toffeeman

I've just fixed my "clicky axle" problem on my Zed and made a little "how to" guide with some useful tips incase anybody was thinking of doing this work on their Zed. I'm putting this post here incase nobody see's it in the Technical section. Clicky Axle Repair Cheers, Craig.

I thought I'd make a little "how to" guide as there doesn't seem to be one on this topic that many Zeds suffer from. Before starting I want to offer some fortuitous advice that actually ended up saving me a whole heap of cash. When I first noticed the clicky axle sound coming from my Zed I asssumed that both rear CV joints had gone and prepared myself to cough up to repair both. It wasn't until one day I noticed when fannying around with my windows whilst driving that I could hear the passenger side axle clicking with the passenger side window down but I couldn't hear anything clicking with the passenger window up and the drivers side down. This meant that the rear passenger side had gone but the drivers side was sound which ultimately meant half the cost to repair. It may seem obvious but when you hear the click you can't differentiate between the two sides without using your windows as sound barriers. The parts I got from JDM Performance. They are vastly cheaper than Nissan themselves. The actual CV joint which is the part that fails - CV Joint The dust boot repair kit comes with a new boot, clips, new circlip and a tube of grease - Dust boot repair kit They are the only parts I think you will need as the clicking comes from the CV joint so you shouldn't need wheel bearings or anything else. I also downloaded the Zed Service Manual for a 2004 model and the relevant Nissan Technical Sevice Bulletin (TSB), links to both can be found on here somewhere. They both have useful info and are worth having. I am a Marine Engineer in the Royal Navy so was confident of doing the job but I would say that anybody who was semi-capable with a spanner would be able to do this job. I would suggest that you give youself a good solid few hours to do the job incase you come accross any problems that need addressing. It took me a few hours to take it all apart but it flew back together in less than an hour. Okay, now the technical bit!! 1) First thing to do is to jack the car up safely and remove the relevant wheel. You can then remove the split pin from the CV joint and remove the driveshaft nut. 2) Next you have to undo the stabiliser connecting rod at the bottom to allow clearance to remove the whole driveshaft assembly. Once the rod is undone at the bottom just swing it up out of the way and tie it up. 3) Now you need to get right under the car and undo the 6 nuts and bolts that attach the driveshaft to the rear diff. It separates with a little tap from a hammer. It looks like this. When you separate the two bits you will the two components below. This is the diff end This is the driveshaft end. 4) This is where I did things a little different from the manual because I saw an easier way of doing the job by using a slightly different removal route. Next I removed the brake pads and undid the brake caliper mounting bolts to remove the brake caliper from the hub. NOTE - THE BRAKE HYDRAULIC SYSTEM WAS NOT COMPROMISED AT ALL AND NO BRAKEPIPES ARE TO BE UNDONE. You now tie the brake caliper up to the suspension strutt so it is up out of the way. This now forms your removal route for you driveshaft as it will come out where the brake caliper was mounted. 5) You can now remove the driveshaft / CV joint combo. The service manual tells you to use a set of bearing pullers to push the driveshaft out of the hub. You may not need these as my shaft came out very easily by just tapping it out with a hammer. Don't worry about whacking the CV joint as its being replaced anyway. This is probably the trickiest part of the job as you will have to guide the driveshaft out where there isn't much room. As long as you take your time and bring it out via where the brake caliper sits you will be fine. You will now have this on your bench. 6) This is the CV joint that you will be replacing. 7) You can now undo and remove the CV joint rubber boot clips. If you peel the boot back you will see this. I was quite surprised when I removed the boot on mine as it didn't seem like there was much grease inside the CV joint. There were also patches inside the joint that were bone dry where the grease hadn't got to. That would explain the failure. 8) You now need to separate the CV joint from the driveshaft. The service manual tells you to use a driveshaft puller to pull the CV joint past the little circlip that holds it onto the driveshaft. I didn't have one so I improvised. I put the driveshaft in the vice with the CV joint facing down. Make sure the driveshaft is protected from the vice jaws, I used an old towel. You can now use a big heavy hammer and smack the CV joint hard until it comes off the driveshaft. Don't be afraid to really hit the CV joint hard as its being replaced anyway so any damage is irrelevant. You will now have two pieces, the old CV joint and your driveshaft. You can now remove the old boot from the driveshaft and replace the little circlip on the end with the new one that comes in the dust boot repair kit. 9) Old and new CV joints. 10) You can now empty the supplied grease tube into the new CV joint. You will probably need more grease as there wasn't enough in the tube for my liking. The manual tells you to top the boot up as well as the CV joint but there is only enough to top the CV joint up. After much research I got a tub of Castrol LM grease from Halfords for £5. The LM stands for Lithium Molybdenum and is perfectly suited for CV joints. 11) You can now slide the new small dust boot clip onto the driveshaft and then slide the new dust boot onto the driveshaft. You can protect the boot by winding some protective tape onto the splined end of the driveshaft so as to not cut or nick the new dust boot. Remove the tape once dust boot is on the driveshaft. 12) You are now in a position to fit the new CV joint onto the driveshaft. I put the driveshaft into a vice so it sits horizontal and then tapped the new CV joint onto the splined end of the driveshaft. Put your driveshaft nut on the end of your new CV joint to both protect it and to provide a bigger tapping area for the hammer. You can also put something over the driveshaft nut as well to protect it, something like a cloth or cardboard. It doesn't have to be much as you are only tapping lightly to fit the CV joint to the driveshaft. It fits quite easily easily and you just tap until the circlip engages inside to hold it tight. You can now top the boot up with grease and connect the large and small dust boot clips and you will have something like the newly built driveshaft below. 13) The fitment is just the reversal of the removal and it goes together much easier than it comes apart. I'm very happy with the job as the test drive confirmed that my car is now 100% click free. I hope this helps to provide an insight as to the amount of work needed to fix one of the most annoying quirks of the Zed. Cheers, Craig.

Thats a great idea . You would have to have a glass table top though.

Hey!! I don't need leg extensions......I just sit on a phone book!!

Yeah, I fit fine and I'm 5'6"

Bloody Hell, it would cost a fair bit to fix all that. 1. See my thread here...Clicky 2. I'll leave that answer to someone else. I fitted EBC Redstuff pads all round to mine when I got it. 3. Don't know anything about dodgy camchains. It hasn't affected my two Zeds. 4. Get your wheels realigned front and rear, it cost me £38 all round. 5. Not sure about the leather as I only did 5k miles on my last Zed. 6. I don't think exhausts are a particular problem with Zeds. Was it just a upgrade for performance / sound as opposed to a previous defective exhaust? 7. Zeds chip like you wouldn't believe. My previous Kuro black Zed was chipped quite a lot on the front but I chose a Gun Metal Grey colour this time round and they aren't as noticable. 8. My oil gauge sits at 60psi at startup whilst cold and then reduces to 15psi when warm at idle. I would be very wary of that car especially if you want to fix all the defects as it will add up, (paint chips, tracking, clicky axles, pads, discs, camchain, etc). For me, there are too many Zeds in a depressed car market to even consider anything less than an excellent condition car. They are ripe for the picking. Craig.

Does anybody know if there is an equivalent grease to MOLYKOTE M77 as a 1kg tin costs £118? This is what Nissan recommend for the CV Joints.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that this particular problem is for the rears only. I did find this whilst googleing the part number for the Axle Outer Joint Assembly (39211-73L00). I did want to know if the new joints are upgraded so that the problem wouldn't reappear in a couple of years time. It appears they are.

Yeah, I totally agree. The clicking doesn't fit with a duff wheel bearing, as you say they generally make noise under load. have you downloaded the manual mate ? http://www.350z-tech.com/zwiki/Category:Service I have now. Thanks.

Yeah, I totally agree. The clicking doesn't fit with a duff wheel bearing, as you say they generally make noise under load.

I've received a response from JDM Performance below..... Hi We dont have a 'kit' as such, but to fix it (on both sides) you need: Dust Boot Repair Kit 2 of these at £30 each Axle Outer Joint Assembly 2 of these at £120 each Rear Wheel Bearings 2 of these at £55 each They reckon that lot above at £410. Does anybody know exactly what component causes the clicking problem? I don't see why I would need to replace the wheel bearings as the car has only done less than 25k miles. In my previous experience wheel bearings tend to screech / squeal as opposed to clicking. I'm wondering if its just the Axle Outer Joint Assembly component that clicks. Any ideas?? Craig.

Gus, Cheers for the heads up. I've PM'd him. Craig.

Yeah, no problem. I've not heard anything back from Big Phil or Kev from Envy Performance but I'm not expecting anything until after the weekend.

Will do. Thanks for the tip.

Thanks for the replies guys. I've read the TSB many times. I was trying to get an all encompassing kit as opposed to fannying around with numbers for clips and washers and things. I'll PM Phil as recommended. Cheers, Craig

I've read all the info on the infamous "clicking axle" syndrome that the Zed suffers from and would like to fix mine. Does anybody know if there is a UK supplier that supplies the full kit to fix the problem? I've looked through this site and read pretty much all there is on the subject but cannot find a definitive supplier. I can find plenty in the States that supply repair kits and uprated axles but would prefer a supplier closer to home. Any ideas? Craig.

I think the biggest problem with the Zed is its lardy weight. I love my Zed to bits but if there was one thing I could change about it, then I'd make it lose 250kg in weight. 1.5 tonne is far too heavy for a 2 door coupe.

Hey....not fair!! It's a great colour!!

I got 4 new Toyo T1-R's fitted acouple of weeks ago to my Zed. They are very good and I'm happy with them, far better than the original Bridgestones. I did struggle to source them but there are still some around if you look for them. The fronts are no problem, its the rears that are in scarce supply. See here....Clicky!! Craig.

Pimm, Have a look at an old thread of mine from the summer last year to see what I did with an aftermarket Satnav system. Its works a treat. Satnav Craig.

My newly fitted Red Stuff pads did exactly the same thing. All is well now they are bedded in. Just give it a bit of time.

Yep, thats the company that I'm getting my tyres from. Their website says "In Stock", their local computer says "Out of Stock". They checked their warehouse and they have a few left, two of which are mine. I spoke to Brian who works there and he couldn't have been more helpful. Most online websites claim to have these tyres in stock until you actually phone them and find out that they don't.

It must be a problem all over the UK.

Hey Louis, Ayesha is doing great. Apart from the ridiculous price of petrol and an 80 litre fuel tank she's perfect. I never thought to try Andy. I'm looking forward to see how much better the Toyo's are compared to the original Bridgestones. Craig.

I thought I'd treat my Zed (Louis's old Zed) to some new boots all round. I only wanted Toyo Proxes T1-R's as they seem to represent a good balance between price and performance. I had no idea how much of a struggle it would turn out to be!! The fronts (225 x 45 x 18) were a doddle to get, but the rears (245 x 45 x 18) were an absolute nightmare. I must have talked to loads of companies over two days trying to locate the rears. Apparently a container ship docked last week with 10 of this size tyre onboard but they were all accounted for so I couldn't have them. I was told I'd have to wait 12wks for another shipment. I manage to locate some from a company that hadn't updated their computer which said "out of stock" but they had some in the warehouse. Has anybody tried to get Toyo Proxes T1-R's recently? Where are they all? Does the nations Zed's have them? I'm happy now at least... Craig.