U-joints

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pathogina
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2010 12:14 pm

U-joints

Postby pathogina » Fri Oct 22, 2010 12:31 pm

I am a newbie here, very new. I have a 2005 LE 4WD that has a vibration at speeds over 75, worsens when throttle is down vs coasting but does exist while coasting. It is to the point where the rear view mirror shimmies so bad that you can't see out of it. I a leaning towards U-joints as the culprit. I saw that was a common problem, but want details on what t parts to buy. Does anyone have part numbers? Is there a how to guide on this? I searched but came up dry. Also, is there only two - the front and rear? Thanks in advance for any help


GbayPathfinder
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Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2010 5:20 pm
Location: Barrie Ontario

Postby GbayPathfinder » Fri Oct 22, 2010 1:42 pm

I am not sure of the part numbers but there are 4 u joints in the pathfinder. One at each end of the front and rear drive shafts. You might also want to have your tires balanced as they can cause the vibration too.

goblue90
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Joined: Wed May 02, 2007 9:54 pm
Location: Philly

Re: U-joints

Postby goblue90 » Fri Oct 22, 2010 2:54 pm

pathogina wrote:I am a newbie here, very new. I have a 2005 LE 4WD that has a vibration at speeds over 75, worsens when throttle is down vs coasting but does exist while coasting. It is to the point where the rear view mirror shimmies so bad that you can't see out of it. I a leaning towards U-joints as the culprit. I saw that was a common problem, but want details on what t parts to buy. Does anyone have part numbers? Is there a how to guide on this? I searched but came up dry. Also, is there only two - the front and rear? Thanks in advance for any help
I just changed out the two u-joints on my front drive shaft. I bought precision greasable u-joints (#280) from rockauto.com for approx. $15 each. I also bought two u-joints for the rear shaft (Precision greasable as well, but number 270). The fronts were pretty easy to change out... I did both in 1.5 hours. Good luck.

pathogina
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Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2010 12:14 pm

Postby pathogina » Fri Oct 22, 2010 3:20 pm

Thanks go blue - so two in the front are identical and the two in the rear are identical?

qty 2 of part #280
qty 2 of part #270

goblue90
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Location: Philly

Postby goblue90 » Fri Oct 22, 2010 6:01 pm

pathogina wrote:Thanks go blue - so two in the front are identical and the two in the rear are identical?

qty 2 of part #280
qty 2 of part #270
Yes, the two in front are identical and the two in the rear are identical. Again, the part numbers I provided are for greasable u-joints... so you'll have to crawl under your pathfinder (maybe as often as each oil change) and pump fresh grease into the zerk fitting that comes with it.

If you don't want greasable u-joints, it looks like Precision part #269 U-joint works for the front and Precision part #254 U-joint works for the rear locations (please double check by looking at the diagrams provided on rockauto's website).

Greaseable vs. non-greasable is a personal preference. I like having the option to pump in fresh grease to lubricate the needle bearings inside the caps. Nonetheless, many will argue that greasable u-joints are weaker due to the grease channels.

webmastir

Postby webmastir » Mon Nov 01, 2010 7:11 am

thought my wife had joint issues recently on her '06 path se (107k miles)

pulled the driveshaft sat, and after closer/further inspection, they seemed to be fine. they had no play in 'em & swiveled as they should. bummer. took me like 30 min to get those f'ing bolts off too because of how they were positioned & the tools i had available (didn't have a crows foot) :evil:

oh well, guess i'll try alignment/balancing of tires on my wifes path next. weird that it'd cause the shudder/vibration at around 40-45mph when barely accelerating & not be u-joint related. tranny fluid seems ok too. gr

why can shit be an obviously easy fix anymore :?:

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ShipFixer
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Location: San Diego, CA

Postby ShipFixer » Mon Nov 01, 2010 7:25 am

Do you have a micrometer to check run out on the drive shaft as per the manual? While I had a bad U-joint, the real culprit for my vibration issue was a bent front driveshaft. This may have been caused by the U-joint or it may have been a forging defect. (I think there's a TSB out there on driveshafts too but I'm not sure.)

Anyway, the dealership couldn't figure it out until they put the truck on a lift and ran the shafts up to 80 mph. They could then see the harmonic vibration in the shaft itself. I think checking run out on the ground is probably easier :-D

Don't want to give them too much credit for deep thinking though. I walked in and told them I could feel play in a specific U-joint, came back two hours later and they told me they'd balanced my tires :x

Mine was covered under warranty, but the shaft itself isn't super expensive if that's your real problem. I think it's about $200 or so from Courtesy.

webmastir

Postby webmastir » Mon Nov 01, 2010 7:34 am

nope. i don't but i'll def look into that. thanks for the suggetsion

webmastir

Postby webmastir » Mon Nov 01, 2010 7:38 am

ShipFixer wrote:Do you have a micrometer to check run out on the drive shaft as per the manual? ...
where in the service manual is that located, if you know off the top of your head?

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ShipFixer
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Postby ShipFixer » Mon Nov 01, 2010 8:20 am

webmastir wrote:
ShipFixer wrote:Do you have a micrometer to check run out on the drive shaft as per the manual? ...
where in the service manual is that located, if you know off the top of your head?
In the power train section. I'll try to look it up later today. But basically when the drive shaft is removed it calls for checking run out to ensure it's straight at the same time that you check and replace the U-joints.

Thought about asking the dealership why they didn't follow the service manual actually...but by then I just wanted my truck out of their hands...

NYPathfinder
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Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 9:53 am

Postby NYPathfinder » Mon Nov 01, 2010 12:11 pm

How easy is it to change out the front u joints? I have an idea how to do them but any tips on changing them?

webmastir

Postby webmastir » Mon Nov 01, 2010 12:24 pm

from someone who has never done it before until the other day, it wasn't that bad

although it may vary in models, my 2006 path se, you unscrew the 4 17mm bolts on the rear end of the driveshaft. this is the biggest pain in the ass, depending on how stuck your bolts are.
after some struggling with those, it'll drop (it's not heavy at all). then you slide it backwards so the "piece" (dunno the name) slides out of the transmission. then you can go to work on getting the ujoints out of the front or rear. all the vids & pics around show you various ways to do this. you can rent a u-joint press from local auto parts store, at least you can in my area. this will make it quite a bit easier when swapping ujoints. although, i did end up using the unconventional method to try & remove mine. this is when i realized ujoints weren't my problem because the ends of the ujoints (journal bearings?) wouldn't come off. usually bad ujoint ends will come right off from what i've seen/read/heard.

despite whether some of my terminology is right, that's the generalized idea. one of the easier things to accomplish, imo

Ride2Live
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Just a Tip

Postby Ride2Live » Thu Nov 04, 2010 5:23 am

All,

If you are checking your u-joints make sure you get under the truck and grab them and put pressure on each axis for lack of better words to test for lateral movement. I have read that some are removing the shaft to inspect which is good but may not be necessary. I replaced both in my front shaft and had I taken the unit out it may have been hard to detect the lateral movement. It doesn't take much to cause a noticeable vibration in the ride.

Another sign I noticed was that the joint seals were starting to leak as I saw the black color on the otherwise rusted shaft. In my case the forward joint on the front shaft had lateral movement, the rear was fine but was leaking so I figured it was best to do them both then and save the hassle of taking it off in the near future.

This obviously won't help with shaft run out but a lot of failures I have seen are the joints themselves.

You are saving some $$$ by doing this yourself, I went to the local dealer to price Nissan parts and they said we just replace the drive shaft which they quoted me 351.00 for the part only. I have read where some dealers say it's not a serviceable part that when they have tried to in the past the shafts get messed up or the ears break off when removing the u-joint etc... I don't buy it, the u-joints are not that hard to remove.

regards

LittleStevie
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Location: West Palm Beach, FL

Postby LittleStevie » Sun Jan 01, 2012 6:20 pm

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I wanted to leave this feedback somewhere. Just did the front universal joint on my 2WD '05; it had started creaking and squeaking in reverse, and made very occasional high pitched "squirrel" sounds when coasting in drive. Found that one of the bearings had rusted up and was pretty stiff.

Anyway, I used an aftermarket U-joint (Precision, #354) and I think it might not have been manufactured to spec. On one side of the yoke I was able to get both caps on and secure the snap rings, but the other side seemed too long. No matter how much I hit it after installing the snap ring on one side, it would not recess far enough (not even close) to get the other snap ring in.

But at this point the only thing I could do is go and get an OEM part and do the whole job over again. So, I figured that the caps were pressed in so tight to the yoke that I don't need to worry about them. For a little insurance I put a dab of metal epoxy to hold on the cap as the snap ring would have done. I'll probably check it once in a while to make sure it's not coming lose.

My recommendation would be to pay the extra $ for the Nissan OEM part to avoid this potential issue. I would have in the first place if the Nissan parts department had been open today.

pandarturo88
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Joined: Fri May 20, 2011 4:29 pm

Postby pandarturo88 » Sun Jan 01, 2012 9:36 pm

Thanks for the heads up!


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