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General Information => Troubleshooting => Topic started by: shwak23 on December 01, 2011, 09:48:17 pm

Title: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: shwak23 on December 01, 2011, 09:48:17 pm
Normally I wouldn't ask but these forums have been dull lately so I thought i'd post my current problem. My car has a weird knocking noise coming from the front. It happens on take off *knock*. It happens while driving *knock*. But.sometimes seemingly randomly it will go *knock knock knock knock knock* It happens whether I have the clutch in or out. My front motor mount is wasted. My rear might be good... It's to dark to see. lol. Its such an odd noise though. It happens so intermittently. It seems to be getting worse.....


Car is a MKII Golf TD, it's blue with a blue interior. hint: the color probably has nothing to do with the problem....


edit: 101st post.... Neatos.
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: RadoTD on December 01, 2011, 10:22:18 pm
Sway bar bushings, control arm bushings (rear against subframe), ball joints, tie rods, motor mounts, subframe bolts, loose steering rack. Off the top of my head, those are sort of in order of likelyhood from what I've seen

Jack the car up and start tugging on things. Things on the car, that is.
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: theman53 on December 02, 2011, 04:48:32 am
If your front mount is wasted that is probably it. I had mine rip the steel backing out so that it didn't push against the rubber. It was then a straight piece like a bolt that was just going up and down inside the rubber. It made noise similar to what you are describing, especially when accel and decel.

Or it could be because it is blue...same color as my car.
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: Turftech on December 02, 2011, 06:19:58 am
Is the rad fan housing dented at the bottom?  That will be from the top of the front mount smacking it when you add power.  I wound up with some serious damage from driving with bad mounts.  It put excessive stress on the final drive bearings and also wore the CV joints rather badly.  Eventually the right rear mount bracket broke away from the engine taking 2 threaded mounting points on the block with it.  I ended up having to replace the transaxle and repair the broken mounting points.  While these cars are amazingly tough, some things must be tended to.  Mounts are high on that list.  Still, you should look into repainting your ride.  Blue is just asking for it.
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: shwak23 on December 02, 2011, 09:13:00 am
I knew Blue was a bad idea.

I just ordered a replacement front motor mount from Proethe. $11  ;) I was going to run hockey pucks but when I saw ol' proethy had mounts for the cost of 3 hockey pucks it didn't make sense.

I should have probably ordered a rear mount too... I hung the engine of it a couple of times when doing my tranny. So it's probably trashed. Ol' Proethy is where i'll be buying mounts from now on but I hate that unlike GAP it takes longer than over night to receive my stuff.  :'(

I might be able to jack the car up today and shake some stuff but if not I'll keep everyone posted. Hopefully that mounts shows up soon.  8)

 
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: bajacalal on December 02, 2011, 04:38:30 pm
I need to replace one of those clips that hole the brake calipers.

They are rattling and causing what you describe.
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: shwak23 on December 04, 2011, 11:10:14 am
I need to replace one of those clips that hole the brake calipers.

They are rattling and causing what you describe.

By the Brake Calipers do you mean the clips that hold the pads? The Anti Rattle clips? Because I think you may be on to something.

I replaced my front motor mount and tightened my Driver's side CV axle which had come a little lose. The noise remains. The more I hear it the more I think it's something coming from the wheel area.  ::) I'll investigate.
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: burn_your_money on December 04, 2011, 03:32:40 pm
If it only does it going over bumps then put your foot lightly on the brakes while going over a bump. No noise, it's probably the calipers/pads.
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: bajacalal on December 04, 2011, 04:22:42 pm
By the Brake Calipers do you mean the clips that hold the pads? The Anti Rattle clips? Because I think you may be on to something.

Yes, those. I can't remember if they press the pads against the caliper of the caliper body against its mount.

And holding your foot on the brake would apply pressure would keep them from moving, so you would know if this is your problem, if it goes away when you press the brake.
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: belchfire on December 04, 2011, 07:42:37 pm
If you replace the rear mount (the one that gets all of the oil drips) don't use a urethane one. While it may seem to be the trick set up, the noise will be unbearable. My daughter's toyota had a horrible clunking sound that new axles didn't solve. It turned out that the motor mount bolts had no nuts. The engine torqued and bound up the CV joints. It looked perfect in the shop but it wasn't until the bracket jumped out of the frame that I saw what it was.
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: shwak23 on December 04, 2011, 09:58:38 pm
I wanted to order all new Engine mounts but Proethe was out of stock on both rear mounts.  ::) I checked the brakes today. They seemed ok. Kinda seems like my inner pad is wearing too quickly but I think I've known for quite some time that I need new calipers. (My bleeder screws broke off months ago. :( ) I was missing the set screw on the Rotor... I'm not sure if that would cause rattling. I think i'm going to try and snag the 2 rear motor mounts ASAP and at the same time rebuild my outer CV joint.

BTW Any idea if I can use a MKI drivers side cv shaft in a MKII? Are they the same length? (Currently running 90mm axles.)
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: damac on December 04, 2011, 10:42:59 pm
Are we talking about a shifting clunk like the tranny/engine shifting on every sudden hit of the gas, bump and braking?

My jetta was doing that when I brought it home.  I found most of the bushings/mounts were very worn compared to new.  With the rear beam bushings practically useless and ready to rip apart.  And the major one was the front arms main bushing that internally was collapsed.  I replaced everything for the hell of it so its hard to say if it was mostly one thing over the other but I saw in an improvement at every stage with the last being motor mounts.

My right front wheel bearing also had noticeable play once I got it off the car.

The motor mount replacement at the end of my project really helped with the shifting of the tranny and finally allowed me to adjust the shifter correctly with all new linkages/bushings.

If its not obvious by sight, jack the front on each side and start playing with a crowbar.


Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: shwak23 on December 05, 2011, 08:32:26 pm
Well I have a new theory. I had to pull my tranny about 5 times in the last 5 months. (Don't even ask, I seriously don't own any clothes anymore that aren't covered in tranny fluid.  >:( )

Anyway by the time the 5th pull came along rage and impatience may have led to me being rather aggressive with my Drivers Side CV axle. The outer joint saw some pretty extreme angles. The noise has progressed to a rotational clunk or thud and is getting pretty loud. I'm guessing my CV is ***ed. I'll probably rebuild the outer joint and see what happens.

In the mean time I broke my dog bone plastic thing on my shift linkage so I bought all new bushings and new shifter hardware.... Apparently I didn't just need a new plastic ball thing. I also needed a new plastic ball cup...Mine has a hole in it. blahhh....
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: theman53 on December 06, 2011, 04:46:30 am
I was going to say check the CV's as I have the 80% peliquin kit in mine. The bolt came out and the inner CV ate it. Then it would clunk and actually vibrate after a while.
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: shwak23 on December 08, 2011, 10:04:22 pm
Ok so I haven't checked my CV yet. I haven't had the time to take my car off the road for the few hours it would take for me to stand around, stare at it blankly, smoke a thousand cigs, stare at it some more, and then actually do whatever it was I was talking about at the beginning of this sentence. 

I did however take my brakes apart the other day and found my set screw on the rotor is totally gonzo. Is there any chance that could cause any noise?

God i'm lazy... I'll try and find some anti rattle spring/wire/wtfever tomorrow and get an EZ out to get the snapped set screw out... Gah....

Is there any chance this could be a wheel bearing type noise? I know mine aren't the prettiest.

-L
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: coke on December 08, 2011, 10:14:32 pm
Nah. That set screw in the rotor is just to keep the hub aligned with the holes in the rotor so you don't have to search when installing your lug bolts.

I had a noise similar to this on my Jetta. What had happened was the sleeve in the p/s control arm rear bushing was gone and the bushing in the control arm was hitting the bolt. It eventually broke and caused a whole load of more problems. But thats what I get for driving it and not fixing it till it broke. The only thing I've ever let go too, and it bit me in the arse. :)
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: 8v-of-fury on December 09, 2011, 08:07:54 am
Yes mk1 and mk2 drivers side axles only are interchangeable. The passenger side of an mk2 is about 1/2" too long for an mk1. However if needed, the cv's can be popped off the mk2 passenger axle and popped on to the mk1 passenger axle.

BUT the driver side one is a direct swap :)
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: theman53 on December 09, 2011, 02:49:47 pm
Another thing to look at is to see if the press in bushings are still pressed into the control arms or if the rubber is completely ripped out of them.
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: shwak23 on December 11, 2011, 03:56:51 pm
Yes mk1 and mk2 drivers side axles only are interchangeable. The passenger side of an mk2 is about 1/2" too long for an mk1. However if needed, the cv's can be popped off the mk2 passenger axle and popped on to the mk1 passenger axle.

BUT the driver side one is a direct swap :)

This right here has really made my day. I have millions of MKI Axles! Weeeeeee! I will check the control arm bushings as well. It's really too damn cold to do anything right now though. It's down to 40 degrees in my Garage. If I put the heater in there I can get it up to 50 degrees but it feels like a waste of electricity. Well I ain't got *** to do tomorrow so i'll try then.
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: shwak23 on December 23, 2011, 11:51:52 am
I thought about not coming back to tell you this but it turned out my PASSENGER side wheel was loose  ::). I had a flat tire a few weeks back and had to change the tires around a bit. So I guess I forgot to re-torque the wheel. Embarrassing. I am dumb. But at least it was a really easy fix that I had all the tools for.  8)

I hate it when people don't post how they fixed the problem... Hopefully the other suggestions in this thread can help someone with a real CAR problem and not just a BRAIN problem.  ;D
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: rabbitman on December 23, 2011, 12:31:51 pm
I thought about not coming back to tell you this but it turned out my PASSENGER side wheel was loose  ::). I had a flat tire a few weeks back and had to change the tires around a bit. So I guess I forgot to re-torque the wheel. Embarrassing. I am dumb. But at least it was a really easy fix that I had all the tools for.  8)

I hate it when people don't post how they fixed the problem... Hopefully the other suggestions in this thread can help someone with a real CAR problem and not just a BRAIN problem.  ;D

You must be the humble type............. ;D
Title: Re: Challenge: Solve the mystery of my front end knock.
Post by: ORCoaster on December 23, 2011, 07:48:53 pm
Thanks for the follow up.  And the humble pie.