I think I mentioned in my new member intro that much of what I work on are things that seem to be bi-products of me "fixing" things. Well, it appears that I have created a new opportunity for myself.

The CVs on both drive shafts were loose and floppy so I put new ones in. I measured old and new as well as compared the dimensional specs and the new ones were correct for this car. Its a pretty simple job and things came out and went back in with no issues. However -- seems like there's always a however -- now when I turn the steering wheel to either stop limit while the car is moving there is a clicking sound that correlates directly to wheel speed.

I was hoping that between the axle replacements and the motor/tranny mount replacements that I had simply changed the orientation of something enough that I was missing the R&P stops and over-turning. However -- there's that word again -- it appears that there are no mechanical stops, certainly not any that are adjustable -- and the R&P itself limits the turn radius.

There are no issues or noises in any other circumstance -- only when the steering wheel reaches the turning limit -- right where you would normally expect to hear the PS pump lug your engine down a bit.

Is anyone familiar with this symptom or have a pretty good idea what may be causing it?

Thanks in advance...

 

You used remanufactured axles didn't you? They are crap. They use worn out axles, put in a thicker grease and new boots and call them reman. If they click on turns, the CV Joints were worn past their wear limits and should not have been reused.

There are some very good new axles made in China available and they don't cost much more than the remans, only a few dollars, usually less than ten$ extra. My preference is for the EMPI brand, they have always been good to me.

Here are some alternatives for new axles. the first link does not carry EMPI for Saturns but they do carry other brand new axles, probably made in the same factory in China, who knows.

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/se...eshaft+%26+4WD)

This company is very good also and they do carry the EMPI axles.

http://www.rockauto.com/ you will need to drill down to find the axles or just type the type car in the box at the top, it saves time.

If the old axles felt loose and sloppy, they were worn past the clicking stage and were dangerous, you did right to replace them. At least when they are clicking, they usually won't actually break, "usually".

 

"If they click on turns, the CV Joints were worn past their wear limits and should not have been reused."

Thanks Keith. One clarification though. You can turn in either direction and you do not get clicking until the steering wheel hits its stop.

With that clarification, would you say the same thing about what the issue is?

 

Yes but I would not consider it quite as serious. When you hear the clicking when turning a normal corner and accelerating, then it is a problem. If you don't hear it for normal driving, then you are good to go for now.

 

BTW, I have rebooted CV joints that were clicking myself back in the old days when replacement axles weren't so cheap and they lasted for years. A little annoying but they never broke. The only axle that ever broke on me was a reman that had worn past the clicking sound, it broke 30 days after I installed it. That is something you do not want to experience when driving in the inner city.

 

No I wouldn't want to experience that. In fact, I wouldn't want to experience driving in the inner city either.

 

The R&P is a 3:1 ratio and is running to its limits and then stopping. The only thing holding the strut at the top is a thick rubber pad and 3 little bolts. The R&P would be trying to twist the struts around every time you made a hard turn – which is exactly what I think is happening by the way.

I could see the struts twist a little bit when the wheels were turned and they made a few creaking, clicking sounds – nowhere near as loud as what I’m hearing when driving in a turn – so I removed both of them.

So now I have all three components isolated. The CV axles seem pretty tight, smooth and quiet, even when turned to the extreme. The struts seem fine but I think they should not twist as much as they do at the top. The R&P, besides moving a lot further without the wheels, makes a few slight noises and I don’t know if they would be amplified if the ram tried to push the tie rod further that the strut would let it turn.

I've got a friend coming over tonight to add another pair of ears and eyes as well as some relevant personal experience. Unless he zeros in on something I'll reassemble everything and then try turning the wheels to their extreme with it still up on jack stands, the motor running, in gear, and applying a little brake. That's the best I can do to simulate when it has been happening though I won't have any weight on the wheels and turning apparatus.

 

Sounds like it could be your strut mounts. Once apart you'll see just what they are made of and how they work.

 

Thanks sw2cam. The struts are about a year old (approx 20,000 miles) and were purchased as complete assemblies. When I installed them I just reversed the old strut removal process and shoved the top three bolts through the top mounting holes and torqued three nuts to 20 ft lb and then bolted the bottom flange onto the wheel hub and torqued those very large bolts to about 100 ft lb.

Is there more to it than that?

Is the strut assembly supposed to twist a little? Not only can I see the strut twist from inside the wheel well but if I look at the top the center bolt is twisting a little bit as well.

 

Struts move with the steering and suspension. If you bought MONROE struts with MONROE strut mounts you may have found your problem. MONROE mounts are a known problem.