I was getting a hum from what sounded like my left front wheel before my recent drive to Charlotte, NC. The car ran fine and I rotated the tires while I was there because I thought (hoped) the hum might be caused by mire tires. By the time I got back to Mass, I was getting a clunk, clunk, clunk noise from the left front wheel, especially as I turned right. It is worse today. Its worse at low speeds and seems to lighten up when I let my foot off the gas or when I depress the clutch. I'm thinking its a tie rod end or the bearings. I'm hoping its not the bearings. Any ideas?

 

Could be a CV joint - did you inspect those?

 

do this...
go to the front left. push on your car (sideways) and listen for a clunk and see if the wheel moves any. See if there is any play in the left front wheel.

 

(and yes check the cv boots as well)

 

Oh man....I have this same problem. The only difference is that i have that clunk,clunk,clunk everytime i turn left and i hear that noise from my right front. I hear it every morning when im getting out of house or anytime i make a right turn kinda slow. I jacked up the car and the CV boot seems fine, no leaking or anything noticeable. Im thinking it could be something internal but i dont know what it could be? any ideas?

Thanks-

 

ball jointss?!?!?! im not sure just putting it out there

 

A humming noise, if it's not tires, usually points to wheel bearings.

 

Because I just joined and cannot start a new thread I have chosen to reply to the one most similar to my own problem. First off, I'm on my first maxima/first car and I plan on getting maximas for a very long time! I am slightly car ignorant and really want to learn some car maintenance and to recognize if I'm going to get ripped off at the mechanics. Help me please fellow Maxima nuts!

Here is my problem: I have a '95 maxima gle.
In the front left wheel well it makes a noise over some bumps. It is akin to a scraping or thunking noise. I took it in to get it looked at before a big trip I have coming up and the mechanic said it was nothing more than dirt in the bearing plate and it wasn't bad enough yet to warrant fixing. I listened to his *giant* explanations on how bearing plates work, where they are, and why they get funky and they made logical sense when paired with the fact that I had driven the car 60 miles a day to/from work on very winding, *dirty* roads. He said that it was ok for now. HOWEVER, I got up early this morning and went out to get coffee and its getting cold out. I am noticing that when it is cold, I hear the noise on like every single bump. Once it warms up in the day the noise lessens. This makes me nervous, especially since I will be driving to philadelphia in two weeks. Is this congruent with his explanation/diagnosis of a dirty bearing plate?

Is the man correct? Is it ok to keep driving it the way it is now? He said that I should expect the car to make some noise since it is older, not to worry for now, and that when it got *really* bad/needed fixing I would hear/feel it when I went to turn the car to park. Because I know nothing about cars I'm not sure it is safe to believe him and thus I appeal to y'all. If it does need fixing then about how much should I expect to pay for it?

Also, one mechanic told me I should have the transmission flushed soon...when I got a second opinion the second mechanic told me I shouldn't flush it with the mileage being as high as it is.

Finally, Should I consider selling this car before it gets much older? I have found a 99 Maxima GLE with 100,000 on it for just under 5k. Before I dump a lot of money into repairs I wanted to consider possibly upgrading a couple years. Is this a good idea?

Sorry to pepper y'all with questions but I'm desperately confused!

Bowing at y'alls mechanically-educated feet!
R.N.Weaver

 

Come on guys any other ideas? What the problem could be with the from suspencion?

 

I'm digging into it tomorrow or Friday and post my results. Any additional tips before then will be appreciated. Until then I'll drive my $200 beater car.

 

Is that a old Supra or a Celica? Either way those things rock!! They go forever.

 

Thats right nothing like toyota.....I love my Maxima but lets face it. TOYOTA engines are the Sh*T!!!

 

That's my 1985 Celica GTS. I bought it a couple weeks ago for $200 and put 1200 miles on it already. I'll probably spend more money fixing the problem with the maxima.

 

Definitely sounds like a wheel bearing issue.

 

I jacked up the car and shook the wheel. There is no play up/down or side/side. I also checked the cv boot. I replaced both axles last winter and the boots are good. The only thing I could see that might be a problem is one of the bolts that connects the back of the caliper to the little rubber sock was alittle loose. Actually, it was locked up to the weird nut which attaches to the rubber sock and both were turning. I tried to unscrew the bolt and it broke. So, now I need to replace the bolt, rubber sock, and the pin the rubber sock covers. I'm going to check the parts store but I guess this will be a dealer or junkyard purchase. Does anybody know whether this might have been the source of the hum then clunking noises?

 

Quite possible that your caliper was bouncing around... so yes... make sure you pull the entire caliper off, and clean/lube the pins and then re-install. You might be able to get the caliper pin bolt at a Napa, but not likely to get it anywhere else.

 

I got the pins tonight at Autozone. The kit of pins for two calipers was $26. They sold a whole caliper with pins for $36 plus core charge. If I hadn't painted my calipers then I probably would have gotten the whole new caliper. I'm going to try a local junkyard for a pin tomorrow. I may be able to get one pin for a buck or so and return the kit.

Anybody know what type of grease to put on the pin?

 

Get it at Autozone/Pepboys etc. Looks like you'll be making another trip to the store

 

Perfect;thanks.

 

Caliper is on tight after replacing the bad pin. The car is still humming and making an horrific crunching sound when I turn the wheel to the right, even slightly while driving. The strange thing is that when the wheel is crunching and I tap the break, the crunch goes away even when I let off the brake. Even more strangely, the crunch also goes away if I give the car more gas. I'm starting to rule out wheel bearings because I don't know why a tap on the brakes would impact bearings. I am leaning toward brakes but I don't know why giving the car more gas would stop the crunch if it were caused by brakes.

Any ideas?

 

Did they say they wouldn't take it if it was painted? A caliper is a caliper.