Is it time to start thinking about visiting the dealer?

I have almost 80k miles on my 2003 SE Auto. Car is covered under bumper-to-bumper Nissan extended warranty, which i have never used. I have 15k miles on it before it expires.

Car has stock suspension, except front strut bar and read sway+strut bar. I am running 17" Z wheels. Nothing extreme as you can see.
I drive the car a lot and i push it sometimes....but i keep up with the maintenance every 5k miles. No other problems on the car, excpet shaky steering wheel when stopping, due to bad front rotors/brakes. (new 6gen ones are waiting to be installed)

It's been a few weeks since i started noticing this high pitch "squeak" when i make a turn while going over a bumpy surface....or when i'm driving over bad road. It's hard to describe how it sounds, but it sounds like something is loose somewhere on the front passenger side and/or needs some grease!!! It comes from under the hood direction. It is NOT a belt...and it does not sound like a belt. It's a short squeky noise that i hear only over bumps. I do not feel any vibrations anywhere, /except my old brakes/.

Any ideas? What could be loose? I am 99% sure that this is a first sign of something going bad. Unfortunately, the dealer is going to say that they do not hear anything. Or maybe...i should not tell them initially that i have the warranty.?

Thanks!

 

I have a squeak similar to what you are describing. Low quiet and you can hear it when hitting bumps, and also I can hear it up front when closing the doors. I have narrowed it down to the bump stops on the hood. I cleaned off the dust and it stopped for about 15 minutes then came back. I think the only solution is to fix the alignment of the hood, such as raise it up.

I would try that, see if its a similar problem. If not, I got to work on my typing skills

 

i am having somewhat of a similar problem with my 00 mix that has about 80k on it. mine is commint from what sounds like the front drivers side wheel. but mine squeeks really bad when i hit about 45-50. it sounds just like somethin needs the be lubed up but im not sure. any ideas???

 

I am on the same boat as everyone else that has posted. I have the problem when riding over bumps but also if I make a u-turn I can hear it slightly too. It isn't very annoying but definately should not be there. If anybody has a solution to this please let me and everybody else know.

 

This sounds like a wheel bearing....

 

Squeaks! I got'em too. 2000 Maxima with about 65K miles. A squeaky metallic noise when I hit small bumps, sounds like its from the front. I wonder if it could be coming from the brake calipers?

I'll check the rubber hood stops. I thought of the brake calipers because on a friend's Chevy that's what it was.

 

its is the rubber stops for the hood i had the exact same sound. i thought it was the struts or something up front, but i replaced them ( rubber stops)and it has now stopped. it scared me everytime i closed my doors i would hear the squeak i thought my baby was falling apart on me. i couldnt find them anywhere except at the dealer. hope this helps. God bless!

 

I recently got my drive axle splines regreased. Here's my write up from last week. http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=468175

 

Calipers don't typically squeak when you hit bumps.

 

i've had two squeaks. 1 i got rid of by moving the two fronts seat back and forth. the second one i still have because whenever i took it to the dealer to get it checked, the squeak would disappear.

 

This is the part that i HATE! I hear it all the time over bumps, but if i take the car to the dealer ....no, no no, there is nothing that they can hear, especially since my car is still warranty. That's why, if its something small/cheap, i am willig to fix it on my own.
I need to check the rubber stops for the hood. Sounds like an easy place to start.

 

i have what seems to be the same problem with my car, i took it and put it on a rack, messed around with stuff and figured out that my sound is some squeaking inside the transmission(auto). not sure where inside the tranny it is and dont care to look, but thats where my problem is you might want to look there if its not the bumpstops on the hood.

 

The rubber stops under the hood are a good place to start, I never even thought of that. Some of our hoods rattle pretty badly. Especially if you have a CF hood without pins. Let me know if that solves the problem. Stealership should always be your last resort.

 

The reason i am comming back to this topic is that the "squeak" is now present almost at ALL times and i discovered how to "simulate" it. It got worse, i guess.

Today, at a parking lot, when i parked my car, turned the engine off and left the car, when i shut the driver side door -- i heard the squeak again!!! I used to think that it can be heard only when the car is in motion. I was wrong.
I opened and closed the door 4-5 times to simulate the squeak and i could hear it over and over again. Every time i closed the door, it was there. The car was off and it was not in motion. The noise was comming from the front of the car.

To rule out the hood rubber stops, i lubed ALL rubber stops that touch the hood when closed. It did NOT make any difference. I can still hear the high pitch squeak when driving or when car is parked and i shut the front door.

Where could this be comming from??? Everything under the hood looks fine. No loose parts, no rust, no broken/missing parts. Yet, this super annoying squeak is there, even when i drive on almost smooth roads. It drives me crazy!! This is a 2003 model car, yet it sounds and squeaks like it is 1990.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

I know sometimes when I close my door I get a flapping squeaking sound too but from the behind the left rear wheel which is where the overflow gas flap is located. Maybe that's what you hear when you close the door. Just my .02

 

damn nissans and their squeeks, i have the exact problem, going over bumps or when i close the door hard. i opened my hood and started to hit the front area where the noise was coming from, i really cant tell exactly where, but someone mentioned to use litium grease, so im just gonna spray the damn thing all over. seems like its coming from the plastic headlight area.

 

The squeak i hear seem to disappear when i open the hood or even when i have it almost closed. Sounds lihe the hood touches something that makes that noise. Can't be the hood rubber stops because i covered them all in libricant and it did not make any difference.

I'm so confused! I need to get this fixed and i don't want to involve the dealer who would probably do nothing. This weekend, i will explore more.
If anyone comes up with any new ideas - please share them!

Thanks!

 

yeah the dealer wont do jack, i put my head close to the bay and had someone close the door hard, its just so hard to pinpoint where, so my suggestion is to spray all over. i didnt have time, but im gonna get it done, its annoying and makes my car sound cheap.

 

OK, i am happy! I discovered where the damn squeak was comming from!!! My car is quiet just like it was when new.

Mr. rcruise02 was 100% right with his advice!!! The noise came from the rubber stops on the hood! Yes, the two rubber stops under the hood. I lubed them last week and the squeak was still there, that's why I decided that it was not comming from them. I was wrong.

I spent time this weekend looking around and under the car and couldn't find anything. Then, i removed the rubber hood stops completely and i shut the door a few times to test. The squaks were gone! I guess, even though they were well lubed on the top (the part that touches the hood) the area where they were attached to the frame was making them squeak. Btw, they are "bolted" in.

I took them to the dealer and asked for replacement. The parts guy told me that he sees/hears about this problem very often. He said that these ruber parts on the car "dry" quickly and become very noisy. I ordered a pair of new rubber stops and they should be here on Wednesday. (spent ~$20) For now, i am driving around without any rubber hood stops. I love my quiet (again) Maxima!

 

Do you know the part number?

 

its probably your strut mount bearing

 

My 03 Max GLE has 17k miles and I hear squeaks occasionally when I make a turn. It can come from the front or the rear of the car and it sounds like it is from the undercarriage. So, I really don't think it is the rubber stop from the hood that is causing my problem. Because the squeak comes and goes, it is very hard to duplicate. The mechanic that I am friendly with told me it cannot be from the wheel bearing, as that would cause a constant squeak and the car would sound much noisier. I don't know what to do because I am quite sure when I go to the dealer, I will be told that they cannot replicate the problem.

 

again, IF YOU ARE EVER TOLD BY THE DEALER THAT THEY CANNOT DUPLICATE/REPLICATE THE PROBLEM, ride in the car with them, and SHOW them the problem. that way they have 'verified the concern'. if the car is under warranty, they are then required to fix it as long as its an abnormal condition.

 

i had the same problem and i taught it was a wheel bearing but i work at a dealer and the mechanic is a good friend of mine so i told him if he could check it for me and it came to be the drive axle shaft or something so hopefully tommorow ill take it to the stealership.