M45 Popping Noise When Turning - Any Ideas?

[leftlane1]

Hello all -

I have a 2006 non-sport M45 that has a problem I've been wrestling with for a good while. When the car has been sitting for any length of time, it has a loud single metallic popping sound that comes from the passenger front when I back up and turn roughly 75% to the right. It only pops once, then won't repeat until after the car has sat for a while. Occasionally it will also do it when going forward and turning, but that's rare.

I have had 2 dealers work on this problem repeatedly, with many "solutions" that never worked. My selling dealer has now had my car for over a week, and I told them that they can keep it until the real problem is identified and corrected. To their credit, they are helping as much as they can, but so far, even after many "fixes", the noise remains. They are currently working directly with the Infiniti techs, but no success yet.

Any ideas? The car has 37k miles, but I have been dealing with this since I bought it as a CPO car with 17k. No leaks have been found, no torn boots, no loose pivot points - just one loud popping noise that makes me wince every time.

TIA,

Todd

[07sportm35]

Hello all -

I have a 2006 non-sport M45 that has a problem I've been wrestling with for a good while. When the car has been sitting for any length of time, it has a loud single metallic popping sound that comes from the passenger front when I back up and turn roughly 75% to the right. It only pops once, then won't repeat until after the car has sat for a while. Occasionally it will also do it when going forward and turning, but that's rare.

I have had 2 dealers work on this problem repeatedly, with many "solutions" that never worked. My selling dealer has now had my car for over a week, and I told them that they can keep it until the real problem is identified and corrected. To their credit, they are helping as much as they can, but so far, even after many "fixes", the noise remains. They are currently working directly with the Infiniti techs, but no success yet.

Any ideas? The car has 37k miles, but I have been dealing with this since I bought it as a CPO car with 17k. No leaks have been found, no torn boots, no loose pivot points - just one loud popping noise that makes me wince every time.

TIA,

Todd

Sounds like you're in good hands. They also have the benefit of actually hearing and seeing your car in person.

Everything from the strut, sway bar, brakes, to tie-rods can be suspect. There are a host of items on your car that can make this kind of noise.

Sounds like no amount of turning while the car is not moving produces any noise. It's interesting that it does it only when the car has been sitting for awhile.

Best of luck!

[micheal066]

My car is doing the exact same thing. I have an 07 M35x with about 90k miles on it, this has been happening for about 40k miles now and the dealer was not able to find the problem. The problem is now happening more often and I'm worried it may be turning into something more serious. Did the dealer ever find the root cause on your car? I've done everything I can think of but still haven't found the problem.

Thanks,
Curtis

[radigan]

make sure your sure ABS clip on the strut is not touching/rubbing against anything while turning. I've had a problem where whenever I turn, I would get a clicking/popping noise. It was driving me nuts and nobody could figure it out. Turns out I may have hit a pothole and somehow the clip that holds the brake line on the strut tower moved and was touching against something that caused the clicking sound when turning. Just a thought.

[navytrae]

wow.. my '06 m45 sport is doing the same thing. the shop has no idea what i could be. If you all find any resolution feedback would be great.

[micheal066]

Thanks Radigan. I'll take a look at it this weekend. I took it to the dealership twice with no luck. It may be something simple like you suggest because it only seems to do it when I turn right.

[micheal066]

Well guys I figured out what it was. I went to a shop I recently found that only works on Nissans and Infinitis. These guys were awesome and very good on pricing so if you live near Charlotte, NC you need to use them. The company is called NissTech Imports.

They went onto the Infiniti Service Tech forum which Infiniti dealerships use for service technicians to help eachother out and guess what....it was on there. They typed in my compaints in the search feild and it came up verbatim. He printed out the document for me and here is what it said:

STEERING RACK GROAN NOISE WHEN TURNING RIGHT

Applied Vehicles:
2006-2009 M35 AWD only
2008-2009 EX35 AWD only

Applied Vins
EX35 AWD: Vehicles built up to JNKAJ09F(*)9M950793
M35 AWD: Vehicles built up to JNKCY01F(*)9M852756

Applied Dates:
EX35 AWD: Vechicles built before April 7, 2009
M35 AWD: Vehicles built before April 3, 2009

Symptoms:
-A groan or similar noise at low vehicle speeds when centering the vehicles steering after a right turn
- The noise is more likely to occur when the vehicle is cold
- A slight vibration may be felt in the steering wheel.
NOTE: This incident (if confirmed) does not affect the ability to steer the vehicle. It's only manifestation is unusual noise or slight vibration.

Now guys here is the uneasy part. Even though Infiniti knows this is a problem it is NOT a warranty issue. The only action on the document to fix the problem is to.... are you ready for this...
REPLACE THE STEERING GEAR (RACK) ASSEMBLY
And this is not cheap. It could be up to $2,000

Turns out Nissan/Infiniti knows these vehicles do this and some more prevalent than others. So all those times when I took my M35X to the dealership for this problem while it was still under manufacturers warranty they told me they could not find the problem, while it was right there on their bulletin. This, along with the fact that the guys at NissTech found it in 10 minutes, makes me think the dealership didn't want to eat the cost of replacing it so they just kept on saying they didn't know what it was. However, this is just a speculation.

The good news is that this noise doesn't cause any failures, it is just a nuisance and embarrassment. Needless to say, I chose not to dump the money into my now 5 year old M35X.

Hope this helps some of you out and perhaps eases your mind knowing that its not causeing any damage to the car. If anyone wants additional information on this just let me know cause I do have diagrams and additional supporting documents.

[bejjutsu]

@micheal - Wow. Are you going to take this info back to the dealers?

[SteveTheTech]

Ahh I bet you a beer I know what it is.....





You need a new lower control arm. I was burned on one of these once.

Give the dealer my email (nicostevethetech at gmail) I will talk to them.

[SteveTheTech]

Well guys I figured out what it was. I went to a shop I recently found that only works on Nissans and Infinitis. These guys were awesome and very good on pricing so if you live near Charlotte, NC you need to use them. The company is called NissTech Imports.

They went onto the Infiniti Service Tech forum which Infiniti dealerships use for service technicians to help eachother out and guess what....it was on there. They typed in my compaints in the search feild and it came up verbatim. He printed out the document for me and here is what it said:

That sucks that they had to chase that noise for so long and you never got an updated rack. I remember when that tsb came out. You can look in the archives here and see there was a whole flurry of activity around it. The noise I think the OP is talking about has more of a clunk you can feel in the steering wheel than the whining type noise that was part of the rack issue.

I really wish I had access to this secret forum for dealers. I have been lobbying Nissan for such a thing for years, but as of this afternoon there is nothing similar to that in my region...which we may actually share.

Finding someone who can properly care for your car is crucial I am glad you found someone you can trust.

---As a quick addition to my original post, I am assuming all reasonable suspension items and brakes have been inspected since they are talking to the tech support----

[micheal066]

SteveTheTech,
Thanks for the post. Funny you mention it was on here cause I looked quite extensively on here to see if anyone else had this problem. Guess I was searching with the wrong keywords!

Yes, the brakes, suspension, blah blah is all great. I am a car guy and in hobby and career so I am very strict with preventative maintenance. Believe it or not I acutally work as an engineer for a company that designs/makes automotive parts for OEM's and we have parts on the steering rack for the Infiniti M35 and the Japanese version of it, the Nissan Fuga. I'm going to try and upgrade to a better rackguide and hope that helps.

What are your thoughts on the lower control arm?

[micheal066]

@micheal - Wow. Are you going to take this info back to the dealers?

Unfortunately, I have a very poor relationship with the dealership here. They screwed up my transmission and I had to start a lawsuit before they would do the right thing and fix their mistake. I told them I wasn't an idiot when it came to cars and that it was also my job but they continued to feed me a line of Bull. So I proved them wrong and made them eat their words, which caused them to change their story yet again. They tried to get me for $5k. Once the lawyer got involved and communication from a local tv station my car was miraculously fixed in under 2 hours!!!

[N8NiTTY]

@michael
Now guys here is the uneasy part. Even though Infiniti knows this is a problem it is NOT a warranty issue. The only action on the document to fix the problem is to.... are you ready for this...
REPLACE THE STEERING GEAR (RACK) ASSEMBLY
And this is not cheap. It could be up to $2,000<<<<<<<<


So that means if you the have problem and you are still under warantee there is nothing you can do about it....Thats wack man real wack ..say it aint so... I noticed it recently for the first time...

[SteveTheTech]

SteveTheTech,
Thanks for the post. Funny you mention it was on here cause I looked quite extensively on here to see if anyone else had this problem. Guess I was searching with the wrong keywords!

Yes, the brakes, suspension, blah blah is all great. I am a car guy and in hobby and career so I am very strict with preventative maintenance. Believe it or not I acutally work as an engineer for a company that designs/makes automotive parts for OEM's and we have parts on the steering rack for the Infiniti M35 and the Japanese version of it, the Nissan Fuga. I'm going to try and upgrade to a better rackguide and hope that helps.

What are your thoughts on the lower control arm?

to ocd maintenance, at some level it becomes an art form.

Yeah I have not participated in a thread about this in the past...does not mean there have not been a few.

Where I think the problem lies is in the bushing in the rear of the front lower control arm. The problem is looking at two side by side they looked fine.It is my opinion that the under load you might be able to see something but I highly doubt it. I put it on my alignment rack and did not notice anything unusual. I poked and prodded it for a while with various tools and lubricants before ordering a replacement out of frustration. The position and function of that bushing make it very difficult to properly load test on rwd vehicles which complicates diagnosis.

As always diagnosing noises over the internet is very hard and there is a good chance we are all not on the same page. The only noise I am talking about needing the control arm for is the popping on some turns. The one I had would only do it when it was hot, but a co-worker of mine had one that did it only when going up a slight incline and the new arm fixed it.

Having an unpleasant relationship with your service facility makes for an odd level of subtle animosity among people who have to be nice to you. I hope they are professional to you and do address your problem. From the angle you are coming at the situation passing along advise would be awkward.