911LeeN

...so I was driving the other day and at lower speeds on a local street I noticed a persistent but random clicking from the driver side wheel well (I felt and heard it underneath me and seemingly close to underneath the dead pedal). At first I thought it was something caught in the wheel well, so I went to go inspect when I got home. The only thing I noticed was the rubber connection from the control arm to the link behind the rotor looked a wee bit torn (see pics), but wasn't sure that this could cause the clicking, which felt like a steel-on-steel "dunk" when rolling. Anybody think that could be the culprit or something else? It occurred during turns and straight lines alike, but again, only noticeable at lower speeds.

Thoughts appreciated!

l4rryc

The clicking I came home with recently in my BMW was the double-stacked wheel weights hitting the brake calipers. I had just bought tires and won't be using that tire shop again.

redlightrich

Hello, persistent but random? The first step in a process of elimination would be to identify the pattern. What conditions make it occur?

Is it in time with a wheel rolling? Are you certain that it is from the front ( sometimes noises can carry, and sound as if from a different area)

If you can nail down the conditions that create the sound, then post that and we can better help you.

By the way, although the ball joint can do that, the boot didn't look awful. I am not convinced that the noise is from that joint.

Good luck

Rich

bcameron59

Does it happen when driving straight ahead, or when steering wheel is turned?

911LeeN

Thanks guys. The conditions as best I can describe them is as follows: low speeds, feel it towards my left foot, hear a "thunk" sound, straight or turning wheel I can hear/feel it, I can feel it a little bit on the steering wheel when I turn though (so perhaps it is on turns? Or a residual effect from the root cause), the frequency appears random, and sometimes I can't even hear or feel it, which leads me to believe it is terrain dependent and something to do with suspension, perhaps....?

Thanks for reading!

bcameron59

Have you recently changed wheels, or had wheel balancing done? If so, my guess is some kind of interference with the air deflector on the front control arm.

If not, might be CV joint if mainly noticeable when cornering.

mgianzero

"Thunking" noises have often been used to describe the drive shaft mechanism - more specifically the CV joints. They can also be more terrain dependent as the joints change their load with a changing terrain more so than a level tarmac. I am not saying this is definitely your problem, but Redlightrich and bcameron59 ask some informative questions. A CV joint is typically loaded when the you are turning to the opposite side - a bad left CV joint will tend to make more noise with a right turn and vice versa. So listening and associating this sound with steering (both with the amount and speed of your turning) can give you more insight.

911LeeN

Thanks for the info! So if it is the CV joint gone bad, would I still hear/feel it as if coming from the front wheel well? I'll check out the joints nonetheless.

bcameron59

Outboard CV's connect to the wheel hubs, pretty much in the wheel wells.

911LeeN

sorry for my ignorance, but I thought the cv joints attached perpendicularly off the hubs in the rear? Would that then still produce a -- I suppose in this case a false -- front wheel well "thunking" feeling/sound?

bcameron59

C4 has cv joints in the front
C2 does not
Not sure what you have

911LeeN

Thanks Brian. I should've been clearer -- I do not have a c4, so no CVs in the front it seems.

I did some research and some suggest that it could be the inner part of the tie rod. Not sure if this squares with what I described. I should also add that this only occurred after maybe about 35 minutes of driving in sunny/80 degree weather (sorry East coasters!). So what I read was that the inner ball joint of the tie rod gets really dry, tight and creaky in warmer temps. I have no independent basis or knowledge to corroborate that though.

AOW162435

Nail / bolt in tire? Worn wheel bearing? How many miles do you have?



Andreas

Coop

+1 on the wheel bearing.

NYC993

Just to eliminate, check the brake caliper shield (the big round metal piece by the rotor). When it ages, the paint peels off and starts hitting the rotor. Although that produces less of a clunk and more of a rubbing noise at slow speeds.