G'day,

I spend some hours over the past couple days exploring the forums but could not find a relevant answer.

I have a TR 91/Nov 2.6EFI Auto-transmission Magna sedan with 207,000kms on the odometer. When I turn at low speeds there is a strange singular knocking noise coming from the engine bay, that is it's not 'knock knock knock' but a random single knock that may happen 1-3 times (sometimes never) when turning the steering wheel fully . I think the left CV is dieing as it makes a mild patterned grinding/rattling noise turning right at full lock at a certain speed (~30kph and above) but doubt this is the cause of it. This CV is strange since its not the classic loud 'click click' I've heard in other cars. I had the boot on that same outer CV replaced when I bought the car two years ago (got a feeling the used car yard mechanic did not grease the CV properly) and about three months ago replaced the steering boots.

This knocking noise seems to be easiest to reproduce when the ground level is changing/raising as I turn the wheel whilst moving slowly and seems to be more frequent when turning right. With the engine off and the car grounded, when I turn the steering wheel back and forth quickly there is a knocking noise coming from (as far I can tell) the area where the steering boots are; feels like as if it were gears that are worn and tapping as the teeth are so far apart. When the steering boots were replaced I was told there was no need to grease up the exposed parts before installing the dust boots and that to only clean them. When I raise the left wheel and giggle the steering arm to the boots I hear a more mild knock and feel a small shockwave coming down the arm. The tie-rod end on that same arm was replaced the same time as the steering boots so I doubt this is the cause as it has no play on it anyway. Is there any part inside the steering boot that maybe worn and able to be replaced to resolve this?

Also when cruising uphill at 40-70kph there is a sporatic and random kind of pinging noise coming from the engine that I hear bouncing off surrounding cars and objects and usually only happens when accelerating or cruising up the slightest slope. Assuming it to be detonation, I filled it up with shell optimax but made no difference. This sound is not always there and it's pretty unpredictable. Timing chain I suppose? Although the engine is pretty smooth and quiet (especially for an old astron) when idling and apart from the fuel injectors ticking (with my ear near them) I don't hear a rattling timing chain. The lifters were replaced about 8 months ago too so helps ruling that out as a potential source of this anomoly. I appreciate any feedback.

P.S. Excellent website :clap:, how do you donate to the webmaster/owner?

Thanks,
Rauli
ICQ UIN 29122404
MSN ID rauli_kumpulainen@hotmail.com
Yahoo ID rauli_tech@yahoo.com.au

I wonder if maybe the dying CV is loading up the worn steering rack under certain conditions and causing it to make the noise.

I'm just groping in the dark here. I'd be jacking her up and checking everything for play first.

Sorry I cant be more help. Come on you guys, I know plenty of you are more experienced with this sorta thing than ol' RWD me, show us yur stuff. :D

Perhaps, I appreciate you replying anyway. I just went for a drive to try work out the cornering knock/clunk noise. At low speeds going around the ends of no through roads I hear a "CLUNK CLUNK" if I turn right or left and full lock and it quite clearly sounds like it comes from the right side wheel. The clunk clunk under these conditions is easy to reproduce, appears to be repetitive and not singular although if i dont go full lock i can still get clunks (when turning and accelerating but its unpredictable) which are loud as I hear it bounce of the houses I'm driving past. Its not a click click like the sound my mitsu colt made when the CV died but a lower pitch clunk, like banging metal or something, maybe it is because its a larger CV joint compared to the colts? When i raised one wheel at time with a jack and rotated the wheels forward and and backwards there is a small knock but sounds like it comes from the auto tranny and not the CV or wheel bearing and the wheels spin freely anyway also there does not appear to be any freeplay. The left side rattle I failed to reproduce but i may have mistaken it for the right side clunk when the windows were up. I dunno :nuts:, bloody front wheel drives.

Thanks,
Rauli

although not completely sure, it still sounds like its a fault of the cv's. Under more stress due to fwd drivetrain. With gearbox i don't think it'd be it unless fluid levels drop due to cornering and at greater than slow pace. Does the clunks increase with engine or road speed?

sorry cant be more help but i havent had to fix cv's on my bad boy yet.

It sounds a bit like the CV's to me but I'm no FWD pro either.

Sounds can get transfered along the shaft to the emptier chamber of the trannie making it harder to pinpoint.

I must say I'm a little dissapointed that some of the WA boys didnt pipe up to offer a hand. They're always big on the cruises and the like, I would have thought somebody would have at least given a mechanic reccomendation or offered to have a look. Strange.

Where are you guys :)

I am not certain of that, I will try tomorrow and report back. I know the wheels need an alignment and have excess toe in. I appreciate your time and input. I tried to follow haynes manual instructions on testing ball joints. the right side appears to wobble back and forth more than my amateur mechanic mind would expect. both ball joints are starting to get tears in their boots and the left side looks really squashed down and its hard to get to the nut below it.

Thanks,
Rauli

Before you do any major mechanical work just check your powersteering fluild, make sure its full and make sure its clean... If its dirty it can clog lines momentarily til pressure builds up and it pops making a slight random knocking noise. So if thats your problem it would be a lot cheaper then anything else.

Could be a loose lower control arm bush. My old TP did it and afer replacing all the front bushes,
everything was good again.

The clunk noise is independant of engine speed but not load increase since as I accelerate with steering wheel at full lock turning right or left going in circles around the end of a no through road, the chance of the clunk noise happening increases. It is sporatic and almost never happens when the engine is cold so I guess the grease in the CV gets thinner running hot and reduces protection allowing the clunk in the worn CV to appear? But yeah the lack of repetitiveness in this clunk noise does suggest ball joints or as Vlad suggested the arm bush.

Thanks for the input,
Rauli :uzi: :rofleek:

Oh yeah and power steering fluid is fine Dpack_1, I flushed it some months ago but the clunk existed before that. I put some Proma metal based lubricant (MBL) in there aswell and the power steering pump whine at full lock has vanished and steering is light as a feather. No air in there aswell if the instructions for testing this in the Haynes and Gregory manuals are correct. But all options must be investigated so thanks for pointing that out. :shifty:

Just as a note, never keep the steering in the locked position for any length of time. This will stuff
the pump up. Always turn till it locks and release a few degrees.