Clicking noise during acceleration and decceleration

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ualdep

Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2013
Messages
9
I have a 2012 SL Leaf. Every time I let off the electric pedal & press the electric pedal, I hear a moderate clicking noise .

I never noticed it before because the radio or road noise covered it up & I'm getting old. But my younger son heard it 1st.

The Nissan mechanic said it was the brake pads shifting. Anyone else experience this?
 
The electric pedal is the "accelerator" pedal?

Without touching the brake pedal, there should not be
any contact of the brake pads with the rotor, unless
something is really strange.

Very worn brakes usually create a warning noise when
the brakes are applied.

But, I cannot hear high frequency noises either.
From most folks, the turn signal clicker is VERY LOUD,
but I can barely hear it. What did you say? :D
 
Is it just one click, or is it "click-click-click-click....". If the latter, does the frequency seem to depend on vehicle speed? Any worse if accelerating in a turn? Left? Right?

The one thing that comes to mind is Constant Velocity joints. If these are wearing, you can hear a repetitive clicking that will first become noticeable during acceleration/deceleration and usually more pronounced when turning in one direction.
 
Nubo said:
The one thing that comes to mind is Constant Velocity joints. If these are wearing, you can hear a repetitive clicking that will first become noticeable during acceleration/deceleration and usually more pronounced when turning in one direction.

+1. And we've heard of some CV joints going out already. Not a massive number, but some.

When you make your turns, the noise will come from the side opposite the turn too. If you get noise with both L and R turns, then both CV joints are bad.
 
OK; only 1 clk when I lift off the accel. pedal & 1 clk when I press the accel pedal;

Mechanic said "shifting of the pads in the calipers" not brake application;

perhaps a design issue; don't think CV joints or brakes.

Tks for ur replies.
 
So from what I understand an issue that will probably end up impacting every LEAF is a clunking sound which occurs just once when changing directions (forward to reverse and reverse to forward).

This specific issue has to do with the play that the brake pads have within the retaining clips on the calipers. To reproduce is simple: Backup your car, apply brakes to stop. Then move forward, you should hear the clunk. It'll happen in the reverse order as well.

To be clear this will only happen once when changing directions. So if you accelerate, brake, etc. while moving forward and can make the noise happen each time then it is a different issue.

Gary, BTW: the brake pads are basically always in contact with the rotor. The issue I describe above would actually not be an issue if the brake pads were not in contact with the rotor.
 
I believe, with properly adjusted disc brakes, that the pads
should NOT touch the rotor during normal non-braking operation.
The cylinder plunger should be pulled slightly back off
the back of the brake pad, by the rubber gasket/seal around the
cylinder, which should allow the pad to move back off the rotor.

Any touching would produce a lot of heat, some drag, and
some wear on both the pad and the rotor.

But, maybe that was in the "olden days"?
 
ualdep said:
I have a 2012 SL Leaf. Every time I let off the electric pedal & press the electric pedal, I hear a moderate clicking noise .

I never noticed it before because the radio or road noise covered it up & I'm getting old. But my younger son heard it 1st.

The Nissan mechanic said it was the brake pads shifting. Anyone else experience this?

Hi I have a
2012 SL WITH 19000 MILES just started doing the same thing. When I step on the brake I get a click sometimes up to 3 clicks.
also afer stoping at a light. When I step back on the accelarator as the car moves I hear clicks again. It is very annoying. I don't know what to do about it. Nissan should come up with some kind of Sevice Bulletin. Anybody out there that knows how to fix this ?
Except this annoying issue, I can say Leaf has been a best car I have ever owned. I absolutely love the car. :D

Here is some of my contributions to you all.
I noticed the rear door entry does not have any potection for the paint. I have kids that go in and out. I instaled self stick anti skid pads for the entry now the paint is protected. and looks nice.
 
what did the dealer say about ur problem?

if U havent done do, plz so do to get their attn. tks
 
garygid said:
I believe, with properly adjusted disc brakes, that the pads
should NOT touch the rotor during normal non-braking operation.
The cylinder plunger should be pulled slightly back off
the back of the brake pad, by the rubber gasket/seal around the
cylinder, which should allow the pad to move back off the rotor.

Any touching would produce a lot of heat, some drag, and
some wear on both the pad and the rotor.

But, maybe that was in the "olden days"?

AFAIK the design of disc brakes hasn't changed much and on the cars I've worked on the pads always make a swoosh sound when you free spin the tires. It's not enough to cause heat, drag or wear but enough to hear. If the caliper retracts when you let off the brake pedal there still isn't anything they retracts the pad since the caliper and pad are floating so it would still stay in contact.

The reason for the issue I described above is the result of the pads still being in contact with the rotor after letting off the pedal and then shifting between the clips
 
I had a similar issue with my 2011 SL. It was making a light "clunck" noise at acceleration and also when braking (but only when the car would get below a certain speed - close to full stop). I pointed this out to the dealer during my 30K service. They checked it out and told they didn't find any actual problem. They did not mention anything about brake pads. All I could learn is that they lubricated a few things under the car and the noise is gone (still gone 8K miles later).
 
ericsf, I wish U could find out what they lubed; that would REALLY help; tks

Rust doesn't make a clicking noise! :)
 
Here is the report from the dealer :
Clunkingfix.jpg
 
I have 2011SL model (one of the first one) and I started noticing this crackling sound over a year ago when you do hard breaking and then hard acceleration in DRY weather, when it was raining there was no noice, a year ago dealer said cannot repro.
After one more year it become gradually worse, I have these light crackling on every breaking or even deceleration and when accelerating again, regardless of the weather. If you have windows closed it sounds very light, but if you drive with open windows, near obstruction so you get an eco from the concrete barrier for example, the sound is fairly loud metallic clunking...

In few weeks I'm due for my 2 year service... Lets see if they can repro now...
 
Ericsf, Tks very much for the prompt reply; I have an apt with the dealer tomorrow to look into the clicking noise;

Today, I drove another Leaf to compare; it had no clicking noise.

I will suggest the lube :)
 
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