Lately I have started to get a loud clunk/pop when I turn left coming from the passenger front area. Ususally it has to be a sharp turn or a left hand turn onto a street. I 've only heard it like twice when turning right. Got all new tie rods, idler arm, shocks and springs. I did have to change the strut mount on top cause one of the studs that was pressed in came off. So I had one laying around I threw in which is totally different from the other one but works. Could it be that? Or something esle? I had an alignment done the other day. I've searched and haven't found any answers. Any help or ideas is appreciated. Thanks.

 

I would check the ball joints since you've renewed everything else. Your alignment guys should have caught any overly worn parts. Other things you might want to check is the LCA connection to the subrame, the torque for the strut top nut, spring bind and the 2 bottom bolts for the strut.

 

& check your lug nut torque. Seriously.

 

check the wheel bearing nut too.

 

When my old Starion began to make that sound, it was mostly when I was in reverse and it was the CV joints going out.

...just one more thing to check off of the list.

 

no CV's on first gens, just u-jouints. which for the most part are not affected by turning.



i would wager to guess a binding spring/strut mount causing your noise. have you tried turning the wheels lock to lock while the car is sitting still, to help isolate the noise?

 

Ok, I forgot about the ball joints. I had those replaced too. Lower control arms seem good, changed out all the bushings in the front not to long ago. I know the bolts for the bottom of the stut probably aren't the safest. Those were stripped when installing new shocks and springs so I have a bolt, lock washer, and nut instead of just the bolts on there. I should get the threads retapped soon and fix it permanently. How would I check for spring bind?

 

Thats what I was thinking to. I have tried it and it doesn't make the noise. Maybe cause of spring bind and no weight on the front they won't make noise?

 

Alright, well today I took out the strut assembly and tightened up the ball joint on the passenger right side. Put everything back to how it was and the pop/clunk is gone. Now my alignment is all jacked up and pulling to the right again though. What would cause that? I let the car down when the tires werent straight forward, would that do it? Should I do the same to the other side to see if it evens out or go to the alignment shop and try and have them align it free of charge? This is ridiculous.

 

well i can say every ball joint i've seen has had a castle nut and a cotter pin to keep in place once tightened up. if things have gotten loose, then things have worn out. i would say replace under those grounds, unless you didn't have a castle nut or had no cotter pin where things could loosen up.

 

toe or camber is off. that's what i'd think

 

The ball joint did have the castle nut and cotter pin but it was still loose. I was able to tighten up the ball joint a bit. I would think the toe or camber is off too, but I put the top strut mount right where it was before. I'm confused cause I don't get how the alignment would change when all I did was take out the shock/spring and brake hub, tighten the ball joint and put it all back together how it was in the first place.

 

A loose ball joint can affect alignment settings, back to the shop you go. The stripped threads really concern me. If those bolts pull out while driveing, it's crash time and there's little you can do about it when you lose the steering and possibly the brakes. I would get that fixed asap and before you go back for alignment.

As far as checking for spring bind, it's nearly impossible to duplicate the conditon when parked or on a lift. It's more a matter of listening for when it
happens and understanding what the noise is. Since you found the loose ball joint, that may have been your noise.

 

I have I think the exact same type of clunk when I take tight left hand turns with the steering at the max. Wasn't sure if it was the exhaust bouncing against something, a differential noise or if it was up front.

Now I have some clues to go looking for. I hope its the ball joints and not the diff. I'm already getting ready to replace the exhaust so that won't be an issue.

I agree with Sterking, get that ball joint fixed because if it blows while driving it will suck a lot.

 

If you are using nuts and bolts thru the originally-threaded holes at the bottom of the strut mount, then you have introduced the chance for both movement under stress and for misalignment.

 

mine does that, but mine is the idle arm** i think its called...it's missing a bushing so it pops evertime i make a hard turn.

 

Alright thanks Scott. Well I tried rethreading the bolt holes and it didn't work. I think I'm in the market for new strut housings or whatever the thing is lol.

 

Ya, thats how it is. I don't like driving her cause I know how dangerous it is. Thanks for the info. I'm trying to get it fixed asap. Also, how do you do multiple quotes?

 

We've all been there at some point; gotta have it goin'.

Cut-and-paste from within the "go advanced" editor.

 

Yupp haha. Thanks man

 

I'm going to try and rethread the holes again with a different size and pray it works. If not i'll most likely be in the market for 84-85 big bearing front struts as thats whats on my car I'm pretty sure.

 

Ok well got one strut housing rethreaded perfectly. Only have one more to go on passenger side and the rethread piece breaks in there. I've been trying to get it out forever now. Any help to get it out. Tried drilling, takes way to long and doing nothing.

 

If the rethread tap is made like most, it's got threaded "flukes" or blades, with valleys between them to let the removed metal chips gather up.

if you can find a pair of thin-nose needle pliers that will fit down the valleys, you may be able to back it out. Lube heavily first.

Also, if you can get a can of freeze spray, and carefully use it to cool the broken tap, you might get enough shrinkage to make it easier to pull.

Tap tools are made from some of the hardest steel you'll ever encounter; harder than most drill bits. You'd probably need a carbide bit to drill it even halfway easily.

 

Here's a better way to multi-quote. Click this button on each post you want to quote:



Then just hit 'post reply' and add your message. Some quotes below just for example.

 

That's way too easy...