Hi guys

Well the missus came home tonight mentioning something about a noise from underneath the car, so I took it for a quick spin. Here's what I found

1. It's a knocking noise like the sound of someone tapping the underneath if the car with a piece of timber.

2. It seems associated with steering movement.

3. Only when turning left, does not happen turning right.

4. It's not consistent, sometimes knocks once, heard up to 3 times in a row.

5. Did happen going straight, although after a turn.

6. Can be felt through the steering as a tiny jolt.

That's all I got so far, any ideas as I'm just worried it could be unsafe?

Pretty sure it's not just going to go away :)

Cheers Pete

it could be cv joints, best way to test that I know of, come to a complete stop, turn the steering to full lock, then accelerate forward, see if the same noise happens, then do the same thing this time in the opposite lock

Will try that, so if the noise happens then it's the cv's then?

More then likely, you can still drive, but I would suggest replacing them as soon as

Just have a look under the front of the car, and have a look at the CV's.... You may see the boots have split and thrown grease everywhere..

Well, havent checked the boots yet as its still pissing down outside ....................... BUT drove 13klms to work this morning and .................... NOTHING, no bumps, knocks, anything!! What does this mean now, couldnt have gone away??

could also be the strut tops but more then likely the cvs mine have been clicking lately only on full lock only

I had similar knocking noises and it turned out to be my CV joint that had siezed up. It never make a noise in a straight line but when I turned and when I was braking under 40km's.

Take the car and do a full lock turn and see if you can hear any clicking or repeat the noise.

Otherwise it could be your bearing. Tighten the wheel nuts, jack the front of the car up, grab the tyre from the top and the bottom and try and shake it. There should be no freeplay. If there is then your bearing is probably shot.

Also grab a socket or a wrench (or a torque wrench if you want to be precise) and just tighten up the brake calliper bolts and the strut bolts to rule those being the problem as well. Check that the driveshaft has a split pin through the end and the nut is tight.

Do a good inspection under the car for any signs of grease around the driveshafts (specifically around the boots), around the control arm ball bearing, and the tie-rod ends.

I had a similar knocking noise accompanied by a jolt or "clunk" in the steering. At first, it only occurred when turning to the right and almost on full lock, then it was happening when turning left. Didn't occur at straight ahead. I initially thought it may have been caused by a worn steering rack. However, the problem did not go away when the rack was replaced.

After a few more months I replaced the front struts and the strut tops. The noise and clunking disappeared. As the struts I replaced had only done about 80K, I suspect the original strut tops were the cause.

Thanks guys, to work and back today, did some full lock stuff and nothing. Only when I was almost home did it happen twice (not even turning). I'm buggered if I know, think I need someone to have a look.

How are your engine mounts?

Will check them tomorrow mate, checked the cv boots today and they looked ok. I might have to get Mal to go over it I think.