I was just doing an under-chassis inspection when I noticed this leak-drip.
The leak is located at the rear of the final drive assembly behind the rear suspension cross member.
The leak is only out the rear of the cross member. It's dry in front of the cross member directly behind the final drive housing.
The area where is leaks looks like as if the final drive shaft comes strait out into what looks like a seal or a bushing.
Has anyone else come across this issue?
This photo is from the rear of the car
The only thing on the other side is a mounting bolt for the dif housing. I would assume the bolt is threaded into a blind hole so it would not be a source of leakage.
I saw that in the SM and could not figure out what the 2-notched collar within that area at the back...
The fluid was thin but oily in consistency. I'll have to wait until the weather warms up a bit so that I can really get to it.
I'll try and follow up with any other info.....
Ok; just had another look.
The rear suspension member where the final drive assembly mounts to at the rear bolt area is mounted to what looks like a vibration-isolation mount.
I think this Donut-looking mounting point is filled with fluid. The fluid smells like brake fluid and is the same consistency and colour.
I pushed the rubber "donut" around and I can see minor cracking in the rubber surround.
I don't see the actual part in the service manual so I think I'm SOL on a replacement part...
Have you experienced any new vibrations? If not, then maybe you can live with a "deflated" vibration isolator.
It looks like the mount is not replaceable. It is part of the cross-member which has an MSRP of $495.79. I would think labor would be quite expensive for that part.
I didn't really notice anything that was like OMG. I do pull my work trailer around a bit so that may mask the feeling and may have induced the problem to begin with.
I wonder if anyone else who pulls a trailer on a regular bases may have a similar problem?
I'm pulling a trailer that weighs 900 lbs empty; 1400 lbs on average.
Thanks for looking into the part for me Joe; I always appreciate the depth of information you provide
Your undercarriage looks terrible! Is it from all the winter salt on the road? I guess I am used to looking at mine which has no evidence of corrosion at all. We don't use salt on the roads oin Oregon...
Your undercarriage looks terrible! Is it from all the winter salt on the road? I guess I am used to looking at mine which has no evidence of corrosion at all. We don't use salt on the roads oin Oregon...
yikes east coast cars. that atlantic ocean and hudsons bay really take their tolls on the vehicles. we use A LOT of salt on our roads in the winter but vehicles here are clean in comparison. i'm gonna go have a look on our murano(since it's finally super nice out) and i'll report back with my thoughts.
yikes east coast cars. that atlantic ocean and hudsons bay really take their tolls on the vehicles. we use A LOT of salt on our roads in the winter but vehicles here are clean in comparison. i'm gonna go have a look on our murano(since it's finally super nice out) and i'll report back with my thoughts.
I'm near Toronto so it's not the water borne salt; it is road salt though. They put so much salt on the roads that it make McDonald french fries look like desert
Also the photo was taken during a large snow dump and salting session.....yuck
Thanks for your time and input
I did a quick search and it looks like that same cross-member is used on both FWD and AWD MOs. If that is truly the case then if you can find someone with a FWD MO who will let you crawl underneath it you can get a better idea on how the bushing is installed in the cross-member. It is easier to view on a FWD MO because the rear differential will not be in the way.
If the bushing is a press fit you may be able to replace it, however if it is welded in then you may be up a creek.
ok so i had a chance to quickly crawl under the mo. the bushing you are picturing is basically a vibration dampner for the rear diff. it is not fluid filled it is just a big rubber ring. so i'm assuming there is either some water leaking out from the rear sub frame or there is a fluid leak comming from some other component(maybe a brake line?) i'll have to take a closer look tomorrow. and i'm pretty sure the dampner is just press fit into the subframe but it seems like it would still be an extensive process to replace(have to remove the evap canister and possibly the rear diff)
joe; That would be ideal but I don't have anyone I know with FWD MO's around here since most of the CDN models came AWD so I'll have to have a better look (up on a lift) when the weather gets better....we're having one of the whitest winters we've had in a while. I will powerwash the underside and get down and dirty.
nissanlove; I was under the impression that there would not be any brake lines running above that area; is there? If so; I'll have a look much sooner. I will try to have a better look this weekend since Monday is a holiday for us and will give me an extra day. Will post with any info I find.
Let's look at this logically. You have confirmed it is not water, so it must be some sort of industrial fluid. The only possible sources of the fluid in that area would be 1) brake fluid, 2) gear oil from the diff, and 3) fluid-filled vibration damper.
1) I seriously doubt that what you are seeing is the result of a leak in a brake line. It would take quite a bit of fluid to fill the void in that cross-member, plus there is no evidence of fluid leakage from the two holes on the forward face of the cross-member (in your second photo). Check the brake fluid reservoir; is it unusually low?
2) The threaded stud connecting the rear differential to the cross-member is installed in a blind hole (see image below) so there is no fluid path from the differential to the rear of the cross-member.
3) The only remaining source of fluid would be the vibration damper, but nissanlove claims it is not fluid-filled. So where does that leave us????
Hey guys; thanks for your follow up. I will have a look later today after I pull the car into my garage. I'll clean and dry it up to see if I can probe the issue further to pin point what it may be.
It's freezing rain right now and very damp......
Ok; so here is my latest update.
I had a closer look and the fluid that was there before is no longer present. It may have either been washed away with all this snow and rain or dried up.
nissanlove; the fluid's texture was very similar to brake fluid in viscosity and even in smell from what I remeber. Kind of odd since there are no brake lines in and around that area. There is a fuel related line passing above the area to the tank's fuel filler cap which looks like a breather tube.
njjoe; my brake fluid levels are perfect; no drop in level since I checked last so that's a good thing.
I felt the rubber bushing in that area and it appears that it is made having pockets in the upper half and the lower half with solid rib-like feeling at the 3 and 9 o'clock position. Kind of like how some of the exhaust hanger have rubber hangers that are solid in certain sections. I pushed into the soft rubber areas and did notice that it did have some cracking assosiated with dried up rubber. If the bushing does not have any fluid in it; then it may have just been water build up running down the back and this was all just a wild goose chase.
I do find it odd that when I did notice the fluid; it was coming from the rear facing bushing side only and not the forward facing side where one would think that water may be kicked up into...
Well; I do know that it's not brake fluid and thanks to njjoe(again the infinite depth of info) that it neither fluid from the rear end so I guess unless I hear otherwise about that bushing; I'll just be happy that it's nothing serious. Just very odd though:4:
Thanks again for everyone's input
Yup, I discovered mine leaking last week when I switched out the snowies for the all-seasons...
Nissan uses an oil-filled bushing pressed into the rear subframe. Nissan's solution is to replace the entire subframe ($1000 at my local stealership). I don't know about you but replacing a $1000 subframe (plus the approx $1200 in labour) to replace a $30 bushing really grates on me...
I've been checking out other Nissan forums and this isn't an uncommon problem though it's better documented on the sporty vehicles than the MO's. There are kits available where all differential support bushings are replaced with performance-oriented billet aluminum bushings but I've not yet found a bushing kit for the Murano.
My choices are:
1) Replace the entire subframe as per Nissan reco.
2) Replace bushing with a billet-aluminum (solid) one.
3) Drill a hole in the top and bottom of the rubber part of the bushing to drain all the oil and fill the void with 2-part urethane (i.e. PMC-770) or silicone.
I like Option No. 3 (I'm a big believer in the KISS principle) but can't find anyone who's tried this to know if it will work. If anybody can enlighten me please do.
Option No. 2 is where I'll end up if #3 fails, even if I can't find an aftermarket kit it shouldn't be too hard to get a machine shop to make me an aluminum (or polyurethane) bushing. I've seen a couple of pictures on the web of tools folks created to pull the old bushing out (apparantly it's TIGHT!) so I know it can be done. The only bad news is that I'll have to re&re the differential in order to do this. The silver lining is that replacing the subframe makes the re&re of the diff look like a walk in the park.
Option No. 1 is a non-starter. That option I'll leave for people with more money and less tenacity than me...
Cheers,
Daryl
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