[K-fire]

First off, hello! I picked up my 2004 SL AWD w/ touring & NAV last weekend and just love it. I took the dealer demo (6200mi) at a great price.

The past three mornings I have noticed a rather horrid noise when we first start out. As I accelerate into a left turn from a stop I hear a groan/squeal/pinging sort of like when you push a truck's power steering radius too far. It dissapears when I complete the turn and doesn't seem to be linked to accerating straight.

I have scheduled a service for weds and want to give the tech as much info as possible since I KNOW he cannot 'replicate' the problem since it only happens in the first 5-10 mins of driving the car in the am. Any advice? I have read about the mo's sluggishness when cold but this noise is very different...

I had been lurking on this board for about 2 weeks before I took delivery. My salesman was totally ill-prepared to deal with someone far more knowledgable about his product than he was. Thanks to all of you who gave me power in the purchasing department through sharing your experiences.

Any advice is welcome! :4:

 

[GripperDon]

I suggest a hand held tape recorder, take the sounds in with you. Grip

 

[zebelkhan]

Since the "squeal" noise goes away when the car warms up, I would guess at power steering belt needs to be retentioned. Have you also checked the fluid level in your steeing? A low level may also contribute to some of the noise when cold.

 

[Eric L.]

Since the "squeal" noise goes away when the car warms up, I would guess at power steering belt needs to be retentioned. Have you also checked the fluid level in your steeing? A low level may also contribute to some of the noise when cold.

Sounds like a reasonable explaination to me.

 

[K-fire]

Thanks for the insight guys - I have told the service dept to check these items.

As for the tape recorder - good idea! Much better than my idea to bring the service guy to the house and make him drive it to the dealer!

:2:

 

[bob1]

My advice, take the Mo to the dealer the night before service. Leave it on their lot. Show up the next day and you and the tech guy can ride together in a cold car and dupe the noise.
I did this on another car a few years back and it worked. don't remember what my deal was but I needed a cold start to replicate.
Bob1

 

[K-fire]

Thanks Bob1 - dropped it off this am and explained the noise to my service tech. He then turned on the car and said he didn't hear it! I repeated my point again "only when cold..." and he said he couldn't trouble shoot unless he heard it so I should leave the car overnight. I mentioned to him about checking the power steering fluid level and tentioning and I kinda got the "yeah, yeah" from him.

I asked whether Nissan diagnostic computers pick up engine codes that occur when something is slightly amiss with my engine performance (my Saab does) and he said no, not unless your check engine light comes on...

All this after I had to wait 25 minutes just to drop off my car for service at my exact appointment time! I was promptly greeted and then had to wait for 'my' service advisor to fill out my paperwork. My advisor was busy with another customer so I stood and waited while the other two service advisors (not MY advisors) talked about the baseball game. This was my very first service visit and I walked away feeling remorse about the purchase of a vehicle (and extended service contract) from this dealership. Unfortunately, the nest nearest is 35mi away...

If nothing turns up I will drop it off at night next time and meet him in the am to hear it!

 

[dklanecky1]

First off, hello! I picked up my 2004 SL AWD w/ touring & NAV last weekend and just love it. I took the dealer demo (6200mi) at a great price.

The past three mornings I have noticed a rather horrid noise when we first start out. As I accelerate into a left turn from a stop I hear a groan/squeal/pinging sort of like when you push a truck's power steering radius too far. It dissapears when I complete the turn and doesn't seem to be linked to accerating straight.

Any advice is welcome! :4:

Is there any chance you have the AWD button locked in the always on position?

 

[K-fire]

Nope - checked the AWD button. It's fine. Dealer diagnosis? I need to run 2 tanks of premium gas and see if it fixes itself. They found nothing wrong with the power steering fluid level, tentioning, other belts, etc. He said the tech can hear mild pinging that is likely due to crappy gas and should work itself out. Did I mention I am on the first tank of gas that the DEALER filled??

Tech question. Why would engine pinging be worse at cold temps than at any other time? Seems to me that pinging should be relational to the workload of the engine. IE, I push, it strains...

But hey - what do I know. I had to be informed last night that the only way I can order parts from a dealer (rear bumper guard) is to pay in advance for them. My day of free warranty work turned into a $30 charge for ordering the rear bumper guard and having to schedule another trip to the dealer to have it installed next week. When I said forget it I can order it myself for cheaper, my service advisor snottily replied "well it will take me another 10 minutes to remove the item from order and redo the paperwork". Since it was 6pm, I yielded, paid, and left.

 

[Eric L.]

What a terrible dealer. The groaning noise has absolutely nothing to do with your engine's fuel requirements!

 

[K-fire]

Update

After yet another day at the dealer the problem was finally diagnosed as a leaky seal at the rack & pinion join of the power steering system (if I understood it right). Bottom line is this am the car purred from the get go.

Dealer service - still another issue. After they urged me to mark excellent on all the survey forms and I laughed - they promised to fill up my gas tank a couple of times. Last night I pick up the car, no gas. My service advisor slapped his head and said "doh - I must have filled up the wrong Murano!"

They better not send me any surveys at all...