Clicking sound (Rear) FIXED - details >>>
 

Hey all,

I wanted to share my experience in the hopes that those with the same issue can become more informed and find their fix. To start, I drive her hard, but not into the ground hard. I have done my fair share of powerslides and aggressive cornering with VDC off. At about 22K miles I started to hear a click from the rear when accelerating out of 1st gear, basically right at clutch engagement...right as the power goes down.

I have 24K on her now and decided to take a tech from Tustin Nissan in OC out for a drive to hear the clicking sound. It was really warm last week and the clicking is reduced dramatically in high heat. (it was the loudest in the morning during first 3 stops/go while parts were still cool). He barely heard the noise and almost seemed like he knew what is was already. They told me right away it was going to be covered under warranty. They checked it out, special ordered the parts, and called me a few days later.

I picked her up today and man it feels so good. The power delivery to the rear feels soooo much more solid and smooth. Click....gone! Something had obviously gone wrong, but not to the breaking point. I quickly glanced over the costs, it was around $1,500 for the parts. (I wasn't sure if that included the labor) All I knew is I was getting my baby back and walking out of there paying $0.

They did more than I was expecting... maybe it's time to baby her a little bit? ;)

Anyway... I really hope this helps those that are frustrated with this issue...maybe it's the same thing. Here is the Service Report. Props to Tustin Nissan.

http://i918.photobucket.com/albums/a...ce_report1.jpg

It's to replace the bushings on the swaybars I believe. Mine clicked also but it was because my stock endlinks went bad after my sway bar install.

I'd say that they replaced some or all of the mounts for the diff or the suspension as well as the half shafts. Doesn't look like sway bar bushings to me.

No thats not it. There are 3 mount that hold the rear diff in. The front 2 are solid rubber but the rear is a is a fluid filled mount. To replace it, the rear sub-frame has to be replaced, I suspect this is what was done.

my rear sub frame was replaced because the liquid filled bushing was leaking.

item 55400

http://www.the370z.com/members/fuct-...nissandoc2.jpg

Yup, looks pretty similar to my case. Almost the same miles as well. Thanks for posting your service report!

So the rear diff bushings have fluid in them? So is it a type of oil? Wonder what the purpose of that is?

Your dealer is awesome. My dealer won't replace anything that is not ompletely broken

mine was leaking the grease out the bushing, so yea it was broken.

side note: i didnt hear any clicking, just saw the oil leaking....

now that everything is back the rear is rock solid..... almost to solid :\

was the clicking constant OR only when you first engaged 1st gear?

I often hear a "click" when I put er' in reverse

No, it was never constant. Just as I would engage the clutch in 1st and the suspension takes load. I would rarely hear it into 2nd as well... but at that point engine/road noise covered it.

I wonder if this is what I am experiencing. Basically after I engage in a gear, I get a clicking sound from the rear axle when I push the gas. Doesnt need to be an aggressive acceleration. Just blipping the gas pedal will give me this clicking sound.

mine clicks/rattles coming out of 1st as well but mines a auto. i have bought some whiteline diff bushing to replace my stock ones hopefully that fixes the issue.

only bad thing is it will happen again.. i would replace the bushing 's with the whiteline ones and call it a day..

Pretty easy to check if it's leaking.

If it's just starting to leak it won't be too messy. If gushing, the entire diff cover will be covered in oil. The bushing is oil filled to reduce NVH. If shot, there will probably be a clunking noise anytime weight transfer occurs.

Replacing with a solid bushing fixes the problem but introduces more NVH. It is a pricey repair to replace the rear subframe outside of warranty, so doing the bushings only is much cheaper. I'd expect harder driven cars to have this part fail sooner than those not driven as hard. Extreme climates deteriorate the rubber as well.

To the OP, why don't I see an alignment line on your invoice?

I do wonder why they replaced the drive shafts. Maybe one/both of the cv boots were torn.?

http://i.imgur.com/vXquzz8.jpg