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01 Pathfinder Clicking noise


ryjaytay38
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Hey guys, I've got a clicking noise under the front end on acceleration. It's been there for a while but hasn't gotten any worse. I thought it was CV joint, replaced the axle(s) still there, replaced the wheel bearings, still there. In the last year, I've replaced axles, wheel bearings and seals, control arms, lower ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar links, belts, and struts. Same noise is still there. It slowly dissipates as speed increases but I'm afraid that something is going to break in the middle of nowhere. Could it be drive shaft? Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!!

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Hmmm.. try taking the yoke loose from the front diff and see if the ujoint moves freely in all directions.

 

Do you have any vibration?

 

What speed does the clicking start?

 

If the click is present at very low speed, does the frequency of the click happen with each rotation of the wheels?

 

Or is it much more frequent then the wheel rotations? Much less frequent?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited by onespiritbrain
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Not sure it helps but I had clicking issues after repacking my bearings and hubs (manual hubs) and it ended up being too much grease in the hubs preventing them from fully disengaging causing a speed related rotational clicking.

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U joint on the front driveshaft sounds likely to me. Unless you've replaced the factory drive flanges with manual hubs, the front diff/cvs/driveshaft spin whenever the truck moves, even though the transfer's not putting any power to it. If the driveshaft itself feels okay, I'd jack up the front end so the wheels are off the ground and then spin the whole front driveline by hand to see if you can replicate the noise. Try spinning it from the driveshaft, from the wheels, just screw around with it and see if you can make it make the noise. Use jackstands, obviously. If you can make it make the noise, you should be able to track it down.

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Yeah I've never done anything with the drive shafts or U joints but that's exactly where it sounds like it's coming from. When I accelerate and it seems to have some torque going to it, is when it happens. I'll give it a shot right now since I have the day off

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$3?!?!? Seriously? On a 4WD thats a pretty important part to be worth only $3....? Ive seen them let go-it can be spectacular! Lol

 

Where are they made?, he asks knowingly..

 

BTW, do them both. You got the ds out already. Work smart, not hard. V

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Yeah it said "wholesaler closeout". There was another link on another forum with a guy talking about getting the same one from "the u-joint store". Neapco sounded pretty solid and reputable after doing a little research. I ordered two so I could do both

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The truck doesn't know what the parts cost! So long as the parts are decent (and it sounds like lots of Jeepers run Neapcos) it should be fine. Good call doing both while it's out.

 

+1 for carnage, though; I remember one guy did his wrong (some problem with the clips IIRC) and had the shaft come loose at speed. A flailing driveshaft next to an aluminum transfer case is not what sweet dreams are made of. Go slow, double-check everything before bolting it back in.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ok, I got my u-joints, put them in, greased them, all seemed great until I hit about 45. At 45, it starts a vibration and by the time I hit 60, it's shaking big time. At low speeds it's great but at 60 it's scary as hell. What am I looking for? I did what Slartibart said and took it slow putting the u joints in, made sure all bases were covered and then thought of him saying he saw one come apart at speed. Doesn't sound like a lot of fun. I saw on another forum where someone switched theirs 180 degrees(back to front) and it fixed his vibration. Is that even possible? Going to take the other truck to work in the morning as I don't want to cause any damage if driving it is damaging anything. I doubt it's helping anything but hopefully youu guys can give me some more good advice and I'll be on it right after work tomorrow!

P.S. The clicking noise is GONE!!!

Thanks

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Huh. That sucks.

 

+1 for checking your work, though I'd be surprised if you got a joint to bind bad enough to give you "scary" levels of vibration. Off center, maybe, but I'd be surprised if that was the problem if the clips fit. Did you end up pulling the splined bit apart? If it goes back together with the yokes out of phase, it'll vibrate. It should look like ]=====[ with the two ends parallel.

 

I can't think of what front-to-back would solve. It didn't vibrate before, so if you didn't change the direction of the shaft when you had it out, your problem lies elsewhere.

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And why would you want the slidyspliney bit down at the rearend level w/all the dirt & water?

 

I didn't know the 2 pcs were balance mated. Interesting. Is/was there any factory marking of that point, on the DS?

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I don't know if these were balanced together or apart--but it's not weight balance I'm thinking of here. The problem I'm suggesting is that a U joint is not a continuous velocity joint. Get any kind of angle on it and the driven end will speed up and slow down just a little as it goes around. Two U-joints lined up properly will cancel this out, so that the transfer and front diff spin smoothly together; two joints out of phase (clocked wrong or running at different angles) can compound the speed variation. This guy explains it pretty well.

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I've kind of put it on hold and worked on it when I can the last few days. One thing that I noticed the first night when it was vibrating was that when I slowed down, the engine was chugging. Last night I put the OBD meter on it and it said "cylinder 3 misfire". I looked on youtube for how to change the ignition coils. There was a video of a guy called, appropriately, how to change ignition coils 2001 nissan pathfinder. His name is jeff tryzbiak. In the end of the video he takes it out for a test ride and said it ran smoothly and solved his vibration at 60 mph.

I did not pull the slip joint apart so I don't think there's anyway splines can be off. I pulled the shaft off again to see if joints were binding and they couldn't be more smooth. I painted lines before it came off initially and it went back on the same way. Is this a possibility that the engine misfiring could cause the vibration? I had my doubts because it seems one is mechanical and one is electrical. Any thoughts? I'm hoping ignition coil or spark plug is the answer but this guys video is the first time I've heard that it could be a possibility.

Thanks as always!!

 

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Yes, a bad misfire can cause the whole vehicle to shudder. A misfire is mechanical in many respects. You have one cylinder that is not having a power stroke so it creates an imbalance in the engine. You have three power stroke on one side and two on the other. That is why the engine shakes so badly when you have a total misfire.

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There are other reasons it may be misfiring besides a coil. You could ohm the coil and see if it is in specs. Another option would be to switch the coils between cylinder three and five and see if five starts missing and three runs good. That would verify that the coil is the issue.

 

If the coil is the problem, then yes it is fine to replace only one coil pack.

 

Edit: wait a sec. An 01 still uses a single coil and a distributor right? Or does it have coil on plug?

Edited by Citron
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