Nismo

iTrader: (18)

97 auto, 48k - lately while driving up/down steep driveways when the wheel is fully turned either left or right while moving, I sometimes hear this grinding noise only sound I can compare it to is the sound of grinding gears of a 5speed. Im not shure really what it is and the first thing I looked for is if I was scraping something under the car which I doubt so now im lost. I also thought it could be rocks on the ground that while turning, they scrape the rocks against the tire and ground causing the grinding noise which seems logical but still not shure. If anyone has some ideas or have the same noises then please respond. I get paranoid about weird noises

EDIT- this noise doenst happen everytime I turn, just maybe 1 out of 10 times I hear noises. maybe its nothing.......

amixam98

iTrader: (25)

I think I have the same problem.

VQuick

iTrader: (17)

Way back in driver's ed my instructor, who seemed to know a lot about cars, said to avoid turning the wheel fully right or left. It's supposedly bad for the belts (?) in the steering system to have the wheel turned until it hits the stop, so if you need to make a hard turn, turn the wheel almost all the way but don't hit the stop. Maybe someone who actally knows about power steering could enlighten us further.

nismos14

iTrader: (56)

my guess is that when ur pushing the wheel all the way to the stop the motor is trying to push it further still because thats what it's meant to do, so if u can't go any further the motor just pushes and pushes and gets nothing which is why the lights sometimes dim, or on poor electrically powered cars they just stall, so if there is still some room for movement the motor will not hit a stop and try to push and push and get nothing there will be just that little bit of space for it to turn causing it to not over - exert its energy, make sense?

Dstyle

I copied and pasted this from motorvate.ca
they have a write up on it under "interesting fixes"
my car does the same thing.

When the steering wheel is turned quite a bit (like in a parking lot) you hear a crunk-crunk-crunk.

The upper strut bearing grease dries out which makes the bearing stiffer and more difficult to turn. When this happens, as you turn the steering wheel the bearing does not move, but the front spring "winds up" until there is enough force to overcome the stiff bearing. Then you hear the crunk as the spring unwinds. The whole process repeats over as you turn the steering wheel.

Vyrus

iTrader: (4)

Exactly. Law I had the same thing happen to me and I just ordered new strut bearings. They ran me about $60 from Courtesy and I'm 70% sure it'll solve my grinding noises from the front of my car (and if that doesnt, I have new upper mounts and dustboots).
-Cyrus

Nismo

iTrader: (18)

I really dont think its my strut bearings because I have done so many spring/strut installs and I can pretty much tell what that twisting spring sounds like. The Power steering theory that nismos14 said sounds more of what might cause it right now. Still under investigation

kratz74

Next suspect is a bad axle. That clunk clunk on a turn in s a tell tale sign. My 95 started doing that at about 50,000 miles. Then at 120,000 the damn axle broke. Replaced axle and the clunk sound was never heard from again.

Nismo

iTrader: (18)

if thats the case then I guess my 5speed conversion will solve my problems. then again I still dont think its the axles

JetBlackMax

iTrader: (12)

it could also be the CV boot on the wheels. Check the boot behind the wheel that looks like an accordian. If its cracked and greesey, then it needs to be replaced, that should fix the CLunk sound.

nick

Nismo

iTrader: (18)

nope my CVs are fine. its not a clunk its a grind

timmax

I know you guys in MP3 land with good mikes and recording equipment like to harness the sound of superchargers and street peels but wouldn't it be nice to have a sound library of problematic noises like the clunk-clunk-clunk of a bad CV joint, the high-pitched whistle of a bad tensioner pulley, or the "crunk" of a bad strut tower bearing to help us with diagnosing our problems and discussing our solutions? I think we might be able to generate some classics like the wha-wha-wha sound of a wheel with bad alignment or the "rrrreeeeeehhhhkkkksshhvvtuh" of a failing starter. I'd like to know if the "creenk" I hear now on tight turns is the strut bearing or the front sway bar (also hear as EEeeee, or the coil spring wind-up and release.

Nismo

iTrader: (18)

yea that sounds like something that will help everyone alot around here. these noises we try to imitate with words is a language of its own.

DFLETCHD

I have a similar problem, the sound I hear when full turn sounds like needs grease ( kinda like metal rubbing) Could this be the same problems mentioned here?

Dfletchd