98 camry aprox 160,000 miles





It has developped a front end clunk when turning the wheel in either direction. The worst seems to come from the front left. the right does it slightly. It will do this when the car is not moving as well as moving. It was first notice pulling in and out of parking spaces. It is not a repetative clicking so I don't suspect teh CV joint. Would a cv joint make a clunk/thunk when the car is not moving?



the steering rack, struts and tie rod ends ar fairly new so I don't suspect those either. I'm leaning towards the lower ball joints or the control arm bushings. I was under the car last night nad noticed the ball joints looked very low on grease so I filled them up. I think the noise has decrease but since it's not my daily driver I need to Mrs to take it for a spin to be sure. That's why I'm leaning towards the ball joints thinking the grease made a difference but that they are too far gone for the grease to make it go away completely. Although it may be my mind making it sound better since I want it to be pinpointed so I know where to go from here.


Does anyone have any guesses or suggestion on what to look for when I can get under the car again? I haven't looked at the control arm bushings because I didn't think of them till doing some research this morning.


Supposedly the left side has been doing it for a while. Oh if only I was told when it started:rolleyes:

Thanks

It could be a few things:

1. bad strut rod or loose/worn strut mount which is shifting.
2. Steering rack is slightly loose in its mounts.

Since you say the rack is fairly new, I'm suspecting it's #2 above. The mech may not have torqued the mounts enough on the new rack. I just saw this 1 month ago. All it takes is a 1/2 mm slip in the mount to cause this clunk you hear. You can access that bolt from the driver side wheel well after removing the splash shield I think. You have to reach in a bit with a long rachet or one with a pipe extension, but it is definitely doable. As well, you will want to torque the other side too.

I have my doubts it's ball joints, especially since this is ocurring at very low speeds, standstill and turns.

dave mc

Thanks.

I actually checked the rack mount bolts whle under the car last night thinking the same thing and they were pretty damn tight. I couldn't budge them any tighter. I'l check again with longer rachet and/or one with an extension.

And by fairly new I'd say it was replaced about 10 months ago

Also wouldn't th estrut mount make the sound when going over bumps? Becasue the sound does not happen over bumps of any size at any speed.

Aren't the strut rods in the rear?

Hurl

I'm talking about the strut cartridge itself when I refer to rod.

If you can duplicate the sound while sitting parked just by turning the wheel, you may be able to get under there and look for it while someone else turns the wheel. Try elevating one side of the front end and see if you can reproduce it. If you can't, you can attempt the following. The following procedure I am about to describe is rather risky and if you decide to do it, do so at your own risk. Take extra precautions and ensure your safety.

To do it, you will need to elevate at least 1 front wheel on some cinder blocks or something and cover yourself with a jack placed on the same side but just shy of contacting the car. You may even want to place a large wooden block that is slightly less height than the cinder blocks under there two to increase safety. The idea here is to keep both front tires on the ground so that the front end is loaded. Have someone in the car to turn the steering wheel, and have someone spotting the cinder blocks and support jack to make sure the car is not about to slip off the support.

dave mc

I'm talking about the strut cartridge itself when I refer to rod.


Ahhhh got it.


If you can duplicate the sound while sitting parked just by turning the wheel, you may be able to get under there and look for it while someone else turns the wheel.

I can get the sound by just turning the wheel so that is my next plan of action. Hopefully I can get under there tonight. Otherwise it sits till Friday night.

Thanks very much for the help. I'll post what I find once I get under there.

Could be shot ball joints but doubt it very much so. These cars aren't known for ball joints going bad.

Well it was a loose bolt on the steering rack. Davemac2 you were right on. Thanks for the tips.

glad you found it. Those can be a real pain to find. It took me 3 months to find one on my wife's camry.

dave mc