Been browsing this forum for awhile, even before i puchased my Z. I learned alot, so thanks in advance.

1st, got my 2003 350z in early october. I think it's a performance, based on the TCS button as this forum describes (although it's listed as base). The kid that had it before me had some mods done, whether or not he did them or the owner before him did them is up for debate. The key factor is they are done right, for the most part. The car has a full Injen exhaust, motordyne, JWT pop, and 18" ADR rims on staggered 255/285 (too wide imo, ill fix it when it comes time to replace). Here's the story:

The brakes were in terrible condition, i knew they needed to be replaced, rotors and all. The front ones were the worst so they went first. I had put it off for about a week till i started to hear a knocking noise from the front driver's side wheel. My best assumption, since this was the worst of the brakes/rotors, was that the pad was worn and loose in the caliper. The knocking ONLY HAPPENED AT ~8 MPH OR LESS AND ONLY WHEN THE BRAKES WERE APPLIED, BE IT GENTLE OR HEAVY. I took it to a very trusted mechanic, a close friend of my long time neighbors, and he did the brakes for me. I got away pretty cheap and it turned out the rotors were slotted, which was kinda cool and surprised me and him (we ordered based on part number, no pictures on those kinds of websites).

In addition, my power steering fluid has been leaking ever so slightly, so i asked him to check it out. He told me my steering rack was seriously leaking fluid, and filling the CV boot like a balloon. He did a temporary fix but i would need to order the Rack assy for him to install. He left me to find it, since his parts vendor was going to charge him 1000 bucks for a new one. I wrote down all the info and drove home. The next day the knocking came back... same area and only when i press the brakes and only at slow speeds. I dont understand this problem at all. Im obviously going to call the mechanic on monday but I wanted to be armed with a little more knowledge. He's a smart guy, but he does exotics mostly... lambos and ferrarris, its a small shop.

What could be causing the clicking?
Where should i get a steering rack? i could get a refurbished one for almost 1/4th the price of NAPA/Autozone's replacement.
Would a 2006 steering rack fit a 2003? I found one for sale locally.
Any additional advice is appreciated.


Thanks!

 

How many miles does your 03 have? Clicking could be the common axle clicking problem (find the TSB on it). Not sure about the steering rack...never heard of problems with it. But if you can get a refurbed one for that much cheaper, go for it. As far as the 06's fitting an 03, it most likely will. The parts that might not fit would be from 07's-08, since they changed the engine then. But not too sure. Wish you the best of luck!

 

You can buy a new PS rack from Nissan for under $500. CLICK

My experience with rebuilt aftermarket parts like that has never been that good. If you plan on keeping the car for any length of time, consider buying an OEM rack.

 

I've got 50XXX miles on my Z, I did read the TSB on the rear axle although that not only states that you hear it when accelerating (which i dont), but im 100% positive the sound is coming from the front (curb feedback when driving around the neighborhood). I'm probably going to get a refurb one then, thanks for the input!

 

Yeah i do plan on keeping this car till it explodes... i guess i should considering going the extra mile and getting an OEM, if its truely better. I mean a re manufactured one, if they truely have no defects from the factory, shouldnt have an issue to begin with.

 

^^^

Hey so if im dropped on lowering springs, can i still get it fixed under that TSB? Or will they pull some B*tch Sh*t saying that the springs caused it?
By the way I have an extended warranty and I'm at 60k miles...

Anyone?

 

Figured it out today.

As I mentioned, the CV boot is filling with steering fluid. This has caused the joint grease to ebb away from its intended lubrication spot. Thus, when the velocity from the pad touching the rotors becomes more evident (at slower speeds) it pushes the joint forward from the force of the connection, and makes a small knocking sound. I am not as worried as i was about this since I'm replacing the whole rack. But it really had me going for awhile. Hope this helps some people out.

 

bumping this for more input.

After about a week of driving on this on and off, it still happens as described. I have the power steering rack, but Christmas has cleaned me out till the end of the week (when i plan on taking my car back to my mechanic to install the new one i purchased). I have new front brakes and rotors, but the noise is still there. I'm rescinding my earlier diagnosis for a new one. I think that my spindle/control arm/ ball bearing may be going bad or lost all grease and is now rubbing metal on metal. The only problem with this hypothesis is still: the sound wont happen in reverse, the sound wont happen when something joint related is stressed (a bump, going up my sloped driveway, etc). Hopefully my mechanic has a fix this weekend, but until then maybe I could get away with a few bucks in my pocket. Any ideas?

 

Is the knocking sound felt through the steering? Does it do it when moving the steering left to right and vice versa?

Have you visually inspected the steering rack? Do you have any pictures?

I have a damaged steering rack myself... I only get the knocking sound when changing steering directions.

BTW DaveZ is that the same part as this one?
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...layCatalogid=0

 

it does not seem steering/suspension related after further diagnosis. It goes into the garage for the weekend tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully its something silly like a missing shim on my pad. The new rack goes in too. Thanks

 

Let us know what you find out i'm curious...

 

Ok so its bad but not to the wallet thank goodness. Apparently my initial assumptions were right in that it was suspension related. The control arm for the drivers side is bent and twisted. It is knocking against the bushings and such to make the noise (friction from stopping). Part is overnighted and goes on tomorrow. This was apparently the result of an improper removal of lowering equipment. A previous owner had beat the spindle/control arm to drop the bushing out and remove the lowering hardware, however all they needed to do was separate it with a fork like tool. The evidence of this is the hammer marks and a small tear in the spindle where grease is slowly leaking out.

I figure it went like this: upon sale of the car to the kid I bought it from, the owner wanted to take his springs back, so he tried to take them off and forgot or F@#$ed it up and needed a hammer. The suspension is actually fine, its just the arm and spindle that are beaten to hell. To give you an example, the whole front left assembly could be manipulated in such a way that the tire moved almost 3/4ths of an inch forward. Curious because I had no serious alignment issues outside the noise.

I'll post pictures because it'd kind of entertaining, after I upload them. Hope this helps someone in the future.

 

The first pic is the whole bad arm. It's actually twisted, as if you tried to twist an arm or open a door; and also bent at the bushing.

The second pic is what a GOOD control arm looks like.

The third pic is the BAD control arm. The arm would slide as I described.

 

That will cause the problems , and should have been noticed by the mechanic when he check out the front end.

 

Bumping this thread, the problem is still there. Ive been to three different garages and no one can find the problem. I'm not crazy and hearing things because all the mechanics hear it too, they just cant figure it out. We've had the wheels off, the suspension off, etc. Brake fluid is clean, no pebbles in the shield, sheild not bent, pads are fine, rotors are fine, the sound is SO loud still. The only thing I havent done yet is replaced the hub assy. as was reccomended to me by the first mechanic by breaking out a stethescope and listening to the bearings which showed very early stages of going bad.

I'm at a loss, and it sucks. The car drives fine, it pulls to the left a little (where the sound is at) and i had it aligned and they said it was perfect before i brought it in (still charged me...) and the camber in the front right was off by -2 degrees, i can fix that with a kit. This **** blows my mind...

 

Where in florida are you?

I have owned 7 350Z's and a G coupe and had not have a problem like this... except for once when I forgot to tighten the lug nuts. [I know it is not the case here}

 

was this car in an accident previous to your ownership?

 

Hey guys, checking in on this thread since I was searching for some other stuff here. To answer the new questions I'm in south west florida. The lug nuts are tight for sure. Not sure on the accident. Nothing on carfax/edmunds, for what they are worth. Ive had alot of time to diagnose the problem more, and finally took the thing apart last weekend. The sound went away after I de-assembled the entire front brake system (found nothing wrong at all). Rotors are NOT mishapen, and there's one glaring groove on it. I say glaring because the entire rotor is basically still new, so i guess the groove is technically faint in comparison since im looking hard for flaws. Anyways, put the thing back together and the noise went away for the entire day. Came back the next afternoon when I was driving

Im ordering a new hub assembly because I can hear the bearing starting to go bad with my ear to the hub. Might as well start somewhere.

Also, in regards to the accident question, the best I can gather about the car's previous "mishaps" was that it might have been lowered at one point, then returned to stock before being either sold to me, or sold to the guy before me. Also, some more details on that alignment i mentioned... I'm perfect all around except for the front RIGHT, which is off by 2 degrees... interesting, seeing as the sound is coming from the left. Oh well, I got away super cheap and I've got 3,500 miles on the car with no serious issues. I'll just continue on with my preventitive maintanence.

 

Bumping this. I FINALLY fixed this sound and another one that sounded like my tire rubbing on the wheel well. The hub assembly fixed this. Hopefully this helps somoene. I used a hub assembly DIY thread in this forum as well.