Saturn front-end thunking

[john112deere]

So, as mentioned elsewhere, I'm driving my sister's '95 Saturn 4-door around a bit this month while she's away to save on gas. It's got about 100k miles, she just bought it last January.

It drives down the road OK for a cheap car with 100k, I guess, but at low speed (say backing out of a parking space) it's got a bit of a knocking/thunking in the front end, and I noticed that if I'm sitting still and turn the wheel back and forth hard, it's got a similar knock/thunk from under the center of it. That kinda confused me since I'd been guessing control-arm bushings when I noticed the thunking backing out of a parking space...

I can't get under the thing without jacking it up (and my jack doesn't fit under it either) but...tie rod? Anything else seem likely?

 

[Fellro]

Check the ball joints....

 

[BKW]

Saturn models SL1 & SL2 are FWD.

Prolly a bad constant velocity (CV) joint, Ford's have inner and outers, what Saturn has, I haven't a klew.

The CV joints have boots around them that are packed with grease.

The boots tear apart, dirt and gawd knows what else gets into the joints, now it's time for a new one.

 

[mrfixit]

All of the above are possible. Has it been lubed recently? Sometimes clunks and thunks come from dry, sticking parts too.
Does it make a rumbling/clunking in the middle of turns besides backing?

 

[Fellro]

Clicking on turns is indicative of bad outer joints, inners are a little sneakier. Most all FWD vehicles have inner/outer cv joints, hard to have a moving suspension without them. GM vehicles seem to like to cash out ball joints regularly, cv joints are possible, but also tend to give a shake as well.

 

[blacksnapon]

Just to have everything checked, look at the "stops" on the front end (usually on the lower control arm). I've seen some, when at full lock, the knuckle rubbing against the stop will make a "knocking" noise (especially when hitting a bump). Put a little grease on the stops and see if it goes away.

 

[john112deere]

OK...I'll have to jack it up and check all this out later this weekend or early next week. Thanks guys!

*Also- this thing is like driving a too-small tin can, but it's got a pretty impressive powertrain- good mileage, good power, acceptable noise level and shift quality. (All those statements are in light of the fact that it's a 13 year old economy car with 100k miles.)

 

[surewhynot]

mumble mumble grrr GM product mumble growl...

 

[Fellro]

The main problem I have with Saturns is the replacement parts... they tend to cost more, and aren't as readily available. Kind of like imports...

 

[mrfixit]

Saturn... the nearest thing from here to Uranus.

 

[Gunner]

mumble mumble grrr GM product mumble growl...

Hey HEY HEY. Look at your sig pic. You're the jolly, rolliking porker type, not the killer attack pig. Be kind to the man, it's not HIS Saturn, it's his SISTERS..........He just hasn't recruited her into the Ford fold yet

Gunner

 

[mrfixit]

... Be kind to the man, it's not HIS Saturn, it's his SISTERS..........He just hasn't recruited her into the Ford fold yet

Gunner

Oh, how one missing apostrophe can read a whole new meaning into a statement!!!


Sooooo..... He's not driving the saturn... no, even I can't go there. It's just sooooo wrong.

 

[john112deere]

Tom, you've been talkin' to Todd too much, I think.

And, although it's my sister's car, I was consulted before the purchase, so I guess I am somewhat responsible for it. But...she loves the thing, so I won't apologize for it.

 

[mrfixit]

You may be right...

 

[john112deere]

Well, I jacked it up and looked.

Nothing seems too loose. I'm leaning against CV joints, because it doesn't click, knock, vibrate or thunk when turning at speed, only really low-speed stuff where the suspension is moving a lot.

I'm going to have to get a buddy to rock the wheel back and forth while I look closer, but ball-joints and tie-rods seem OK.

*If it's just a worn bushing, which I'm rather suspecting, and the car drives fine (almost never on the highway, either) there's no real harm in leaving it, is there?

 

[mrfixit]

seriously.. did you grease the thing?

 

[john112deere]

Not yet.

My grease gun has decided it doesn't like greasing things anymore, and I can't figure out why, so I need to wait until my friend is home from work and I can swipe his...

 

[john112deere]

Only grease zerks on the steering are the outer tie-rod ends, leading me to believe they've been replaced. But they're greased now...

Buddy agrees with me...somethings a little loose and knocking, but everything important is still tight and since it doesn't bother the car's owner, it's good to go for now.