turns out weird noise isnt the wheel bearing...

[Qxxx4]

I brought the q to the local canadian tire, they took it for a test drive, put it up on the hoist, stethoscope...and they cannot determine where the noise is coming from. They said everything looks fine and is nice and tight and have no idea whats up. Their giving it back to me free of charge and said it could be a transmission or differential issue? WTF! this only came after i changed the wheels and tires....about 40km after installing them and im at 100km after the fact now with the same noise.

It seems like its coming from the front right, its a droning sound kind of like the sound of rubber scraping against something, every half revolution of the wheel. The faster the wheel turns, the quicker the frequency of the sound until its inaudible due to speed. Its really getting annoying here...

if its a transmission issue or differntial this truck is gone....i dont want to deal with that. This only happened 40kms after I put the new wheels on and its not like their a huge diff. everythings aligned and balanced. no shaking, wheels run freely, acceleration and deceleration is smooth as ever...

what would over tightehning of the rim sound like? would it be every half revolution?? everything was fine before! im so lost!!

could this be tire noise? it really doesnt sound metalic, but its every half revolution. it sounds like something is scraping but its not metal...and theres no rub anywhere from my tires

Modified by Qxxx4 at 6:26 AM 4/4/2009
Modified by Qxxx4 at 6:43 AM 4/4/2009

[Kidastra]

hate to ask, but any chance of getting an audio clip of the sound?

[Kidastra]

also just a shot in the dark, but I've seen it before, is it possible that its the weight from balancing is rubbing on something I'm talking about the sticker weight they put inside the mag...

edit : at c tire did they hear the noise when it was lifted???

[AJRK]

Could it be your brake wear indicator? Just a shot in the dark....I can't imagine you'd be able to hear that over the radio though.. very odd.

Just another thought: mine (and nearly every other Pathfinder/QX4 I've ever been in) makes this light humming noise under light acceleration. I don't know exactly what it is, but I've been told it's a normal drive line noise. Sounds like your noise could be a variation on this?

If it's transmission or differential you should get that checked out. When was the last time the fluid levels in either were checked/changed?

[WINNIPEGS_MOST_WANTED]

another thought: It was CT so take what they tell you with a grain of salt... or a large brick rather.

[02pathy]

check ur tires for nail or screw, to me it would have to do something with the rims and tires if it was not there before, i would not believe n e thing from n e one at canadian tire those mo fo's don't care about n e thing, ur wheels are suppose to be pretty loose(by loose i mean not hard to break) like 80-90 ft lb, over tighen could cause damage , did u ask the guy why he was selling the rims. i would put back on the stock to in the front and see if it goes away and if it does take the front tires and move them to the back and see

[Kidastra]

i would put back on the stock to in the front and see if it goes away and if it does take the front tires and move them to the back and see

I would start there,

[Qxxx4]

yeah the mechanic was a little older, you could tell he had more experience. The manager said transmission/diff but the mechanic said no. he did what any normal person would do and checked for easy signs of problems. He put it up on the hoist and there was no noise whatsoever...took the wheel off and inspected everything, its all perfect, even wheel bearings are actually in decent shape...he used a stethoscope on each wheel but cannot isolate the noise.

My transmission fluid is clean, pink, and at good level. The diff fluids and transfer case were changed a few months ago. I tried taking vids today but the noise is barely audible with all the wind we have today. Its barely noticeable you have to have the radio dead silent to hear it. It seems quieter than the last few days though

The guy sold the rims because he sold his qx4 and bought a dodge ram, he was a real honest guy evn wanted to sign a paper saying i sold him the wheels and told me about the missing cap (which the mechanic today told me a place in brampton that sells those boss caps for $20 WOOHOO!!) I think ill just drive around with the noise for a while...everything is running better than ever, the handling is perfect, no vibrations, steering wheels nice and straight, acceleration and braking are like new....i got no idea nor am i going to break my head open right now trying to figure it out as im so damn frustrated.

[fueler]

Could it be your brake wear indicator? Just a shot in the dark....I can't imagine you'd be able to hear that over the radio though.. very odd.

that was one of my first guesses when QXXX4 was saying his wheel bearing went bad... These Nissan wheel bearings hardly ever go bad

Does the noise change at all when you brake?

[Qxxx4]

my brakes are fine, loads of pads left...and theres no noise when you spin the wheel off the air...so i doubt its brake interference. the noise is constant whether your braking or accellerating, it goes with the wheel

i found a video that sounds pretty much exactly like my situation. When driving at a crawl its like a crickity sound like creeking hardwood almost!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4GaJ8dUGYY

[W O T]

Even if you turn the wheels when on a hoist and you dont hear any noise, that doesnt mean it isnt the brakes rubbing. When you put the car on the ground and put a load on the vehicle, everything changes.

To me, if the problem was NOT happening before, based on the vid you posted noise, I would say brake interference/warp. Overtightenning would cause it, but you say he used a torque wrench....

I hate problems that dont just identify themselves like this lol

[Qxxx4]

i know eh! yeah its definately an issue of when its on the ground. something is rubbing. its not a grinding noise, more of a rub/clickinish noise. as i said its not really loud. u hear it with a dead silent radio going really slow or if you were standing outside and really paid attention you can hear it. Ill get my mechanic friend to look at it when i see him but until then, im in no rush im just going to drive it and deal with it since it doesnt seem to be anything major...and if it is....ill nvr find out until its too late! lol unless i want to spend $$$$ switching everything or going back to my stock rims...and...thats just not an option until i see snow in the forecast....

[lemansz20]

I know wheels and tires, and I am almost positive that is your tire. Might be a defective tire, but thats the sound at least from the video that defective tires make. THey will balance fine, and look new, but tend to have a bubble somewhere, I promise you its your wheels and tires.

[Qxxx4]

I know wheels and tires, and I am almost positive that is your tire. Might be a defective tire, but thats the sound at least from the video that defective tires make. THey will balance fine, and look new, but tend to have a bubble somewhere, I promise you its your wheels and tires.

even when theres a cricking sound coming to a halt? it sounds like some kind of rubbing and when im crawling i can hear a cricking every half turn....like a creeking floor sound. If i accelerate or brake very slow, but if i drive with some power its nothing. Its just when im parking i really hear it. Ima try and drive on gravel/grass see what that is. I get no vibrations just the noise...so yeah it must be something rubbing or as you say a defective tire...which doesnt bug me at all just dont want anything to go wrong mechanically i can deal with a slight noise as its only at below 50kmh and i well..never drive with no music. only periodically to hear for any abnormal noises like this one

the wider wheels make the handling so agile! i love it...but the bumps...yeah definately less comfortable ride...people complain about the noise of offroad large sidewall/width wheels but they must be comfortable as helllll

when i get back from windsor next weekend ill get my buddy to look at it and well rotate the problematic tire to the back, for sure the noise wont be as noticeable and itll tell me for sure if it is the tire or if its just interfering with something.

after 140kms it doesnt seem as bad as it first was though...maybe because im getting used to it. I turn down the radio when i slow down to hear it out of curiousity.

[Chuck Tribolet]

Try this. Get a buddy to drive the car slowly past you. That should make it easy to confirm what corner it's coming from. Then put a chalk mark on thetire and confirm that it's happening every half turn. Note where the chalk markis, jack it up and eyeball things. Now swap that tire to a different corner andsee if the sound moves. If it moves, it's wheel or tire. If it doesn't it's SOMETHINGon the rest of the car on that corner (but CT is probably off the hook).

[s292a]

You might check out the sub oil pump in the transfer case.Marc

[korbeano89]

how about your cv joints or half shaft what ever its called

[Buzzman]

Qxxx4:Read through most of this thread before realizing it originated from last April.Did you ever solve the problem?

[dml996]

I thought i was alone in this. I have exactly the same noise. So far change struts, cv's ,sway bar links front and rear, sway bar bushings along with steering rack and still have the same noise. PLEASE HELP.

[dml996]

I thought i was alone in this. I have exactly the same noise. So far change struts, cv's ,sway bar links front and rear, sway bar bushings along with steering rack and still have the same noise. PLEASE HELP.

[dml996]

bump

[barnaclebob]

Have you tried rotating your tires? While back home my brother's R51 had a weird light thumping noise proportional to tire speed coming from the front left tire. We rotated his tires and it moved to the back left (stayed with the tire). The conclusion is a tire wear issue likely caused by not rotating the tires frequently enough.

[attofarad]

Have you tried rotating your tires? While back home my brother's R51 had a weird light thumping noise proportional to tire speed coming from the front left tire. We rotated his tires and it moved to the back left (stayed with the tire). The conclusion is a tire wear issue likely caused by not rotating the tires frequently enough.

I had the same on a previous car.
-Gary

[Marvinqx4]

I thought i was alone in this. I have exactly the same noise. So far change struts, cv's ,sway bar links front and rear, sway bar bushings along with steering rack and still have the same noise. PLEASE HELP.

Have you fixed it? I got the same humming noise with 2004 pathfinder