Hi all, went for a nice (read: ****) drive to gatton and back today and when I got off the highway my car developed a light grinding noise coming from the front left wheel at low speed while braking.

Then a louder 'clunk' or 'knock' began - only 1 knock at a time and only when I started moving again after stopping behind lights/traffic.

Went for a drive a few hours later to find that the grinding noise has developed somewhat to occurring whenever I take my foot off the accelerator and it gets louder during braking.

So, wtf? any ideas?

Notes: today was pouring with rain, the drive ~1hr each way was laden with potholes and I have recently put some 18" rims on. The grinding seems to come from only the Front L wheel and the knock kind of sounds like the left side of the engine bay (engine mount? strut?)

Any help is greatly appreciated!

PS its a TL with 60k on the clock

does it make a difference if the wheel is in the straight ahead position, turned to the left or right?

i might be inclinded to think CV's actually, sounds similar i guess, but a car with that low km'age should not have cv issues.

have a look at the cv boots see if there is any signs of grease.

had the same thing with my girlfriends TL with 18's except the other side, mechanic replaced the front rotors\pads and the control arm bushes (its just ticked over 100,000) but knock still there and he seems to think its the strut starting to go as only happens every now and then

Hey guys, thanks for the quick responses. The sound seems to happen with the wheels straight and turned.

CV's look to be the problem.. below is almost exactly what i've been experiencing.

From wikipedia:
Wear in the outer joint usually shows up as vibration at certain speeds, a bit like the vibration caused by an unbalanced wheel. To determine if the joint is worn, a driver should find a big empty parking lot and drive the car slowly in tight circles, left and right. Worn joints will make a rhythmic clicking or cracking noise. Wear in the inner joints shows up as a "clunk" or "pop" when applying power or, if severe, when lifting off the throttle.

Does anyone know if this CV problem is usually so sudden? Could the rims have played a part in it (less shock absorption)?

Also, is it safe to drive on tomorrow until I can get it into a workshop on sat? And finally does anyone know how much i'm looking at for a repair....?

Thanks so much

G'day,
if there is no grease flying around it should be fine to "nana". My experience is different size wheels (particularly larger wheels) place the CV joints at a slight angle that can cause stress on parts they weren't engineered for. Re-conditioned (generally they take yours out and fit another one, yours goes off to be re-conditioned for the next person) with warranty fitted for around $200 per side, new around the $300 mark.

thanks to everyone that replied.

I did check the CV boots this morning and they appeared to be in perfect condition. Anyway, took the car to the mechanic where he checked everything that could have made the noise - pads, rotors, rack, CV's, engine mounts, struts, checked all bolts.. found nothing wrong whatsoever. Got a couple of other mechanics to check it out and had everyone scratching their heads...

Long story short, the backing plate for the rotors needed to be pushed out a bit and it was catching on something! No charge for that, but I did get a balance done on the wheels and picked the car up this arvo - no more noises!

Moral of the story, check the simplest possibilites first :cool:

Cheers guys

I wish I'd seen this thread earlier.
I was about to post up that you may all think I'm nuts and non-mechanical but I had the same SCARY noise in my old Magna wagon.
Like you, mine ended up being just a small rock in the same place.
http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46608

It makes one very scary noise though, doesn't it.


Got a phone call from the wife yesterday. (We swapped cars for the day.)
"Magna has a horrible squeak/squeal."
Get home and take the Magna for a drive - Oh my God! What a scary, horrible, wallet-emptying noise!!! :shock:
It sounded like the rear end was about to seize up and fall out!...
...After a small amount of investigation - the culprit was a very small stone, caught between the inside of the brake disc and that metal tinny plate cover/guard thing on the inside...
lol

Oh my God! What a scary, horrible, wallet-emptying noise!!!
hahaha those were my exact thoughts! lol