99 cali spec - 82k miles

I'm getting a clicking sound on my front driver's side suspension when I go over bumps. It's not loud, but noticable.

I took the wheel apart to see if anything was moving around, but could not tell. While I was at it, I sanded down the brake pads, rotors, cleaned the caliper of gunk, and reapplied anti squeal lube to the back of the pads. Recently replaced the front driver's side strut and inner tie rod, but the clicking was going on before this. My axles are in good condition and the boots are intact. Turning the wheel all the way and coasting does nothing. Wheel bearing? Control arm? What do you guys think?

I'd appreciate diagnostic procedures to accompany your suggestions. Please don't just say "check the so and so" and leave it at that. Explain how it should be checked. Thanks people.

 

ball joint more than likely

 

And how do you go about checking the ball joint to confirm your guess?

 

jack the front of the car up, so the wheel is off the ground. grab your tire at the top and bottom and see if theres play in it. push the top of the tire in as you pull the bottom out, and vice-versa.. there should not be anyplay

 

cv joints, will make a clicking noise during wide turns, or a vibration only when you accelerate. a wheel bearing will sound like a hum, or even like a loose wheel sometimes. the noise will change pitch with speed. a ball joint will sound more like a clunck when you go over bumps, and will most likely have play when you perform the test i just told you. it theres no play, examine the lower control arm bushings where it attaches to the subframe. this is assuming your struts are ok..

 

tankx will do.

 

Bumping this so I can hear a few more opinions. I'm not saying your advice was wrong or anything stunt, I appreciate it. I just wanna here from a few more people.

 

thats why we're here.....

 

Open your hood and look at you shock mounts. If the shocks arent in the middle the shock mount bushings are bad and they will sqeek and pop. It happened to me.

 

both of mine went out on my 97 about 6 month apart, around 65k miles.

 

Dude your from plano!!! That is where I grew up.

 

The shock mounts are fine. Would they click when going over bumps?

 

ball joints dont really click they more thud, knock, and or pop

 

It's a clunk. FOk it, I'm gonna replace the whole LCA in a few weeks, then I'll go from there. The way this car has been beat around corners, I'm willing to bet every component of the front driver's side suspension will need to be replaced. Got the strut and the tie rod done so far. I also hear a hum when I take corners at a slow pace, so the wheel bearing is probably gone too. Any chance the bearing could make a clicking noise?

 

ok what is the noise? a click and clunk are two very different sounds. a Clunk would yeild a ball joint response in which you'll need to replace the whole control arm in order to get rid of the noise.

The whole front suspension will not need to be replaced but changing the outer tie rods would be a good idea as you'll be in there and if they havent been changed it would be a good time.

check ebay for a control arm, there is a good seller with the green background on his control arms (best suspesnsion something like that). about $80 shipped. There are how tos' on doing the control arm repair, or I could post a pdf if needed.

 

You can just replace the ball joints if you are up to the task. They old ones have to be pressed out and the new ones pressed in.

If you want to replace the entire LCA, then the Ebay seller is pedro-r. An alternate source is internetautomar (no its not a typo, he's on the org, name's Brian - PM internetautomar). I bought all my front end components off him (LCAs, inner/outer tie-rod ends, swaybar endlinks). His prices are as good as on Ebay (even better in fact) and I'd rather keep my business on the ORG. He is reliable, ships promptly and is easy to deal with. Tell him I referred you.

 

This is the difficulty of trying to explain a sound on the net.
It sounds like two solid metal pieces hitting together, not a high pitch click, or a low pitch clunk. Follow me? lol prob not. Can't be the axles, since the boots are in exceptional condition. I'm pretty sure the humming noise is from the wheel bearing so that will be replaced soon. The inner tie rod was replaced and the outer tie rod seems to be fine. I thought maybe it was the pads clicking around so I took the whole brake assembly apart, cleaned, and regreased everything. SO what does that leave me? I guess it would be the ball joint. Gonna take a look at it when I get a chance. The driver's side wheel feels a little "loose". I'm figuring that's the ball joint.

ANd I'll prob go with just replacing the ball joint. Autozone has a loaner tool to do just that.

 

All I can say is that the Strut Mounts are only $20 each. You will definitely get a "clunk" sound if one of those is bad. They will "look" fine from the outside, but when you go over the right kind of bump, you will hear it.

like you said, it's hard to describe sounds on the net! Good luck!

 

I was outside cleaning my iacv, so since I was working on the car anyway, I took the wheel off to examine the clicking noise again. Everything is really tight. No movement from the ball joint test stated above. The car does not feel stable though. Almost feels like there's wheel travel. Would the strut mounts cause this? Anyone got pictures of what one looks like? The struts are perfectly centered but like it was stated above, that's not always a sure sign.

 

when my strut mounts were bad, i had the click/clunk noise over bumps and when turning. the strut bolts were not in the center, but when i pushed the car from side to side, i could see the strut moving in the mounts, which you shouldn't see.

 

I did that this afternoon actually, not even knowing if that was a diag technique or not. I give up. The car is going to a mechanic tomorrow morning. No more guessing. Thanks for the help people.

 

any news??????

 

it could also be your axle.. one of the joints.. the boot doesnt need to be torn for it to go, but its common.

 

bringing the car to the shop tomorrow morning. I'll post back when I'm done.

 

Well, the clicking noise was the wheel bearing knocking around in there. My mechanic just tightened it down so there's less movement. He said it's alright for now, but will need replacement at some point. The clicking is still there, but a whole lot less. So it IS possible for wheel bearings to make a clicking noise. He spent about 2 hours going over every little piece of my suspension, took it for 3 roads tests, and then finally found the problem. I figured it was a strange one because this guy usually diags a car in less than 15mins. My car is all better now. For the time being anyways. Thanks for all the help people.

 

How do you tighten a wheel bearing... did he just tighten the axle nut?

 

I guess that's what he did. Whatever holds the bearing in place, he made it tighter so it moved around less. Whatever he did, it worked.

Edit: did I mention it didn't cost me a dime for the whole thing? His wife was there and she was asking me about a computer she is having a problem with. Since I'm a certified computer genius , I told her I'd take a look at it. That's all it took. Not a dime out of my own pocket.

 

well if it makes you feel any better.. i just spent 260 on parts, 425 on labor, and 75 for a second alignment to redo most of the front end on my car.. 2 days later, theres a very loud noise coming from the front.. i suspect an axle. so the cars in the shop AGAIN tomorrow.. oh, and the rotors warped... think you got probelms..??

 

seems like a waste plopping down so much cash to keep a old car going doesn't it? I think a yr with this max, then a new car. I'm thinking about leasing in the future. A new car every few yrs and no repairs.

 

Unfortunately, leasing means compromise. No customization. Limited mileage allowance per year. And, lastly, if you want a low lease-rate you have to pick a car with extremely good resale value (lease rates are based on the depreciation of the car over the term of the lease).

Compared to buying a new car every 3-5 years, sure leasing can work out financially. Especially if you can write it off as a business vehicle. But it's probably not cheaper than a low-mileage used vehicle.

Of course, it's nice to only own a vehicle while it's still under warranty!



Here's your list of cars with the highest resale values (and hence cheapest lease rates compared to the value of the car):
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