All,

I hadn't noticed this before, because it required being in a very quiet environment at very low speeds. Today, I was leaving where I was parked (had a wall next to me) and noticed that when the car started moving, there was a faint, metallic click. I noticed that if I leave the car in gear and gas it a little it does it, as well as when I stop giving it gas but leave it in gear, when the nose comes down I hear the click as well. I also noticed that it happens if I stop, put it in reverse and make the car start moving. By the way, it happens on both sides of the car, because sometimes I hear it from one side and then I hear the pop immediately from the other side, almost simultaneously.

Is this what they call axle clicking? I remember I had axle click on my S2000 but it sounded louder than this. On this car it is a faint, metallic sound; almost as if you got your nail stuck on the little piece of metal that opens a Pepsi/Coke can, and while applying pressure to open, you just let your nail go and the opening piece snaps back onto the can.

I'm somewhat disappointed because I come from a G35 coupe that had all kinds of rattles/noises/issues, and I almost considered this one to be perfect compared to my previous car....until today

 

I have no idea what it could be. My advice is to pay attention to the glorious exhaust note rather than a tiny little Pepsi-can snap every once in awhile. ;-)

 

Hey dude thanks for the advice, but now that I know it's there, I can hear it EVERY time...so it doesn't happen once in a while, but every single time. easy to hear when next to a wall/car/median and you're just getting moving...

 

I just noticed the same exact thing that you are referring to. Had the same problem on my 04 G35 coupe - they fixed it under warranty. I'm going to bring mine up the next time its in for service. It would be kind of hard to pay attention to the glorious exhaust note while backing into my garage instead of listening to the axle click! haha

 

well seeing as how every g37 has this, wouldnt it be considered normal? ive gotten used to it and its not like its obnoxious. as the op said, other cars have this as well...

 

I think you've got it. To me it sounded more like a cricket chirp. But many on this forum report the metallic sound. The fix is in a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB). Your dealer should know about it. They remove the stock grease and regrease the axle spindles with a specific amount of Molykote. The fix worked for me.

 

I have the same noise as well. I can hear it in my garage. My dealer was supposed to have fixed it as part of the PDI.

 

i had the clicking sound, it sounded just like u described. i printed out the TSB for the clicking problem on the 04sedan. it said something about taking out the rear axle, regreasing and torquing it down to 177ft/lbs. the TSB are on the site..they fixed it last time i went to the dealer and no more noise.

 

Well now I'm slightly paranoid so I'm gonna have to listen to it when I get my G back into the garage this weekend. Normally I leave my music turned up when I shut down for the night so I never really hear anything but the music when I start up again but I'm gonna remember to check this out...

 

Great to hear that we have finally agreed on this being the axles. I will make sure they take care of it next time I go to the dealer. Thanks to all of you!

 

hey man, i had the same problem coming from my front left wheel. i took it once they retorqued it n stuff but a month later, it started again. so i took it to the dealer and they said it had nothing to do with retorqing, they just took off some weight bolt and til now zero noise. take it to the dealer and ask them about a weight bolt, thats what they told me.

 

Strange...weight bolt?!? Never heard of such thing. Also, I'm not sure if the sound is coming from the front or rear....sometimes it sounds as if it is from the rear...but considering the fact that the noise happens when the car changes directions (forward to backwards or viceversa) and also the fact that if I leave it in gear and step on it then let it coast in gear it happens both ways, makes me think it has to do with the axles on the rear. It's getting really annoying though...I drove with the windows down all day today and I can even hear it in traffic when I start moving and I'm next to another car (the sound bounces off the next car and I can hear it easier).

 

Update: They performed the TSB for axle click this morning and my car is click-free!!! They also double checked the ECU software regarding the Engine Bank 2 VVEL TSB and they went ahead and performed it as well.

I couldn't be any happier with their service and my car!

 

It's funny how this works. I brought my car in for the 7,500 mile oil change and to have the axle click TSB performed. I mentioned I might need a replacement muffler, but, I thought they were backordered. My service advisor did not say they would have to duplicate the axle click before performing the TSB. I specifically described the sound and when it occurred. No problems from the service advisor.

I asked to make sure they had the axle bolts in stock. (I had also specifically requested they have them in stock when I made my appointment a week earlier.) My service advisor tells me they only way this can be checked is after the mechanic gets the car and reviews the work order, the mechanic goes to the parts desk to requisition the parts. At that time the mechanic will learn whether the parts are in stock or not.

I thought this was kind of inefficient and not customer friendly, but, I guess that's how this dealership operates. (I would hate to think this is how all Infiniti dealers operate.) I then get a phone call telling me, yes, I need a new muffler, and, sorry, but the bolts and muffler are both backordered. They think they can get both in a couple of days, if I could leave my car. So, I do and three days later, everything is taken care of. Like you, I was happy. I still loved my car and my dealer.

Then, a month later I make an appointment for the VVEL TSB. I drop the car off first thing in the morning and come back two hours later with everything updated. I am still very happy with both my car and dealer.

Two month later, I make an appointment for my 11,250 mile oil change, an alignment (under warranty) to cure the front end wander (I think a hair too much toe out), and to tighten the sunroof (rattling). Well, my service advisor, same one as last two times, says alignments or align adjustments are not covered by the warranty and the mechanic will have to verify the noisy sunroof. He calls the service manager over who says alignments are covered as adjustments within the first 12,000 miles so long as not caused by customer misuse. Well, my service advisor had previously noted a 1 inch front wheel scrape incurred when parking at 1-2 mph, and since repaired. I thought his noting this in the past was designed to protect the dealer from me blaming them for the scrape. I explained how I got the scrape and thought the tiny impact could not have been enough to realign my front end, especially since the wander was noticeable from day one. No warranty coverage. Apparently, the walk arounds are also designed to note every little problem which may be used to deny warranty coverage.

Also, the mechanic couldn't reproduce the rattle. So, the dealer did not fix this either.

I ended up going from thinking I had a really good dealer to having a dealer I do not trust and do not want to do business with again. Even though I still like the car, the bad taste in my mouth from the dealer has ruined my ownership experience a bit. This kind of treatment costs customers and future purchases of Infiniti products.

The good news is I will use a trusted independent garage for routine maintenance and a farther away dealer for warranty work. While the sales team wins customers for a dealer, the service team loses customers for a dealer. I hope your dealer stays good.

 

I hear ya man...truth is, my dealer is awesome! This is my second car through them (had an 07 G35 coupe before). Honestly, even though my previous car was a nightmare, they always tried to bend backwards to keep me happy. And they have, which is why I purchased a second car from them. The team they have here is quite great, specially if you know the personnel, this way you get to request who you would liek to work on your car - which I do all the time.

They have a great sales team and an equally great service team to back them up. About 90% of them know me by name - not necessarily a good thing since this indicates I probably spend too much time at the dealer. I did with my previous car, but the new one has been great. I live 100 miles away from them, and they even accommodate to have my services done on Saturdays, which they are only supposed to do easy maintenance/oil changes since they only work half a day and don't even have full personnel. Now that's customer service!

For this, I say Atlantic Infiniti FTW!

PS: They took down some of the billboards/decorations from their show room from when they released the G37 a year ago, and decided to give it to their "greatest G enthusiast." To my surprise, they came to me today and gave them to me since apparently my name came up a few times when they asked who their greatest enthusiast was hehe... each dealer only got 1 set of these. They make great assets for my room decoration