Grinding noise from front suspension

[Terrh]

I've got a 1991 TSI AWD 5 speed, around 250,000KM on it.

A few days ago I went snow drifting in a parking lot, had a blast... aside from the car overheating a bit (ice clogging the radiator opening totally). Drove home, the car was fine, no funny noises/etc.

Next morning when I get in it and drive it to work, it's making a new noise.. it's coming from the driver's side front wheel area but I can't figure out WTF it is.

I know that that CV shaft its worn (it's clicking pretty bad) and the boot is cracked but this noise isn't that.

The noise is a scraping/grinding sound. (NOT a rumble)it's most prominent when going between 0-20km/h, and it's still very pronounced between 20 and 100km/h. above ~125km/h it's pretty much totally gone. The noise also doesn't change pitch/frequency with speed, it's the same noise at 10km/h as it is at 100km/h. it changes over bumps (goes away/comes back) It goes away mostly on right turns, depending on how hard you're cornering. It sounds about the same going straight as it does turning left. it is NOT a cv shaft clicking. I jacked the car up in the air, there's no play in the wheel, so I don't think it's the wheel bearing. I also melted all snow/ice/etc away from the area, thinking maybe that could be the problem. but no, it still made the noise. I pulled the wheel off and spun the hub assembly, but because it's an AWD car it's too difficult to spin quickly enough to make the noise, even though it starts making the noise at like 5km/h. While the wheel was off I took the center cap off of the wheel, even after 10 minutes at 140km/h the hub is still cool to the touch. The noise isn't very quiet either, the heater needs to be on full blast to drown it out. (just trying to describe it as best I can here)


Any idea as to what the hell this could be?

 

[Terrh]

bump.

Hoping someone has an idea here!

 

[spaceball]

maybee the spring wore through the rubbber piece that isolates it from the perch

 

[Terrh]

it's not that kind of noise, it sounds like metal scraping on metal quickly, like if the exhaust falls off your car and drags on the ground type of noise.. I don't think it's spring/strut related(but that strut does need to be replaced as well)

 

[firehawk]

well i had a problem just last week. It could be the same thing, maybe not. Its worth a shot tho. I had this reluctor wheel on the abs, that had came loose and was making an annoying metal on metal noise when i went down the street. That could be the problem.

 

[Terrh]

No abs on my car.

sorry, I should have mensioned that

 

[ArticNemesis]

Passenger side wheel bearing possibly?

The fact that when you make a right turn, (and unload all the weight from that side) Makes the sound disappear.. The only thing that makes me say it isn't that is that usually the sound will increase frequency with the speed of the vehicle..

Have you checked your lug nuts and looked to make sure there is nothing caught under the car?

[edit] Just reread your post, scratch the lug nuts. With the wheel off, try flexing the hub up and down. If there is any play, it's the wheel bearing. I'm going to guess front passenger side. Is that where abouts the sound is coming from?

 

[SexyDSM95]

I had this problem and couldn't figure out what it was until I lost power to all 3 wheels. I would jack up your car and just double check your axle and half shat to make sure that's okay. If you think it's the suspension, check to see if your springs are still aligned on that lip part of the shock (not sure of the correct terminology for it) Good luck with it...

 

[housegsx]

I have been having the same damn problem! I had the clicking start. then a couple week later the heavy grinding sound started. It will make the noise with the car parked, just turning the wheel back and forth. Thinking it was a bad cv and inner tripod joint, I replace the entire front passenger axle assembly on Saturday. Everything was fine for 1-2 days and then the sound came back. It was quite upsetting. It seems like when I jack up the car and take the load off the suspension and put it back down the sound will go away for a little while and then all of a sudden come right back.

I did check the wheel for play and there wasn't any in the hub. So I don't think it is a wheel bearing. I was thinging a bad ball joint or something in the steering rack. That could explain the grinding maybe, but what is the clicking that sounds like a bad cv. All new axle and when the sound came back it is IDENTICAL to the sound when the old axle was in. I am going to check everything out later today. If anyone thinks of something, please help us out. Thanks.

 

[SexyDSM95]

I have been having the same damn problem! I had the clicking start. then a couple week later the heavy grinding sound started. It will make the noise with the car parked, just turning the wheel back and forth. Thinking it was a bad cv and inner tripod joint, I replace the entire front passenger axle assembly on Saturday. Everything was fine for 1-2 days and then the sound came back. It was quite upsetting. It seems like when I jack up the car and take the load off the suspension and put it back down the sound will go away for a little while and then all of a sudden come right back.

I did check the wheel for play and there wasn't any in the hub. So I don't think it is a wheel bearing. I was thinging a bad ball joint or something in the steering rack. That could explain the grinding maybe, but what is the clicking that sounds like a bad cv. All new axle and when the sound came back it is IDENTICAL to the sound when the old axle was in. I am going to check everything out later today. If anyone thinks of something, please help us out. Thanks.

If you are moving the wheel when you are parked and it makes noise I would check your tie rod to make sure that the bushing is not worn. Thre is a recall on them, so I would check with your local dealer to run your VIN to see if your car has been recalled for that.

 

[housegsx]

If you are moving the wheel when you are parked and it makes noise I would check your tie rod to make sure that didn't pop out on you. Thre is a recall on them, so I would check with your local dealer to run your VIN to see if your car has been recalled for that.

What do you mean by "pop out". Where would it pop out? Do you mean on the inside where it goes into the boot and connects to the rack? It didn't pop out of the wheel spindle if that is what you meant. I just had that apart when replacing the axle.

 

[SexyDSM95]

I edited my post, it can sometimes pop out if it's bent or the bushing just wears out. Since you said it's not bent or out, just check to see if the bushing is worn.

 

[housegsx]

I rode my car up on some wooden ramps tonight and had someone else turn the wheel while I was under the car. I am now almost 100% sure that it's the lower balljoint that is grinding. I can feel heavy vibration when I grab the front lower control arm and the wheel is turning.

I am going to call Mitsu tomorrow and see if the recall has been done on my car. Does anybody know which lower control arm was recalled? Front or rear ones, or both?

 

[AWDTalonDE]

This EXACT scenario has just happened to me. Donuts and everything, first the clicking earlier on, then the constant grinding and transfer case about to bust open. I'm going in for the transfer case recall tommorow morning on my 1g 90 AWD TSI talon do I qualify for the other recall that fixes this problem too? Also I've searched the site for ALL the recalls but none of them seem to list all of them. I'd like to get it all done even like the windshield mounting needs to be done. If anyone could point me to some help it'd be appreciated.

 

[SexyDSM95]

This EXACT scenario has just happened to me. Donuts and everything, first the clicking earlier on, then the constant grinding and transfer case about to bust open. I'm going in for the transfer case recall tommorow morning on my 1g 90 AWD TSI talon do I qualify for the other recall that fixes this problem too? Also I've searched the site for ALL the recalls but none of them seem to list all of them. I'd like to get it all done even like the windshield mounting needs to be done. If anyone could point me to some help it'd be appreciated.

When you go to the Mitsu dealer ask them to input your VIN into their computer and they can tell you exactly what work has been done for recalls and what may need to be done. There are websites you can check for recalls but most I have seen are for the 2g's.

 

[Terrh]

I'm almost 100% sure on my car that it's the CV shaft. I bought some CV shaft grease and put it in there and the noise quieted somewhat but it's still there and pretty pronounced. I'm going to replace the cv shaft this weekend and hopefully that fixes it.

 

[AWDTalonDE]

Where is a good place to get them and for how much?

 

[housegsx]

I'm almost 100% sure on my car that it's the CV shaft. I bought some CV shaft grease and put it in there and the noise quieted somewhat but it's still there and pretty pronounced. I'm going to replace the cv shaft this weekend and hopefully that fixes it.

Just to let you, I did the same thing and then the noise came back. Then I replaced the axle with a raxles.com axle. I thought the problem was fixed, but clicking and grinding came back. Yesterday I replaced the lower lateral control arm and ball joint. When I got the old one out, it was shot. I put about 50 miles on the car since I replaced the control arm and my problem seems to be solved.

It seemed that when I took the load off the suspension by jacking the car up the noise would temporarily go away until that balljoint "settled" back into position and started grinding again.

Here a thread that I had added to when I though my problem was solved with the axle replacement. In my case the axle and balljoint were both bad.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163089