kwaid1

Good morning, I'm brand new to this site and recently purchased a 2012 G37x with 13k miles on 3/29. I noticed last week that there is a metal on metal rattle over sharp bumps or very aggressive rumble strips coming from the front driver side wheel area. It doesn't happen on normal small bumps or on smooth railroad tracks, but only sharp ones. Not sure what it could be. Has anyone ever had this issue and had it diagnosed? I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks for any help you can offer!

walker39

It sounds like the brake dust shield is rattling. I had the same issue with mine (I have a 2010 - shouldnt make much of a difference though) when I drove on rough roads. Take the wheel off and you'll see a small metal shield that surrounds the brake rotor. If the shield is loose when you wiggle it, then that is probably the culprit.

What I did, and I'm sure there are various ways to do this, was take a flat-head screw driver and pry the shield back away from the rotor a little. It should eliminate the metal on metal noise you decribed, and fix the rough-road rattling.

kwaid1

Awesome. I will give it a try. Thanks a lot for the quick response. Did you ever find out what caused the issue in the first place? I bought this certified pre owned from an Infiniti dealership.

walker39

No Problem. I'm not sure what, exactly, causes the shield to rattle, but maybe someone else on here could give you more info on that. It's nothing to be too concerned with though.

JohnsG37x

I experienced the same noise and when I was changing brakes and rotors last weekend, I heard the rattle as I was putting my wheel back on. I pushed the shield away from the rotor a little and it stopped rattling.

kwaid1

Glad I'm not the only one. I called the dealership and the service guy said they have seen this before. I'm taking it in tomorrow and they are going to take care of it. He said that they've seen small pebbles/rocks get in between the plate and the rotor. I'll post the final verdict tomorrow.

pdpMIATA

Definitely the brake shield. This has happened to me several times within the three years of ownership so far.
Drives me absolutely insane....considering I JUST had this fixed two weeks ago....LOL

JMS2000

Yup, I've had the same problem on my front passenger side. As walker39 said, just pry it away with a screwdriver. Either take the wheel off or lift the car and get to it from behind the wheel, whichever is easier.

walker39

I had to pry the shields on both sides of the car more than I would've expected, but its been about 8 months since I did it, and the rattle hasn't come back. My brake shields aren't pretty, as there are small bends in it from prying with the screwdriver, but they are just shields. As long as they arent rubbing in the wheel or rotor, there shouldn't be any issues.

Kwaid, its really pretty easy to do yourself, if the noise ever comes back after the dealer looks at it. Could save you a trip to the dealer in the future . . .

Scoe11

Damn. I just noticed this on my 2013 coupe that has 7600 miles. I haven't washed the G since inception 10 months ago!