Question for anyone that may have experienced this issue or has an idea of what it may be. A few days ago my 2010 Maxima started making a noise that appears to be coming from the front passenger side. The best I can describe the noise is it sounds like a very aggressive tread snow tire or a piece of plastic rubbing the tire. It's hard to hear the noise but once you notice it you can't ignore it. The car just hit 35000 miles and has a set of Pirelli all seasons with less than 5k miles on them, so I'm not thinking its a belt in the tire. It appears to get slightly louder as you go faster and is non existent below 25mph. We jacked the front tires up today and spun them to about 60 and noticed the noise was very faint but present by the passenger tire. We couldn't find any plastic piece rubbing or vibrating anywhere under the car. Im thinking it's a wheel bearing but this just doesn't sound like a wheel bearing noise to me as I know what that sounds like when it happened on my Passat. There was also no play in the tire whe we pulled and tried to wiggle
It. In addition, I would think that the bearing would last longer than 35k, but who knows with everything being made in Mexico and China now. If it gets louder over time then I'll have my answer, I just don't have the time or money right now to take the car to a Nissan dealership. If it is a bearing does anyone know the total cost to have this repaired at the dealer. Any opinions would be helpful!

 

It's most likely your bearing. They are somewhat of a common issue with these cars. Mine went at at 47k. It will get louder with time. Also, it was covered under the factory powertrain warranty. I believe it would have cost in the low $300 range if I remember correctly.

 

If you are concerned about cost the dealer is probably not the best place to take the car.

 

Word to the wise. My brother's Mazda 3 had sort of same symptoms last year. Had roaring noise with braking and corner (when stressing affected side). Very typical roaring noise from wheel bearings. If you stress it, it sounds louder. And I DEFINITELY tried to stress it to the max to nail down the problem. I told him to take it back to Mazda STAT because his wheel bearing was bad. His girlfriend was driving it the next day and the tire popped at 30mph. Fortunately not in the interstate at 80mph as I had been the day before. Tires replaced and noise gone. Never had any idea that tires could make that kind of noise, but they sure can. It was an awful roaring noise that was identical to wheel bearing noise. But it wasn't wheel bearings. It was the tire.

Just something to think about. Rotate tires to rule out tires as culprit. Just a suggestion.

 

The OP says he has new tires on his car with less than 5k on them. Did your friend have old worn out tires or were they new and just defective? Either way, I guess it's worth a shot. OP, you can rotate yourself or find a coupon for free or discounted rotations at a local shop or dealership.

 

That issue to me sounds like a broken or loose steel belt INSIDE the tire, which has happened to me and sounded like that, so I think these are your two areas to probe = Tire and wheel bearing. This may also explain why your physical tests revealed nothing since the tire isn't moving while you are diagnosing and the wheel appeared fine. That said, it could still be a bad bearing.

 

Turns out both front wheel bearings were bad, they were also covered under the power train warranty . Thanks everyone for the advice!

 

im glad this is covered under the power train warranty... i wouldnt expect it to be.. my passenger side seems to be going and im at 47K on my '10

 

Outstanding! Glad everything worked out for you! That's what the forum is here for...helping others!