CV Joint Bad???

[Cool Mr Steve]

For awhile now my car has been making a sort of "snapping" or "popping" noise while I'm backing up to the left or while I'm turning hard. It also happens while I'm braking hard or making a tight turn (direction doesn't seem to matter, but I could be wrong). I've been meaning to get to fixing it, but now it has a new symptom (possibly unrelated). I now have a vibration while driving at around 40mph+. It's actually more of a pulsing, my front end vibrated when my wheel bearings went bad awhile ago. This is a pulsing like I'm going over a series of small, subtle bumps. It doesn't seem to do it all the time though. I was thinking it could have something to do with the CV joint being bad and out of balance. One last thing that JUST started that must be related... When I back up to the left for the first time after parking my car sounds like it's "mooing" at me. Like a cow. Not cool. What is this??? If I back up slowly, though, then start going forward, it moos at me then. It's a 1 second long moo, by the way.

*EDIT* Ok, the "mooing" sound I decided was too broad a term. A moo, I believe, can differentiate between a fairly wide range of sound depending on cow size and attitude... My girlfriend said it sounded like one of those older video cassette rewinders when it was getting toward the end of rewinding. It's not the sound the transmission makes when in reverse, its a lower pitched short howl, which I would label a moo.

 

[smokey8667]

The popping I'm not sure about, the "mooing" sounds like the rear brakes are making noise. At least thats what mine do sometimes.

 

[JayRolla]

If its clicking when you turn then yes it could be bad. Look at the boots for tears and if there is most likely its bad

 

[Cool Mr Steve]

I have inspected for tears a few times since the problem started. I'm not positive which side is making the noise, and neither side has a tear in the boot. I don't know how to tell if a CV joint needs replacement, otherwise. I need to do something, though. I'm weary to drive it until I can figure out what it is. Can anyone tell me how I can check the CV joints condition?

 

[FORMONTOYA]

I can say that I recently replaced the ball joints in my "back-up" car (Galant, it has a similar suspension layout as the Eclipse) as it had the same symptoms...backing out of the driveway - hard left, hard turns especially to the left it would "pop". The car would also "rattle" at low speeds over bumps. Mine was on the passenger side.

As stated, if the boots are torn on the axle and it's slung out the grease, you can bet it's the CV joint (check both inner and outer), but also look at the ball joint boots, especially the uppers.

 

[Cool Mr Steve]

What exactly should I be looking for when I'm inspecting the ball joints? Will it be obvious, do I need to watch for movement while pushing/pulling on something? What does a bad ball joint look like?

 

[JayRolla]

It would also have rips in the boot.,

 

[Cool Mr Steve]

Ok, I cant find any rips in any boots, but I jacked up my car and tried to move my passenger side wheel. When I tried at 12 and 6 o'clock there was no movement. When I tried at 3 and 9 o'clock there was a little bit of movement with an audible "clunk" when I pushed at 9 o'clock. Then I tried the same with my driver side wheel... My 12 and 6 o'clock has about 1/16" movement and my 3 and 9 o'clock has a bunch of play... Where do I start??? What do I fix???

Not sure if this has anything to do with it, but my passenger side tire is wearing a LOT faster than my driver side tire. Mostly on the inside.

 

[Eclipse98_RS]

I had a Mazda 323 that had the cv joints go out. It made a clicking noise when i turned for about a month before they went out. As far as the vibration over bumps at low speeds i know a buddy who had a bad back spring (not too sure what else was wrong at the moment... will edit post when i find out) and the same thing would happen. Check your springs and make sure they are in good shape. As far as wear goes i would take it to a shop and have them re-allign the car. After everything you described is fixed of course.

 

[FORMONTOYA]

As stated...tears in the boot, also excessive play... especially in the up and down movement, but also check front to back as well.

3 ball joints circled:

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If needed, you can replace the upper and lower ball joints, but the complete lateral arm (#5) is fairly cheap and I would personally just purchase a new arm...your call though.

 

[Cool Mr Steve]

Thanks, I'll check on those. Quick question... Is this REALLY bad to be driving on. I mean, is it dangerous? If one of these things is really bad, could my wheel fall off while driving? There is about 1/2" inch, maybe more, side to side movement right now when I wiggle it.

 

[drewvr4]

If your cv is bad its not just going to explode...however if you drive on it for a long time...beat it and things it can break or twist.

Its also possible to have a bad CV without the boot being torn, with a torn boot it throws the grease out and you have a knuckle with no lube. My buddies eclipse has a bad rear axle that clicks...no tears and he keeps driving on it

 

[FORMONTOYA]

If the CV joint is bad, the joint will eventually break, then the axle will still be spinning and the broken end will "flop" around until you come to a stop, potentially causing more damage.

If a ball joint breaks, mainly the top one, then yes the wheel will fall in or out. Although most cases I've seen are in a parking lot, or coming out of a driveway where you're most likely to have the steering at full lock.

 

[Cool Mr Steve]

Ok, when I wiggle my wheel at 3 and 9 o'clock, It sounds like the clunk is coming from where I circled, back where that thing ends... It has the same sound on the other side though when I push that part in, it just has more play left to right on this side. Is there something I'm missing? There were a couple little grease specks on my wheel, but I can't find where the grease was coming from. I can post pictures of my boots and whatever else is necessary. I have a video of me moving my wheel back and forth, but it's pretty uneventful. Where do I go from here? Could it still just be a CV joint? It's a pretty nice clunk, it doesn't really seem to me like it would just be metal hitting metal from something being loose. It sounds more like a snap every time it happens. Maybe I'll post a video of the sound...

 

[FORMONTOYA]

I don't see a circled area, but would imagine that it's from the curved piece or the tie rod end. Grab the knuckle (upright piece) close to the top and check for movement also.

 

[Cool Mr Steve]

Hopefully this one works... I cant feel any movement at the upper ball joint. It turns slightly when I wiggle the wheel, but I think this is normal...

 

[FORMONTOYA]

OK, that's the inner tie rod end. Of course you would have one on each side. And of course they're a little more of a PITA to change than an outer, but nothing to complicated. When you take it off, just do a thread count so you can get the new one on in reasonably the same distance. And a new alignment will probably be needed.

For some reason the search is not working for me at the moment....but a search for inner tie rod should get you a better grasp of the task at hand and a better way to double check to make sure before you commit to it.

 

[Cool Mr Steve]

Ok, I think I'm going to replace my axle first, because I believe my CV joint may be shot. I read here that the slop when trying to wiggle the wheel back and forth (post #4) could definitely be the cv joint. Any comment on that?

 

[FORMONTOYA]

Yes, it could be the CV joint. You have an inner and outer on the axle. Of course the inner is in close proximity to the inner tie rod end. As stated doesn't have to be torn for the joint to be bad, but you'll know if the boot's torn as there will be grease "slung" all over that area. And the axle is a lot cheaper and easier to do. You should also be able to find a place to rebuild your axle if you can wait a couple of days for them to do it and that will be a significant savings. We had to do one on an older car my wife had and it was only $85, but that was about 4-5 years ago.


And inner tie rod end/steering rack jobs make you come up with new cuss words as the normal ones don't cut it during that particular project, so hopefully that's not it.