Maybe CV Joint

HEARTMAN76

MEMBER
NISSAN MAXIMA

I have a 2003 Nissan Maxima SE V6 with 53,000 miles. I drive a lot in NYC and on the highways going upstate and long island. Lately I've been hearing a deep noise (not sqeeking) coming out of the left front wheel. The noise is more prevalant in the morning when I first drive and then comes and goes sporadically. I have recently taken the car to my mechanic and had the front pad and rotors changed as well as the rear pads. I asked him to inspect the bearing and he said they where fine. Maybe some could give me some insight as to what might be the cause of the problem. Thank you for your time.

1 Reply

DATSUNRAISED

MEMBER
37 POSTS

The only way you should be having a problem with the cv joints is if the boots have been torn. The easiest way to inspect them would be from underneath the car, but if they are really bad, some wear should be seen from inside the engine compartment. If you can, ask the mechanic how the caliper was doing. One way to check is if there was quite a bit more wear on the inner pad as opposed to the outer. I would assume that he checked for any unnatural rubbing of loose panels inside the wheel-well, so that shouldn't be it. As far as finding the source of the noise, if it makes the noise while the car is idling, then you can do some self diagnosis. A mechanics stethescope can be purchased fairly cheaply at any auto parts store, but if you don't plan on doing a lot of work with one in the future a long funnel should suffice. If the only way to hear the noise is while in drive, then I couldn't recommend that endeavor for safety concerns, heh heh