advice on. It’s a 2004 max with around 20,000 miles on it. I drive it to work from Maryland to Virginia everyday and I have begun experiencing some unnerving problems.

The most noticeable is my steering wheel shimmy. If i am driving above 60 mph and start breaking my steering wheel almost violently shakes at around 60 mph. I also feel that my break rotor seems to be warped as when i am braking at low speeds there are intermittent levels of break pressure (high, then low, repeat...). Are these two related? What can I do about this? Does warranty cover either? I know my friend with a 05 max had similar issue and they gave him a new set of tires?

The next I just began to notice as I usually have my music too loud so I haven’t noticed it. My car has began to squeak which I think is coming from the rear suspension but maybe from both. When I am driving on uneven pavement or go over bumps high pitched squeaking comes from the suspension. My car used to be smooth and when going over speed bumps there was an almost satisfying swoosh sound from the suspension which has been replaced by the squeaking. Is this anything to worry about?

I’m getting my oil changed soon so I want to bring it up with the dealership so I was wondering if there was any TBAs or anything of that sort to bring up or if any of these are common issues which they should know about. Thanks guys and good to be back!

Monotaur

Regarding the wheel vibrations when braking, yeah, that sounds a lot like warped rotors to me. Officially, Nissan only warranties rotors for 1 year/12K miles. However, some dealers will warranty them up to 3 years/36K miles - just depends on the dealer.

As for the other problem, I think this could be the somewhat common strut problem. This should be covered by Nissan up to 3 years/36K miles.

Yeah, when you are in the for oil change next ask them about it - even if they won't cover the rotors, it doesn't hurt to ask.

Good luck.

!PrjctMax!

iTrader: (38)

Couldn't have worded it better! ^^^^^^^^ And I have the all of the same problems you have as well: front struts I jsut replaced at 19,360 miles, shimmy I started to notice a few hundred miles ago at about 45mph+, but if i dont think of it then i won't feel it that much, because it isn't that bad, and the braking has been like that for a few thousand miles now, and i'm just going to get the brembo blanks and hawk HPS pads when they start squealing badly and/or the braking shimmy gets worse. Ya, idk why I just said all of that, lol but ya just wanted to tell you my experiences with the problems tht you ahve as well!

SLuxury

Sounds like the rotors are warped. If the delaer won't replace them, they might offer to resurface them... either way, the oem blanks are crap and will warp. I got a set of cross drilled rotors and haven't had a problem since.

I have to get my stock SL wheels balanced almost every oil change because of the shimmy.... I'm glad I purchased the unlimited balance package with my new tires.

As for the squeaking, they should replace the shock(s) for you. Your '04 has incredibly low mileage. Makes me jealous. I travel almost every week, but put on so many miles when I get back to my car on the weekends. I'm up to almost 50k now on my '04.

Good luck with your issues

xoomer.com

iTrader: (19)

I had that same problem with my max (04 @ 30k). I had no clue what this is so I went to the dealer and he told me that it's warped rotors.

The guy stated that the warranty would not cover these and offered to "cut" them. They did such a horrible job cutting them that my rotors looked like something coming from my 5 ton jeep after 20k miles. Anyway I argued with them that if it's warped its defective and it's a safety hazard. I said I am bringing it back in and when I did they replaced the rotors.

If you have to replace rotors yourself don't buy the crap from nissan, get brembo blanks which you can find in a group buy on this site. Oh yeah, they are cheaper and better.

Good luck.

CanadianMoFo

I just had my rotors cut with a machine that allows them to be done on the car. I highly reccomend it if you can find a shop that has the equipment for. It will compensate for any eccentricity in the hub/axle by cutting into the rotors surface. Rather than the old style lathe which machines them perfectly parallel but once you put them back onto the car they are not held perfectly vertical, and don't spin perfectly vertical when the car is moving.

CM

Joseph Zheng

How much are brembo blanks?

I told the dealership about my problems when i brought it in. Said they would look into both and call me during the day. Regarding the squeeking suspension issue they at first said it wasn't the struts claiming that bad struts is indicated by a rattling noise from the front. But, they said they would look at it, so i guess well see. Any ideas?

xoomer.com

iTrader: (19)

EDIT: Brand new, just became available!!
2004 - 2005 Nissan Maxima
Solid Faced:
-Front- PN 28541 $59
-Rear- PN 25689 $55

Here is the link

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=422678

Joseph Zheng

The resurfaced my rotors under warrenty and now breaking is very smooth. They also said they tightened some screw for the rear window or something regarding the squeeking noise from my suspension and no suprise that didnt work. Help?

xoomer.com

iTrader: (19)

[QUOTE=Joseph Zheng]The resurfaced my rotors under warrenty and now breaking is very smooth. QUOTE]

They resurfaced the rotors under warranty??? They did it so that you wouldn't argue about replacing them. This rotors are bad from start and now they are even thinner, this won't last!

I recommend you get brembo blanks sooner than later. Just my 2 cents

Joseph Zheng

Brembos do look appealing, sorta want them slotted or drilled tho, but i doubt any dealership will replace brake rotors at 20,000 miles so ill take the free resurfacing which do seem to solve the problem for now. But since im paying more than 40 g's a year for tuition new brakes might have to wait since ill prob need to drop round 800 for new set of tires soon too, they last 30,000 miles or so right?

xoomer.com

iTrader: (19)

I made a fuss at the dealer about the brakes being warped and my statement was that if it warped it was defective. The guy said that if you overheat the breaks they will warp and I told him that they would be discolored is they were overheating. Anyway because they did a very poor job on resurfacing, they just decided to replace them. That was at about 27K miles.

Yeah, I am little over 31k miles and they RS-As are gone. I will have to shell out about $800 bucks for set of tires too and the only thing that worries me here in New York is that if you want performance tires they will suck in the winter and we do have some snow every once in a while.

jc53

It's no exaggeration when I say that I have to have my rotors worked on every other oil change (every 6K miles). It's getting old. By the way, I have an '04.