clunk sound :(

[larryd]

i noticed a new sound coming from the front of my car tonight. When I leave from a dead stop real nice and slow I hear KLUNK from the dead front of the car, cant tell if its left or right, also when I turn the wheel sometimes I get the same clunk noise. Im hoping that I didnt break a half shaft somehow, anyone got any ideas or know what I need to look at to see if its broken or not?

 

[apgeclipsegsx]

sounds like a cv joint goin, i know the cv joint will make noises turning and starting off when it starts to go bad

 

[psyjoniz]

i've been experiencing the same type of sound for about 6 months now - and it happened the day i had my new suspension put in - i've had the car to every shop around and nobody can figure it out

 

[Jason_Crowe11]

Just by your description...I would also say it's likely a bad CV joint.

take the car in a parking lot and make some slow sharp turns....see if you notice the sound more prevelant from one side.

Laters
Jason.

 

[psyjoniz]

don't think its the cv - ive had them checked and i know what it sounds like anyway - its not the same sound... cv's would be a consistant click or grind - this sound is only happening when a shift in suspension is occuring - i KNOW its in my suspension i just don't know exactly what it is... i'm thinking about putting in all new struts and springs to see what happens.

 

[larryd]

what about possibly the sway bar creaking?? or maybe the springs not seating properly? I dunno, How can i tell if its the CV joint, i hate to sound stupid but what exactly is the cv joint, and will I be able to notice if its broken?

 

[Jason_Crowe11]

Well, for psyjoniz-->
I would suggest checking all the bushings(sway bar yes) and all the bolts for the suspension...make sure everything is tight and in place.

But, if you plan on doing suspension upgrades anyways....might as well do that....maybe your problem will go away.

For larryd-->
The CV Joint is just the joint on each side of the axle. Each side of the front of car have a CV axle connecting from tranny to the hub. Typically a bad CV joint is noticed from a Torn rubber boot surrounding the joint.

If you were to get under the car and look at each side of the axle(rubber boots[4 total]) look for any visible splits/cracks....and normally if they are split....grease will be thrown everywhere surrounding the bad cv joint. (I noticed easily on a couple of mine where the grease was coating the inside of the wheel). Also, you could also grab ahold of the axle and attempt to shake it back-forth/up and down...it shouldn't really move.

Laters
Jason.

 

[larryd]

so a CV joint is a half shaft then?

 

[Atari007]

See the rubber boots on these half shafts? They cover your cv joints. If those boots break (get ripped, etc) then your cv joints will get dirt and other crap in them and that is when they go out. Check those boots on your car..... btw, like everyone said, your prob does sound like the cv joints... hope this helps!

 

[Atari007]

Oh, and both of you guys said that you are having this problem when you are going from a dead stop right? Have you guys checked your motor mounts? If they are going bad your engine will move when you apply power to the wheels, and that could be the noise you are hearing... just another thought..... most of the time the cv joints only noise when you are turning... btw, Im no mechanic, so someone correct me if Im wrong!

 

[psyjoniz]

actually mine happens mostly when i turn the wheel - and the car dosen't have to be in motion, i could be at a dead stop, turn the wheel and i'll hear 3 or 4 clunks in a row. it sounds, to me, like a heavy duty piece of metal re-seating itself somewhere in the suspension setup - and lately i've been hearing it from the rear but with the shape of the rear hatch affecting the acoustics its almost impossible to tell which side of the car its coming from.

guess i'm putting new rims on hold again in favor of a fix...

 

[Atari007]

psyjoniz- your prob sounds just like a cv joint... but if you have had a couple of places check your car out already, then I would be afraid.. VERY afraid if they didnt check your joints... even MORE afraid if they DID, and didnt realize they were messed up

 

[psyjoniz]

...........for it to be a cv joint the car would have to be in motion for it to make the sound. it happens because it is turning the joint and is relative to the speed @ which you are moving - in my case, this is not true. it happens relative to how fast i'm turning the wheel - ie: the spring and shock being turned in its seating. the only place that has had any luck with quelling the sound has been satan and only because they fashioned special spring mounts for me (special my a** - they used some high-density rubber to muffle the sound of the spring that i did NOT appreciate being put in there). i don't claim to know everything about it, but its not a cv joint - in MY case - in someone else's it may very well be. also - if it was a cv the problem would get progressivly worse and would not outlast 6 months and definitly not stay the same sound after 6 months.

i'm going to price out new suspension - any suggestions? i'm wanting to get illumina's but am not sure about springs - no more than a 1.2" drop from stock thats for sure - in fact i'd like to be higher than that - maybe .8" from stock.

 

[Ludachris]

psyjoniz:

This may be obvious, but you've checked your tie rods, ball joints and steering knuckle right? It sounds like it's something in the steering system. Maybe you can get the car up on jackstands and have someone turn the wheels and see if you can track it down.

Larry:

Check to see if your CV boots are torn with grease coming out... I was having similar sounds which prompted me to do the Axle install:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/installs/axles/
of course all new axles is a little overkill, but I figured it would be a good investment if I planned on making big power anyway.

 

[psyjoniz]

actually i've had my car lifted numerous times and done just that - play with the steering .. play with the steering .. play with the steering some more - unfortunately its NEVER made the sound without having load on the wheels (on the ground). one thing i did notice on my drivers side where the lower part of the strut mounts to the car (the c-clamp type thing) the strut was scraped vertically all around as if it was lifting out of its mount and going back in and i thought that was what it was but after tightening that it still made the same sound.. as far as the steering linkage and supporting arms and what-not i had satan precision measure everything which led to the discovery that one of the lower lateral arms was bent and after replacing it my car runs smooth as glass @ 120+ (wouldn't do better than 75 before without VIOLENTLY shaking) but it still makes this freakin clunking sound @ 10mph... *sigh*... i've literally been going back and forth with this for over 6 months now. the sound dosen't get any worse and i've yet to see any negative affects of it, but you know the rule - let a problem go long enough and it will just cause bigger one's.. i'm considering putting my stock springs back in just to see if its something with the tokico's i put in - because this didn't happen before the new suspension was put in and it started directly after.

 

[larryd]

mine only does it from a dead stop when I put the car under any load.. like something shifts like a loose bolt or something.. Ill check the cv joint tomrrow but im leaning more towards possible bad motor mounts cuz the engine seems to be rotating alot becuase my bov hose keeps hitting my engine mount

 

[blast7]

Here is a good way to see if you have a bad motor mount. Open the hood and get in the car. Rev the engine to around 1500RPM or greater and let out the clutch to pull forward. You can do this backwards as well. If the engine moves more than about an inch, you have a bad motor mount(s).

 

[larryd]

ill check that out, thanks

 

[shaunis_theman]

i've had the same problem and it was when i was turning left or when i was accelerating when it was under presure and i changed my left constant velocity shaft it cost me 70$ for a new one and now it as a life time waranty and the noise is gone.

 

[dsmguy94]

A friend of mine had the same problem. It ended up being one of this motor mounts. May want to check those out.

 

[psyjoniz]

Originally posted by shaunis_theman
i've had the same problem and it was when i was turning left or when i was accelerating when it was under presure and i changed my left constant velocity shaft it cost me 70$ for a new one and now it as a life time waranty and the noise is gone.

could you explain this more? did you do it yourself, was it hard and would i need any special tools to do it? thx

 

[theTuner]

omfg i thought i had broken boots and a ruined CV joint... one day i looked under my hood and noticed the CRUISE CONTROL bolt [10mm] stripped and it was the CLICKING!! OMFGGG i will post pics, it was so damn loud and annoying, im so thankful to fix that now.

 

[leet]

Dude, this thread is like 17 months old.

 

[psyjoniz]

Originally posted by leet
Dude, this thread is like 17 months old.

 

[98TsiAWD]

And it shows Larryd's NEWB days.:laugh: