Loud Popping/Clunking noise when Steering

[380]

I have a 1997 Chevy cavalier. when ever i apply the brakes i hear a loud clunk or pop sound coming from my car. i think its coming from the passenger side. it only does it when i apply firm pressure on the pedal such as coming to a stop at red a light or stop sign. If i just tap the brakes to slow down a little it doesn’t do it. any ideas on what this could be.

Topic

[380]

Update: my struts have arrived. i have two Monroe ecno-matic strut assemblies. ill be doing the repair sometime this weekend. will i need to replace the lower mounting hardware (bolts, nuts, etc) or will the old ones do just fine? the new struts came with new mounting hardware for top but the bottom needs to purchased separately.

Thanks

[dreamer2355]

I really like to use new hardware particularly if the old hardware is rusted. That’s my preference anyhow.

I would just inspect the old hardware after you have removed it. If you feel its still adequate to do its job, then just clean the hardware up and you will be good to go.

Don’t forget to torque all your bolts and fasteners down to specifications C8-)

[380]

Update: i put the new struts on and new outer tie rod ends. the steering is very smooth but it still pops. i can turn it left and right very smoothly until it pops and then its smooth after that. i think im going to have to do inner tie rods i didn’t have the cash to do them this time. but at least i can now officially rule out my strut bushings and my tie rod ends as the source of the noise.

[EricTheCarGuy]

You can inspect the inner tie rods as shown in this video, if you don’t see any play in them it’s not likely they are bad in fact they are pretty low on my list of suspects in your case, I’d be looking at the upper strut mounts as well as the PS rack and it’s mounts since the issue seems to happen when you steer. You may need a ‘friend’ to steer the wheel while you look and listen for the noise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scFbb43fwqk

[380]

there was play in the tie rod prior to me replacing it. but when i went to remove my tie rod end i was able to do it by hand. it turns out that the jam nut was not jammed up against the end. when i put the new ones on i made sure to jam the nuts on both sides. the whole strut is brand new including the bushings so we can rule out bushing for the most part. unless Monroe sent me a faulty unit. so it has to be either inner tie rods or PS rack. i pretty sure the rattling was being caused by the loose jam nut. but popping noise has to be inner tie rod, PS rack, clock spring, or wheel bearings. but my moneys on inner tie rods or PS rack

Lets recap Brand new Struts assemblies (ie strut, spring, bushing, upper mounting hardware, etc) brand new outer tie rod ends, new oil pressure sending unit, new pressure hoses on the PS rack, and transmission flush) these are all the repairs done to the car in the last 3 months. in regards to the PS rack the pressure lines were leaking so i had them replaced. my mechanic who is usually really good at spotting problems never mentioned seeing a problem with rack while he was replacing the lines or during the test drive. he did notice the struts and rattling. and said my struts were blown which i already new.

i will have to recheck everything again when i get a chance and if it seems to be the PS rack then ill take it back to mechanic and have him thoroughly check the rack.

Thanks

[EricTheCarGuy]

You really can’t ‘see’ a bad PS rack so I wouldn’t be too hard on your mechanic. To be honest I would just replace the rack if it’s leaking and you find problems with the inner tie rod as a new PS rack assembly comes with new inner tie rods already installed so you might consider that but spend some time to figure out where the noise is actually coming from first before you waste any money on it.

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