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92 Loyale "Clunking" on acceleration


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Hello everyone, I am new here. First post.

 

Well i bought a 1992 loyale a few months ago, had tho TOD and leaking water pump, fixed those problems.... It had a clunking or clicking noise coming from the right front... so i thought it was a bad cv joint. I replaced it and the noise went away for a few hundred miles... hmm so i got another cv joint and same noise ! It is gradually getting worse. Used to just do it turning right, now it does it when accelerating.. What could it be ?

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yes, i checked the tie rod ends, they are bad and need replaced, i am thinking the wheel bearing is bad. The noise is more of a rotational noise, like what the cv joints sound like when they are going bad. Maybe the transmission..The noise is mostly when i accelerate hard, or turn right. (transaxle) ? When i wiggle the upper cv axle, it has a little play in it. I was also told that the engine mounts may be loose... I think i will start by pulling the wheel bearing out and checking it over and re-greasing it. It is a tough noise to diagnose, and hard to explain a noise to someone.. lol. I tried rocking the wheel back and forth.. no noise.. no looseness.. bouncing it up and down.. no noise.. hmm.. ??

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I'm not familiar with the Loyale suspension, but the Legacy and Impreza have a large grease filled bushing at the rear of the control arms that will clunk when acceleration/braking and when turning if the bushing splits and all the grease leaks out.

 

A wheel bearing will generally not make a clunking noise unless it's in really bad shape. It would have been obvious if it was bad.

 

Inner cv axle joints can clunk, but it's not common. I'd almost bet on it being a bad replacement axle though. What brand did you get?

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It was a remanufactured autozone cv axle. They told me that they would not warranty it since it was the second one i got. If i get another one i am not going back there ! The noise goes clunk clunk clunk clunk clunk then goes away. Maybe when i pull it off again i will take it apart and check to see if there is any damage, also plan on replacing the tie rod ends, and i will check to see if it has that bushing you are talking about. I love my soobie and the interior and body are in great... almost perfect shape for a 92.

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go to another autozone. i have never had that problem. it must be the counter jerk. they CONSTANTLY have junk rump roast axles. I mean half of them are bad. I would demand my money and my core back if they deny the warranty. get the manager. throw a s#!t fit about it and go buy one from oreilly if you have it or parts plus car quest. autozone and advance are about the same junk. I have warranteed 4 axles or more from oreilly's. that is why it is a LIFETIME warranty.

 

I can see if they deny the warranty because your car is lifted 4" and eats axles every week because your subframe isn't dropped lol but over 1 bad axle. screw that employee. complain to the manager, if it was the manager, complain to the area/district manager. that's horses#!t :mad: sorry for the rant. I just HATE autozone both corporate and the idiots they hire. not many real parts people will work for them... they all work at napa and oreilly.

 

p.s. don't disassemble the axle. they won't take it back.

 

the last axle I warranteed clunked like you say, right out of the box. alot of those "rebuilt" axles will be "within spec" on the inner because it hardly ever fails. the outer just about always gets replaced. but rarely do they replace the hard parts on the inners. they just clean and inspect and regrease/reboot. I went through 4 axles one day for a civic. too long, too short, clunking and finally a good one.

Edited by Ricearu
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Yeah... i was pretty irratated when they said they were going to flag my account.. I really hate autozone now... the only reason i went there is because they just built one right by my house. Maybe i will go back and throw a fit, i am pretty sure it is their crappy part. I will surely not buy anything from them again. I also had a ignition control module tested there for my Ford, they said it was bad... and it wasn't !

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aftermarket axles are notorious for going bad, being bad, and having all sorts of issues. i'd suspect your "new" axle is bad and wouldn't be surprised if the next one was bad too.

 

the only way to avoid this and have %100 success rate with axles is to get a subaru axle and reboot it (the cheapest solution usually) or get an axle from MWE - he knows how to properly rebuild them. $75-$100 and shipping back and forth to Colorado to deal with.

 

your tie rods are bad? that's really strange, Subaru tie rods don't fail very often at all. almost never for average daily driven cars that don't see any abuse (offroad, etc).

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Ok.. soo i went to another autozone here in town and i told them about what the other store had told me. They told me that they could not flag my account and had to honor the warranty. They checked my account.. no flag and said to bring it in and they would give me a new (remanufactured one) They also told me that if my ball joints, tie rod ends, or alignment, or motor mounts were bad, that would destroy the cv axle... but this one i got started clunking almost immediately. My ball joints seals are blown so i will replace them. The seals on the tie rods look good but are easily moved by hand.. should i replace them ? Another thing.. if something else is destroying the cv axle, how come the driver side cv is fine ? I have some pics but i can't post them here. So i guess i will be starting to work on this tomorrow after school (College).

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What? I thought clunking noises on a subaru is normal... lol

 

I have cheap cv's on my car with no problems yet. Definitely better then the old worn ou ones I had on it before. My car is lifted 2" so the drivelines are at kind of crazy angles and they still dont make too much noise. Now other suspension components make noise in my car, Its definitely worth crawling under there to look for worn out bushings or rubber mounts to replace. It would sure help your car drive nicer. Good luck!

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Yes.. i am working on it right now, replacing the passenger cv axle..the ball joint seals are worn out, so i am going to replace them today, the tie rod ends are in good shape, a little loose when i wiggle them, the stabilizer bushings could probably be replaced also, i was wondering about the engine mounts... how do i know if they are bad ? i was just looking at hem and they seem ok.. is there some way to test them ? Also yhe TOD (tick of death) came back, i was using 5w 30 oil in it. Should i use thicker oil in it. I have been running sea foam in it, it quiets it down untill it leaks out..lol

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Ok.. soo i went to another autozone here in town and i told them about what the other store had told me. They told me that they could not flag my account and had to honor the warranty. They checked my account.. no flag and said to bring it in and they would give me a new (remanufactured one) They also told me that if my ball joints, tie rod ends, or alignment, or motor mounts were bad, that would destroy the cv axle... but this one i got started clunking almost immediately. My ball joints seals are blown so i will replace them. The seals on the tie rods look good but are easily moved by hand.. should i replace them ? Another thing.. if something else is destroying the cv axle, how come the driver side cv is fine ? I have some pics but i can't post them here. So i guess i will be starting to work on this tomorrow after school (College).

 

 

They don't know what they're talking about. Worn steering parts can cause the axle to go bad? Never heard about that before.

 

If the tie rods and/or ball joints have movement, it can cause a clunking on accell but should cause a rotational clunk. If the boot is torn on the ball joint and the tie rods have movement, I would replace them soon. Seen too many people with bad steering parts drive away because they'll "fix it later" and then it comes back a couple weeks later with a sheard off ball joint stud or broken tie rod end.

 

For the rotational clunk, also check the brakes. Make sure the rotor isn't warped. A warped rotor can cause the brake pads to clunk around in the bracket, even if you have no brake pulsation. Seen a new rotor out of the box cause a clunking sound like that but no pulsation. Then obviously check the bearings and axles once again.

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I think i almost got er fixed. I replaced the cv axle today again, got some MOOG ball joints.. the passenger side (old one) was ok, the driver side was really bad !! I cut open my knuckle and broke a finger gettin the darn thing off...it was stuck bad and had a 1/4 inch movment in it.... i finnaly got it back together and the test drive was soooo smooth... no shaking in the steering wheel.. no rattle.. no cluncks... still need some tie rod ends,, but they are ok for a few hundred miles...:grin:

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