Drive shaft or wheel bearing?

[drumking1721]

for the last month ive had popping in my front end. in august i had my transmission rebuilt. I went through all the TSBs and couldnt find anything. Also the car doesnt have to be in gear for the low trac light to come on when i turn the wheel.i was reading around on here about the CV shafts,and the only way they can really go bad is from a torn boot, and im pretty sure none of my boots are torn. Which makes me lead to the wheel bearing, but people are telling me when a wheel bearing goes,you don't get the popping noise. From what i can hear,i dont hear the normal grinding that you hear when the bearings go. Any help would be appreciated,thanks

[Rich]

i bet its your new mounts.

[drumking1721]

no....its more towards the bottom on the car....and it was making the noise prior to me replacing them. The noise has since gotten more abundant since going to the track this weekend...i think its the cv joint

[AaronGTR]

Wheel bearing won't make a pop. They squeel. They only grind if they are really gone and have been going for a long time. First place I'd look is upper strut mount. If those are ok and you really think it sounds like the noise is down low, I'd look at the ball joints on the end of the suspension arms. Check them for excessive movement. Might check the tie rod ends too. CV 's are the last place I'd look, but it's always possible they are the culprit.

[drumking1721]

strut mounts were installed right and all that. When i took it in for an alignment and had them check to see where the popping was coming from,they couldnt find it. He said if it was the ball joint they wouldnt have been able to complete the alignment i was told. So i cant put a fingure on what it could be...

[FunkZ]

I know this thread is 3 months old but I'm having the same exact problem and wondering if you ever had a resolution Paul?

Just got my car back from the shop, I took it in for the popping, told them it sounded like a ball joint. They took it for a road test, definitely heard what I was talking about, then checked everything, they can't figure it out either. Everything feels tight they say, definitely not a ball joint, tie rod or end link. They also checked control arm bushing and wheel hub/bearing. Suggested it might be the strut or mount, but couldn't tell for sure. I searched through other threads and that seems to be a common problem, but I hate to pay to have them replaced if it doesn't fix the issue as yours apparently didn't?

I'm wondering as well if it isn't in the CV joint? That would actually be great if it was, the car has a 6mo limited warranty and driveline components are covered while most suspension pieces aren't.

[DomesticFreak]

you know, come to think of it, I had the exact problem with my gagt when I had it. All the same problems. Nothing solved it. Wasn't the tie rods, ball joints, or strut mounts. The hub was tight, and the bearings were fine. I also put on the sway bar end links to no avail.

I would check the CV's. It's really the only thing left that could cause any kinda of problem in the front end. When you take a turn slowly, can you hear a clicking sound? If so, that's definitely a CV. If not... then I'm not really sure what could cause it. I'll tell ya though, in my old ga, it drove me nuts, until I learned to ignore it.

[bryanska]

Hmm, this thread makes me nervous.

I am about to replace my front AND rear struts & mounts.

In the front, I have a popping noise when it's cold and the car is moving. The mechanic best-guessed that it was the mounts. Supporting anecdotes on this forum only reinforce that guess.

But what if it isn't the mounts? I'd hate to go through all the trouble & expense only for the noise to stay.

Is there an easy way for me to check the ball joints and tie rods? Or can only a mechanic do that?

[FunkZ]

Jack one corner up and grab ahold of the tire at 9 and 3. Try to push on one side and pull on the other then back the other way, try to feel if there is any looseness or play in the tie rod end. Do the same at 12 and 6 to check the ball joints.

I paid attention on the ride home tonight and in addition to popping going over bumps it would also pop a bit here and there when turning slow or just steering through curves, even when there were no bumps. It is worst when cold and after driving a few miles most of it goes away.

[bryanska]

That's exactly what I have. It's gotten a bit worse each winter. Now, though, it's sounds so bad that I'm concerned about safety.

I am going to change the oil soon, so I'll test your wheel-shaking method.

If no result, then I'll ask another mechanic for a second opinion. Of he also believes it's the strut mounts, I'm going to replace them myself.

[jnugg69]

My car actually started doing something of this sort last night. When I turned right at maybe 10 to 15 mph, it made a slow loud clicking noise three or four times. It also did it once turning left. It doesn't do the noise everytime I turn however. And sitting still, it's completely quiet. That's what I find strange. Normally it would put more stress on it sitting still, especially since I park on a gravel/dirt parking spot. I tried to peek at me cv joint boots but from what I could see, I couldn't see no rips or any grease. I'm kinda scratching my head with this one.

[FunkZ]

The clicking while turning is notoriously a symptom of a bad CV joint.

The popping mine has been doing goes away completely when the temp rises above 50° - for the past few days it hasn't made any noise at all. Then this evening the temp dropped down to 40° and the familiar popping came back. When I first start driving it sounds the worst, like a bag of popcorn popping in the microwave. After driving a few miles it starts to quiet up and by the time I've gone 4 or 5 miles it disappears almost entirely. I'm still trying to figure out what joint or bearing can be that loose when cold but then heat up while driving, enough to swell and tighten up?

[jnugg69]

But wouldn't the noise still happen when you're turning sitting still?

[FunkZ]

No, only while moving. From what I understand, if it pops when you turn the wheel sitting still that's the top plate bearing.

[FunkZ]

Okay, how much in/out play is there supposed to be in the axle shaft? Yes the inner joint has some in/out play against the trans but I can grab ahold of the shaft and move it between the joints and when it hits on either end it makes a noise that sounds like this popping I've been hearing.