My Subaru Is Making Noise When I Turn!

[.17HMR]

Quick rant: Not a big deal. That's the first thing I learned about these vehicles. -All the clicks, clacks, ticks, slaps, knocks, etc... that's all normal on a Subaru


05 LGT 5EAT
130xxx

Vehicle is making a "clinking" noise when I turn the steering wheel left. Actually, it does it when I turn right too, but not as much. -I mean, as far as loudness goes.

It's a "clinking" noise. Sounds like metal to me. Definately not the scraping of a rock in the brakes. It also has a melody. Every revolution gives 1.5-2 clinks lol. They're small clinks, but not like a huge CLINK CLINK CLINK CLINK like the sound when you go up a rollercoaster....


Umm, it's gets LOUDER when there's body roll. Actually, the first time I heard this when I was drifting in the snow. More body roll = louder the clink.




CV Joint CV joint.

How do I check these? I know nothing about them lol. I do know there are inner & outer CV joints. The boots looked fine? Those green things, towards the center (inner joint?), yeah I can wiggle those if that makes a difference? I assume there's suppose to be give in them though.




I don't see anything leaking out of them either. Who am I kidding though. The whole bottom of my vehicle is caked with oil from god knows where lol


Wheel bearing? Meh, I only one that's been replaced & that's my front passenger. I remember that going out. Driving it sounded like "whol whol whol whol whol whol" ...not so much of a "clink" noise.



Kinna neat. Subaru has their own language. -Consists of Clinks, clanks, ticks, flutters, etc.

[Dookie]

Sounds like a CV joint. Does the sound come from one side or both sides? The only way to check is to pull the whole axle off, tear off the boot, pop the inner and outer ring clips. Pull the joint apart, and check for wear on the inside and the metal bearings.

[.17HMR]

Originally Posted by Dookie

Sounds like a CV joint. Does the sound come from one side or both sides? The only way to check is to pull the whole axle off, tear off the boot, pop the inner and outer ring clips. Pull the joint apart, and check for wear on the inside and the metal bearings.

Just the left side.

I got a guy comin over in an hour & we guna rip it all apart. I'll letchya know.

[Dookie]

Good luck, it's going to be a greasy job. If you're careful, you could still reuse the boots, you'll just have to buy new boot clamps. Don't forget to have CV Joint grease on hand, you'll need to repack it if you're going to reuse it.

[.17HMR]

Originally Posted by Dookie

Good luck, it's going to be a greasy job. If you're careful, you could still reuse the boots, you'll just have to buy new boot clamps. Don't forget to have CV Joint grease on hand, you'll need to repack it if you're going to reuse it.

Well...

Thought I lost my Subaru wheel nut lock release, but I found it.

Took the wheel off.

Un-bolted the brake capilar. My pads are beyond shot & one of them was in there fvcked up. -It was worn uneven.

Couldn't get the rotor off...at all no matter how many times I smacked it with the rubber hammer.


So idk. The boots looked fine. however, my right side boot (inner, the one towards the center of the engine) was sloppy & was leaking out one end. -EVEN though the hose clamp or w/e you call those metal clamps was still on.

[.17HMR]

I'm near positive it's the right outboard CV that's fvcked.

Turn left, weight transfers to right, puts a load on CV & makes it go CLINK CLINK.

Makes sense. Damn Good sense.





"I know a guy" so I'll be giving him a call tomarrow. I'm still guna have to wait a 18 months, 3 days, & 6 hrs to get my parts though. I'd rather not drive 4+ hrs to the near dealer, -fvck ghey

lol

Yeah this sucks haha

[.17HMR]

Originally Posted by Dookie

Good luck, it's going to be a greasy job. If you're careful, you could still reuse the boots, you'll just have to buy new boot clamps. Don't forget to have CV Joint grease on hand, you'll need to repack it if you're going to reuse it.

I don't understand what the the heck's wrong anyways.

There's just no lubricant (grease) inside the boot? That's what's making the CLINK CLINK noise?

really?

I checked the tutorial on .com & same thing. His boot just ripped, so all he did was buy a new boot & some CV grease & put it back together?

Well what happens if your bearings are fvcked?




idk what happened in the first place anyways. My clamps are still in tact & yet it's still leaking out of that one side. Lol dumb.

[Dookie]

There's 3 roller bearings inside the housing (CV Joint). Each bearing fits into their own sleeve inside the housing. If the housing becomes worn down, the bearings will slip out of the it's sleeve causing the clunking sound. The only fix is to replace the axle.

If the boot is torn or lack of grease inside would cause debri to enter the housing and mess up the roller bearings.

You don't need to take the rotors off to pull the axles out. If you have a stuck rotor, you need to get the "Jaws" pullers. I usually have to use pullers to pop off rotors from time to time. Hammering doesn't always work.

[.17HMR]

Originally Posted by Dookie

There's 3 roller bearings inside the housing (CV Joint). Each bearing fits into their own sleeve inside the housing. If the housing becomes worn down, the bearings will slip out of the it's sleeve causing the clunking sound. The only fix is to replace the axle.

If the boot is torn or lack of grease inside would cause debri to enter the housing and mess up the roller bearings.

You don't need to take the rotors off to pull the axles out. If you have a stuck rotor, you need to get the "Jaws" pullers. I usually have to use pullers to pop off rotors from time to time. Hammering doesn't always work.

Who was the guy who created the "how to replace/rebuild your CV" on .com? If that's the case, he failed.

He only explained how to replace the boot & re-lube it.

[Dookie]

It's really not that hard to take the axle off, or repack the joint with grease and new boot. Here's the basic:


Removing the Axle:
1) With the car on the ground, break the center axle nut. This is the hardest part and it may required a long cheater bar over the breaker bar. Tip: Center nut has a crimp in it, try to bend the crimp part out as far as possible, makes it easier to break the nut.
2) Raise the car, take wheel off.
3) Unbolt the ball joint under the rotor and seperate the rotor from the control arm.
4) Take off the center nut and pull the rotor out and to the side while pulling the axle out. This takes a little practice to get it to slide out right. You may have to use a mallet to get it moving through the rotor.
3) Use a big flat head screwdriver or small crowbar and seperate the "inner" CV Joint from the tranny. You want to place the screwdriver/crowbar where the CV housing butts up to the tranny. It will pop out, there's only a snap ring locking it in.


Removing the CV Joints:
1) Remove the clamps securing the boots on. Slide the boot toward the middle of the axle, exposing the greasy housing.
2) Right on the very inside of the CV Housing is a large retaining ring. A small flat head screwdriver will pop this out.
3) Slide the axle out from the housing. *** The roller bearings will more than likely fall off as soon as the end of the axle is pulled out. Have towels underneath to prevent any damage.
4) If you need to remove replace a boot, then the bearing shafts needs to be removed. There's a small retaining ring at the end of the axle, remove the ring and side the shafts off. Remove old boot, and slide the new boot to the middle of the axle. Boot must be on the axle before reinstalling the CV Joint. Otherwise, you'll have to start all over again.


Clean all the parts, but don't use any cleaners! Just wipe them off with paper towels. Inspect the roller bearings for any damage, look and feel inside the housing for cracks or warn areas.

Reinstall process:
1) Pack the housing with grease (1/2 way), place the bearings on the shafts and slide it back into the housing. Making sure the bearings stay on the shafts when inserting.
2) Press it in all the way, and fill the rest of the housing with grease.
3) Slide the boot back on (boot must be on the axle to do this).
4) Put new clamps on the boot, a special tool maybe needed to strap these clamps down and tight. (any auto part store will have them)
5) Reinstall everything else in reverse order.


You can pay me later.

[.17HMR]

Take it apart, & inspect it.

If it's fvcked up, it's trash. If it's fine, regrease it & put back together.


I'll try it out. Idk what I'm lookin at though as far as whether it's good or not. -I'm not that dumb, I just don't wanna die if I fvck up lol.

You skype?

[Dookie]

No I don't.

Here's a pic of what our axles & cv joint looks like.





This is a pic of a different type of CV Joint housing, but what you will be looking for is groves or wear marks inside, along with the rollers.

[Dookie]

You can also do this before taking it apart, may save you time in determining if it is the CV Joint.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66rd30DSoh0

[.17HMR]

Rusty nut: 1, Screw driver: 0

So I try at it again, ...& it breaks off ...again.



Required a little magnetic pull.



& after it was out, I realized I spliced the tip of the rusty ole' nut. This normal? Lol, I'll remember to grab a more dull flat head next time.



Finally! & as it was coming off, I began thinking to myself where in the world am I going to get another ...after destroying it haha



This! After about 25 revolutions w/ the wrench, I realized I wasn't going anywhere lol. Ended up using a 5 allen wrench -but that seemed to wiggle a lil too much. A 5.5 wouldn't fit either. & my god, talk about sucking. This probably took me a solid 25 min (don't ask) to move a nut 1.5"

Floppin' round on the concrete like a crappie, & man did my shoulders burn



Jacked it up, & slid the thing out.





Ball joint nut.

This is where I failed. I couldn't get the damn thing off & wasn't about to strip anything out.

What I learned: Don't bother unless you have an impact, especially w/ a vehicle that has 130k miles underneath it's body lmfao



Oh yeah, decided to do brake boost today. Bad idea. Sounded like my car was falling apart underneath me. CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK haha

Beats me on the 150 or so foot lbs of torque for the axle nut. I ended up using one of those fancy bars & tightened it down real good.

Oh yeah, I kind of fvcked up the bottom of car while jacking it up. There's not enough room for a jack stand & a floor jack. It kills me everytime I hear that "crackling" sound when I jack the car up. Yikes. There a better way?

[Dookie]

Damn that sucks. Looks like you have some rust going on. Spray the crap out of it with PB Blaster and let is set for a while. It should loosen it up.

Once you get the ball joint off and pound the axle through the hub, it should be down hill from there.

[.17HMR]

Originally Posted by Dookie

Damn that sucks. Looks like you have some rust going on. Spray the crap out of it with PB Blaster and let is set for a while. It should loosen it up.

Once you get the ball joint off and pound the axle through the hub, it should be down hill from there.

Minnesota weather

Can't wait to move south!

lol, it's always a battle. -whatever I do.

[.17HMR]

The tutorials on .com are great, but quite a few of us don't live in fairytale land. -Meaning 80 degree weather all year round, no snow, no salt, etc...

This is what happens when your car has spent the last 100k miles 30 miles from the Canadian border:




I finally did get that bolt out. As it was coming out, I could see the threads fall.

Take a closer look. About 60% way up on the left side, you can see an indent. ...this is not only threads missing, but part of the bolt.



I made an attempt to pry (w/ pry bar) the ball joint off, but lmfao that thing is rusted in one place & it's not moving.


What's that piece called where the bolt goes through? Like when the bolt gets tightened down, the piece "clamps" together. Yeah there's no "clamping" action. That thing is rusted & not going to move.

I put that bolt back in & lmfao, it slid 90% the way through before it hit any threads. It's basically on there for looks.



I'm not sure what to do at this point.

Drill it out, put some new threads in there with a larger bolt?

Drill it out, put some new threads in there with a longer bolt & get a nut on the opposing end?

Regardless, whatever that piece is where the bolt goes through, it's not going to "clamp" or "come together" to hold the ball joint in.


That whole vehicle should sit in the shop for months & each part should be sand blasted.


Even if it goes into a "shop" ...what are they going to do? They are guna end up pryin the ball joint out & I GURANTEE something will break. Then it's one big cat & mouse game of replacing parts. ...replacing this part, so I can replace this part & so on & so....

[Dookie]

Yeah, it' time to move south. After 7 years, I have very little to no rust on my car.

They make a special tool for removing stuck ball joints (besides the typical ball joint seperator), forgot what's it called and I'll post it once I find it again. Some auto part stores will lend it out.

As for the bolt, I would just find a longer bolt with the same thread pattern and use a nut on the other side. A lot easier to do than just drilling it out.

[Dookie]

Here's the tool. Sears sells it for less than $20.



This is how it looks.

[TSi+WRX]

Something interesting....

Originally Posted by Bolosh (LERSOC.com)

Machinist's Workshop magazine actually tested penetrants for break out torque on rusted nuts. Significant results! They arranged a subjective test of all the popular penetrants with the control being the torque required to remove the nut from a "scientifically rusted" environment."

Type of penetrating oil ..... Average load

None ................................ 516 pounds

WD-40 .............................. 238 pounds

PB Blaster ...........................214 pounds

Liquid Wrench ..................... 127 pounds

Kano Kroil ........................... 106 pounds

ATF-Acetone mix.................. 53 pounds

The ATF-Acetone mix was a "home brew" mix of 50 - 50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone.