Manager Forum

hello again. This xterra came in with difficulty turning, feels like its in four wheel drive. There is rough feeling in steering wheel/column itself, almost like bad bearings....? not sure where to go.

Without pressure testing, how does it do with the front wheels off the ground? I have never been into a steering column on one of these. Just an idea to check out.

If you feel it is in the column, you'll need to isolate exactly where. The column is three pieces. The upper section, the mid section and the lower section with the knuckle. If it binds every 180 degrees, then suspect the lower. If it's just growly bearing, then probable upper section, which you can now get seperately. I'd first determine the type of noise, then disconnect the column where I needed to to further isolate. I didn't find any TSB's on this.

HTH,

Ric

I disconect to try to isolate

it feels the same with wheels off ground. so.... disconnect linkage before rack and try again? its hard to tell where on the coulmn, even with stethiscope.

Yup. Disconnect column and see if it is still there. Yes...in the column. No...in the rack or further down.

Im assuming it must be the column. The customer finally brought it back when she had time, the whole steering wheel is loose, but easy to turn once again... upper column?

may now be in the upper, but just don't repair the upper with the thought it will solve the initial problem. the upper is probably collateral damage caused by a frozen joint in one of the shaft sections, i usually find that it's the lower. if you need to remove the knuckle mark it and do not let the steering wheel spin more than three times or you'll be replacing the clock spring. if the lower knuckle is the problem and caused the upper shaft to be damaged make sure the rack isn't damaged at the input or the mounts.

Ok so we got this fixed. Checked linkages, nothing binding. The bearing in the upper column/control unit were gone entirely, just metal frags left. cust admitting backing into a pole right on the right front tire pretty hard about 2 months ago. checked everything, no apparent other damage to linkage. Column and coupler were replaced. Maybe this is why nissan started selling the upper column individually instead of the whole thing?

Good deal. Thanks for the follow thru on posting the fix!