My 2007 350Z Touring has been making a screeching noise, like scraping a shovel on the ground, only when I make a hard left turn and am braking. I took it into the dealership today and was told that it was the tires and alignment. I have not had it aligned since buying it new in July 07 (shame on me, I know). The mechanic told me this is a normal issue for these cars and that he had two more in the shop today with the same problem? Has anyone else heard of this?

So, I will drive the car with the noise until the tires are ready to be replaced (which will be soon). Mechanic says that this noise will disappear after new tires and alignment? Anyone else had this issue or heard of this? I just want to make sure the information I received is correct.

 

Why dont you get the tires and alignment now? In my opinion any screeching noises should be addressed as soon as possible.

 

Welcome. You have inspected your brake pads?

 

Yes, brake pads are fine. In the beginning I I thought it could be the brake pad wear indicator but it is not and mechanic confirms.

 

I will be shopping around for the best tire deal, so in the meantime will be dealing with the screeching. I agree that any screeching noise needs to be dealt with immediately. Of course, the Nissan dealership wanted over $1,000 for the tires. I will be shopping elsewhere for them.

 

I am thinking metal-to-metal contact. Tires are rubber. You need a serious alignment problem for the wheels to be touching metal.

Keep us up to date.

 

Once I got a small piece of gravel lodged between the front rotor and shield. It sure did make a noise like a shovel on pavement. Pull off the wheel, caliper, and rotor and look first before buying new tires.

What they said is total BS. An alignment is never a solution for a screeching noise. Do you need new tires? Are they worn down to the wear bars?

Asterix

 

Do you have aftermarket wheels? We have found a couple of customers that brought their cars in for service here that had their aftermarket wheels scraping the suspension member on the inside lip when the steering was turned full lock. This was probably due to incorrect wheel offsets or wheels that are too big for the front.

 

Thank you all for your help and suggestions.

Ok, so here's the latest. I had the original tires replaced at the beginning of July due to wear and needing new tires (absolute positive they are the right size). Definitely needed new tires. Got an alignment and four new tires. The grinding metal on metal noise (shovel on ground sound) is gone but now there is a very high pitched squeal when turning left. So it's gone from one noise to another. I am positive that it is not the brakes.

I am taking the car to a trusted mechanic in my hometown tomorrow. I live away and have just now been able to get back to the trusted one. I will give an update when I find out...

 

May not be related at all but in my previous car I had squealing noises when turning left or right all the way because of the power steering/ac belt going bad...just throwing that out there.

 

sounds like your caliper might be stuck or not lined properly on the brake rotor. It's possible when you make a turn the weight transfer from the car is rubbing the caliper on the rotor or wheel.

 

With the title: "Screeching Noise When Turning Hard Left and Braking", the picture I got in my head was:



I gotta figure the noise is normal when doing this.

 

Yes, that describes perfectly what's going on!!! LOL!!

 

You have the correct answer!! After taking it to the trusted mechanic, it took him only a few seconds to figure it out. It is the pin on the brake caliper that is bent and grinding into the right rotor when turning left and forcing weight to the right!! You can see it plain as day when looking at it.

The bent pin was digging its groove into the rotor hence causing the "shovel to ground sound" in the beginning and now that it's dug a nice little groove all the way around, it's a very high pitched noise. The mechanic could not replace it as it is a Nissan 350Z specific part. He told me the Nissan place would have to replace it. Now, I am so happy to know what it is so I can tell the Nissan stealership since they couldn't find it before and they suggested to get an alignment and new tires to fix the squealing. LOL!

The next issue is whether Nissan will replace it under warranty. I do have the extended warranty and am going to press that issue for sure. There's no way it could have been bent but by defective part only.

I am attaching pictures for all to see the difference in the right and left sides. The first is of the left side of the car (what the pin should look like) and the second picture is what the bent pin right side looks like. I am ecstatic to finally know what it is. I will keep you all posted as to whether Nissan fixes it under warranty!

 

I am getting the same noise. Is it the caliper guide pin that is bent? What pin are you referring to???

 

I have aftermarket brakes. StopTech big brake kit up front. I get a shovel pavement noise when I Turn Far right. I am not drifting because I cannot afford that many tires. I cannot yet figure out as to why I am getting the noise I have no pins or metal shims in the StopTech brakes.

 

I know this is an old thread, but in case anyone searches and finds this thread, and is trying to figure this out...

I had this same problem, except in my case it was when turning hard right. I thought my front wheel bearings were fine, because I didn't hear any noise on the highway, and the wheels didn't move when I grabbed the wheel by hand...

I didn't know what to do, so I went on a hunch, and replaced both front hub assemblies nayways with Tempkins, and my problem completely went away. They were actually quite easy to replace too...