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Posted by: SirAndy Mar 31 2004, 11:08 PM

don't you hate it when ...
you barely make it to the shop with your car while you're afraid it's going to fall apart on the way only to get there and then, when they (the friendly shop employees) look at it, ALL of the really loud and weird and scary noises are GONE and of course the car now handles PERFECT (unlike during the drive TO the shop). the squeeking is gone too as is the "loose" feeling in the front suspension that made you sweat like a pig while you were on the freeway, in the right lane doing 45 wondering if you will make it in one piece to the above mentioned shop.



and just to clarify (hi brad ), no, i'm NOT taking drugs.
in fact, i had a witness with me in the car!

WTF is wrong with my car?

btw, on a slightly related note, anyone wants a aluminum crossmember that's already notched for a 23mm brake-MC ???
cheap!

Andy

Posted by: campbellcj Mar 31 2004, 11:19 PM

You're not alone.

I had a very irritating squeek/jingle sound on my daily driver for over 18 months. It bugged me but was not really enough to bring the car into the shop for by itself. So each time I'd be in there for a regular (oil change) service or whatnot, I'd report it.

Every time they either couldn't find any probs, making me feel like I was having acid flashbacks or something, or they claimed they "fixed" it but it was still there...

Fortunately last week they actually found and fixed the problem, a broken metal bracket that was rattling around, I'm sure hidden behind many layers of shrouding and emisisons gizmos.

Posted by: nebreitling Mar 31 2004, 11:26 PM

we really are a obsessive about these cars, aren't we?

i'm not going to be able to SLEEP tonight because of a new little rattling-rumbling noise i hear only on deceleration in 2nd and 3rd gear at around 2400 rpm.

voodoo

i feel your pain

Posted by: SirAndy Mar 31 2004, 11:30 PM

no, it was actually LOUD.
in your face LOUD and SCARY all the way down to the shop ...

i stopped on the way and looked everywhere, couldn't see anything obvious wrong.
did the suspension test, you know, pressing down on the fenders,
and it made LOUD and SCARY noises from somewhere down there.

soooo then i get to the shop and NADA, nothing, ZILCH, zero and NIL ...


i need another Cuba Libre!
Andy

Posted by: Mueller Mar 31 2004, 11:44 PM

maybe a tire picked up a piece of tar or something that stuck to the tire throwing off the balance bad enough to cause those problems.....offending part fell off resulting in a "normal" ride ????

Posted by: SirAndy Mar 31 2004, 11:50 PM

posibility, but it wasn't continous, more like, when you hit a bump or something and the sounds was definately "metallic" in nature.
plus, that wouldn't explain why it made lotsa noise when i did the suspension test (while parked) ...

i need to get to the bottom of this (literally) ...
Andy

Posted by: Brad Roberts Apr 1 2004, 02:45 AM

The biggest issue I face everyday at the shop is being able to duplicate the problem that somebody presents me with. Try figuring out a fuel starvation issue when it only happens in a high speed left right when on the brakes... ??

It very well could be that your rack is going to fail soon.

I cant believe how much the steering rack on the aluminum cross member flexes. I knew they flexed but that was just STUPID.


B

Posted by: Chris914n6 Apr 1 2004, 02:55 AM

You might be right... it will take alot of force to move the bottom of the strut in the housing. If it's loose it would clank and change your angles. Ball joint is my second guess.

I could be wrong, it's close to that time of day

Chris

PS. My to do list is almost as long. I might have to write another story for WCC. "28 days plus 2, part 2" (Brad knows, others may remember

Posted by: Brad Roberts Apr 1 2004, 02:59 AM

We replaced his ball joints a few weeks back when he complained of a weird feeling in the handling. They where toast. So far his Carrera complete front suspension for 800$ has given him more HELL than anything else on the car.


B

Posted by: wheelo Apr 1 2004, 03:35 AM

Sir Andy,

Does sound like ball joints, I have heard similar with shocks and preload springs. My fiance's Santa Fe is a 2002 and when I do the "fender" test ..... oh the wierd sounds I changed the ball joints on a 1970 El Camino I once owned for the same.

Good Luck & Stay Cool

You'll get -her- fixed.

Wheelo

Posted by: Steve Thacker Apr 1 2004, 06:45 AM

The pain in the ass leak under the sink, always stops once the plummer shows up.

Posted by: SirAndy Apr 1 2004, 02:05 PM

sooo, the drive home from the shop yesterday was fine, no noises to speak of.

then, i get in the car this morning and drive into the city to work.
all is gud ...

i get to southpark and have to circle the block for like 15 minutes to find parking and as soon as i start driving slow, the

NOISE IS BACK



on every little bump in the road. feels like it's coming from the center front of the car.

hmmm, maybe the steering rack IS going bad?
Andy

PS: ball joints are brand-spankin-new. 3 weeks old ...

Posted by: garyh Apr 1 2004, 04:22 PM

Way simple. Your car is afraid of Brad, and it's not afraid of you.

That should be pretty easy to fix.

G.





Brad: Get back to work! Quit messing on the computer and get a wrench in your hand!

Posted by: airsix Apr 1 2004, 05:26 PM

Andy,
Check that the shock top nuts are tight. Not the nut on the end of the rod - I mean the collar on the top of the strut tube (under the dust cover) that holds the insert in the strut. These can come loose and the shock will bang around inside the strut.

-Ben M.

Posted by: Chris914n6 Apr 2 2004, 05:46 PM

Granted P-car parts are not CheapAutoZone parts but I did have the alignment guy find I needed to replace a 1 week old lower joint on the truck. Easy enough to do but the time loss sucked.

Maybe a steering ball joint? I don't see the rack developing problems from a driveway engineering standpoint.

Chris

Posted by: dinomium Apr 2 2004, 06:20 PM

From the WTF is that guy thinking:
Tie rod ends? If you haven't changed them to the turbos, you could tear the rubber at the steering rod end... or a rust or stripped torsion bar end??
I may not have green hair, but I have GBH albums in the basement!!

Posted by: jonwatts Apr 2 2004, 06:44 PM

Yeah Andy, report back. Did you find anything wrong or has your medication stabilized?

Posted by: SirAndy Apr 2 2004, 07:57 PM

nope, no update, still noisy ...




and i have GBH in the stereo
city baby, city baby, city baby, attacked by rats

Andy

Posted by: dinomium Apr 3 2004, 10:00 AM

Woo Hoo! I like "I can speed my car down the road! I dont follow any hiway codes!..." Diplomatic Immunity!!
Sorry to hear that the noise is still there. My wife said to try using a sprig of Sage to drive away the bad spirts to me once for simular evil humors!
Good Luck man.

Posted by: rhodyguy Apr 3 2004, 11:08 AM

andy, is your spare tire secure? the combo of the unwelded hole (unwelded piece layed in) from the ac and my spare made the car sound like the whole front end was going to fall out.

kevin

Posted by: jones Apr 3 2004, 11:11 AM

I had some wicked bad noises from my front end @ various speeds. A couple of times the crunch and wheel wobble were so bad I pulled over to clean my soiled self.
Turned out to be, again, the strut coller was holding on by a couple of threads. Tightened it down and have not pooped again while driveing.
Still seem to piss myself quite often though.

Posted by: SirAndy Apr 3 2004, 02:14 PM

spare tire? checked ...

yupp, same with our without spare tire ...
Andy

Posted by: SirAndy Apr 3 2004, 02:15 PM

hmmm

Posted by: McMark Apr 3 2004, 02:37 PM

Luckily the shock collar isn't a huge deal to inspect.