Steering noise

[WTF??]

Hey peeps! My solara just started comin up with this noise... when I back out in the morning (car been sitting overnight) and turn my steering wheel to line up to the street, the more I turn, the more I hear this metal bumping noise... its a simple *bump bump* noise... and as I turn back I hear it again...

NOw hears the ish... it only happens when I go REAL slow i.e. backing out or parallel park... so it doesnt happen when I drive... its not an axle noise... nor steering wheel fluid... I checked all that...

It seems as if its coming from the driver side wheel, but when I got the car on the lift, its coming from the center front... You can basically FEEL it in the steering wheel thats its bumping... Im not sure if sumthing broken or what... too far internal for me...

anyone got ideas?

[ChrYstiE]

That's one of the weirdest things I've ever heard. I wish I could help, too bad I don't know jack about a car. Good Luck!

[BabyFaceFinster]

I had such aescription happen twice on other vehicles I had. One was the CV axle joint, and the other was a ball joint which eventuallu collapsed when I was making a slow turn on a Chevey Impala from '79.

lenny

[Mudd]

My money is on either a bad axle (or CV joint), MAYBE a wheel bearing starting to go, or a tie rod or ball joint beginning to separate. Take it in to a shop and have it looked at.

[WTF??]

From what I know of with previous incidents... with a bad axle, even when youre driving normally, a simple turn of the wheel and the noise would go crazy...

my noise only happens when I go slowly with pulling in/out of driveway... It freakin bugs me that when I brought it to the shop, the noise decides to take a break and not sound off!! So the mechanic cant tell what the heck the noise is
That ish alwayz happens!

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

wheel bearing (Sp??) guessing???

[cdssolara]

Just based on your description, my guess would be a bad CV joint. Have you looked at the boots around them to see if they're torn? I would be more sure if you said you could hear this sound when you're going forward, but you said it's only in reverse, right?

[WTF??]

Just based on your description, my guess would be a bad CV joint. Have you looked at the boots around them to see if they're torn? I would be more sure if you said you could hear this sound when you're going forward, but you said it's only in reverse, right?

No I havent checked if the boots were torn... I already had one mechanic look at it under a lift, but he didnt mention anything about the boot... they did look closely at both front wheels

It also happens when I go forward slowly and turn sumtimes

I notice it happens when the car hasnt been driven for a few hours... weird!! has a mind of its own Im telling you!!!

[cdssolara]

It's amazing what mechanics will miss sometimes. I had a similar problem to what you're describing about a year ago. I would hear a slight clicking from the right front suspension whenever I would start the car up from a stop, or when I'd hit the brakes at slow speed. I'd also hear it when I turned my wheels all the way to the left. I had 3 or 4 different shops look at it, and nobody could figure it out. They thought it could have been anything from strut mounts (which I replaced, but didn't fix the problem) to CV joints to engine mounts. It finally turned out to be a loose bolt on the lower strut. I only figured it out after the bolt fell out and the wheel became unstable. It seems like that would have been an easy thing to figure out, but everyone missed it. All I can recommend for you is to have more people look at it. Good luck.

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

About two years ago, i heard funny noises from my front right wheel (on my celica)...i drove straigh to a shop deal with...they looked at me and laughed....was told that someone tried to steal my rims and all the bolts were loose minus the lock! Up until that point, i was sure it was my boots! oh well..live and lean.....

[WTF??]

It finally turned out to be a loose bolt on the lower strut. I only figured it out after the bolt fell out and the wheel became unstable.

I do have Tokicos and Eibachs on so that may be the case? Kind of reminds me of the popping noise richt had when he put on his coilovers...

thanks for the input guys!

[adam2562]

my car does that occasionally ... a guy i work with said that its the steering column bushing... i plan on getting it replaced

[DavPak]

my car does that occasionally ... a guy i work with said that its the steering column bushing... i plan on getting it replaced

he's right, but just lubricate it, don't need to replace it.

very common on our cars, also very common on gen 5 camry's.