04 Malibu Classic - Front end click/creak/rattle
DJSteve
05-26-2008, 10:31 PM
04 Malibu Classic - 59k - 2.2L
This is my girlfriends car, which bought in February with ~54k and commutes ~90 miles a day in. I re-did the front brakes a few weeks ago because they would vibrate badly when braking on an off-ramp/etc. One rotor was turned and the other was new because the OReilly machinist didn't clamp it down well enough and gouged it beyond repair. The brakes now work great--however when driving the car a few days ago I noticed a clicking/creaking sound coming from the front end.
The noise occurs at low speed (say <35 mph) and seems to come from both front wheels regardless of steering wheel direction. It seems to correlate somewhat to going over bumps, but is more continuous than I would normally think of a suspension creak being. It's sort of a clicking/creaking sound, but I also throw "rattle" into the adjective list because of the repetitions and speed at which they occur.
My first thought was that one or more of the plastic nut/cap things that hold the hubcap onto the lug nuts came loose and were rattling, but they are all tight. I also double-checked the lugnuts that they haven't loosened up. I've seen some stuff about the strut spring seat and sway bar bushings, and tried using spray silicone on the spring seats, but as I eluded to previously I'm not convinced it's a suspension issue. I don't know where else to look, though, because it seems unlikely wheel bearings or CV joints would go out on both sides simultaneously--especially with <60k.
Any ideas? I may try to jack it up to lube the sway bar bushings and pull a wheel off to attempt further diagnosis in the morning.
This is my girlfriends car, which bought in February with ~54k and commutes ~90 miles a day in. I re-did the front brakes a few weeks ago because they would vibrate badly when braking on an off-ramp/etc. One rotor was turned and the other was new because the OReilly machinist didn't clamp it down well enough and gouged it beyond repair. The brakes now work great--however when driving the car a few days ago I noticed a clicking/creaking sound coming from the front end.
The noise occurs at low speed (say <35 mph) and seems to come from both front wheels regardless of steering wheel direction. It seems to correlate somewhat to going over bumps, but is more continuous than I would normally think of a suspension creak being. It's sort of a clicking/creaking sound, but I also throw "rattle" into the adjective list because of the repetitions and speed at which they occur.
My first thought was that one or more of the plastic nut/cap things that hold the hubcap onto the lug nuts came loose and were rattling, but they are all tight. I also double-checked the lugnuts that they haven't loosened up. I've seen some stuff about the strut spring seat and sway bar bushings, and tried using spray silicone on the spring seats, but as I eluded to previously I'm not convinced it's a suspension issue. I don't know where else to look, though, because it seems unlikely wheel bearings or CV joints would go out on both sides simultaneously--especially with <60k.
Any ideas? I may try to jack it up to lube the sway bar bushings and pull a wheel off to attempt further diagnosis in the morning.
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