97_GXE

I discussed this issue about a year ago. When I'm the highway, sometimes 100 miles into a trip, my car will began vibrating heavily from the steering wheel and floor pedals. Long story short, I received a diagnosis of a bad rack and pinion, but after a simple high speed balance and rotation, the problem would usually go away for awhile. For awhile, I had no problems for several thousand miles of highway driving. A Goodyear store said the rack and pinion was flopping around while driving, but that it wasn't a safety issue. However, they were able to do something to stop it from doing it. Then it came up again a couple thousand miles later. It's like it'll act up, fix itself, go undetected then crop up again.

Well I'm running on steel wheels 215/60R16. Sumitomo tires which can be replaced now, but they're not bald or stripped. No bent wheels. I used to think this issue only occurred during cold weather or grooved roads. Now it's even happening on smooth roads. I had two four wheel tire balances in the past month and the problem goes away only to come back up. This issue also occurred when my tires were new. Which makes me leery if I put new different brand tires on, will it still happen.

However, I don't think its tires because when I'm driving and it starts to shake, when I switch into neutral the vibrations stop. When I put it back in drive it starts back up. When Im turning the wheel, it gets worse. When I floor the pedal, it aggravates it and makes it crop up or gets worse. When I'm driving down the street at 35-45 mph I don't feel anything. Transmission works fine. It only happens on the highway.

What should I do?

KP11520

First... Put your back rims/tires on the front and vice versa. See if there's any difference before chasing down other possibilities.

Bearings usually make noise when this sloppy. But some of your descriptions indicate a possibility, as well as maybe the CV axles.

Lower Control Arm bushings might be shot and if that's the case, replace them with Moog Problem Solver LCAs. New everything including ball joints.

The other thing to look at is your inner and outer Tie Rods. Also make sure the bushings and mounting hardware for the steering rack are intact and solid.

Another thing to look at might be your front strut mounts and mount bearings.

Last and least likely, Sway Bar bushings and End Links and make sure the sway bar isn't broken. If you replace the LCAs, Do the bushings and end links as well.

There is a possibility the rack is getting sloppy as well, and now it's taking less for it to show its condition.

allmazda

I would check all your motor mounts. Put car in gear apply parking brake and foot brake. Rev engine and see if the motor is shifting weird. Have friend stand besides fender to view.

Next check your harmonic balancer for cracks. This could cause the engine to vibrate as well.

From what you described it seems only to occur when engine is under load.

The above are free. If all those are good then axles and wheel bearings.

97_GXE

Thanks for the inputs. I had the motor mounts fixed awhile back, but 1 on the battery side wasn't replaced. But a couple shops did that test and found no major movements. Though a couple mechanics disagreed whether it was too much movement or not.

I may have to take it in to have it looked at simple because I can't Jack it up far enough to see everything...the tires don't come off the ground. I just want to know what to suggest needs to be replaced.

But it's just weird. One month I can float down the highway, then this happens out of nowhere. And it mainly started up again after driving around a town with lots of potholes. It's like if I floor it too much or hit too many potholes, the problem will start again...but never right away...after driving for awhile. Then it'll continue until I get it looked at again, either through alignments (some shops say they cant do my alignment, others shops seem to align it fine) or rebalancing.

I may take it back to discount tire to rebalance (they just did it last week and it didnt help), but they'll just be more interested in selling me new tires...but I plan to get my next set from another store though.

allmazda

The one near the battery or trans mount is the easiest to swap out. How long ago did you change the others? Did your problem pop up after the other mounts were changed or before?

KP11520

Pot holes are known for knocking off balancing weights and bending rims.

My two rear rims have flat spot bends from exactly that! Now I'm thinking my right front one too! OUCH!

97_GXE

The problem was there before and after the motor mounts were changed about 2-3 years ago. I had a shop out of town change the dogbone, and the rear engine mount because I could hardly drive it without shaking. When the problem cropped back up, I went to another shop and told them the other mount was not changed and to replace it. But 2 other shops said there wasn't much unusual movement going on.

Other fixes I tried were changing the struts and inner tie rods. And new tires. The problem will go away for a few months, and then come right back. For example, driving around town even on short highway trips I have no problem. But, on a recent trip...it gave me problems most of the drive. It only seems to come up after the car has been highway running for awhile...like an hour on the highway at 70+.

The shaking is not minor. It's loud and it's like the whole chassis is shaking. Sometimes I can stop it by easing off the pedal or keeping it off cruise control. Or, if I get onto a smoothly paved section of roadway that's actually rubber smooth. Most roads have ruts and grooves in it.

Tarzan

Can you reproduce this issue if you drive over the same stretch of the road repeatedly? This could be just resonance. My Quest is prone to vibration on one particular HW with concrete surface, but is perfectly fine on paved HWs.

KP11520

Lower Control Arm bushings. And alignment are highly suspect.

I'd also look at your sub-frame bushings. If they are gone, the geometry of your front end changes, but the suspension gets very loud and clunky on rough roads. More road noise travels up too, with metal on metal where there used to be rubber bushings!

Car ever been hit or t-boned?

Last suggestions until you check what's been suggested already.

Les7311

All great input

Somewhere in the suspension parts that is more ham likely the problem

maxiiiboy

I strongly suspect it's your CV axles.
The above symptoms (highlighted in italics) are telltale signs. Bad axles will cause vibration when under power; powering in/out-of turns will make it worse.
How do I know? - I just replaced mine. Read this thread: https://maxima.org/forums/5th-genera...placement.html .

97_GXE

I will mention those bushings by the mechanic next time I have it inspected.

As for the car being hit...well I got punk'd when I bought the car off craigslist a few years ago. It didn't have any accident reports (which goes to show you can't always go off carfax), but over time as I started working on stuff...the drivers side headlight area looked like it was hit to where the frame doesn't reach the headlight screws properly. Also, I've had mechanics tell me a certain toe angle is slightly off and can't be adjusted, but that it's not a tire wear issue.

97_GXE

Ahhhh...good point. I really need to do a full front end replacement it sounds like. Unless I can pinpoint one thing to fix that'll eliminate it.

I drove today 75 miles to a town and 75 miles back. Paying attention to when the vibration starts: It started off smooth on the way there. Not Cadillac smooth, but I was able to hold 85 for a few miles. Well as I was nearing home, the vibrating was creeping up again. Even on Perfectly smooth road, warm weather.

Now...what happened last week, I had to drive 1,000 miles in 3 days, and every couple hundred miles the vibrations would get so bad I'd need to slow down to 65 or shift into neutral or pull off the road for awhile. Stopping and allowing the car to cool down some seems to help. But, driving it in below freezing weather makes it worse! Ugh.

I can't understand why this issue seems to crop up mainly when I've been on the road for a long time and everything heats up. If I drove the car only around town on the highway, I'd never notice it. I guess not many people risk taking old 1997/300,000 mile cars on long road trips to experience such phenomenon lol.

Bonka

iTrader: (13)

I had a similar issue where the whole car would shake and it would randomly go away. Highway speeds only. Turns out it was the support bearing on the passenger side axle even though it felt like it was coming from the driver's side. It was an OE axle with lots of miles on it, over 200k at the time.

Tarzan

Before you got shakes from the wheel bearing, you should have heard loud whining for quite some time. I replaced mine after they whined for about 1 year each (rear, then front) and they were still tight.

97_GXE

Did you have to replace the entire axle or just the bearing? Sounds exactly like what I'm experiencing. Especially the come and go randomness of it. Did you fix it or have a shop replace it? If it's not too much...I would definitely want to get it done before the next ride.

CS_AR

I found a bad support bearing and a grinding wheel bearing on the 98 model at 235,000 miles. Also the passenger side ball joint, end link, LCA, and tie rod ends were well past shot. So the 98 got new CV axles, a complete front end replacement, wheel bearings, struts and more. It drives like a new car now.

Bonka

iTrader: (13)

No noise symptoms. I had assumed it was the driver's side even when I had it up on the hoist and ran the damn thing it never occurred to me to check the passenger side ultimately I did and you could see the shaft vibrate like crazy. I ended up having my mech swap out the whole shaft. I haven't had good luck with jobber shafts went with Nissan's value line instead.

97_GXE

So just to make sure I have you right...I need to ask the mechanic to change out the bearing support bracket or support bearing, etc?

I can't get into replacing the whole front end right now. There has to be 1 thing that's causing this to happen which id want to get it handled. I was even considering in going for a diagnostic at Nissan dealer itself just to see if they can see anything thats off...but theyre going to point to the usual stuff that ive already fixed in the past and didnt cure it: shocks, tie rods, wheel balance.so rather save paying for more guessing and take it from you all.

Defintely not trying to do another wheel balance. $90 in the last month at two different places and its still not fixed. Or it'll be fixed for a few hundred or thousand miles after the balance and come right back.

How do I know it's not my tires causing it?