Indeed I'm getting this click now too- one of a few different noises eminating from the back end... though I suspect the other is a result of a wobbly goblin in a coilover shock tube.

Seems more pronounced before the vehicle has warmed up- or been moving. Guess that sort of makes sense judging by the nature of the problem.

Naturally, I'm expecting some flak from the stealership for being on coilovers among other things (dropped, spacers, etc) ... With that being said- by the time I pay to get the stuff I need to engineer a way to get that axle to come out (I'm a hammer type guy... except when it comes to fender rolling!) I might as well have saved the time and just had them do it. I have lots of Nissan dealerships to go to if the local Infiniti falls flat. My last experience wasn't horrible- but it could definitely go either way on this one.

500 bucks would be ridiculous- but 60 bucks? Even 200? I'd drop that in no time if I knew someone who knew what they were doing could do it properly. And there's the rub... Properly.

Must admit, it looks almost easy enough to do- but getting that axle out... and screwing it up costing 2000?! Dayum. No thanks. Hello 60 bucks!

 

Nice to see you are still around. i'm still rolling on those Tanabes i got from you too

 

So just bought a 03 g35 with a clicking coming from the rear axle, it only happens when you load the rear diff, mainly on shifting gears, starts and stops, or just releasing the gas and applying it again fairly quickly.

For me, the noise was comparable to dropping two square plastic dowels onto concrete, ha thats about as best I can describe it. Hard to hear with the window up, easy to hear with the window down.

I read the TSB, pulled the axles, cleaned and greased them, with CV boot grease from partsource, flipped them 180 offset and re-installed. Voila! problem fixed. Now I doubt the grease has much to do with the problem. I blame shotty hubs or axle splines that wear out and cause play. Turning them 180 degrees is likely what set them good again as the wear pattern was essentially reset, or at least slightly re-newed. I just can't believe this is a TSB, infiniti sounds like a bunch of retards for suggesting this when they really should have replaced the axles and hubs out of warranty.

For anyone curious, its a 32mm socket for the axle nut, and 14mm flat wrench and socket to get the axles apart from the diff. Rotors and calipers definitely don't have to come off.

p.s. For a reference, this job took about 45 min for me. Spent most time jacking up the car and pulling the wheels/breaking axle nuts free. Also, grab a new cotter pin from any auto parts store, I used a fairly big one.

 

^ You were having the exact same issue I am with the click only occuring when shifting gears or when accelerating rapidly from a stop. I think some people are getting a constant click while driving, but I may be wrong.

I'm thinking about taking it to the dealer since I still have my powertrain warranty left, but I'm not sure they will cover it since the noise isn't constant. I'd almost rather do it myself anyway because I'm not a fan of leaving my car with those techs.

 

Decided to fix this on my own over the weekend. A bit of a PITA, but mostly just because I didn't have my car lifted high enough. If I need to do it again it should go much quicker.

I used the Valvoline SynPower grease available at Advanced Auto Parts.

 

I did this recently, the way I did it only takes about 20 minutes max on each side.

-Lift the car and secure the rear with jack stands
-Remove both left/right wheels
-Remove cotter pin on both sides
-Remove 32MM bolt holding on axle (likely have to either hit it with an impact or pull the e-brake tightly
-Knock the axle end with a deablow rubber hammer


Now you can pull the axle out far enough from the splines without removing completely, if you look behind the brake assembly you can see where the splines go into the hub. All I did was take some anti-seize and brush it on the splines, push the axle in and out a few times, rotate, repeat.

Creak free for a month + now and pretty easy to fix yourself.

 

Were you able to actually pull the axle far enough out to rotate it 180 degrees before reinstalling? It doesn't seem like there is enough play to be able to do that.

If so, this would definitely save a lot of time. The most diffiult part is breaking loose the 6 bolts at the rear differential and then maneuvering the axle out.

I'm not sure if anybody (including Nissan) has determined if it's the added grease, retorquing of the axle bolt, or turning the axle 180 degrees that actually stops the clicking.

 

I need to set a day aside and get all this stuff done. Get under my car is a task itself

 

No, I did not rotate the axles. I don't really see what it would accomplish, if the axle is beat out of round or the splines are worn, they're going to be worn equally across the axle.

 

That's true. It just doesn't make much sense to me that the click would be coming from anything other than play in the splines. The part that is greased according to the TSB shouldn't really make any clicking noise unless the axle is moving in and out as load is put on it.

Oh well, whatever. All I know is that it's not clicking any more.

 

sup guys, I'm wondering if this fix will be covered under warranty for me. My car has 36k miles. How long does bumper to bumper warranty last?

 

You fell of the face of the earth. Yes, it does. Dealer covers it for 4 years or 60k miles. Whichever comes first.

 

hahaha yea I did man. Thanks im taking my baby in today to get her click worked out.

 

is there a DIY on this? i cannot find one and i need to do this.

 

I have a fx35. I did this. it's easy. not a hard job. only hard thing is to buy right grease.
I was ordered on nissan part at west covina. It was around $150 I think..