Car making "clanking" noises when I turn

Al_wat

Yeah so this started to happen this week.

I drive a '92 Buick Riviera. When I made right hand turns, I notice kind of a "clank" or "knock" when I turn. I can feel it and hear it, passengers who ride with me have noticed it as well.

Its not like a huge CLANK, sort of a subtle "knock". Today while driving I noticed it tends to happen with right hand turns. If I make a sharper turn it seems to be more pronounced.

Anyone know what would cause this? I'm hoping it isnt serious or too costly.

Erandus

CV Joint, almost certainly.

I used to have a car that developed the exact same thing. Its the joint in the bendy part of your front axle. Usually the rubber bootie that covers the joint splits and the grease that it's full of slowly spills out and the bearings in the joint start to grind. It is not immediately fatal to your car, but it's not something you want to leave for a long time.

Its not exactly cheap to have someone fix it for you. Its not exactly easy to fix yourself, depending on your level of skill.

AtomBomb

I'm guessing you'll have to get the CV joint replaced, like Erandus said. You might also have to get the half axle replaced, along with the 3 other boots on the front axles, since they're probably in pretty bad shape. My wife came into our marriage with a Geo Storm (terrible fucking car) with the same issues. We just lived with it until we traded it in on some shady car lot.

Erandus

Its hard to say how much he actually will or won't have to replace.

Al_wat, if you listen closely while turning, you should be able to hear/feel which side of your car it's coming from. If you can pin it down to one side or the other, crawl under the front, and look for the little black booties as shown in the pics on the page I linked.

If you flex them and look for grease or splits, you should be able to see which are ruptured. Hopefully it's only 1 boot, and you just get that joint repaired, but just to get you by, if money is an issue.

AtomBomb is correct, though.. If one CV joint has split like this, the others are probably getting close to that state. I believe the joints can be re-lubed and re-booted if they're still in good shape, but the one that has split will have to be replaced.

Hawkstone

Erandus wrote: »

Its hard to say how much he actually will or won't have to replace.

Al_wat, if you listen closely while turning, you should be able to hear/feel which side of your car it's coming from. If you can pin it down to one side or the other, crawl under the front, and look for the little black booties as shown in the pics on the page I linked.

If you flex them and look for grease or splits, you should be able to see which are ruptured. Hopefully it's only 1 boot, and you just get that joint repaired, but just to get you by, if money is an issue.

AtomBomb is correct, though.. If one CV joint has split like this, the others are probably getting close to that state. I believe the joints can be re-lubed and re-booted if they're still in good shape, but the one that has split will have to be replaced.

also if you wait way to long it can do further damage to the rack and pinion stearing, so the sooner the better.

Al_wat

The sound was coming from the right-ish side in the front.

I just went and took a look, I didn't really notice any damage but I am by no means an expert. I actually just (2 days ago) had the oil changed in my car, and all the fluids topped up. I figure if there was blatant damage like that they should have noticed it?

Erandus

Probably not, but depends on the service department. Some people can't wait to go over your car and find all the things you should pay them to fix, some people are just there to change your oil and couldn't care less.

I guess the one question I should have lead with is:

Is this a single knock that you hear, or does it pop several times as you go through the turn?

Finally, the bearings can certainly go bad even if the boots aren't ruptured, especially on a 16 year old car. A split boot would have been a dead giveaway though.

Al_wat

Single knock.

I should note that until I got the car about 2 years ago, it was my grandpa's car and he took excellent care of it. I swear the car never went over 100 KPH during the time he had it, and he took it for.. I would say, too many service calls

Like in 14 years he put about 100,000 km on it.

Course then I got it, and I do not care for it as much as he did.

hoodie13

Hey look at that, I was just about to make a thread on this exact same issue!

What happens if it keeps making those knocks as I turn, instead of the one knock like OP?

FunkyWaltDogg

Repeated knocks is still probably the CV joint.

Erandus

A single knock can still be the CV joint, unless it sounds more like it's coming from your steering column. If you're hearing it come from the general vicinity of your right front tire, I'm not sure what else would only make knocks when you turn.

@hoodie13: multiple knocking noises is almost certainly CV. Examine the booties for damage.

Al_wat

Erandus wrote: »

A single knock can still be the CV joint, unless it sounds more like it's coming from your steering column. If you're hearing it come from the general vicinity of your right front tire, I'm not sure what else would only make knocks when you turn.

@hoodie13: multiple knocking noises is almost certainly CV. Examine the booties for damage.

Truthfully its a little hard for me to say with absolute certainty that its coming from the right tire area.

Its coming from the right-ish side of the front of my car. Happens when I make right turns. One "knock".

I'm gonna run to the grocery store, I'll make more observations on the way.

Lord Yod

One knock could be a problem with the steering linkage, like a worn out bushing or something. This is certainly something to get checked out at the very least.

t Hoodie: Multiple knocks or a clicking noise is almost certainly a bad CV joint and is a priority replacement. This is one of those things that can be considered 'catastrophic' if it fails.

Al_wat

Yeah based on the observations I made during my last drive, I dont think its coming from the direct vicinity of the wheel itself.

During this trip I only heard a knock once during a right hand turn, actually felt a somewhat weaker knock during left turns also. I'm gonna say that the sound/feeling is coming from around the center of the engine area. The confusion in thinking this was to the right was cause well... the middle of the car is to the right of me.

I'm gonna continue to observe it more. Its not happening during every turn, just now and then.

powahslave

Man, I had this exact same problem a month or two ago, and it turned out to be the CV joint(s).

PirateJon

Check the lugnuts first and foremost.

hoodie13

Hm. I could fix it now I suppose, but I'm getting a new car in about two or three weeks anyways. Eh, if it dies it dies.

LewieP's Mummy

Wheel bearings.