Knock pop clunk from steering when I turn left shaply

[sugarwood]

I checked out the rear sway bar. I didn't see anything that seemed loose.

My next step is to take it to a shop.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

I checked out the rear sway bar. I didn't see anything that seemed loose.

My next step is to take it to a shop.

Crap. I am with you. Just wish you lived closer.

The "pop" is repeatable, right? Find an independent alignment shop.

If you can make it pop for them when suspension is loaded, they will find it quick. These suspensions are straight forward.

I humbly suggest skipping Goodyear and the like. Just some hole in the wall with dudes that are well into their thirties or older.

[sugarwood]

No way this car is going to some chain with $10/hr techs.
I'm just going to take it to an indep. Euro shop.
It's local and the guy seems a straight shooter.

[Kemo]

I had a clunk that took me a bit of time to find...i had replaced the front ball joints and "thought" I had them seated correctly. Torqued them down as best as I could. shortly there after, i had these random clunks under different conditions. Turns out, the ball joint has a locator cut out that stops the ball joint from spinning in the A-arm. I assumed it had seated but i was wrong. the cut out area on the ball joint was just a hair too small. So I never really got it seated well. I ended up pulling the ball joints and using a small file to get them down in the A-arm. Below is a pic that might help explain the locator slot on the ball joint:

[Kemo]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

No way this car is going to some chain with $10/hr techs.
I'm just going to take it to an indep. Euro shop.
It's local and the guy seems a straight shooter.

If you can find a shop that services the DE/Club Racing crowd, you will most likely be in good hands. Check your PCA region's web site and get a list of the approved DE inspection
shops.

that being said, I had had a hole-in-the wall Speedy Align do my 911 for the longest time. Turned out, he used to be into Autocross "back in the day" and was the go-to guy for 911 and 914's at the time. I had great wear across the tire with his "aggressive street" alignment

[notfarnow]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

No way this car is going to some chain with $10/hr techs.
I'm just going to take it to an indep. Euro shop.
It's local and the guy seems a straight shooter.

In a pinch, I've often had good luck bringing my cars into a local chain and just telling them I have a noise I am trying to find, but that I want to get under the car with them and poke around. There are a couple shops around here that will allow me to do it for a few bucks.

I find it really hard to track down stuff like this when a car is up on jack stands, as opposed to being able to stand underneath it and really look around.

No one else has suggested this yet, but have you considered just sticking to right hand turns?

[sugarwood]

Ok, it seems the sway bar / steering rack cover plate allen bolts were loose.
Is this a likely culprit? The sound seems to be gone!

Could this possibly make the steering feel more vague?
Besides the sound, how would this impact the drivability of the car?

[uwanna]

Originally Posted by tirwin

I had this recently after I ran new A/C hoses. The belly pan is part of the sway bar connection point and I didn't snug it up properly when I put it back together. Just a thought.

Good Pelican Tirwin nailed the problem for you in this thread a week ago! LOL
When he was having this problem, it drove him crazy for weeks. It was exactly the same loose bolt as you show in your pics.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by uwanna

Good Pelican Tirwin nailed the problem for you in this thread a week ago! LOL
When he was having this problem, it drove him crazy for weeks. It was exactly the same loose bolt as you show in your pics.

Outstanding, Tim.

Nice work, sugarwood.

[manbridge 74]

I'd check for a loose steering rack if vagueness is still there.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by uwanna

Good Pelican Tirwin nailed the problem for you in this thread a week ago!

Old man Bob mentioned this on September 26th as an option.

But hey, Let's get real. Big Tim. Little Bob. BIG TIM little bob to be more specific.

I don't need my EGO stroked. Just carry on, youngsters.
Old crusty Bob will just fade away..............

Tim is what matters.

Here's a selfie, FWIW. Don't hate me just cause I am beautiful.

[DWeg1998]

Thanks friends in this thread!

I had the same pop, coming from the front driver side suspension when I would turn right though. I could reproduce it when I would turn hard right slow but under hard acceleration or if I hit a bump slowly while making a hard right.

I had just replaced the front outer wheel bearings so I of course thought it was that I had't done that properly when I heard this noise. Funny how when I fix something I am more attuned to hearing other problems that were already there, but blame it me not fixing the first thing right. My track record also suggests that anything I fix will take a second try to get it right.

So after hearing the pop, I took the wheel off and the play and freely spinning rotor all felt good. Suspension components all looked solid. I figured I'd pop on here before pulling the bearing out again and found this thread. Sure enough, my sway bar allen bolt was loose. It turned maybe a full 3-4 full revolutions until it was snug. I checked the other front suspension bolts that they were tight and also tightened the passenger side sway bar bolt which was maybe 1-2 full revolutions loose.

After driving, noise stopped and car felt much more tight.

Thanks BOB, Tirwin, Sugarwood and others!

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by DWeg1998

Thanks BOB, Tirwin, Sugarwood and others!

Thanks Broseph!

Nice car.

[sugarwood]

Glad this helped someone
It's nice to be on the other side sometimes!

[claus911targa]

I had the same issue with my car and i drove me crazy for a long time. Until i came across this post - it was an easy fix as soon as i located the bolts. Thanx Pelican Part’ers!

[DRACO A5OG]

Suga,

Find a road with a burmed curb, drive up and down in parallel several times, if you hear the "clunk" then it is your rear wheel bearings.

[sugarwood]

Claus, I'm glad my thread helped you!
Draco, the solution was updated in the OP.