"knock" noise from steering wheel

[ZachR]

Hi everyone! I came to this site looking for answers as I too have been having the same problem. I bought a brand new 2013 Nissan Rogue just a couple months ago. When I got the car it had 30 miles on it. The car worked perfect right up until around 1,500 miles. All of the sudden while driving, I began to get a very strange knocking noise from the steering wheel and what seemed to the right right front area of the car. I took it right into the Nissan dealer and they told me my suspension was too tight and that the car needed more lubrication around the moving parts. Two days later I went and picked up the car and the noise was gone. I pulled out of the parking lot and about 3 miles down the road, the noise was back. Not only was it back but it was even louder than before. To make matters worse I picked up the car on a Friday right before they closed. I called and they told me to come back next week as that was the the earliest they could see me again.

That brings us up to today when I took the car back. I explained my frustration and the manager brought out the technician who worked on my car. He explained that when he worked on it, there was absolutely no noise. I told him that this was impossible as it's not a noise that comes and goes. He finally agreed to come take another look in the parking lot and sure enough there was no way he could deny the knocking noise. After about 20 minutes of shaking the wheel and feeling around, he found the problem. The front right strut in the car is bad/broken. He explained this probably happened in the manufacturing process and it took some miles before it finally started to give out. To prove it, he had someone turn the wheel back and forth and showed me right where the noise is coming from. As far as I could see, he was right. You can actually feel the strut under the hood as it knocks.

From what he and the other mechanics are saying, they are 110% positive this is the exact problem. They are replacing the strut and everything that surrounds it. To make sure this is it, I am leaving my car there for a couple days. They are going to replace the strut and then take it on multiple test drives to make sure its fixed. Ive been told that if it is still making the noise they are going to go back in and figure it out before I get it back. They have guaranteed that when I pick up the car, there will be no noise coming from the car. I really hope this can help anyone else going through the same thing and I will update once I get the car back. I should also mention that all of this is covered under the 1 year/15,000 mile warrantee that I have.

[duncho]

Hi Zachr
Thank you for your feedback. I tried to understand which strut you mean, but I'm not sure. Could you please make a photo with your mobile and post it here? It would help me a lot. Thank you in advance.

[followingnfront]

So last night (im at about 14,000 miles now) I heard the knock for the first time. YUCK! I think mine may have had something to do with me constantly driving on the moon (NYC streets have a lot of craters) and the train tracks that were sticking up out of the ground at least 2-3" at 30mph put the icing on the cake I think. I started hearing it after that. It sounds almost like a tie rod but my steering is not "loose" for all intent and purpose... Am I now going to be plagued by the wretched knock you guys are referring to?

[Qashqai]

Am I now going to be plagued by the wretched knock you guys are referring to?

No no you are not plagued.

After visiting three dealers, spending hours and test driving with two technicians and one service manager I finally gave up and started to live with the noise.

One day, I took my car to the service to change the clock spring, a young technician changed the clock spring and when returning the keys he said:

"Oh by the way, I heard some knocking noise from the steering wheel, I lubricate the parts and now it is gone".

I told my story and he asked me to test the vehicle. THE NOISE WAS GONE!!!!!

He said all the three points were extremely dried and he lubricated these three parts (I forgot the technical terms, sorry):

1. At the bottom of the steering wheel, next to carpet
2. A ring next to the turn switch
3. Somewhere inside the clock spring.

So for the last two months, I have no noise!

So I

[mikess]

I've also started to get this knock/click noise when I turn the steering wheel left to right or right to left. Happens mostly in parking lots, slow turns. This is very annoying. Before this I did get the groaning/moaning type of noise from the steering wheel sometimes, which I thought was the clockspring and after reading about others having a similar issue and not being fixed by replacing the clockspring, I never bothered to take it to the dealership. However, this knocking/clicking noise is just unbearable, especially on a new car less than a year old. I'm taking it to the dealer next week, hopefully they will be able to resolve it.

[Qashqai]

Jut ask them to lubricate three points:
-the cv joint behind the brake bedal
-A rind behind the steering wheel column
-A ring behind the steerin wheel.

The techician lubricated these three points and the noise is gone. He said they were dried.

[mikess]

Thanks, will definitely mention that. Actually, I've already lubed the joint behind the brake pedal with some fluid film, sprayed it on the joints and that didn't make a difference, I'm guessing it's the points in the steering wheel column. I really wish I could do it myself. I hate taking it to the stealership, they fix one thing but screw up others. Last time they put a scratch on the steering wheel center finish when they did the oil change.

They have set aside an hour for my appointment, and they are saying they might end up needing the car for the whole day to diagnose this, this is even before they've looked at it. I'm guessing this is how they make money from the warranty work, by railing up the diagnostic hours. Who knows.

[mikess]

Just came back from the dealership and they looked at it for about an hour and said it's the steering rack. I guess lubing couldn't solve the problem. They've ordered the steering rack and should get it in a couple of days and it will take around 4-5 hours to replace, I'm told. Good thing this was caught early on. Will report back after the repair is done. Also, will they be doing an alignment as well after replacing the steering rack? I think it would be needed.

[mikess]

Guys, does anyone know if the new rack they put in comes with inner/outer tie rods? Also, anyone else here that has had theirs replaced under warranty. What to expect and do they do an alignment after changing it.

[mikess]

Well Guys, I'm happy to report that the clicking noise is gone after the steering gear was replaced today. Also, the new steering gear comes with both inner and outer tie rods. Also, I searched online for the part number and it looks like it costs close to 2000 dollars. Around 1600 - 1800 dollars. WOW. This is the part number they specify on the receipt: 48001 - JM00C.

[mikess]

Hey, guys, haven't been here for a while, however, I thought I update everyone on what's going on with the steering wheel knock noise. The noise did go away after the rack was replaced, however, it returned a couple of months ago when the weather started getting cold. So, I took it into the same dealership and the same mechanic checked it for me, at first he just dismissed it saying that's normal noise because of some normal play in the steering rack, then he went onto ask me why I didn't go to the same dealership where I got my oil changed, (it's where I bought the car), I told him that was a free oil change that came with the purchase. Then he starts to lecture me on how I should keep getting some maintenance done at the dealership like brake service etc., as my Rogue is now due for one, I told him I wasn't having any issues with the brakes, so why get a service done soo soon, plus I do my oil changes. However, his logic was that if I come back to the dealership for maintenance, Nissan will take better care of me etc., etc., if something goes wrong with my Rogue like an engine fauilure, etc., then he starts to give me some examples of other customers that didn't get coverage on some warranty items after the warranty was expired because they never came to the dealership for maintenance service and while some customers that did were covered for some stuff even after their warranty expired due to goodwill and so on. I just patiently listened to him, no point in arguing with him. Then I try to tell him how others were having similar issues and how one of the forums members where able to resolve it by getting the 3 points greased. However, these guys just laugh at you the moment you mention this forum, this is the mechanic and also the service adviser as well, for them things on the internet are just not true etc., etc.,

Anyways, I convince the mechanic to take a better look, and he takes the car inside the garage, raises it up a bit and gets help from his child assistant who must of been 9 to 11 year old kid. I don't know why the kid was there and not in school but he seemed to be helping out in the dealership service bays. So, the mechanic comes back saying that it might be the steering shaft seal, and he's put in an order for it and it is covered under warranty, this was around two weeks ago. Today, I was booked in the morning to get this done and was told the job would take around hour and a half. However, when I get to the dealership, a different adviser starts telling me that I have to leave the vehicle there and it might take upto 5 hours blah blah blah, he saying this because the mechanic doing the work just told him that, the same mechanic that had diagnosed the problem and who had initially changed the steering rack back in April. But I tell him that I was told it wouldn't be any more than 2 hours. Anyways, they gave me a rental and I come back home. I was booked at 10 am and that's when i dropped of the Rogue. I get a call around 1:30 pm telling me that the repair was done and I can come and pick up my Rogue.

I go pick up the Rogue around quarter after 2 and to my surprise the noise is completely gone. I'm impressed. No more steering noise. I even gave the steering wheel a few quick turns to see if any noise would should up and nothing, super smooth.

Now, I have a dash cam in my Rogue, and it basically recorded everything while the Rogue was at the dealership. The mechanic took the Rogue in the bay at 10 after 10 and was out at 10:40, took a test drive after he was finished around the dealership parking lot and the car was parked where I picked it up from.

So, basically it took the guy 30 minutes to to change this part? I'm kind of confused about what he actually did after watching the dash cam recordings. Can this part really be changed in this little time, if so, then it's all good. Or, could he have just greased the seal that is already in there? And maybe just greasing it got rid of the noise. Now, when I look at the steering shaft from inside vehicle where the brake pedal is, I don't really see any seal, it's probably hidden under the metal/plastic cover etc.,

What do you guys think of this? Do you think they really did replace the said part and can it be done in such time. Or did the guys just greased something and the noise is gone now. I'm very happy that the noise is gone, but don't understand this whole ordeal about them saying it will take more then he original time which was hour and half, because I came prepared to wait maximum 2 hours. I could of just waited less than an hour going by how fast they got it done.

They were also giving me a hard time about getting me a rental initially, that I would have to pay for it, even though I have the complete bumper to bumper warranty that covers rental vehicles, however, their argument was that it's only covered if the car is at the dealership overnight. But anyways, they did end up paying for the rental which obviously cost them. So, why would they do this? Why not just have me wait half an hour. The first adviser who booked the appointment knew I would be waiting for the car while it was fixed, and he said the maximum it would take it 2 hours, why did the mechanic come and tell the other adviser that it might take upto 5 hours because it's the first time he was doing this job. All of this doesn't make any sense.

What is your take on this guys?

P.S. oh i forgot to write the part number of the part they changed, it's: PART # 48989JD02C.

[mikess]

Ok, just went out and slid under the car and the boot is quiet visible from underneath and it indeed is a new boot. So, the guy actually did change it. And it didn't take him 5 hours like they said, not even hour and a half by the warranty book time. It only took the guys 30 minutes in all. Which is about right.

When I google the part number, you get a Ukranian forums website where people are discussing about the same part on their Qashqai, which is very equivalent to the Rogue. And I guess it's a pretty common issue over there with the weather getting really cold, which creates these clicking and other various noises. So, they have a write up on the forums on how to change this part yourself. Which just involves taking one bold off the steering shaft from inside and removing the seal by prying it up and then then inserting the new one same way. And according to them it takes around 30 minutes for the whole thing.

Now for those people that are having similar noise issues, this might be the cause, because remember I still started getting this noise again starting cold weather even though they had changed the whole rack. However, it seems after the replacement of this seal the noise has completely gone away. Steering is super smooth.

I still don't understand why the stupid dealership sent me home with a rental paid by them, when I was prepared to wait there for upto 2 hours if needed be. I could have easily been there in and out within 1 hour.

[gamma_ray]

Mikess,

Thank you for the detailed account of your dealership experience! I have a 2014 Rogue and have some "clicking" noise when the sheering wheel is turned. I've been holding off the dealership visit because they're a bit of a drive from where I live. I may just go ahead and fix it myself.

That dashcam is an excellent idea! Could you please tell me what model it is? It obviously runs whether or not the ignition is on?

Regards,
Gamma

[illini86]

Hello

I have a brand new 2016 Nissan Rogue SV with something that fits this description. Bought Sept 10, knocks started the next day.

It's a "knocking" noise that occurs when the car has been warmed for 20 minutes. If you warm it, then rotate the steering wheel any significant amount, you hear it.

At first, I heard it only when the car was going into turns or up driveways, and only once or twice, but after some driving it seems that the single knock is just an isolated incident of the wheel rotation knocking.

Here's a link that you can hear it at (hoping link posts get through). If it doesn't click through, it's just the sound of the knocking while fully rotating the wheel to the left while it knocks, stops when you stop rotating, repeats.

I've captured it on video. Goto Google Photos, ( at https://goo.gl then photos then dUJQcoSUQ2HmUhap8 OR try bit.ly then 2dAX4WG )

I have a service appointment next Friday, will update with what they find.

[illini86]

Problem solved, dealer "Strut Bearings Making Noise Replaced Both Strut Bearings". No more noise.

[Waleed]

I own a 2016 Nissan patrol platinum and when I turn the steering wheel in low speed or while in a stand still I hear a noise from the front, my steering wheel is heavy but all the levels in the car is good 1st time Nissan owner help?

[illini86]

Problem solved, dealer "Strut Bearings Making Noise Replaced Both Strut Bearings". No more noise.

Noise is back same as it was originally. Will schedule another visit :-(