Hi,

I have a simple question that I am clueless to and am a little afraid to ask because I don't know who bad it is. When I take a left turn, and really turn the wheel like when I'm going for a parking space, there is a terrible noise going on in the front left area of my car. I'm guessing the axle but I'm clueless especially compared to you subie gods. I wouldn't know what to search for. It sounds like high tension cables being plucked or just a sharp crunching noise. I avoid turning the wheel that far at all costs now. What should I do?

 

Hi,

I have a simple question that I am clueless to and am a little afraid to ask because I don't know who bad it is. When I take a left turn, and really turn the wheel like when I'm going for a parking space, there is a terrible noise going on in the front left area of my car. I'm guessing the axle but I'm clueless especially compared to you subie gods. I wouldn't know what to search for. It sounds like high tension cables being plucked or just a sharp crunching noise. I avoid turning the wheel that far at all costs now. What should I do?

 

It's not that simple of a question. W/out knowing your year & model, I'd say the front axle/steering is shot. CV joint or joints shot. Very likley you will need to replace the whole rack & pinion unit.

 

That's just a w.a.g., of course. But I recently had similar.

Sorry, its an 88 gl. If what you said is bad, is it safe to drive on it at all right now? I have a 10 mile drive to work and it seems fine except for those tight left turns which I can avoid. I just dropped $800 into for the clutch. AHHH.

 

Sorry, its an 88 gl. If what you said is bad, is it safe to drive on it at all right now? I have a 10 mile drive to work and it seems fine except for those tight left turns which I can avoid. I just dropped $800 into for the clutch. AHHH.

 

 

I couldn't say if it's safe or not. Yours sounds much worse than mine, going by the noise you describe. You wouldn't want your steering or any component of it to break on you while you're driving. I'd say, pay a good mechanic to put it up on a rack & take a look.

Sounds like a wheel bearing or CV Joint to me - Take the tire off, and check for play in the wheel with the handbrake OFF.

Yep - typical front axle CV joint failure. Look for torn boots - that's a sure sign. You can get remanufactured axles for about $65 each. I don't know how much installation runs at most shops since I always do them myself but I can easily change both in about an hour if everything goes right. I usually charge $100 for doing both front's since things don't always go according to plan and I like to take my time, inspect, clean and adjust as I go - lube up the caliper slides, anti-seize bolts, etc.

 

As for being scared - they could fail tomorrow or last 25,000 miles that way. Depends on too many factors to guess over the internet.

 

GD

Mine have sounded like a fist hitting a bag of potato chips for a year now. I got one new (1 yr old now) mwe axle and one junkyard oem axle. Same prob. Only at the right (correct) angle turn I get "the noise" from either one. Its been a year and I have three extras and I'll do the exchange myself. One in the car at all times. It scares passengers! My boots are perfect though, with new grease.

 

The boots are like ten bucks and a jy axle $18, remaned mwe or noname $150+/-(and mine sucks, I thought it was the other one, but, NOOOOO! Its both!), dealer $220+/- but new.

Hey GD, I want $65 axles. Where? They rape you up here. Looked into distys lately?

Edited April 11, 201015 yr by Yo'J
typo

Thanks for the comments. I'm going to run it as is until I can get it checked out. I'll just take it easy until then. Thanks for taking the time to make comments. I wish I could contribute somehow. I'll probably keep asking questions without having any answers for you guys. Hope that's not a problem.

Thanks for the comments. I'm going to run it as is until I can get it checked out. I'll just take it easy until then. Thanks for taking the time to make comments. I wish I could contribute somehow. I'll probably keep asking questions without having any answers for you guys. Hope that's not a problem.

 

Don't worry, as long as you are diligent and search, everybody on here is

usually pretty cool.

 

And I agree with the prognosis everyone has been giving, sounds like a CV axle

going kaput.

Only other thing I could really think of would be wheel bearing, but those

usually make noise no matter what.

 

Twitch

bad cv. just be careful with accelerating on left turns, becuse that is when it is going to break.

 

it wont make you crash. if the axle breaks, you can engage the 4wd to gt the car off the road. be careful, though, a broken axle can pop apart and tear up the caliper mount. if the axle does break, its easy enough to remove the inner side and roll on 4wd until you get a replacement

???? was that noise there before the clutch job? If not then I would talk to that mechanic to see if he/she has any suggestions. Does sound like an cv joint as others have said, but why just after a clutch job? Good luck with it...G

Hey GD' date=' I want $65 axles. Where? They rape you up here. Looked into distys lately?[/quote']

 

There is definitely a wide variety of prices out there. I get EMPI axles from Discount Import Parts - a local chain (two locations ) that specializes in imports and especially VW's - so they have the hookup for EMPI parts. They are brand new and the build quality seems decent.

 

For distributors - I have them rebuilt by Philbin in Portland. You can send it to them and have it done. They can recurve mechanical advances and rebuild vacuum pots, etc. Typically the price to rebuild is somewhere between $75 and $150.

 

GD

Edited April 12, 201015 yr by GeneralDisorder