# Left front tire squeels



## Darktide (Jul 29, 2004)

Hey all,
I haven't been able to figure this one out. My left front tire is squeeling intermittently and its proportional to vehicle speed (it squeeks at lets say 2 o'clock and only there but it always seems to squeek there). I'm unsure of what it could be, its kind of high pitch and I notice it more when I'm turning left less when i'm turning right. I noticed this the other day while going through a drive thru and have been monitoring it since. I actually heard the same noise while test driving another altima 2 years ago at Team Nissan in Manchester and refused to buy the car. I'm wondering if its just something on the rotor hitting the brake pad on its way around. *shrug* I'd like to hear some other input. Thanks in advance guys.

Darktide


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## Gino45 (Oct 18, 2005)

You should jack the car and then turn the wheel manually, while listening for the squeal. You'll be better able to determine where the noise is originating from. I had a similar issue with my 98 SE and it turned out to be the inner seal on the driveshaft. The seal had gone dry and I would hear a squeal at low speeds after having driven the car on the highway. The squeal in my case sounded more like rubber being pressed rather than a metalic sound.


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## ntanenbaum (Jun 25, 2006)

I would have to say it is the wheel hub if it squealing at a high pitch.

-Neil


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## Darktide (Jul 29, 2004)

I'm going to take a better look at it next week sometime. I don't get a drag from it so i'm not terribly worried about it yet. I'm pretty sure if it was the hub it wouldn't be such at such a regular interval but i could very well be wrong. Hopefully it'll just be nothing but if it is I'm not too worried because that's why I got a nice warranty.

Darktide


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## Darktide (Jul 29, 2004)

*updated*

So the noise is far more frequent now. But i've also noted that it completely goes away when the brakes are applied even slightly. My question now is do the front wheels actually spin freely? or would I need to put the transmission into neutral.... or would I be better off having the car off but putting it in drive with the e-brake on and up on jack stands (both front tires). I'm not sure how much longer I'll be keeping it so I'm wondering what it is. Thanks for any more input.

Darktide


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## Gino45 (Oct 18, 2005)

*brake noise*



Darktide said:


> So the noise is far more frequent now. But i've also noted that it completely goes away when the brakes are applied even slightly. My question now is do the front wheels actually spin freely? or would I need to put the transmission into neutral.... or would I be better off having the car off but putting it in drive with the e-brake on and up on jack stands (both front tires). I'm not sure how much longer I'll be keeping it so I'm wondering what it is. Thanks for any more input.
> 
> Darktide


The wheels do not spin freely. You will have to put the tranny into neutral. From what you describe I would think that you have a brake pad that's dragging or your wear indicator on your pads is rubbing against your disk. Take a look at your wear indicator that's on your brake pad and see if the pad material is at the same level or lower than the metal indicator. If it is- you can bend the metal indicator backwards a bit to see if the squeal goes away. If the squeal goes away, it means your pads do not have much material left and should be changed. 

You should also look at the brake backing shield/plate. It may have rusted through and some rusted sheet metal may be rubbing against the disk. When you apply your brakes, the disk gets pushed away towards the outside of the car- that is away from where the backing shield is- and thus and rubbing noised would disappear.

Finally, you should take your pads off and lubricate the sliders (use brake lube or slicone grease) and put some anti-seize compound on the guides where the pads rest. You can pick up a Haynes manual to see how it is done.


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## Darktide (Jul 29, 2004)

thanks Gino. I was beginning to think of the wear indicator as well. at this point i'm probably just going to pop the wheel off and bend it as I'm looking to sell it now and I'd rather not put any work into it unless I have to (which inspection is just next month so we'll see what happens). Last time I was under there (just a few weeks ago) I didn't notice the sheilding plate to have any rust on it but when I pull the wheel off I"ll take a closer look. Thanks for the advice.


Darktide


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