Clicking noise...

[Weston]

So now I suddenly have a loud clicking noise coming from the front left... Obviously, I'm thinking it's a bad CV joint, but I'm not sure if the symptoms completely match: it just started tonight and quickly became worse, it's a loud clicking at all times (not just when turning; sounds somewhat like a bicycle with a card in the spokes), it is directly related to the wheel speed (not affected by revving the engine in neutral or braking), it doesn't do it when I'm on the throttle, and it doesn't do it when I spin the wheel while the car is jacked up (I suppose that's because the angle on the CV joint is different). Is there anything that this could be other than a bad CV joint?

[ryanman]

Wheel bearing going out???? Will most likely only make the noise when alot of pressure is on it.

[Weston]

Zero slop in the wheel bearing. :\

[Skaterkid]

Maybe you've got a brake line hitting someting?

[Weston]

Brake lines and everything else appears to be fine... CV boots look fine, no grease on them, etc. I just jacked up the suspension so the angles on the CV joints are about what they are when the car is on the ground, but I still couldn't get it to click as I turned the wheel by hand. No luck when I turned the steering wheel all the way either. Both rear wheels are fine and spin freely with no abnormal noises.

[Skaterkid]

Only other thing I could think of is maybe you've got a caliper hitting a spoke slightly. Though looking at your symptoms, its highly unlikely.

[Weston]

Yeah, I thought it was something in the brake at first too, but didn't find anything. I'm guessing that something in the axle/CV is messed up and it just managed to stay contained rather than spewing crap out, but I really don't know...

[rmcdaniels]

Pull back the boot and look. I've had the grease in mine dry up or leak out, causing the bearings to click. All I had to do was squeeze some more CV grease into it and re-band the boot, just took a few minutes. Ideally you would pull it, wash off the dried grease residue, and put fresh grease in it, but I've done it the right way and the quick way with the same results.

[Weston-work]

Pull back the boot and look. I've had the grease in mine dry up or leak out, causing the bearings to click. All I had to do was squeeze some more CV grease into it and re-band the boot, just took a few minutes. Ideally you would pull it, wash off the dried grease residue, and put fresh grease in it, but I've done it the right way and the quick way with the same results.

Thanks for the info. I hope that's what it is... I have to pull the axles out soon anyway since I fubar'ed the clutch...

[Mark_H]

Do you have those "dust covers" or whatever their called behind your front rotors? (I'm talking about the flimsy sheetmetal type things, hopefully that makes sense)
I've had those things rub and make some metal on metal rubbing noises. I just kinda tapped on 'em and the noise went away for some odd reason.
M

[wild.irish]

just make sure you tell us what it was, Weston! i have no ideas, but i'm dying of curiosity ;)

[maz087]

i had the same problem, im guessing you ripped a boot or its gotta be the cv joint. mine never made a noise when i was turning but it would always click and clatter just coasting in a straight line.

[myshtern]

Only other thing I could think of is maybe you've got a caliper hitting a spoke slightly. Though looking at your symptoms, its highly unlikely.
I thought that at first too, but it would still make the noise at throttle.

[Weston]

Nope, no heat shields behind the brakes... pulled those off a while ago, which then melted the ABS wire insulation and lower ball joint's boot (I'll guess I'll stop procrastinating on making some mini-heat shields for those parts).

Anyway, I was bored tonight and finally got around to pulling the axles off... can't see anything wrong. No rips in the CV boots, and no slop in it when I grab each end and try to twist. They do have 125k miles, 14 road course events, countless autocrosses, and plenty of other abuse on them, but I can't find anything wrong with them. I'm scratching my head here... What do I check to see if they are good or not? And if I were to pull one of the boots off, how do I put it back on? I'm asking because of the little metal dealie that holds it on there. I'd rather not use the redneck hose clamp method...

[rmcdaniels]

They should be mostly full of nasty black grease, if the grease has dried up it gets clumpy. I buy packets of CV grease from Advance or Pep Boys. NAPA sells a banding tool, or you may be able to borrow it from Autozone:

http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/in_our_stores/loan_a_tool/wheel_axle/boot_clamp_tool.jsp

The bands cost a couple bucks each, and its definitely worth it to do it right, I've done it half ass and had it leak before.

Edit - When the grease gets clumpy, the bearings bind a bit and make a clicking noise, instead of sliding smoothly/silently. I've had this happen on two sets of axles.

[Weston]

Well, I think I found the problem... the wheel bearing is pretty badly trashed all of the sudden. It seemed to be perfectly fine when the axle was in place, but I pulled the knuckle off of the car to replace the ball joint and now it's pretty easy to notice that the wheel bearing is toast. It acts normal when I spin the hub, but if I push on it as I spin it, I get the metal scraping noise that I was hearing when I last drove the car. Hopefully my spare knuckle is good... (wheel bearing seems to be a little stiff)