Posted: Aug 26 2004 at 1:20pm | IP Logged

My service writer called me yesterday afternoon to give me the run down on the various items I asked them to look at.  On the plus side, the dealership is being super nice about replacing various things like a kick panel that doesn't fit correctly and an A/C fan control switch that feels odd and an outside mirror that's loose and blah, blah, blah.

On the downside is that my rear end is being replaced (that sounds dirty to me for some reason  ).  I asked Christie if the noise I heard was what she experienced with her Titan and she said yes.  She mentioned that her noise started after she & her husband towed their 18' ski boat.  A load well under the rated capacity of the truck.  I told her that my noise started similiarly.  That I noticed it after I towed my 16' SeaDoo sportboat about 400 miles.  I then asked her if the new rear end would eliminate whatever issue there was with the Dana rear ends.  Her reply was that they have replaced three rear ends so far and none of the owners have come back or complained.  And all three of those folks tow on a regular basis.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

My dealer is being super about this.  And even though I'm without my Titan  , I've got the use of a new, loaded out, Altima 3.5.

What's that saying?  Drive it like a rental?

Tom

Posted: Aug 27 2004 at 10:28am | IP Logged

Mitch wrote: What kind of noise was coming from your rear end?

Uhhhh.....before or after the Mexican Buffet lunch??

Tom

Posted: Sep 10 2004 at 3:05pm | IP Logged

The sound I heard (and it kept getting progressively louder the more I towed and the more miles I drove) was a whine noise during coast-down from 50 to 20 mph.  It was most noticeable between 20 to 30  mph.  It seemed to emminate and could  be felt underneath my feet as if the noise was being transmitted thru the body.  I believe the noise was there during acceleration and steady state driving, but was masked by the exhaust note and road noise.

It's been two and a half weeks and the dealership still has my truck.  Most of the time has been due to waiting for various parts and the new rear end.  The service writer told me that she had her rear end replaced and after about 800 miles, she's starting to hear a noise again.  

I sure wish Nissan would get a handle on this issue.  If my new rear end goes bad, I am not going to be a happy camper.

BTW - is it me or does the size of the rear end's pumpkin look too small to you guys?  I mean, look at the pumpkin on a F150 or GM or Dodge.  They look massive compared to the Dana pumpkin we have.

Tom