Damn noise!

[ViperRider]

I'm not sure if I posted this before but I am about to go nuts if I don't figure out what this noise is. Since I've had my car (about 2 monthes) it has been making this noise when I apply the brakes. If I'm slowing down I don't hear is until around under 30 mph. The noise is like an erk erk erk erk erk, and I can slightly feel the car like pulsing when it slows down. When I first got the car me and my Dad took the wheels off and checked the brake pads and rotors and they looked fine. So my dad said have it checked sometime. So I was getting my transmission flushed at AAMCO and I told the guy to take a look and see if he could find what was causing the noise.

So he tells me to come back and look what was causing the noise. He said its the caliper rubbing against the loose peices of chrome that are peeling off the inside of the rims. He spun the tire and I heard a noise like paper rubbing against something...but not the noise. I figure what the hell Ill just live with it. But its still pissing me off. The noise is alot louder then chrome peices rubbing on the caliper. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what is the cure?

[CDNFB]

Re: Damn noise!

Slow on the response here, but better late than never.

I have experienced the same problem. Same noise, on the divers front side and I thought that is was just a warped rotor causing the calper to make the noise. Installed new rotors and pads, lubed up the caliper guide pins, and the noise went away......or so I thought. Every once in a while I would hear that odd "erk" noise, and now that the rotors are slowly becoming "not true" I can hear that noise comming back.

Checked everything I could think of. Control arm bushings, Sway bar mount isolators and links, inner and outer tie rod ends, rack and pinnion mount isolators, hub bearings, lower ball joint..........nothing....but then I checked the upper balljoint.

The factory original joints are "lubed for life" (no grease fitting). When the grease boot cracks, the grease inside gets lost over time, moisture gets in, corrosion starts inside the joint and they will first start to squeak or in my case "erk" . A warped brake rotor will shake the suspension and give you the repetative "erk, erk, erk...." sound when you apply the brakes. As time goes on the noise gets louder and also the joints become worn or loose. Mine are at the point that now when I push down on the front of the car it makes the noise and with the weight of the car on the suspension there is loosness at the upper ball joint. When I sprayed some oil into the joint, through the cracked boot, the noise went away.

I have 2 upper ball joints on order, and will hopefully change them out next weekend.

Chances are that this isn't the same problem that you have. But it could be.

[ViperRider]

Re: Damn noise!

Hmmm, did the noise only happen like around under 30 mph and become slower as you slow down more? If this were the case, where do I start to get it fixed? I have no clue on how to replace this on my own, so I'm guessing take it somewhere?

[CDNFB]

Re: Damn noise!

The noise was in perfect sync with the brake pulses caused by the warped brake rotor. So, yes the slower I went the slower the repetative noise. Also, the slower it was the louder it became. Did the noise start a 30 mph you ask, well for me I would say that the noise wasn't as loud at 30 as it was at say 15 mph. And another thing, if I was turning a corner and braking at the same time the noise got louder.

The upper ball joints can be a bit of a challenge for a number of reasons, but if you have the proper tooling, it can go quite easily.

These joints are riveted to the upper control arm, so to remove them you have to either grind the rivet heads off, or drill the rivet heads off. The new joint comes with bolts and hardware to attach the new joint to the control arm. Also, to seperate the taper shaft of the balljoint from the spindle assy, you should use a "pickle fork". It's a U shaped wedge that is placed in between the balljoint and the spindle assy and then hit with the biggest mother hammer you got. The wedge forces the joint to seperate from the spindle assy. If you don't have this tool you could spend hours beating away on the joint. Most large parts supply chains (pep boys, etc...) have tool loan programs, you can get the fork from them.

I would say don't do it yourself, unless you have one or more of the following:
1) a good maintenance manual that shows you step by step how to do it,
or
2) someone who has some experience doing this helping you.
or
3) Your not scared to do it.

A word of warning: Be very careful when working on suspension components. There is a lot of energy in the coil springs, and if you do not take proper precautions and the spring tension is suddenly released, you can do damage to equipment, tools and persons (including yourself). BE CAREFULL!

[ViperRider]

Re: Damn noise!

CDNFB, I don't know if you are still around but if so I would like to know if you ever replaced you're upper ball joints and if it solved the problem.

Back in the summer I got my rotors resurfaced and got new brake pads. The sound literally disappeared and I was so happy. But slowly but surely it started to come back again. Now it's at that point again where it was when I first posted this thread. It's very irratating and I would like to solve this, and I was wondering if changing the ball joints will do the trick. If anyone else has any advice I would be interested. :tup:

[ssms5411]

Re: Damn noise!

Upper Ball joints are cake to do. Put the front end in the air and you should pull on the tire Vert. from the grabing the top of the tire and bottom of the tire and see if it moves back and forth. Also just look at it to see the condition of it. I used a combo of air chesil and dremel to get the rivets out then the new ones come with the mounting bolts and TQ specs. There is a write up online on how to swap them out. Also in the haynes manual.

[cam98aro]

Re: Damn noise!

what year is your car?

im betting it is the BACK rotors, im almost positive on this one

[ViperRider]

Re: Damn noise!

what year is your car?

im betting it is the BACK rotors, im almost positive on this one

2001

Are you sure? I could swear it's coming from the fronts. When I got the fronts resurfaced the sound was gone, until a few months later.

[bigbrian442]

Re: Damn noise!

If turning the fronts made it go away, than it is the fronts. Jack the front up and spin the wheel. You should hear the sound and feel the wheel harder to turn. Might be a good idea to replace the one that keeps warping.

[ViperRider]

Re: Damn noise!

Replace the ball joint or the rotor? I swear I hate hearing that noise and I get embarrassed when I'm driving people because it sounds like my car is crappy.

[bigbrian442]

Re: Damn noise!

If spinning the wheel while the car is jacked up lets you hear the noise, it's the rotor.