I am not having a good afternoon...wrecked a trailer tire, my back hurts, and I've got to get back up to school tomorrow (300 miles) but don't trust EITHER of my choices of transportation.

The alternator in the truck is going out (pretty sure it's the voltage regulator) thought it's still fine most of the time. Can't get it changed this weekend. So I was gonna borrow my sister's car- no problem, she's not using it right now.

Driving it back from getting oil and filter (it needed changing), I noticed that there's a little bit of a clicking sound when traveling in a straight-line or turning at all to the right, but not if I'm turning left. First thought was "clicking that changes with turning=CV joint" but then I got to thinking...it's not that bad (I can't hear it over the radio), so shouldn't it only act up with the wheel turned hard over?

Since I had the car jacked up, I tried to rotate each front wheel with it in gear. Both had what seemed acceptable (and equal) play and what seemed a "normal" amount of noise when it hit the end of it's free play. CV boots looked good, but it's dark out...

The car is a '95 Saturn, 105k miles...so the front end is all noisy/clunky anyway.

Arrrgh...which piece of junk will get me where I need to go? That is the question.

charge a spare battery and throw it in the back of the truck. I would take something with weak electrical over something in the drivetrain possibly very very wrong.

Ryan

I dunno...I took the Saturn out to the gas station and the more I pay attention, the more it sounds like a worn suspension bushing.

It wasn't as consistently linked to right/left as it seemed earlier, just seemed to be dependent on how the front end was loaded.

*The Ranger's got 250k on the engine, too, and she sounds like it. Could go another 50k, but I wouldn't exactly be taken by surprise if it blew up next week, either.

If the cv blows, you will be walking, a good spare battery will keep you rolling for a while. Sounds like you are getting some charge, I suspect a weak diode, but failing all the same. A little charge is better than no charge... CV's don't make that much noise really. They can get to were it is a hard clunk and a bit of a bind feeling, then pop they're gone...

I don't have a spare battery.

Disregarding the pickup and back to the Saturn...can anyone help me pinpoint diagnose this thing? Google searching for car questions is a lot harder than truck ones...

*Doesn't get worse with sharper turning, doesn't make at low (parking lot) speed. Not consistently linked to turning, but seems somewhat so. Downhill, straight line, in gear- loud off throttle, quiets down on throttle. I'm thinking this is yet another worn bushing clunking, but I really don't know. (What I DO know is I'll never buy a Saturn.)

can you get a friend willing to hang onto the side of the vehicle while traveling highway speeds?

Ryan

No...especially since I need to load up and roll out of here in one or the other in a bit under 12 hours...and need a good nights sleep in there, too.

Bouncing the front corners produces the same noise; so I'm thinking it's a suspension clunk. If I'm not online tonight, you guys were right.

CV shouldn't make much for noise when simply bouncing, may be strut mounts.

The spare battery theory wont work for 300 mile trip . I had voltage reg go out and a had a spare to get home that was fully charge I made it 25 miles before dash started shutting down and truck finally shut off. Just throw extra alt in truck and take jumpers. Bet u r fine.

The Saturn sounds like bushings or the Bearings on top struct going bad . 105000 about right for those. No biggie. If CV like said turn one way and go slow in Parking lot you'll know they r going /bad buy sound . Straighten out sound ussually goes away.

Fellro said:

CV shouldn't make much for noise when simply bouncing, may be strut mounts.

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That's what I was thinking... From what I read on the Saturn forums, strut mounts do tend to get noisy on these things. (Along with everything else in the front end, I guess they're just rattly, clunky little cars.)


Larry- if I had a spare alternator, that would be the way to go (I could change one by the side of the road without much trouble)...but the one I have is under warranty and I wasn't able to get to A-Z to get a replacement one. I really don't have $150 to spare if I don't need to spend it, which is why I haven't already replaced the thing.

Lost said:

The spare battery theory wont work for 300 mile trip . I had voltage reg go out and a had a spare to get home that was fully charge I made it 25 miles before dash started shutting down and truck finally shut off.

Click to expand...

What a coincidence! Either the alt or voltage regulator went on our truck yesterday. Prolly the vr.

We put a charged up spare bat in it and got alot more than 25 mi with it, but in a later model truck like yours, lost, it might take more power for like the fuel pumps and stuff, IDK...



And Ian, if you can hear the noise while jumping on it, it's probably alright to drive. At least it's not cv joints.

This truck will go a ways with a dead alt, but not 300 miles. It probably does drain faster than some, though- I don't think the dual-plug EDIS system is all that efficient, plus it's got an electric fuel pump.

(Friend and I rode around for a week with a dead alt in his diesel 'til we got around to changing it...everywhere we stopped we'd hook up the battery charger, and park where we could roll-start whenever possible.)

Made it fine.

I'm wondering if there was also some noise from a rusty brake, because it got quieter as I went.

Plus the diesel, obviously, isn't using battery power to spark the spark plugs.

Glad to hear you made it no problem.

Well...yeah. I figured that went without saying.

It was a PSD, though, so it needed a bit of juice to run the computer.

*Got to clean the TB on this pile before I drive it home...when it gets hot, the gas pedal gets really sticky. I nearly stalled it out several times because the throttle wouldn't open easily.