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Fronteeer
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| Posted: Mar 25 2008 at 11:56am | IP Logged
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I started out with a clunk when accelerating in 4X4 on snow. Then I noticed a clunk-clunk-clunk when turning left in 4X4. Went to the dealer and was told that the front drive shaft was "tight" and needed to be replaced. My '05 SE crew is still under (powertrain) warranty. The service manager explained that the factory front drive shaft has integrated U-joints that are pre-greased and non-serviceable, and that while under warranty Nissan will replace the shaft at no cost. Once the warranty is up, they will replace the factory U-joints with aftermarket ones that have zerks (grease fittings) so that they can be periodically greased and repacked, and used with the existing shaft.
So the dealer removed the front shaft and ordered a replacement, leaving me with only 4X2, which was fine. During the next four days, the same symptoms I had before the front shaft was removed continued, and got way worse (while driving in 4X2). When backing out of a parking space with the wheels fully turned, the truck would come to a complete stop and if I gave it more gas one of the rear wheels would spin while all of the others were locked up. One time on the highway, the truck veered left for a second, causing me to counter-steer to avoid making an involuntary lane change. When turning left, the clunk was still there, and at times after turning at low speed the steering wheel would pull so hard in the opposite direction of the turn that I had to just let it go and drive slowly until it stopped pulling.
The service manager was still confident that once the new front drive shaft was in, the problem would stop, but it didn't, and fortunately the truck started misbehaving so badly while the tech. was test-driving it, that it's parked and I'm in a loaner until further notice. The tech. agrees with my original suspicion that it's a CV joint, on the driver's side, and I'm waiting for them to call and confirm. At on point while driving around the dealer's lot, the truck got really heavy to drive, and there was a loud BANG from underneath. I'm worried that driving it like that this past weekend has damaged other parts. Anybody else had this problem?
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Fronteeer
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| Posted: Mar 25 2008 at 1:17pm | IP Logged
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Just got off the phone with the service manager at the dealer, and he said the new front shaft was just as tight as the old one, so that wasn't the problem. The problem is that the FRONT DIFFERENTIAL NEEDS TO BE REPLACED! Yeah, you heard right. The front diff on a 2-year-old 4X4 pickup truck which is used for occasional light-duty hauling and towing, but primarily commuting and carrying kids around, is shot, and a new one is on order. According to the service manager, the diff is covered under the powertrain warranty and he's never replaced one before. Apparently when they took the cover off it was full of chunks of metal. I know for a fact that driving it until the replacement front shaft came in, as recommended by the service manager, did most of this damage, because it was a minor clunk on Thursday when I brought it in, and it wasn't until yesterday that it got really bad. This morning it was nearly un-driveable.
Apparently the new front differential is around $3,800. Good thing I'm still under warranty.
I'm wondering, who would a) take Nissan's word that this is incredibly rare and is guaranteed not to happen again, just by the simple fact that it's practically unheard of, or b) get the truck fixed and trade it before the money pit gets deeper? Take into consideration that I've had all the other common problems as well, like the fuel sender going bad, the belt and tensioner replaced due to excessive belt squeak, etc. as well as the entire HVAC unit replaced because it only worked on full cold and full hot with nothing in between, and nobody could fix it.
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thedave360
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| Posted: Mar 25 2008 at 2:08pm | IP Logged
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I have a theory. I have always heard not to buy a new model vehicle the first year it comes out, because the manufacturer has not mass produced this vehicle before and problems will exist in the new vehicles for the first 1-2 years. Its not anything they do on purpose, its just that there are many variables to mass production that can effect the quality of the new cars.
The Frontier was TOTALLY redesigned for the 2005 model year. Before then, the Frontier was basically the same as the old Hard Body which started in 1986. So the 05 Frontier was basically a New Model truck. I think it fits in my theory. Lots of people have had problems with the 05, not so many for the 06, and less than that for the 07.
My mom bought a Dodge Intrepid the second year they came out, and she gave it to me when I turned 16. It was basically a money pit (more so than most Dodge products) until it blew up on the way to trade it in on my 04 Frontier [I swear that really happened!!] The only reason we kept it that long was most of the things wrong with it were either under warranty or a recall.
Hopefully, that was the last of the problems for your 05
If you would trade it in, would you get a newer model Frontier or go for a whole different truck?
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lakota
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| Posted: Mar 25 2008 at 5:30pm | IP Logged
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..
I have to agree that a lot of first year productions can have problems. You always hear how perfect the Toyotas are. But don’t you believe it… Consumer Report says don’t buy a 2007 V-6 Camry… and with very good reasons. Ours is a 2008 I-4.
I got one of the first Frontiers with a 3.3 V-6... I’m still waiting (8.5 years) for it to blow-up!
I haven’t heard of front diff problems.
Have a good one while you can still laugh about it.. Don S..
Laws such as the use of corn ethanol are driving up the cost of living (have you been to the grocery store lately) without driving up wages. This equates to a lower standard of living (but not in China) thanks to Agro-lobbyists and corrupt and ill-informed lawmakers.
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PLEASE >>> A SIG similar to mine can be VERY HELPFUL to all the members!
'99 4x4 3.3 Frontier Se KC Auto, 48,000 miles
'76 4x4 401 Wagoneer QT
'04 FWD 1.8 Sentra '08 FWD 2.4 Camry LE
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Fronteeer
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| Posted: Mar 25 2008 at 6:09pm | IP Logged
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Yeah, I totally agree about the first year models, and I bought the '05 against my better judgement, only because the previous generation Toyota and Nissan crew cabs were hard to come by in good cond. without extremely high mileage (which backs up your respective opinions about the more mature models). I also knew that I wanted to tow 5000+ lbs., haul at least 1,200 lbs., and that all of my prior relationships with Chrysler products had been terrible (i.e. scratch the Dakota). It was a toss-up between the '05 Tacoma and the '05 Frontier, and I didn't like the attitudes of the snobby sales staff at my local Toyota dealers, so I opted for the Nissan and have been incredibly well treated by my dealer.
So yeah, when it comes to the faulty HVAC unit, the belt and tensioner, the fuel sender, etc., I agree that these are the sort of failures that first-runs are prone to. There are TSBs and the replacement parts are redesigned because Nissan has acknowledged that they were defective in design. There is no excuse, however, for a front differential chewing itself to pieces because the truck is a new model. That's insane. Chrysler aside,  the transmissions and final drives on a new vehicle--especially a utility vehicle--should last hundreds of thousands of miles. I didn't buy this truck to baby it, wax it twice a week and drive it on Sundays, I bought it to go where a car couldn't take me, and I broke 4WD driving in snow. Forget off-roading in the mud, it's a freakin' overpriced Hyundai with leaf springs. Because this isn't a common issue with the Frontier, the replacement diff isn't going to be a "revised part," but rather the same part as the one that's sitting on the hoist right now with all its gears chewed up, so how do I know I won't be here in another two years with no warranty? There's only one way to make sure...
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jers
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| Posted: Mar 25 2008 at 11:57pm | IP Logged
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Well plenty of guys do a good amount of off-roading with their second gens without issues. Yes, the front diff is a bit weak, but that is true of many 4x4 vehicles. Bottom line is it's a machine and sometimes they break. People are still involved in building and assembly and make mistakes. It's not always a straight engineering issue.
To call it a "freakin' overpriced Hyundai with leaf springs", please. Go lurk around the Toyota Tacoma forums and see some of their issues... like the endless 'driveline vibration issues' that keep cropping up. I use Toyota as they are held as the benchmark.
Or best Tacoma issue yet:
http://www.kcra.com/news/15433689/detail.html
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Fronteeer
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| Posted: Mar 26 2008 at 10:13am | IP Logged
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I know the Toyota's crap too. The problem is that they're built by the same hicks that put Fords, Dodges and Chevys together. In fact, the next Titan's going to be a Dodge, so there you go. I bet the transmission's going to be really, really impressive in that  . My old man used to have an old-school, Japanese built Land Cruiser, and you couldn't break anything on that truck no matter how hard you tried, so enough with the excuses for Japamerican faux-import cheap crap.
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Boomer
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| Posted: Mar 26 2008 at 10:27am | IP Logged
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Nissan sales are not strong and American factories are running at 65% capacity. (Factory in TN was reported at that capacity by the Wall Street Journal just a few days ago.) Nissan is a French owned company. While their engineering is probably still Japanese, they, like others, will look to their bottom line before anything else. That means higher productivity (fewer people doing more jobs), more pressure on suppliers to cut costs and more partnerships with other companies so that resources and risks can be shared. Also remember that the dollar is weak so when dollar profits are translated into euros or yen, there is much less good news to report. That exacerbates the pressure even more.
Toyotas quality is decling as well for some of the same reasons. The pressure from the shareholders, for whom any company is run, is tremendous. Management always walks a tightrope between customers and suppliers and shareholders. It can be a difficult dance to perform for a publicly held company.
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jers
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| Posted: Mar 26 2008 at 11:46am | IP Logged
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I know fiscal responsibilties to shareholders are always an issue. But if you cut quality you will eventually lose sales... and how does that hit their pockets? But some of this also comes down to pride and the workers involved.
A good example is the GM production lines. Why is it that the Canadian lines consistently produce higher quality products (initially, can't help engineering) than the American lines? Americans should be building the best vehicles, they pretty much invented the industry. Now they are closing the Canadian lines... my bet is they will go to Mexico. Great, as if GM doesn't have enough quality issues.
As well I agree in that, I am tired of paying a premium on import cars that are not imports. Nissan designs most of the vehicles it sells in North American in California and builds them in America. Volkswagons and Audis are coming from Mexico, not Germany.
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Fronteeer
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| Posted: Mar 26 2008 at 3:18pm | IP Logged
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Well, Volkswagen had to come up, didn't it?  My last two vehicles were Volkswagens, and while the usual little clips and switches and so on broke from time to time, the frame, engine, transmission, final drive, steering components, fuel delivery system, etc.--stuff that needs to work in order for the sum of components to qualify as a car--were absolutely bulletproof. Those cars are as tough as nails. Sure, people complain about their VW's but a 7-year-old VW with a broken glove box door, one windshield wiper, one headlight, a door handle missing, no tailpipe and a pile of mysterious squeaks and rattles, still functions as an automobile. My 2-year-old Frontier currently functions as a paperweight, and I've been stranded roadside twice since I've owned it--a record previously held only by my 1981 Dodge Omni hatchback. In the meantime I'm driving this annoying pug-like thing, I don't even know what it's called, but I've never seen anything so cheap. If VW made trucks, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
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Nissan Frontier Forums : Problems / Technical
Topic: clunking, banging, heavy steering ’05 SE
