Any updates to thumping problem in rear?

Re: jowilly from wild willy

wild willy said:

I really do not know where all of these guys are finding these races. Every time i pull up to a light next to a Camry or an Accord, I can not get the 75 year old lady to look at me, let alone race.

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LOL, Willy. I'm a comparatively young sprout at 31 (remember that? No? Didn't think so ), but I couldn't agree more with the racing stuff.

I only really stretch the legs of my 3.5 on empty roads, and even then "stretching" hardly means I do my best Ayrton Senna imitation. It's more like Big Daddy Don Garlits from a 20-mph roll: Punch it in second and hang on when the tach sweeps past four grand. What a rush. Untrafficked freeway on-ramps in third gear are also a blast, but around here it's pretty rare that I'm not stuck behind a pickup truck.

Even though I *had* to have the 3.5, 90 percent of my driving habits would've been satisfied with the 2.5. That car is a long way from being a gutless wonder.

Jarrod K. Wright
'02 3.5SE 5-speed
'98 SE 5-speed

PS - I must come clean and admit there's a stoplight near my house that always gets the better of me. It's on a four-lane divided road, and just after the light the right lane ends and merges with the left. The sign is clearly marked "right turn only." Occasionally, I'll be at the head of the pack on red and *invariably* someone in a hurry to cut in line will pull up in the right lane, thinking he'll gun it at green, sweep in front of me and be on his merry way.

Suffice it to say I haven't been victimized yet. And one guy in a brand new white '02 Monte Carlo with some kind of NASCAR decal package -- what an ugly contraption that thing is! -- was utterly humiliated, as the guy in the Z28 behind me also gunned it and stuck to my bumper, while the late-model Prelude (I think) behind him *also* decided to make an example of this guy and made it a three-car freight train. Mr. Monte had to come to a full stop at the merge 50 yards ahead, very nearly ending up in a field of wild Dallisgrass. I keep thinking I'll run across the guy again and he'll have peeled off his stickers in shame...

I emptied the trunk, I had it blessed by the voodoo priestess next door.....I'm beginning to think that the thumping is related to some kind of bushing installed in one of the pickup points in the rear suspension. I hope I'm wrong otherwise it would be a bummer for a recall.

I noticed this on my first test drive last November. The salesman said that the car hadn't been PDI'd yet and there may be stuff still loose in the trunk. I thought that was a reasonable explanation at the time and thought nothing of it.

BTW, under the triangular left wheel well cover is some kind of air diaphragm which I suppose eases the closing of the trunk by allowing the air to be displaced. This darn thing seems to act like a megaphone, amplifying every resonance in the trunk. Being an audiophile to boot sometimes is detrimental one's sense of well-being.

Funny you should be asking about the thumping. I just came in from being outside all day where I tore out everything behind the drivers seat to try and locate the thumping. Removed back seat, all the carpeting in and around the trunk and the gray stuff lining the trunk on the sides. Had everything down to bare metal. Then had my brother drive the car around while I was in the trunk. Found 2 things. First, If you have the sunroof, there are 2 clear plastic tubes that comes from the roof, down the rear pillars (1 Tube on each side), over the top of the rear wheel wells, down the back side of the wheel wells and then exit out the side of the car behind the bumper. These tubes were flopping around over larger bumps and creating a rattle. So I took a wire tie and tied them down to some holes that were in the vicinity. Rattle solved but still thumping. The thumping in the right rear is definitely coming from the underside of the car. I then proceeded to check the tightness on every bolt on the rear suspension. They were all tight. I think it has something to do with the gas tank, but I ran out of sunlight. Will investigate further next week if the temperature stays warm in NJ.

P.S. Dealers are morons and are clueless as to what makes a car tick (or in this case thump).

They said that the service engine light came up with a code that indicated a slow pressure leak in the fuel system. They checked all the hoses that they could and decided to drop the tank. On the top of the tank there is a plug with some vent hoses, the fuel pump and fuel lines appear to be in a 5"dia assembly, and where that "plug" is solvent welded to the plastic gas tank, a leak occured. I don't know if it was a manufacturing problem or an over pressure problem with the tank from the pressure relief valve (that they now ordered because it was stuck) but they needed to drop the tank and send it back to Nissan.

Now the sway bar might be a possible source because I was driving this morning and didn't notice the thump. I did try tightning some things down prior to bringing it into them for the tank but when they drop the tank, they have to disconnect the sway bar. Perhaps when they put it back they tightened it enough to eliminate the noise.