Nissan Quest Brakes

cirruss

Well, after putting about 7,000 miles on the front Raybestos Ceramic PG pads, I started getting this grinding sound from the front just before coming to a full stop. The pads were still in very good condition and I tried to clean them once but the grinding sound got worst as the weeks past. The braking seem to be fine but even my wife started complaining about the noise.

I tried contacting Raybestos and spoke to a somewhat unfriendly customer rep and was told there is NO warranty on the pads unless it was installed at an authorized shop. My own conclusion after doing some internet research is my rotors and/or pads are glazed. This happens when they pads overheat and puts a glazed coating on both the pads and rotors. This could have happened when my rear rotors were badly warped for the past year and making the front brakes do all the work and causing them to overheat.

Today I went and picked up a set of Nissan OEM brake pads at the dealer. I know factory pads are usually good but overpriced. I was surprised that these pads were stamped with Akebono on them and Made in Japan. The dealer list price was $81 but I had a $25 off coupon from that dealer. After comparing the Raybestos PG Ceramic and the Nissan pads, I noticed the Raybestos was smaller and a bit more loose fitting. The Nissan pads had a much better fitment. The only thing is Nissan pads don't come with shims, so make sure you install them. I had kept the shims from the original set of pads that came with the car when I bought it. I reused the Raybestos front rotors and ended up sanding down the entire surface to remove any transferred material from the old pads. The short drive I had today seem pretty good. Will keep you guys updated.

bkemp

I've had a lot of luck with drilled slotted rotors on my Quest. I replaced the front drivers side wheel bearing and the shimmying is completely gone. I thought it was the rotors - but replacing them only helped temporarily - which makes no sense to me.

I love our van and I wouldnt trade it for any other. It's pushing 90k and it still drives great!

exploder750

Well, after 20,000 miles my Raybestos Advanced Technology front rotors are causing the steering wheel to shimmy. That's disappointing. Considering drilled & slotted rotors this time.

exploder750

Switched the Raybestos Advanced Technology rotors (barely a year old and warped) plus the original equipment rear rotors (turned once, now badly warped) for new Centric drilled and slotted rotors. The rear ceramic pads (barely a year old) were about half life, plus one of them had worn unevenly, so I installed new ceramic pads in the rear. A 2004 model, the van now has 168,000 miles.

jack_t

Hi... just bought a 2007 Nissan Quest from the dealer, just off lease with @35K. Took the car to my mechanic and was told that the car had the following problems... engine mount loose, twisted brake hose, belt well worn out, brake pads less than 50%, with brakes pulsating when applied. The dealer said all these things were checked prior to the sale and deemed ok and it's just wear/tear... my question is... ENGINE mount worn out at less than 36K?! I've had cars with over 100K and never had engine mount problems. Twisted brake hose is normal wear/tear? this doesn't make sense to me.

What are your thoughts please?

Mr_Shiftright

Not sure what a "loose" engine mount means, nor a twisted brake hose.

If the mount is broken/torn, that would be unusual for 35K but if a bolt is loose, that could have come like that from the factory for all we know.

A "twisted brake hose" would disable your brakes entirely, so I kinda doubt that's for real.

A worn belt, 50% brakes, possibly warped rotors, those could all be the result of either normal wear or bad driving habits from the previous owner.

All in all, I'd say your only really legit gripe here is with the mount and the warping of the rotors, if they are "out of true". Warped rotors should be part of a safety check.

tjshan

I have a 2006 quest with auto side doors...car has 60K mi...last year, the passenger door motor jammed..the dealer said it was not repairable, and the only fix was to cut the cable...I complained to Nissan and they had the dealer fix it under warrenty ...very nice of them...now, the drivers side door motor has jammed...does anyone know how to get to the sliding door motors...is this a common problem? any help would be appreciated.

Tom

sopecreek

1. When I brake, the steering wheel vibrates severely but only when going over 40 mph. I was told by the dealer that front lower control arm bushings are cracked and controls arms are loose and need to be replaced. I know about the Quest brake issue. Is this vibration due to the control arm or brakes or both?

2. How serious should I treat the control arm issue? It's $700+ replacement job due to 4+ hour labour the dealer says.

3. (Not exactly brake question) The dealer recommended and replaced spark plugs at around 105K miles. How can I tell if they really changed the plugs? Engine was running fine before and after the change, so I have no way of telling. Any simple way to verify?

Thank you!

dtownfb

I've read on other forums about people fixing the power sliding doors by taking off the door panel and replacing the cable. From their descriptions, it's a doable repair.

Here's the discussion

http://x.nissanhelp.com/forums/quest/17237-looking-sliding-door-manual.html

dtownfb

The lower control arms is a bad design. The bushings are not serviceable and you need to buy the entire control arm. That's the bad news. The good news is replacing the lower control arms can be done by anyone. I had mine done about 2 years ago. I purchased them online through a Nissan dealership and had my mechanic install them. There is no aftermarket for these parts and they can only be purchased through a dealership. Mine cost under $250 for each arm and about $100 for labor. I think the control arms may be cheaper now. Do a search for Nissan parts.

You can probably go a little bit with bad bushings (few months). You'll here some noise when you go over a bump but the control arm itself is fine. It took me several months before replacing mine.

The only way to check the spark plugs is get under the hood and pull one to see if it's new.

If you feel/see the steering wheel vibrate and shake, it's likely the front rotors. If you simply feel the van vibrating and it appears to be coming from back, it's the rear brakes warping. I don't remember the control arms causing vibration.

Good luck.

sopecreek

Thank you so much. I have spent enough money fixing stuff on this van. The most expensive one being the catalytic converter replacement. Others include engine mount (covered by extended warranty), one wheel bearing hub (it's a sealed design, cannot repack the ball bearings), front and rear brake rotors. I'm just thankful that engine and transmission are troublefree and the sliding door and rear lift gate never had any problem. Tons of squeaks now, but I still really like the way it drives.

exploder750

So far so good on the drilled & slotted rotors with ceramic pads on the wife's 2004 Quest...no warpage in 15,000 miles. Just now replaced the left rear wheel bearing...an easy fix. The van now has 184,000 miles.

dtownfb

Just had to replace the front brakes. Each year it's the front or back.

Anyway.....how did you know the rear wheel bearing needed replacing? I have this deep rumbling sound coming from the rear of the vehicle after 20 mph. It gets louder with speed and levels off at 55-60 mph. I think it's a wheel bearing; mechanic can't find anything wrong but admits it could be in the early stages.

exploder750

I had the same issue...rumbling in the back. If you can narrow down which side the noise is coming from, it's worth the effort to replace the bearing, plus very easy to do for a do it yourselfer.

famof3kids

Hi all,
No issues for years with our Quest, we still love it, but, it's getting old, 9 years old now.
I'm replacing the rotors and pads on all four wheels.
I purchased Centric rotors and pads.
They sent me pads that are 1mm too thick, with the net result being a fit that is too tight.
But, I'm amazed at how easy this brake job has been.
Anyone else had problems with the pads being too thick?

2004 Quest SE, 115,000 miles
CD player works 'sometimes'
LCD mileage indicator doesn't always display clearly
No other issues (knock on wood)