2002 Nissan Altima Tons of noise in front end leads to neve

TIMASIMOS7

MEMBER
2002 NISSAN ALTIMA
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
112,000 MILES

I have had a growing noise in my driver's side front end. Recently got new brakes on the front to pass inspection. Upon looking into the load noise (a grinding, squealing, metal noise) I was told that I had a bad axle and hub bearing. Noise seemed to go away but after a week, the noise started coming back and my steering and brakes were very rough and shaky. Took it back to the shop and was told that the ball joint/control arm needed to be replaced. They said it looked fine two weeks before but for no apparent reason had worn out in 2 weeks. Paid for that. Next day noticed a constant squeally noise when moving, you can hear it spins with the wheel. My question is do all of these repairs sound kosher? Can the ball joint just go bad? Are they fixing symptoms and not the disease? Have you ever heard of all those parts wearing out at the same time. It does have 112,000 miles on it. I am taking car back tomorrow for the new noise, but I am scared to death to find out what is next. Just doesn't add up.

1 Reply

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Hi timasimos7,

Thank you for the donation.

Ball joints don't go bad suddenly. Probably problem was there but was not diagnosed earlier. Nissan suspension system is their weak link and leaves much to be desired.

If the shop comes up with additional excuses, I would say they are not up to the mark and there could be other faulty components that were not diagnosed correctly and it is time for you to get a new mechanic.

So far the repairs carried out looks to be in order but the squealing noise is most likely an after product of the repair. I would suspect the brake backing plates to brushing against the brake rotors causing it.

While working on the lower control arm, the backing plate has been disturbed and is now brushing against the brake rotor. Pushing the backing plate away from the rotor to get aditional clearance should solve the problem.