Infiniti M35x Front suspension noise

[indyguy]

Hello everyone. First time I've joined a online car club to asked a question. Looking forward to hearing from you all. So here's my issue. I just purchased a 2010 M35x two months ago. Car has 108,000 miles. I love the car. Within a week of ownership, I heard a cluck noise coming from the front passenger side of the car, every time I go over a bump. So I took it into the dealership and had them look it over. They responded with the car needs new struts. After a week going back and forth I decided to have the dealership replace the front struts, mounts everything except the springs. (Cost $1800). Well I got the car and as I drove out of the dealership I heard the clunking. UGH! Took the car right back to the dealership and left the car with them for two days. The second day the dealership called and said they replaced the lower control arm for free, thinking this was the problem but still the clunking is there. The dealership advised me that I need to just start replacing parts until the clunking goes away and of course I would have to pay for this. I of course told them no, throwing money at guessing what's wrong was nothing I wanted to do. On top of this now that they replaced my front struts I have some squeaking when I go up and down on driveways. UGH again.

I did notice last week that when I press my brakes lightly while going over a bump the creaking on the front passenger side goes away. I took the car to the local brake shop and they said nothing is wrong. I really love this car, but ready to just sell the thing.

UGH!

[Ilya]

Welcome to the forum.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like the dealer took you for a ride. More than likely it's something like a swar bar link, etc. That's a common source of knocking or popping when going over bumps, etc. They are cheap and I wrote a guide on how to replace them in the FAQ thread in my signature...I'd start there. Then proceed to sway bar bushings, also relatively cheap. If you have a basic set of tools (10-16mm sockets and wrenches) you should be able to do this yourself and save on the labor costs. If not, don't have the dealer do the work. Any reputable shop can do it and they'll like do it for $50-60hr, not $130hr.

You could have purchased highly performance oriented brand new coilovers (basically a strut and spring all in one) for literally half that $1,800...you probably didn't even need new struts but dealer fooled you into thinking you did.

[s75052]

Hello everyone. First time I've joined a online car club to asked a question. Looking forward to hearing from you all. So here's my issue. I just purchased a 2010 M35x two months ago. Car has 108,000 miles. I love the car. Within a week of ownership, I heard a cluck noise coming from the front passenger side of the car, every time I go over a bump. So I took it into the dealership and had them look it over. They responded with the car needs new struts. After a week going back and forth I decided to have the dealership replace the front struts, mounts everything except the springs. (Cost $1800). Well I got the car and as I drove out of the dealership I heard the clunking. UGH! Took the car right back to the dealership and left the car with them for two days. The second day the dealership called and said they replaced the lower control arm for free, thinking this was the problem but still the clunking is there. The dealership advised me that I need to just start replacing parts until the clunking goes away and of course I would have to pay for this. I of course told them no, throwing money at guessing what's wrong was nothing I wanted to do. On top of this now that they replaced my front struts I have some squeaking when I go up and down on driveways. UGH again.

I did notice last week that when I press my brakes lightly while going over a bump the creaking on the front passenger side goes away. I took the car to the local brake shop and they said nothing is wrong. I really love this car, but ready to just sell the thing.

UGH!

As you mentioned the brake applied lightly made the creaking gone, so I'm wondering you probably have a caliper with bad situation. you may jack up the car and try to shack the front passenger side caliper to see of any gap you can feel. Another possibility is on the steering rack with a bad inner tie rod. Jack it up and use a hammer to knock it and compare the difference of both sides.

[indyguy]

Welcome to the forum.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like the dealer took you for a ride. More than likely it's something like a swar bar link, etc. That's a common source of knocking or popping when going over bumps, etc. They are cheap and I wrote a guide on how to replace them in the FAQ thread in my signature...I'd start there. Then proceed to sway bar bushings, also relatively cheap. If you have a basic set of tools (10-16mm sockets and wrenches) you should be able to do this yourself and save on the labor costs. If not, don't have the dealer do the work. Any reputable shop can do it and they'll like do it for $50-60hr, not $130hr.

You could have purchased highly performance oriented brand new coilovers (basically a strut and spring all in one) for literally half that $1,800...you probably didn't even need new struts but dealer fooled you into thinking you did.

Thank you for the response. Your absolutely right I was taken for a ride. UGH! It's funny that you mentioned the coilover option. I almost tried that, but after reading so many posts about the coil overs I was talked out of it since I had the all wheel drive version. I was reading how people didn't like the harsh ride the coilovers gave. I was shocked on how few companies offered coilovers. Non the less, thanks for the response. I'll look into the sway bar link as well as the bushings.

[indyguy]

Hello everyone. First time I've joined a online car club to asked a question. Looking forward to hearing from you all. So here's my issue. I just purchased a 2010 M35x two months ago. Car has 108,000 miles. I love the car. Within a week of ownership, I heard a cluck noise coming from the front passenger side of the car, every time I go over a bump. So I took it into the dealership and had them look it over. They responded with the car needs new struts. After a week going back and forth I decided to have the dealership replace the front struts, mounts everything except the springs. (Cost $1800). Well I got the car and as I drove out of the dealership I heard the clunking. UGH! Took the car right back to the dealership and left the car with them for two days. The second day the dealership called and said they replaced the lower control arm for free, thinking this was the problem but still the clunking is there. The dealership advised me that I need to just start replacing parts until the clunking goes away and of course I would have to pay for this. I of course told them no, throwing money at guessing what's wrong was nothing I wanted to do. On top of this now that they replaced my front struts I have some squeaking when I go up and down on driveways. UGH again.

I did notice last week that when I press my brakes lightly while going over a bump the creaking on the front passenger side goes away. I took the car to the local brake shop and they said nothing is wrong. I really love this car, but ready to just sell the thing.

UGH!

As you mentioned the brake applied lightly made the creaking gone, so I'm wondering you probably have a caliper with bad situation. you may jack up the car and try to shack the front passenger side caliper to see of any gap you can feel. Another possibility is on the steering rack with a bad inner tie rod. Jack it up and use a hammer to knock it and compare the difference of both sides.

Thanks for the response. I'll check out what you suggested. Thanks again!

[indyguy]

So today I took the car to a repair shop that only works on Infiniti, BMW, Mercedes and other high end cars. The front rattle they mentioned is coming from a very rusted Front Engine Cradle Cross Member Frame. The tech stated that he's tried to tighten the bolts since there is play, but the nut just turns, like the bolt is stripped. He's trying to see if the bolt can be replaced or if the bolt is something that was welded on during manufacturing. Guess the good news is that I'm getting answers instead of just the "We don't know what's wrong with your car" comment. UGH!

[Shanehsmp]

So today I took the car to a repair shop that only works on Infiniti, BMW, Mercedes and other high end cars. The front rattle they mentioned is coming from a very rusted Front Engine Cradle Cross Member Frame. The tech stated that he's tried to tighten the bolts since there is play, but the nut just turns, like the bolt is stripped. He's trying to see if the bolt can be replaced or if the bolt is something that was welded on during manufacturing. Guess the good news is that I'm getting answers instead of just the "We don't know what's wrong with your car" comment. UGH!

Any update on this? I am having the EXACT same symptoms on my '06 m35x. The creaking for me is coming from either the rear bushings on the front lower control arm or along that cross member. I'm going to try to loosen and re-tighten the bolts as maybe this is the culprit....let me know.

[s75052]

That will be very appreciated if you can share the update with pictures since I almost have the same situation. Thanks

[mdstahl1]

+1