audi49

I have what i would consider a strange problem.
Owned my car for about 10 months now. Occasionally during the first few months of ownership and just today again I occasionally feel (more than hear) a knocking-like, rubbing-like, clunking-like behavior from the front end. It can be felt through all 3 pedals. Doesn't seem to be correlated to braking or turning. It comes and goes. Feels like something is loose, but i've checked everything that I can think of. It's not a vibration, it's not repetitive, but just kind of there and annoyingly unsettling.
A shop 'adjusted' the front bearings several months ago. I've done the engine mounts, and stabilizer bar bushings.
Most strange is that it went away for about 4 months, and all of a sudden showed up today again. (I drive it probably 1/wk on average). Any ideas!? Thanks.

mytrplseven

I had a similar issue that turned out to be a binding shock absorber. Push down on each corner of the car and check for rebound. On mine, only one side would move. When I drove over a dip into the driveway it sounded like a loose wheel.

Tiger03447

You DID check/re tighten the lug nuts, right?

951Dreams

+1 BTDT, had a tire repaired at the local big box store. Had something like you described (but constant) all the way to work. Discovered they hadn't tightened the lugs... at all.

Never trust someone else's work (nor you own sometimes)

audi49

yes - this was the first thing I verified.

This noise is just strange to me. 2 days ago on my drive home it was doing this the whole drive home (7 miles). Today it is not doing it at all. Same weather, same roads, same driver... It'll probably go away for days or weeks and then be back.
I too am thinking that it's the struts. When I push down on them I get a very rough, mechanical feel and sound.

bonus12

Have you suspected you A/C compressor? Could be something odd like that.

audi49

Well... my AC isn't working so i never turn it on. Thanks anyway.

Tiger03447

Could be the strut mounts and strut bearings..If you push down on one corner really hard and then let go of it, does it rebound multiple times or just go up to the original position and stop? If it does the latter, the strut is probably OK and the mount might need to be replaced...cheaper than doing the whole thing...How old is your car? Are the mounts original? If the strut mounts are VERY badly worn, the car will suddenly dart in one direction or another..and can skip lanes if they are REALLY slopped out. It will be difficult to drive it and keep it in a straight line. If you let go of the wheel at speed, does the car drift to one side or another? Sounds like it might be time for an alignment tech to check over the front end. Hope this might help some.

odonnell

+1 to checking strut mounts. I had clunking and the 22mm nut in the middle was so loose on both sides that I could undo them by hand (!)

Jfrahm

What about the clutch rubber center? What sort of car is it? Do you know the state of the clutch?

audi49

I'm going to check the strut top nut tightness.
Clutch rubber center... thought about that too. But would that be so intermittent & be felt through the pedals?
Car is an '88 and only has 64k miles on it.
(Thanks for all of the input!)