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06 Pathfinder LE- vibration at highway speeds Forums > > 06 Pathfinder LE- vibration at highway speeds 06 Pathfinder LE- vibration at highway speeds
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  #1  
Old 10-13-2011, 06:15 PM
Rick in MN Rick in MN is offline
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Default 06 Pathfinder LE- vibration at highway speeds

Hi,

I am aware of other posts related to this issue, but none of the solutions I have seen have solved my issue. Just bought the damned thing and never noticed the vibration until a couple weeks later on a roadie. As you accelerate up to freeway speed - you are good. You get to 75 - 80 and then back off the gas, you hear and feel a low-frequency vibration through the truck and your body. I feel it in the wheel, in my legs, in my butt - everywhere. Step on the gas and it goes away. But it does not happen all the time - maybe 70 - 80% of the time. Here is what I have done:

1) Rebalanced wheels at my shop - all balanced to 0.00 - still there
2) Had U-joints inspected. fronts on rear shaft were bad, rears were showing wear - replaced all - still there
3) Removed front shaft completely and drove on freeway - vibration still there
4) had rear shaft removed and sent to driveline specialist. They said it was definitely OOB and that I 'should notice a difference' after reinstallation - still there(and NO difference).

Where else can it be? Txfer case or rear end, right? Did I eliminate the front shaft as a culprit as there was no change after I drove it after removal? Where do I go next? Driveline specialist or Nissan dealer? Other than that the truck is immaculate. Now maybe I see why it was on a car lot.
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  #2  
Old 10-14-2011, 02:38 PM
sawdusted sawdusted is offline
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I don't think you can eliminate the front axle yet. You can eliminate the link to the front differential, but it may well be still imbalanced as it is running free at highway speeds.

Unlikely but sometimes a slightly warped rotor may also cause it the symptoms you described.
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  #3  
Old 10-16-2011, 07:09 PM
Rick in MN Rick in MN is offline
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Warped rotor(s)? That would be continuous and then only while brakeing.

What can be balanced in the front axle? Removing the front driveshaft would render the front axle 'moot'. Do you mean driveshaft and not axle?

Anybody else have any input???
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  #4  
Old 10-16-2011, 07:59 PM
sawdusted sawdusted is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick in MN View Post
Warped rotor(s)? That would be continuous and then only while brakeing.

What can be balanced in the front axle? Removing the front driveshaft would render the front axle 'moot'. Do you mean driveshaft and not axle?

Anybody else have any input???
Not quite. If you have sticky caliper pistons and/or sticky calipers that do not slide uniformly on the slide pins, say after braking your calipers back of a little, but not retract more like it should. When the rotors are warped, it can vibrate enough at high speeds to shake the brake pads and pistons. Especially if you have sticky pistons with it not retracted, it acts as if your foot is on the brake and you can feel the vibration. Not a common situation but not unheard of.

You didn't mention it in your OP, but I assume you had your tie rod ends, ball joints, and your sway bar links checked that they're not worn out and within specs?

Last edited by sawdusted; 10-17-2011 at 06:28 AM.
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  #5  
Old 11-01-2011, 08:12 PM
Rick in MN Rick in MN is offline
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Default 06 Pathfinder LE- vibration at highway speeds

tie rod ends, ball joints, and your sway bar links within spec. Noticed that front tires were feathered on outer shoulder and rears were feathered on inner shoulder. All at about 9/32" tread. Mixed reviews on tires - General Grabber AW's. Rotated today...noticed slight difference. Will check brakes, as well. Heard about that from other sources.Getting Road Force balance and alignment check, too.

Thanks for the input, sawdusted.
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  #6  
Old 05-11-2012, 08:27 AM
dostrowsky dostrowsky is offline
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Did you ever get it figured out? I have also just recently purchased an 06 pathfinder and have noticed there is a very slight vibration/hum at highway speeds. The tires are only 6,000 km's old and I just assumed it was the tires. Afterall it is a truck, right? I can only notice it on very smooth highways. The interesting thing about it is the noise seems to be cyclical. It sounds like it starts in the front and travels to the back and fades away and then comes back in the front and repeats itself. I would say it is about a 2-3 sec frequency.
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  #7  
Old 05-12-2012, 03:44 AM
Rick in MN Rick in MN is offline
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That's EXACTLY what happens with me, too. Still no fix. Alignment seemed to help a little - it was way off. Tires are feathered on the edges - probably from the bad alignment. I just don't have $1000 for a good set of tires right now, and I'm not confident that tires are the culprit. I was thinking the tranny, but it still shifts fine and there is no shuddering. If I get it figured out, I'll post it.
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  #8  
Old 05-13-2012, 05:43 PM
dostrowsky dostrowsky is offline
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Interesting...do you have have a deflector on the hood? Maybe it is not drive train related at all and just something on the exterior like the roof rack or hood deflector.
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  #9  
Old 05-13-2012, 07:58 PM
Rick in MN Rick in MN is offline
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No deflector and not the roof rack. Thinking tires. Truck is otherwise awesome.
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  #10  
Old 05-27-2012, 11:33 PM
bonch bonch is offline
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We have a similar problem on 09 Pathfinder. we have changed, propellershaft,front and rear axles, tyres, gear box but vibration is still there. This car has only done 16500km on the clock. We have also noticed similar problem on navara.
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  #11  
Old 05-28-2012, 12:26 PM
lightfoot101 lightfoot101 is offline
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You might want to check motor and or trans mounts. They can cause vibration through entire truck at speed. Just something to rule out.
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  #12  
Old 05-29-2012, 05:17 AM
dostrowsky dostrowsky is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lightfoot101 View Post
You might want to check motor and or trans mounts. They can cause vibration through entire truck at speed. Just something to rule out.
Just curious....how would one do this? Wouldn't the vibration be there with the vehicle in Park if it was the motor mounts pronounced at high idle in cold start up?

The part that makes it difficult to detect is that the vibraiton seems to travel through the vehicle. It is on the steering wheel and then travels to the seat, then nothing. If you are a passenger, there is no vibration felt only a low frequency droning can be heard. At times when I slow down the very low frequency thumping (kind of like when only one back window is open) can be heard. This is the reason I am thinking this has something to do with the aerodynamics of the vehicle.
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  #13  
Old 07-31-2012, 07:41 AM
silex silex is offline
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same exact issue here. '06 Pathfinder about 90000 miles. vibration when coming off the gas above 70 mph. low frequency vibration felt in gas pedal and steering wheel. passengers can hear the low drone of the vibration. dealer said it was the tire wear pattern. took it to tire dealer and balanced all four tires, no improvement.
replaced front and rear universal joints, no improvement. tire dealer recommended front struts be replaced - said its causing the tire wear pattern. i've searched and searched for an answer, every mechanic wants to sell me a different solution and i don't want to dump a bunch of money chasing the issue. i'm curious if anyone has replaced all 4 tires? for $1000 it may be the cheapest. after replacement, maybe more frequent rotation is needed because the struts wear out? i'm grasping at straws here.
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  #14  
Old 07-31-2012, 11:31 AM
gotsawdust gotsawdust is offline
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I don't know if any of your vehicles have sat parked for extended periods of time, with all 4 wheels on the ground.

If yes, your tires could have developed a flat spot and it is causing the vibration. The older the tires, the more easily they will develop a flat spot, and no matter how much wheel balancing you do, these flat spots will not come out..

DAMHIK
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  #15  
Old 07-31-2012, 11:43 AM
silex silex is offline
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tires on my 06 are only 1.5 years old. i'm considering that its the rear driveshaft. possibly the rear u-joint repair affected the driveshaft. i've read that some with similar vibration have balanced and/or replaced and problem was fixed. going back to the dealer. i will post results.
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