well i recently had a tie rod changed on the front passenger side after getting new tires and an alignment, they said it needed a new one before they could do the alignment. before this i had noticed a bit of a clunking sound when driving down bumpy roads. now the noise has gotten much worse and today i took the tire off to look at things. my question about this is whether a new tie rod should be stiff or have plenty of play. the new one has lots of play when i twist on it and makes a metal on metal clunking sound when it is twisted from side to side. i am not sure if it is the cv joint or not but they look decent and have little play. both sides are the same and the noise is only coming from the front left wheel area. i also checked for any play in the wheel for a possible bad wheel bearing but they seemed fine with no play.

my second question is about an oil leak on the same side (passenger). it looks like motor oil and appears to be coming from the bottom left device on the pulley system when looking in the passenger wheel well. i have noticed a some burning oil smells lately and found that oil is dripping from this area and hitting the exhaust. i recently had the auto tranny rebuilt and a new starter put on along with the tie rod and have since had these problems. sorry for the long post but its my best description.

 

think i am confusing the tie rod with the ball joint. it is whatever is made of rubber and has the grease zert on top. this is very loose on the passenger side.

 

Neither of those (tie rod or ball joint) should have any clunk or play. They should feel snug tight - you can rotate them, but they will not move around with the push of a finger.

Dave

 

ok so i think i narrowed it down to a bad ball joint, but does anyone have any ideas about the oil leak? whatever sits above the passneger cv joint on the pulley system is what has oil all over it. i cant see it from looking down in the engine bay, but when the wheel is off there is oil all over everything and coming from this area.

 

Check the bolts on your valve cover, or maybe the gasket is bad.

 

The P/S pump is above the passenger CV axle and could be leaking at either the inlet or outlet hose. To fix mine I replaced the two copper washers on the outlet banjo bolt, replaced the o-ring on the inlet fitting (19mm x 2mm, I think) and tightened the clamp on the inlet hose.

 

Can you take a picture of the oil leak and post it.

 

The oil leak is probably an oil pressure sender unit that needs replacement. They cost peanuts and are easy to install.

 

dont think its the power steering pump because it is motor oil for sure and not power steering fluid. might take a picture if needed but will try first by this post info. thanks

 

The oil pressure sensor is another good suggestion.

Fact is that air blows by that area when the car is moving, causing any leaks to spread all over the place. It can be hard pinpointing it. You could try wiping it all down very carefully and then idling the car for a while, rev the engine, etc to try and cause the leak to reappear. (I don't know if that will work - it's just an idea).

Dave

 

I also have an oil leak in the same spot. I had to fix the P/S leak first to see it. I wiped everything down and then let the car idle while raised. It looks like the oil is seeping from the corner of the upper (aluminum) part of the oil pan between it and the engine block, next to the P/S pump. The oil pressure sending unit may be contributing also, but there is definitely oil dripping from above it. I think removing and re-sealing the oil pan-to-block seal is the next step.