very worrying noise from car body

Paul (MN)

Hi,

I have a 2000 Primera 1.8 Hatch (the model before the one that looks like an elephant).

It has developed a very worrying sound from the RHS of the car, 80% of the time front the front, but sometimes from the back.

Basically, it sounds like two pieces of metal being hit against each other very hard. A sharp cracking sound. It's hard to describe....

Anyway, most of the time it seems to be coming from the front right and I can feel a little blip in the accelerator pedal at the same time, presumably as the metal vibrates a little. Sometimes I get the exact same noise coming from the rear at the right.

I can drive over a potholed road with no noise and then the noise will appear on a "dip" on a smooth road. The noise can also appear when I hit a pothole, but not all the time. It seems to be triggered by a pulling or stress on metal, rather than a shock/bang.

It is all very worrying as it's very loud and seems to be stress related rather than a loose piece of metal/something just knocking.

Is there a known problem for this? Is here something along the RHS of the car I should be looking at?

The only visible indicationg I can see is that the front wing is slightly out of line (barely) with the drivers door and it **might** be now slightly more out of line (sticking out more) than last year. But perhaps the drivers door is the one slightly out of line? As far as I can tell there has been no accident on the car. It all looks OK. I don't want this piece of info to make everybody think it is the cause.


I'm just hoping somebody here has had a similar noise and can pinpoint it. Very hard to diagnose a sound via the web I know! but perhaps somebody knows something, even if it was on a different car?

camarobill

are u sure that car wasent crashed check the body mounts on the sub frame,see if the front tyre is leaveing any marks under the arch,are u sure there is nothing caught up around the caliper

De Hipster

Cut & shut...unshutting?!

AlienGav

I'd go with the above!

She sounds like she's falling apart!
Get off the road asap and have it looked at. I think you've bought a wrong un! :eek:

BrianD3

Is it a tinny/hollow sound? If it is it could be an exhaust or exhaust heat shield flexing or knocking off something.

Hard to know though. To try and pinpoint the sound try and get it to occur while stopped. Jack the car up at each jacking point and listen for any funny creaks. With the car back on its wheels, push and shake it vigorously using the the B pillar, sills, bonnet/bootlid slam panel and listen for noises.

BrianD3

Liesia

I had a noise similar to that but there was a slight pull on the wheel when going round the bend. The right spring was broken

fightin irish

CV joints maybe, give an auful random crackling sound especially when turning, Heat shield is a possibility, have seen a few of these giving an auwful noise,

Drop it into Nissan, they wont charge u for diagnosis, or else make sure they wont, they might just stick it on a ramp and know theprob (presuming u dont know any one in the trade)

528i

Ok the first thing you need to do here is calm down, this could be anything minor from a worn bushing to a loose bolt on a brake calliper, but from what remember, that car also had some problems with wheels or tyre wear shortly after you'd bought it ?

I'm guessing (like above) that this is a crashed (and very badly) repaired cut 'n shut job particularly given the discrepancies with each wing and its driving characteristics, It's most likely extremely unsafe to drive, and you should get rid of it asap as the first hump back bridge you encounter with zeal will probably split the car in half and cause an accident (this happens regularly with even professionally welded chassis legs and during rally stages etc.)

The worst thing you could do here is bring the car to your main nissan dealership for examination as (pending the inevitable outcome) he won't touch it with a barge pole afterwards and once word gets out, that car will be avoided like the plague on most forecourts and you're basically stuck with the problem. I presume you've had an independent engineers report carried out before purchasing (did he have professional indemnity insurance?) as you can be guaranteed a potential buyer will and thus your can of worms exposed, best thing in these situations (as before, you mustn't take my advice) is to throw a match to it, play dumb and claim on the insurance.

next.

DublinWriter

That's worrying. The Primeras are uber-reliable. I've had the same one for 10 years and it only broke down once due to the alternator failing (yes, I am a tight wad).

However, your problem sounds serious and you should take it to a Nissan dealer immediately. If you're on the Northside of Dublin, then go to Windsor in Raheny.

It sounds to me like it could be the CV-boot joint, a problem with the suspension or a bigger structural issue. The later could be the problem if it's a 'cut-and-shut' car.

Wing/door mis-alignments are usually the tell-take signs of previous bodywork. You should have a full-service history for a car that relatively new.

I'd recommend to anyone buying a second-hand car to get the AA to give it a once over. Well worth the money you don't have to be a member. They saved me from buying some absolute pigs in the past.

DublinWriter

Now I remember it, and I don't want to completely panic you, but as far as I know you couldn't get Primera 1.8 hatches in Ireland up till about 2002-ish, or whenever the new Renault 'inspired' design came out.

Sounds like an English import to me, possibly an MOT failure. There was a flood of them coming into the Republic just before the NCT came in 2000.

As I said earlier, take it down to your local authorised Nissan dealer ASAP.

528i

Don't do it, financial suicide ! try off loading it at auction first.

AMurphy

As 528 and other suggest, it could be anything, from a simple suspension bushing to 2 half-cars previously welded now coming apart.

Should be easy detect the latter, is the VIN No. not stamped all over the body, like on the firewall, front engine rail, R or L fender mounts, floor of the boot and door pilliars and tax/reg documentation, so find and match.
Frame cracks are possible after crashing and straightening and welding, or even poor welding from the factory.
Easy to find, just examine the paint for cracking/laking is "spider web" formations, usually the crack is underneath.

And/or jack up the car and see if the body flexes, doors stick or become easier to open, etc.

As for mechanical wear, you say it's from both F and Rear. I might suspect the exhaust at first.
However, multiple worn busing s is possible, given the roads.
So, I'd check the mount bushings for dampers, springs, suspension control arms, sway-bars and engine and g-box mounts.

And check your wheel nuts torque and hub caps for the possibility of loose balance weights.

fightin irish

Look simple as piss, just get a mechanic to look at it, some one u know or secondly someone that knows someone, even better go into any dealership, talk to any mechanic offer em €50 to look at it (privatley of course) they do it in my place all the time, Main dealer...This is incase u know absoultley no one in the motor trade, then u can throw a match to it

ButcherOfNog

it might be nothing, or it might be something that if left unfixed could be fatal. get it looked at, pronto, any garage can pop it up on a lift and do this for you.

Paul (MN)

thanks for the replies, especially 528i, the darling of motoring boards!

Yes, when I got the car it was pulling left and it turned out that it had a damaged wishbone. But I had this replaced (original part only) and there was no problem with the car, and no noise at the time either.

I haven't looked under it, but that's because I didn't realise how bad it was as I don't drive it that often.

I would never ever use the Nissan garage mentioned above again ever. They sold the car to me. I would bring it to a non-Nissan garage.

- There are lots of 1.8's around. It's a 1.8EX to be precise. Never heard of the UK cars before. hmmm... The car has passed the NCT no problem, but that's no indication of anything.......
- as bad as I found that garage I would suspect that even they, being a main Nissan dealer, would not sell a cut and shut.
- I did post on a Nissan forum and they are saying again the exhaust heat shield, perhaps toplinks (somebody had ones go with similar noises), and CV joints.

Also, there is no pulling or suspension problems. The car is driving perfectly. If a spring was broken etc etc I would expect there to be some effect on the driving experience.

My problem with the above is that sometimes I get the exact same noise coming form the rear of the car. But I guess sometimes it's hard to place a noise, or a noise seem to come from one place, but didn't really. The exhaust does run along that side of the car alright.

I will power wash the general areas and have a look under it tonight in case it's anything obvious. Just haven't had a chance this week.

I'm not convinced that that front wing hasbeen repaired. It is slightly out of line but not much and I can't see any signs of repair anywhere.

I'm not really in the mood to loose money changing this car...... it's depreciated alot. And I like it because it's loaded with climate control etc and is nice to drive and is practical.

bazz26

DublinWriter wrote:

Now I remember it, and I don't want to completely panic you, but as far as I know you couldn't get Primera 1.8 hatches in Ireland up till about 2002-ish, or whenever the new Renault 'inspired' design came out.

Sounds like an English import to me, possibly an MOT failure. There was a flood of them coming into the Republic just before the NCT came in 2000.

As I said earlier, take it down to your local authorised Nissan dealer ASAP.

Facelifted Primera 1999 - onwards was available in 1.8, mostly with an automatic gearbox but they did bring out a 1.8 EX manual model which had alot of toys as standard, also had 16" alloys, sport seats, white dials and side skirts.

Paul (MN)

that's the one!

i also had a spoiler fitted to the back.

In general I think the car is great but I'm not so sure about the build quality. The bumpers can get out of shape easily, the interior trim creaks alot too.

I have heard that these models are known for body flex, and I supposed I'm just worried that it's gone and flexed too much :eek:

Crap, I'm going to lose money on this. If I find something wrong with it I couldn't sell it on and be able to sleep at night. Hopefully it's nothing major.

528i

Paul (MN)

528i,

you're slipping..... you forgot to photoshop out my alloys and put in steelies with hubcaps.

528i

that's what melted hoodcaps look like, I'm free for afew hours next week if your lacking in testicular fortitude

AlienGav

HAHA! lmao

He has the right idea! I'll burn it out for you if you like...
Leave the window slighty open

Paul (MN)

I rang a few Nissan garages to discuss the problem. Most came back with the well known issues of top links/wishbones at the front wearing quickly. So unless I have 2 wear on both side at the same time I'm outta luck.

However, one mentioned that he has seen the top door hinges wear. When I queried him he said something about it running to both doors (!?) and it could potentially make the noise front and back.

I'll check this out tonight, but I reckon a trip to the dealer is in order for next week.

fightin irish

528i wrote:

ROFL

Paul (MN)

Well I dropped it into a (non Windsor) Nissan garage. They inspected and could find nothing wrong. They did drive and hear the sound.

They are pretty sure that it's a top link, as they are a common fail item, however, they could not see anything wrong with it.

So, they want me to drop it back in another day and they will get another car and start swapping components until the noise goes. They were fairly decent about it and didn't just ask me could they put in a new top link. It's onyl 70+vat+fitting, which I woul have paid as that part is likely to fail anyway, apparantly.

Of course, I could be a cynic and think that they know it's that part, but now I will have to pay 70+vat+fitting, plus a 1-2 hours labour for inspecting the car next time round!

They seem decent though and I've used them before and they've been good. Motorvalue on Prussia St.

They did confirm that there is nothing hanging off or anything structural wrong with the car, thank god.

fightin irish

Good to hear m8, i know the garage foreman personally, he's a super gut and very decent bloke. So put the matches on hold.