knock from left front when turning, any ideas?

Nightwish · Post by **Nightwish** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:53 pm

heya guys,..
ive had this persistent knock from the left front wheel ever since i bought my fto (1997 gpx manual)...

basically,.. if i am full locked to the right,.. when i start to turn the wheel back to centre, after about a quarter of a turn, there is a slight resistance feel in the steering, and then a single solid dull knock sound,.. and a feeling of release and the wheel turns freely again,..
ive had so many guys look at this problem, and they all pointed to my work steering rack,.. so yesterday i had my leaking steering hoses all replaced, the rack boots, etc, all fixed up,.. got new brake disks and pads too
big bux gone,..

and lo and behold,.. the problem is still there,.. it wasnt at first when i got the car back,... but after 100 km's of driving, the knock is back to where it started,..

it seems to be a persistent gremlin, but any ideas on where to look or what part could cause such a knocking feel would be real helpful.

thanx in advance...

rock_it · Post by **rock_it** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 9:55 pm

I had a knock like that in my Sonata.. Thought it was a CV boot, but turned out to be the wheel bearings...

Nightwish · Post by **Nightwish** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 10:01 pm

wheel bearings.. sounds reasonable...

i did suggest to my mechanic that maybe the CV's needed a checking over,.. but he refused to do it because he didnt believe it to be the problem,...

i will mention the wheel bearing idea to him, see what he thinks.

im still a bit of a noob when it comes to understanding CV's and wheel bearings,.. can you give me a quick run down on where and what they are/do? (if u dont mind)

rock_it · Post by **rock_it** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 10:06 pm

Kind of a newb to it all too ... Was never that far into the technical side of those things...

Will leave it for someone here to give you an accurate description ... Rather then my less educated rambling...

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 10:40 pm

Its your strut top mount,
Needs to be replaced,
I bet the knocking almost sounds like a spring relieves itself
You can get a new one from Mitsu, as its same with Lancer, or you might get something bit more fency, Cusco/Tein adjustable top mounts

Max Ungun

Nightwish · Post by **Nightwish** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:02 pm

thanx for that,.. the top mount..
will look into it..
and yes you are spot on,.. it does feel like a spring release

another question (not sure if i should post this as new topic yet),..
but in the first 20 degrees of turning my steering wheel left and right, it feels like it shudders (like driving over a rumble strip)... and i have noticed that when i turn the wheel any direction from centre,.. there is a 'click' noise from somewhere down behind the dash,..

also,.. when i accelerate, the car will pull massively to the left, and the steering wheel will turn to the left too, with no help from me,..

any ideas on that one? or have a bought a demon possessed car...

RallyMad · Post by **RallyMad** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:31 pm

I'd have to think that all sounds like your strut mounts.

On the CV, wheel bearing stuff.

Your CV's are on the drive shafts coming out of your gear box. There are two on each shaft, one near the gearbox and another near your front wheels. They are covered in plastic dust guards and are greased. They are sort of a big knuckle (probably a bad example but I can't think of the right term). These are so that your can still get power to the wheels while you have the wheel turned.

The wheel bearings are in the center of the hub assembly. In the middle of your wheels.

Storm · Post by **Storm** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:15 pm

This is starting to sound familiar.

I to had a really loud knock and when I jacked the car up I could actually wiggle the spring about so I greased up the bearing in the top mount and all play went away. But not the clicking noise. I changed the springs, shocks and topmounts and the noise is still there

I changed all the bushes but its still there.

Mines is most noticeable when I either accelerate or brake hard. It's almost as if something moves back when I floor it and forward again when I hit the anchors. But, if I'm reversing out of the driveway and turning at the same time it does it as well

I actually feel the click with my left foot down near the middle of the bulkhead but I'm buggered if I can find out what it is yet.

Summer holidays soon so the subframe and engine cradle are comming off to be checked and refurbed. Fingers crossed I will find out what is making the noise then.

Post by **aza013** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:25 pm

Storm wrote:This is starting to sound familiar.

Mines is most noticeable when I either accelerate or brake hard. It's almost as if something moves back when I floor it and forward again when I hit the anchors. But, if I'm reversing out of the driveway and turning at the same time it does it as well

I actually feel the click with my left foot down near the middle of the bulkhead but I'm buggered if I can find out what it is yet.

have you had a look at your engin mounts just a thourt

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:12 pm

aza013 wrote:
Storm wrote:This is starting to sound familiar.

Mines is most noticeable when I either accelerate or brake hard. It's almost as if something moves back when I floor it and forward again when I hit the anchors. But, if I'm reversing out of the driveway and turning at the same time it does it as well

I actually feel the click with my left foot down near the middle of the bulkhead but I'm buggered if I can find out what it is yet.
have you had a look at your engin mounts just a thourt

I second that,
Most likely it is the 2nd engine mount on your crossmember, close to firewall.
You can check this out easily.
Only 4 bolts connect crossmember to to the chassis, Then you need to undo bolts in the mounts. 2 of them in total.
So total of 6 bolts, it will get bit tricky to access, the rest is easy

No need to support the engine, although suggested.
Put a block of wood under the sump and flash raise it with a bottle/garage jack.

Storm · Post by **Storm** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 12:06 am

Thanks guys, the mount is the prime suspect at the moment as the car is vibrating more and more at idle as well. It feels okay but I haven't had it off yet (ooeer Mrs

) to get a proper check.

Will let you know when I manage it.

Bill

Nightwish · Post by **Nightwish** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 3:31 am

I also suffer from a very pronounced clicking/banging when i slam the breaks down,.. say im doing 100 kmph, and i slam the brakes,.. the ABS engages, and as the car slows, every second there is a god-awful click/bang that feels like im driving over a brick each time....

was rather unexpected i must say, and a bit disconcerting

had no idea what would be causing it though

i also suffer from another strange phenomenon,..
my car will drive straight until you push the accelerator. when you accelerate the wheels just want to pull to the left.. the car just darts left instantly,.. the steering wheel turns left to (my hands off the wheel),..
no one can seem to figure out why this might be.