Hi,

Just bought a used 2003 G35 Sedan, replaced front struts, lower arms, rear brakes and new tires.
The thing is that I have some sort of noise coming from the front(I think) that sounds like road/tire noise but could be engine. It doesn't start until about 30mph, the sound is difficult to describe although it's similar to driving at high speed on concrete slab highway, but much gentler. Sort of a WUB WUB WUB noise. I'm not sure if it had this prior to tire replacement as I had it done right away.

Is this normal for a G?

Thanks

 

Might be wheel bearings.

 

Something that varies its intensity with speed & direction indicates a bearing failure. Does the pitch change at different speeds? Does it change at all when you turn the wheel slightly?

 

Wheel bearing - try to see which of the 4 sides of the car it's coming from

 

It varies with speed but not direction at all. It's loudest around 40-50 and almost indistinguishable from engine noise at 70-80. When braking it dies down quite a bit, seemingly more than the speed would indicate. It's difficult to tell which direction it's coming from, the front but not sure which side.

I'm willing to swap out both hubs/bearings...didn't want to do that this year but it I'm concerned. Had 2 garages miss this, so might just get an independent mechanic to diagnose or do the work myself. What are the consequences of driving like that as long as the bearings aren't seized?

 

I'd agree with everyone else.. bearing sounds just like a bad tire..

when it happened on mine (not long after I bought the car) I thought that it was tires, so I changed them and it was still noisy.. then I thought "I guess infiniti just sucks.. never thought a luxury car would be this noisy"..

then I started reading posts about noise and changed my wheel bearings and it was finally quiet.. yay!

On mine, once they were off they spun freely and felt smooth, but they were bad enough to make a lot of noise..

if you let it get bad enough I suppose the wheel could come off, but it would have to be pretty bad for that... they arent too hard to change yourself, and good ones are ~$100 ea. if I remember correctly

I just did the front on mine

 

Jack up your car one wheel at a time; then grab the wheel at the 10-2 position and try to shake/move it. If it feels wobbly then the bearing/hub are shot, if its tight then the noise is something else.

When my rear bearing went bad, my entire rear wheel was wobbling to the point where it felt like it would come right off.

 

Not always true. Both my front bearings on my X went bad. Car sounded like an airplace about 40MPH to the point i was afraid to drive the car.

Jack up both wheels..no movement or noise if i spin them.

The only way i could tell if they were bad was to remove the brake rotors and turn the hubs, and then you could feel the vibration in the bearing. There was no play or wobble at all.

 

Thanks for the help guys, given the amount of suspension damage the previous owner did I wouldn't be surprised if the bearings were going. They also had 20" rims on there for a while before going to stock 17's. That extra weight wouldn't have helped over 7yrs. Even if it's not the bearings it wouldn't hurt to change them out now.
I ordered a pair of Timkens on Amazon with 1 day shipping for under $220 and found a guy to install for 130, or I could buy the tools and DIY for "fun". We'll see how lazy I feel friday. I'll update after.

Edit: I watched a mechanic try to rock the tires to check the joint attached to the upper control arms, was solid.

 

If you can change brakes, you can change wheel bearings. It actually one of the easier things to do on our cars. If you are changing a bearing on an axle then all you need is a long steel tube and a fat breaker bar for the 32mm socket

 

It sounds like a wheel bearing - but check the tires too

If it was out of alignment for a while you could have serious cupping on the tires and that can also cause this noise. It could even be both problems at the same time.

 

It was the bearing on the front left, replaced em both. I had a mechanic come out to my place, did em for 80 apiece. I could have driven to a shop for 130 total. You're right, it was a pretty quick and easy replacement. Now I just have to fix that damned belt squeal
Thanks for the diagnosis!