Well, it's my first post and I'm representing my GF since she's a little shy. She just purchased a 1998 Sentra GXE about a year ago and she told me about some weird things that her car does when stopping. Seems as though:
If you are going any speed and slam the brakes, it stops with a some shaking of the steering wheel. Also there is a "thunk" when ever she slows down to a stop (gently pressing the brake in to stop gently). It happens right as the car comes to a stop and ends it's "dive."
Fine, got the car tires balanced, rotated, wheels went for alignment, pads changed and rotors resurfaced, blah blah blah...
All of the above still happens, especially the "thunk"ing noise that happens only when she brakes slow.
Any help? any knowledge? could it be the rear drums? or maybe something else?... I appreciate any useful information.
A few things come to mind.You could have a bulge in a tire(on the tread),a loose caliper monting bracket,or a bad wheel bearing/hub assembly.Maybe a bad axle too.Hope this gives you some ideas.
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1998 Nissan Frontier XE/2wd/5spd 1 owner, 264k miles
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where can I get these things looked at for a decent price?.. I know very little about cars in general and not much more about the Sentra... what is a loose caliper mounting bracket? or the bad wheel bearing or hub assembly? how do I check or who can check this?
Would any of those things listed cause the knocking sound I described? Thanks for the possible problems, I will note those and see what I can do...
Location: B.S. from University of Connecticut in 2003
Posts: 351
Quote:
Originally posted by dragonfli_x where can I get these things looked at for a decent price?.. I know very little about cars in general and not much more about the Sentra... what is a loose caliper mounting bracket? or the bad wheel bearing or hub assembly? how do I check or who can check this?
Would any of those things listed cause the knocking sound I described? Thanks for the possible problems, I will note those and see what I can do...
"play in the steering rack?"
"worn lower control arm bushings, ball joints?"
out of blind ignorance, how or where would you look to find out if these were the cases to cause a knocking after braking? How do you know if your lower control arm bushing is shot and what are you supposed to look at to be able to make this judgement call? Thanks for all the help thus far, I just need to find a good place to check these cars.
Are there online manuals for other Nissan products? Say 97 Sentra? I looked at the cybrrpartspor roots but was 403'd. Thanks.
Steve
southiowa
97stock GXE
if you can, have a friend stick his head out the window and listen for the thump. if its coming from the rear, its probably a warped drum. i had the same problem with my blazer. $40 for a new drum, and the thump went away. and it would only thump when coming to stop slowly and letting off.
the shaking in the front end is another story. could be bad ball joints, bearings, control arm bushings, or the rack and pinion. the best thing to do, if your unconfortable about front end work, is take it to a trusted front end shop. they should be able to find whats wrong.
Originally posted by crashedcdo if you can, have a friend stick his head out the window and listen for the thump. if its coming from the rear, its probably a warped drum. i had the same problem with my blazer. $40 for a new drum, and the thump went away. and it would only thump when coming to stop slowly and letting off.
I think that is the problem for the thump sound.... it is coming from the back and it is happening just when you described it!...warped drum... hmmm.
Everytime i would hit the breaks it would thump too but it was more of a "thump thump thump thump" until i stop. I thought it was worn break shoes but when i was gonna change them they still seemed good. I changed them anyways cause the new ones were slightly thicker and when i was done the sound went away. Im guessing the last time they were changed, they were inproperly installed. As for the steering wheel shaking when you brake, that has happened to me as well but im doing some hard stops from about 60 or so. It doesnt do this at low speeds or under normal braking conditions.
abs vibration is mostly on the pedal itself, not the whole car, unless you pass abs threshold....
and one way to tell if it's front end play is to lift off the front axle, and check for front to back movement of the wheel, and while braking, have someone on the outside also visually look for front to back movment for lower control arm bushings.....
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