Creaking steeering wheel

Nissan Rogue forum - Includes Nissan Qashqai and Nissan Dualis as well.
AznJohn22
Posts: 210
Joined: Thu Jun 26, 2008 7:08 am
Car: 08 Nissan Rogue

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Bring my rogue to service tomorrow. hope they won't give me a run around and fix the clock spring.


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harryg
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Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 7:52 am
Car: 2009 Nissan Rogue SL AWD
Location: Canada Eh!

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they will probably take it for a test drive with the technician...make sure you go with him and point it out


AznJohn22
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Joined: Thu Jun 26, 2008 7:08 am
Car: 08 Nissan Rogue

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The service rep said they'll do the recall then a test drive.

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harryg
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o i had to take him on the test drive first to show him the creaking steering wheel before they replaced the clock spring

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kerrton
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Car: 2008 Nissan Rogue SL FWD Gotham Gray
Location: Southern Alberta, Canada

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I asked a master Nissan Tech an online question, he checked my VIN number and provided an awesome diagnosis considering he didn't even see the vehicle (remember I've had 3 clock springs replaced and this last one is starting to get noisy again too). Here is what he told me:

"Here is what I found and what I think you will need to have done. I would have the steering column checked. If the steering gear lock recall has been done and you can pull the wheel and it will stop making noise, then I would have the column checked as well as the steering gear and linkage. Now I saw from your history that you had a transmission done back in Nov of 08? ( As I said, the info was screwy, so I may be wrong). The Rack may have been touched when this work was done. So I would have them go over this whole steer system. I already explained what I think the noise is when turning.

You also have another open recall that I have no information on, but here is the recall number. PC022. The dealer will take care if this for you, just let them know that this recall is open on your Truck and they will take care of it for you.

If you have any more questions on this, please feel free to ask. Thanks Jay!"

This came from from JustAnswer.com and it cost me 9 bucks, which I consider a fair deal.

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kerrton
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Car: 2008 Nissan Rogue SL FWD Gotham Gray
Location: Southern Alberta, Canada

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Update:

There is now a Technical Service Buletin for this issue, so maybe they've figured it out. My clock spring has been replaced 3 times and the noise is slowly returning again. The brief summary of the TSB is as follows:

TSB No. NTB10019

IF YOU CONFIRM A rubbing noise coming from the spiral cable when turning the steering wheel. ACTION Replace the spiral cable locating cap. See this bulletin for further detail.

I don't have a subscription so can't see the "further details". I'm not sure if my locating cap has been replaced each time the clock spring was replaced, but I hope it wasn't because that would indicate something new to try that might just solve the problem.

philipa_240sx
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Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2007 7:30 am
Location: Canada

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Just updated the TSB list including the one you mentioned Kerrton.

I'll shoot you an e-mail with NTB10019 shortly.

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harryg
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Car: 2009 Nissan Rogue SL AWD
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I had my clock spring replaced at the beginning of winter for the creaking and so far no creaking...went through the winter without making a sound and still no sounds

AznJohn22
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Car: 08 Nissan Rogue

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The creaking is gone from the steering wheel. Could it be from the cold weather?

lilinvictor
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Joined: Thu Apr 22, 2010 1:10 pm
Car: Nissan Rogue

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I've just bought my Rogue 2010 one month ago, and met same issue now. Actually I don't quite concern about the noise, but what really bothers me is that whenever it has creaking noise, I always feel more resistance to turn the steering wheel. I tried several other cars of my friends, and obviously my steering wheel is not as flexible as theirs.
I think I need bring the car in a certain dealer to check and fix. Is this kind of issue free to fix under warranty? I'm new comer in U.S. and it's my first car, so no experience at all.

philipa_240sx
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Location: Canada

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Yup, bring it to the dealer. Your Rogue is still under warranty.

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kerrton
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Car: 2008 Nissan Rogue SL FWD Gotham Gray
Location: Southern Alberta, Canada

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You have a 3 year manufacturers warranty that covers all components of your vehicle, you definately do not have to live with a defect. I've had my clock spring/spiral cable replaced 3 times and the noise is back and just as loud as ever.

I checked with my dealer regarding the new TSB for the issue that directs them to no longer replace the entire clock spring (which by the way is around $400), but instead to replace the spiral cable locating cap. Each time my spiral cable was replaced, it was confirmed that this locating cap was also replaced so I am out of ideas as to why this problem keeps recurring. They've also replaced my entire steering wheel and air bag, and they said they inspected the steering rack although I don't have this documented. Good luck, I hope the first fix is all that you require to premanently rid you of this annoyance.

Also, if anyone gets this problem resolved by means other than a clock spring/spiral cable replacement, please let me know because my service guys are completely stumped by this one. The clock springs continuuing to fail logically would indicate another component is the problem, causing the clock springs to fail but no one can seem to track down any other possible causes. Any ideas would be very much appreciated!!

AznJohn22
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Car: 08 Nissan Rogue

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I don't hear the creaking steering wheel anymore. I think it must be the cold weather or the driver seat.

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kerrton
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Location: Southern Alberta, Canada

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My creaking steering wheel noise is much worse in cold weather, on a hot summer day the noise pretty much disappears, I can only hear it faintly. It's very odd that only some of us have the noisy clock springs while others are silent, and all 3 of mine have deteriorated and become noisy. There must be some issue with my steering column that causes the clock springs to die like that, it's just unfortunate that my service guys haven't been able to find the problem. After the warranty is over I'm going to be in trouble and might just have to live with this issue for the life of the vehicle, and it could be detrimental when it comes time to sell it, how do I explain the creaking steering wheel noise?

hpatel51v
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Joined: Tue Apr 27, 2010 12:44 pm
Car: 2010 Rogue SL AWD

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Hey, I had the same problem with my rogue. I thought the steering column was the problem however it is actually the airbag. the dealer replaced the airbag (after he checked the steering column) and now i have no steering crackling noises. It also improved the handling of the car. I used to get the noise when it was cold outside as well.

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kerrton
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Location: Southern Alberta, Canada

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Glad to hear the air bag replacement solved your problem. They replaced mine last year during one of my many visits to correct this problem, but after all of this my steering wheel still creaks, just as you've described, most notabley when turning it to the left and in colder weather. And yes it feels like extra resistence in the wheel compared to right after I get fresh new clock spring and the noise is temporarly eliminated.

This is such a strange issue, but I'm not going to give up and hopefully I get it solved in the next year before my 3-year comprehensive warranty runs out. Anyone else with experience with this issue - comments appreciated.

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kerrton
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Location: Southern Alberta, Canada

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Nissan just released a new tech service bulletin yesterday for this issue, and they've retracted the previous bulletin tracing the problem to the clock spring locating cap. The new bulletin applies only to 2008 models and traces the problem to a bushing in the steering column:

"SB 2008 Rogue; Noise When Turning Steering Wheel - IF YOU CONFIRM There is a squeaking or rubbing noise when the steering wheel is turned, and the noise can be isolated to the steering rack pinion shaft column seal (dash seal). ACTION Replace the column seal (dash seal) See this bulletin for further detail."


I have a really amazing service team, I got a call out of the blue yesterday from them informing me of the new bulletin and that they had already ordered the parts for me. Also, he said they ordered "several" parts, so apparently ther is more than just a dash seal required for this fix. I'm very pleased to say the least, particularly the fact that Nissan has apparently worked to diagnose the problem and issue a fix. I will report back after I get the fix, hopefully next week.

takeshi
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Joined: Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:55 am
Car: 2008 Nissan Rogue SL AWD
Location: Houston, TX

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I think they replaced ours a little over a year ago. It's creaking again though.

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kerrton
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Location: Southern Alberta, Canada

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Yeah most likely they replaced the clock spring/spiral cable, I had mine replaced 3 times and each time the noise returned quite quickly.

This new service bulletin prescribes a completely different fix located on the steering column, so hopefully this will permanently eliminate the noise.

I still can't explain why the clock spring replacement would temporarily solve the problem if the source of the issue is the steering column bushing, but I'm just going to let them give this fix a try and hope it works!

philipa_240sx
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Location: Canada

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Another tech bulletin just released... this may shed some light on your problem Kerrton:
NTB10074 - SB 2008 Rogue; Noise When Turning Steering Wheel

* IF YOU CONFIRM There is a squeaking or rubbing noise when the steering wheel is turned, and the noise can be isolated to the steering rack pinion shaft column seal (dash seal). ACTION Replace the column seal (dash seal) See this bulletin for further detail.

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kerrton
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Location: Southern Alberta, Canada

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I had the lastest TSB fix applied to my steering wheel issue, which now has escalated to a grinding and clunking feeling in my hands whenever the wheel is turned, in either direction, regardless of temperature although it is worse in cold temps.

I was really confident that the source of the problem had finally been found and corrected, but it was not even close, within 5 seconds of backing out of my spot at the dealer after the service I heard and felt the grinding. Obviously they didn't even bother to test drive it after applying the fix to see if the problem was corrected.

This was fix attempt number 5, and I'm getting closer to the end of my 3-year warranty. Unfortunately I now have to consider this further and decide if I have any recourse other than accepting the dealer repeated weak attempts at a fix. All I know is the value of my vehicle is going to be significantly diminished if it has a permanent grinding noise when turning the wheel. I am glad to see that very few others have reported this problem.

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bill875
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Car: 2008 Nissan Rogue SL AWD Indigo Blue / Premium Package / Fully Loaded

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I just started experiencing the creaking of my steering wheel about 3 weeks ago. I recently moved from Chicago to Hickory, North Carolina and we had 80+ days of 90+ degree temperatures. I wonder if heat has anything to do with this issue. I will be taking it to the local dealership to have this looked at ASAP. I just hope the Gold Preferred+ Nissan extended warranty will cover it.

philipa_240sx
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Location: Canada

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Kerrton, it's really unfortunate you are having this problem. My Rogue steering wheel has been silent since day one.

Makes me wonder if it's something else. ie the PS motor, steering box (there was a recall for loose screws), etc.

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harryg
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I had my clock spring replaced last winter for the creaking noise, and it hasn't reappeared since....here's hoping it doesn't start happening again this winter *knocks on wood*

Good luck getting it figured out Kerrton

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kerrton
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Car: 2008 Nissan Rogue SL FWD Gotham Gray
Location: Southern Alberta, Canada

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I had my Nissan shop look at the issue again, they checked everything in detail including the steering rack, power steering box and possibly other areas and confirmed that the noise (which they really downplayed as "minor") is coming from the steering wheel. Basically the messed around with it, applied a bit lube to a plastic area and called it good. The noise is still there and much worse on cold mornings which are close to the freezing point lately where I live, but I guess all in all not that big of a deal.

The main worry I had was that this could lead to complete failure of the clock spring at some point after my warrant runs out, which would be expensive and also a safety concern. Not sure why I'm so lucky but for now I'm not going to worry about it, I've another 6 months full warranty.

balancesheet
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Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:08 am

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After 17 months of ownership and 4,200 miles later I am finally getting this creaking steering wheel noise people are discussing here. Strangely the noise started after I had the "In Mirror Rearview Monitor" installed by the dealer. In any event, the service manager said he will order and replace some "parts" which should resolve the problem but based on what I am reading here, I am ready for a long road ahead ...

balancesheet
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Service appointment this Saturday to replace some "parts" so hopefully the sound will go away. With that said, I have gathered what I have read from the past postings the following "possible fixes" just in case the sound remains so that I can show it to the service manager. I hope I didn't miss anything.

Possible Fix for CREAKING STEERING WHEEL:

1) Replacing spiral cable
2) Replacing steering wheel
3) Replacing driver’s air bag
4) Replacing dislodged rubber gasket/seal
5) Replacing the clock spring mechanism – component that connects the electrical inputs (i.e. cruise control, audio controls, Bluetooth, horn, airbag, etc.)
6) Removing the driver’s air bag module in the steering wheel and reroute the wires behind the steering column.
7) Replacing the column seal (dash seal)

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kerrton
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Location: Southern Alberta, Canada

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I'm going in to my service dept for attempt no. 6 on Monday, they've received word back from Tech Support and they're going to remove the air bag and plastic trim and see if the noise stops to try to get a precise diagnosis.

They try hard, but really this should all have been done long ago to properly diagnose, and I know what they will find. The noise will continue with the parts removed, and be attributed to the clock spring/spiral cable - solution, replace clock spring.

I'll report back after my Monday visit. They really are great in terms of effort, just not so great in solving the issue but they're not giving up so I really appreciate that. Also they've agreed to do full brake caliper maintenance for me for the low price of $59.95 while I'm there which is great, for that price I'll let them do it and save a couple hours of my time. My calipers/pads have been pretty noisy lately, so I'm going to have this done to try to prevent expensive rotor warping, caliper damage issues in the future.

BalanceSheet - I predict they'll eliminate the noise and creaking feeling with the part replacement, just keep your fingers crossed that the noise doesn't return like it continues to do with my Rogue. Each time the new clock spring is slient, but over a period of several months the noise returns, I've had a couple techs predict this would happen but they could never even offer a guess as to why the noise would continue to return.

By the way, a "clock spring" and "spriral cable" are the same thing, just two different names for the same part. It took me a while to figure this out...

balancesheet
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Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:08 am

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ok so they replaced the spriral cable but the creaking sound didn't go away at all - the guy told me it would take 2,000 miles for the noise to go away because of the "new cable" and if it didn't, they will check again. I didn't feel like debating with the guy so I just left. I think I will just go to another dealership and go from there.

By the way, when I go to the other dealer, should I tell them another dealer replaced my spriral cable but didn't fix the noise?

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kerrton
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Car: 2008 Nissan Rogue SL FWD Gotham Gray
Location: Southern Alberta, Canada

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Just got back from the service department again, at their request. I really didn't want to bring it in again for about the 6 or 7th time, I've lost count, but Tech Support got back to them and basically reiterated what they should've known from the beginning, you have to properly diagnose the problem and rule out various possibilities to arrive at the cause rather than just randomly replacing parts. So they did, removed the air bag, plastic cover etc. to see if it eliminated the noise, which it didn't, so the end result again was..........replace spiral cable/clock spring!! Part is on order....again.

So they're "really confident" that this will solve the problem, which is really nice to hear but I've heard it many times and I can't imagine why they feel the fix will work this time since they already tried this, but I guess what more can they do?

On a side note, my Rogue didn't want to start today and I almost missed my appointment, the starter was really weak and instead of turning consistently it kind of pulsed, the rpm needle would jump up and down with each pulse. It was really weird but eventually started just barely and hasn't been an issue since....

For all my trouble they gave me a really good deal on premium brake service, for $59 they disassembled, inspected, clean and lubed the calipers etc. and they also deglazed the rotors - I'm not sure how this is done but my brakes are so much quieter now.


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