My 2003 Nissan pathfinder se makes a weird whining noise from the front while driving 50+ mph

Is it a 4x4 ??

That's a pretty wide ranging symptom.
Does the whining move up and down with engine revs, or is it more steady, like from the drivetrain?
I had the same symptoms, and it was my alternator failing. It crapped out about two months after it started whining.

I have the same thing. I have always had it and have never gotten rid of it. New CV axles, new front drive shaft, new transmission (and I really thought that would fix it), new front wheel hubs, new brake discs, pads, calipers, new rear brakes, entire new front suspension including sway bar and links. This has been five years running and it is still present right around 50 mpg. I now have a higher flow a.k.a louder exhaust, a much louder stereo and some 31.75" off-road tires that seem to cancel out the noise if I drive fast enough and play the music loud enough.

My next step is manual locking hubs for the front. I am mostly getting them because I have Fleurys' lift kit installed, but I am also curious to see if it eliminates the noise because it definitely sounds like it is from the front.

I haven't been able to resolve the sound in almost five years of ownership, and it doesn't seem to get worse with time and hasn't affected any other components that I have been able to discern. If you do figure it out, let us know because I and I am sure others would love to be rid of it.

It's also possible to be the tires.

I've heard of the diff(s) making a whining sound if non-LSD oil is used when they require it. I'd imagine it'd make the noise at all speeds, but food for thought.

I got rid of 80% of my front end vibration by replacing the oil in the front diff.

I just read through all the responses so far so let me just fill you in on what I have. I have not received the scanner yet. Some minor delay but will have it soon and I'll post the results of that diagnostic when I have finished.

I changed all the fluids including the front and rear final drives (differential) and no change to the noise. I took a friend with me who is a fairly decent mechanic to get his opinion and we agreed that if it was the differential causing the noise I wouldn't think it would stop when I entered a slight turn in the road like it is currently doing. To test this even further when we came to a left hand curve one that was more extreme than the right hand curve the sound continued as usual with no change in the pitch or how loud it was. If the front final rive was causing the issue these curves in the road would not be doing it on one side and not the other but, since this is not my area of expertise I am open to anything.

The noise starts at 57 mph and as the speed increases the humming sound gets slightly louder and the pitch changes and gets a little higher. I only noticed it while on the freeway today and took the pathy up to 80 and held it there for a bout 3 miles and not much change in the noise except that it got slightly louder. So I took it up to ninety and that's when I heard it change the pitch to where if I had gone to 100 mph I would have been afraid it would blow whatever was causing the sound. The pitch got higher and if you have ever heard something whine and then start screaming before if blew than you might have a good idea what I was afraid of so I brought it back down to 80 and headed home.

When we got home and I got out of the truck it seemed like the front end of the truck was putting out more heat than it should fof. The wheels were hot and it was only 95 today. I opened the hood and it was too hot to pull the tranny dipstick so I think whatever is causing this noise sas getting really hot today. How this effects seem to happen right after I locked my brakes up have me baffled but hopefully the scan will revel what is going on.

The guy that mentioned the alternator is a new one that I haven't heard before. That might explain the extreme heat under the hood when I couldn't touch the dipstick. What lead you to suspect the alternator, if I may ask? I need to buy a battery and alternator device to check those items as soon as I have the extra money.

This noise started about a week ago and I had rotated the tires in April so I ruled out the tires but they could be a cause and I'm going to be replacing them soon as part of this repair. I have heard tires can make all types of weird sounds.

Yes it is a 4x4 with a 4.0 l engine. I have done very little four wheeling in it. I will mention that the truck was stolen in march and recovered 2 weeks later. Out of gas and a bunch of little dents and scratches. what appeared to be water in the tranny and tranny fluid in the radiator. I flushed the tranny about 4 times with the correct fluid from O'Reillys. Replaced the radiator because of all the posts in here about that issue. I may have caught it in time. The tranny seems ok and the fluid has not been burnt or smelled funny like something was getting hot.

One other thing that happened is right about 60 as I'm picking up speed I get a vibration I can feel in the pedals and the steering wheel and it goes away like in 10 seconds. This happened twice so far. It must stop as whatever is causing it gets hot. I'm still leaning towards the bearing and since I have 180,000 miles on it then it won't hurt them being replaced. Rebuilding the front end and drive train is not an expense I am willing to get into but this ghost is something else.

I really appreciate all the feed back you guys give me and without you I'd would be without hope. I will report back in a few more days after I scan this beast and check the alternator. Thanks again.

I can't help but wonder what was going on when your said there "appeared to be water in the tranny and tranny fluid in the radiator". Your tranny and radiator are parts of separate and isolated systems. Your transmission has an oil cooler that sort of looks like a radiator yet this is a sealed system and isolated from your engine radiator. How did you see what appeared to be water in the tranny? Your radiator should never have oil in it unless you have a blown head gasket and there is no way for transmission fluid to get into your radiator unless it was put in there. Replacing the radiator won't resolve a blown head gasket. Maybe the thief also did something malicious to your engine and transmission. Perhaps pouring water in your transmission and oil in your radiator. I can think of all sorts of transmission valve issues that would happen if water was ever dumped in there and then driven for any length of time.

mdmellott wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:15 pm

I can't help but wonder what was going on when your said there "appeared to be water in the tranny and tranny fluid in the radiator". Your tranny and radiator are parts of separate and isolated systems

Not the case with the R51 (2005-2010) Pathfinders. Coolant was getting into the transmission due to the design of the radiator.

http://www.nissanproblems.com/coolant-l ... nsmission/

Thank you 04pathse! Good to know. I wonder what became of the genius (/S) engineer team that thought up that design. It's like the engineers were the malicious ones or at least not in their right mind when they designed this time bomb.

To skier4x4 , as you are concerned with the Heating up under the hood - and it definitely is a major factor or symptom - my opinion that may really enable you to shed light on that situation is a tool , a Laser thermometer , those kinds that you simply aim like a gun at ANY surfaces giving an accurate Temp reading . Harbor Fright's got them very reasonable and Craftsman too ( Home Depot? ) .

You ought to be able to "zero-in" on the component that's COOKING ! Before it becomes WELL DONE