FyreDaug
12-20-2005, 09:37 AM
Ive got this very distinct popping/snapping/metal hitting metal sound from the front left.
I had a similar problem before and it turned out my mechanic didnt tighten the lower control arm-to-chassis bolt and it was coming out. All suspension compenents check out OK, not good, but ok. The upper ball joint boot recently broke on the driver side, theres no inner tie rod boot (for about a year now... not related to this problem) and the wheel bearing on the driver side is going.
The noise: Driving straight, constant speed it can be heard every now and then, like once every 20 seconds you can hear 1 pop. Acceleration it cant be heard at all (over the exhaust anyways) but engine braking, nuetral coasting and braking have serious sounds coming from the driver side left wheel.
I pulled the wheel off and it sitting on stands right now. Its bloody cold (-20 something) as are all the metal components so its kind of hard to work with, even with gloves. The right wheel is on the ground and its in nuetral. I can move the wheel, but it takes some force, it doesnt spin freely thats for sure, but I can get it to turn (not sure if its normal, with 1 tire on the ground) but in gear, its locked up like it should.
The tests I did:
1)side to side on the wheel has little movement, probably related to the wheel bearing, since ive had the car, its had a bad bearing, but the amount of play hasnt increased (yet). Testing the tie rod/wheel bearing
2)up and down (same kind of test as above) has even less movement, if any measurable amount at all, testing the upper control arm ball joint, and the wheel bearing again. Indicating that even though the boot is broken on the UBJ, its still fine for now.
3)turning the wheel in the direction it makes the sound (forward), no popping noise can be heard, but there is resistance, not sure if its the brakes, or something internally in the transmission (or something else...? the problem maybe?) but it will turn with a slight dragging sound (brakes) as I assume it should. However, every full rotation it would seem there is a "dropping pin sound". Thats the best way to describe it, take a small pin and drop it on a cement floor, same sound.
** This sound sounds like its coming from inside the outer CV boot closest to the brake assembly. Its hard to tell for sure just by sticking my head in there and turning the wheel, but the outer and inner boots on the parts-car-replaced axles currently in my car are all good.
This noise is very audible inside and outside the car everytime it clunks.
Could it be a broken axle? I dont want to have to take the boot off to check and replace it with a new one if theres nothing wrong with it. Could that heavy clunking be related to the wheel bearing?
I think ill jack up the other side, pull the wheel and rotate it, see if anything wierd is coming from there and post again. Might not be for a while, my nose is still running and im cold still, so any thoughts please post now.
EDIT: I forgot, another test I did was holding the brakes still and trying to move the axle, it has little play rotational wise
I had a similar problem before and it turned out my mechanic didnt tighten the lower control arm-to-chassis bolt and it was coming out. All suspension compenents check out OK, not good, but ok. The upper ball joint boot recently broke on the driver side, theres no inner tie rod boot (for about a year now... not related to this problem) and the wheel bearing on the driver side is going.
The noise: Driving straight, constant speed it can be heard every now and then, like once every 20 seconds you can hear 1 pop. Acceleration it cant be heard at all (over the exhaust anyways) but engine braking, nuetral coasting and braking have serious sounds coming from the driver side left wheel.
I pulled the wheel off and it sitting on stands right now. Its bloody cold (-20 something) as are all the metal components so its kind of hard to work with, even with gloves. The right wheel is on the ground and its in nuetral. I can move the wheel, but it takes some force, it doesnt spin freely thats for sure, but I can get it to turn (not sure if its normal, with 1 tire on the ground) but in gear, its locked up like it should.
The tests I did:
1)side to side on the wheel has little movement, probably related to the wheel bearing, since ive had the car, its had a bad bearing, but the amount of play hasnt increased (yet). Testing the tie rod/wheel bearing
2)up and down (same kind of test as above) has even less movement, if any measurable amount at all, testing the upper control arm ball joint, and the wheel bearing again. Indicating that even though the boot is broken on the UBJ, its still fine for now.
3)turning the wheel in the direction it makes the sound (forward), no popping noise can be heard, but there is resistance, not sure if its the brakes, or something internally in the transmission (or something else...? the problem maybe?) but it will turn with a slight dragging sound (brakes) as I assume it should. However, every full rotation it would seem there is a "dropping pin sound". Thats the best way to describe it, take a small pin and drop it on a cement floor, same sound.
** This sound sounds like its coming from inside the outer CV boot closest to the brake assembly. Its hard to tell for sure just by sticking my head in there and turning the wheel, but the outer and inner boots on the parts-car-replaced axles currently in my car are all good.
This noise is very audible inside and outside the car everytime it clunks.
Could it be a broken axle? I dont want to have to take the boot off to check and replace it with a new one if theres nothing wrong with it. Could that heavy clunking be related to the wheel bearing?
I think ill jack up the other side, pull the wheel and rotate it, see if anything wierd is coming from there and post again. Might not be for a while, my nose is still running and im cold still, so any thoughts please post now.
EDIT: I forgot, another test I did was holding the brakes still and trying to move the axle, it has little play rotational wise