knocking noise??

Topic: knocking noise?? (Read 3840 times) previous topic - next topic

knocking noise??

May 03, 2005, 01:38:27 PM

guy's (and gals), every time i go to stop, or go over a good bump (rail tracks)or even a good dip in the road where yor car goes up pretty good and then on the down stroke there is a knocking noise coming from the front, mainly driver side.when you stop you can actually feel it on the floor board. broken spring?? needs bushings?? ball joints maybe?? sway bar bushings are new. any advice would be greatful, and thanks

Re: knocking noise??

Reply #1 – May 03, 2005, 02:05:14 PM

humm.........and while your not moving?????? hummm

inspect.............
shifter linkage down low in the knook of the driver side firewall for broken or missing bushings

torque engine and see if the motor mounts are flopping

inspect the wheel well plastic skirting to see if its in a bind with the perimeter of the fender well (missing attaching screws)

is it aod or stick?

Re: knocking noise??

Reply #2 – May 03, 2005, 03:09:22 PM

Had a similar mystery sound in my car, turned out to be a sheared off sway bar mount. May also just be a worn out bushing, never heard broken springs make noises like that.

Re: knocking noise??

Reply #3 – May 03, 2005, 09:34:57 PM

Had a similar problem in my car as well when I first bought it. I would hit the brake to stop, I would hear a knock or clunk and it felt like something washiznitting the underside of the floorboard. The car went in to be state inspected and when I got it back, it was gone. All the mechanic told me they did was go under the car and tighten all the visible bolts. I haven't had this problem since. 50,000 miles and counting.

Re: knocking noise??

Reply #4 – May 03, 2005, 09:43:30 PM

Off-topic portion:

Quote

I'm stopped in bumper to bumper traffic and what do I hear from the truck next to me?
"Hey look at that T-bird"

It all balances out in the end. A furniture delivery person called both my T-birds Cougars a few weeks ago. :D

On-topic stuff:
I have a knock/rattle in the front end of my '86 not-Cougar, too.

So far all I've done to test it is replace the outer wheel bearings.. no change whatsoever. I really need to put more effort into it sometime soon.. like replace all the swaybar , etc.. but there's so much to do and so little $ to do it with.

Re: knocking noise??

Reply #5 – May 03, 2005, 09:57:03 PM

Quote from: Bird351

Off-topic portion:

It all balances out in the end. A furniture delivery person called both my T-birds Cougars a few weeks ago. :D

What is the problem with some peoples? :hick:

Re: knocking noise??

Reply #6 – May 03, 2005, 09:58:15 PM

No idea. He was staring right at the large bird emblems on the grilles of both cars.. the C-pillar emblems.. oh yeah, those totally look like cats to me.

Re: knocking noise??

Reply #7 – May 03, 2005, 10:01:41 PM

I don't know. The Thunderbird and Cougar look sooooo much alike.

Sorry for the highjack flipnbird. Anyone else with any input to help him out?

Re: knocking noise??

Reply #8 – May 04, 2005, 08:03:56 AM

Worn out strut mount bushings will make a loud clunk like that also. :hick:

Re: knocking noise??

Reply #9 – May 10, 2005, 09:00:44 AM

got up under the car and didn't see any loose bolts,i have new sway bar bushings, and no broken mounts. you can also here it when i am turning into my driveway, took my brother-in-law (works for jims t-birds) for a drive yesterday and as soon as he heard it he said my ball joints were gone, could this be the caulpret??? and if so how hard are they to replace?? i am pretty mechanically inclined. thanks in advance

Re: knocking noise??

Reply #10 – May 10, 2005, 10:02:28 AM

Ball joint replacement

jack up car in the center of the control arm (spring location)
slide jack stand in towards the outter part of the control arm
jack stand should be in close proximity to the ball joint but not in the way.
lower jack onto jack stand
remove wheel
remove caliper and tie up with wire to keep stress off hose
remove rotor (dust cap, cotter pin, adjustment nut,outter bearing)
the inner bearing and rotor seal will stay put
pull rotor off now
remove tie rod end (cotter pin and castle nut)
back tie rod end nut off till flush with the top threads
hammer downward to dislodge it
finish removing castle nut and lower out tie rod end slid out of the way
*notice the compression still on the big spring
*you are ok as long as the jack stand remains on the outter part of the conrol arm
remove strut bolts and lightly hammer strut out of place and swing out of the way
Pivit spindal assy outwards remove the keeper bolt
you may have to spread out the s with a flat head/hammer
lift up and remove the hub/spindal assy
use a hammer to knock straight down on the ball joint.
hammer on the ball joint stud as well as the control arm sides
eventually it will come out.

install ball joint---
relocate jack to balljoint area
*notice the lip on the ball joint where the seat is
*notice how thick your control arm metal is (hole where ball joint goes)
place balljoint up in hole
jack up your jack under the balljoint to apply some presure
your control arm will move up just slightly (about 3/4'')
inspect and make sure the balljoint is started by hand evenly around the seat
use a hammer to tap around the outter part of the control arm downwards
this will start to seat the balljoint
your control arm will lower as you do this
you may need to jack up on the ball joint a little bit more to get some tension
continue hammering around on the contol arm till you see the ball joint is seated
inspect the underside of the control arm to verify this
install spindal,strut,rotor,caliper,tierod end, ect ect and your done.

you dont need any special tools to do this.

Re: knocking noise??

Reply #11 – May 10, 2005, 10:02:34 AM

Ball joints are a possibility. Generally with a bad ball joint you'll feel a little harshness when you go over a bump or pothole that's big enough to make the noise happen. My Oldsmobile used to do it. Never got around to fixing it as about a month after it started I blew the crankshaft in that poor car. Wish I'd known more and had more cash back when I was 17. I'd STILL have that car and my other toys as well....

Re: knocking noise??

Reply #12 – May 11, 2005, 08:22:16 PM

The ball joints are eazy to change. I had a bad ball joint and i never heard any noise like that. I also had some broken springs and they never made a noise. I had a toyota supra that did just as your bird it turned out to be the sway bar end link was missing the bottom bolt that holds it to the arm. The noise was the end link slapping the A arm. Hope this helps

Re: knocking noise??

Reply #13 – May 11, 2005, 11:37:48 PM

Broken torsion bar link pin--or sway bar link--same difference--easily visually confirmed. These rust into toothpick oblivion and break after 2 years or so. I just found one along the curb (fell off someone's vehicle) while I was walking in the past months. Had the problem on my '86 Buick. Every time I went over a hard surface ---whack---a pong happened. Could possibly be a loose strut mount upper bracket also?

Re: knocking noise??

Reply #14 – May 12, 2005, 08:45:40 AM

thanks for all the replys, is there any way to visually, manually check the ball joints while up on stands, just to kinda see for sure if this is my problem?? if it is my end link would i be able to feel the klunk through the floor board? my car also wants to pull to the left since this noise has started. i am going to crawl back under and check things out again friday. thanks again