Knock pop clunk from steering when I turn left shaply
 

A singular knock/pop/clunk/thump when I turn left sharply.
Not sure if it's in the steering column or the suspension or the wheels.
I also heard the pop when I came down off a speed bump, and loaded the front suspension.

So, I guess this is only at low speeds, as I wouldn't turn sharply except nearing the driveway, etc.

Wheel does not bind, and controls the car as usual.

I have under 1000 miles on my Mitch Leland bushing, so it's not that...

Any ideas on what modules I can troubleshoot?
Where do I look, and please be specific if possible.
I know little to nothing about the steering mechanism.


UPDATE:
I believe I found the problem.
Sway bar / steering rack cover plate allen bolts were loose.
The sound seems to be gone!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1598287065.jpg
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Not saying this is your problem but I had once developed a "clunk" when I would make left hand turns. I could swear the sound was coming from the front underside of the car.
Turns out it was a loose rear sway bar drop link.

Check everything under the car.

Years ago had something similar...turned out to be a loose transmission mount. The weight transfer of the sharp turn created enough twist in the car to make it bump.

I'll jack the car up and try to jiggle some suspension stuff around.
When your rear sway bar drop link was bad, what did you notice when under the car?

I'll also try to turn the steering wheel with the front raised.
If I get a pop, then I'll get a helper so I can try to see where it's happening.

I will also grab the wheel to do the wheel bearing test.

Check the condition of the steering shaft u-joints as well. Use a bit of light oil on them. They become "dry" after many years and may bind occasionally.

One of the bolts connecting the sway bar to the drop link was a bit loose, simple as that.

I'm going to jack up the car now, as I've never had to take notice of any steering components before. So, I'm not even sure where to look, Besides the smuggler's box, any specific places I should look?

Rack and pinion steering. Tie rods connecting to big strut spindle. They push and pull the spindle and the spindle pivots on the strut and the lower ball joint

Possible noise areas off the top of my head:
Strut bushings up top
Ball joint on the bottom - On jack stands, carefully take a little load off the torsion bar control arm just inward of where it connects to the ball joint (it's pushing the wheel down). Pull hard on wheel at 12 and six o'clock.
Strut mounting point on bottom (should be fixed with a pin - no pivoting here - only moves when spindle moves) Loose = danger.
Tie rod - inner and outer. Easy check for slop by moving wheel back and forth at three and nine o'clock
Steering column connection to rack tower - probably slim chance here.
Steering column U-joint
Column bushing
Torsion bar assembly mounting points.
Tired inner / outer wheel bearings
Loose wheel
Sway bar bushings to body and associated mounts
Sway bar links
Sway bar link mounting points

Keep the wheels on. Put the stands under the front part of the torsion bar mount. It's been a while. I may have put them under the tubes with the mount being a safety so there could be no sliding off. Steering rack is under a big rectangular plate. Couple of larger allen head bolts and maybe two 17MM or so bolts.

Before removing the pan you can spin the steering wheel by manually turning the tires with key in on position. See if you pick up noise and try to isolate location doing this. If it's a suspension load issue, may not isolate.

Thanks, that's a load of info.
Let me try to sort this out.

#1 How do I check for play?

#2 Not sure what I am supposed to do without pictures. I know none of these part's names. Am I supposed to jack under the suspension itself and then check for ball joint play?

#3 I'll look for pin.

#4 I can check

#5 Skip

#6 Where do I look?

#7 Replaced recently Leland.

#8 No idea what this is.

#9 No grinding sound, but will spin wheels when in the air

#10 Will verify lug bolts

#11-13 How do I check? Just yank and look for play? Is that the bar that goes under the steering rack cover plate?
That cover plate is a headache to reinstall, as I think mine may be bent. Holes would not line up. Then the other 2 hex bolts barely reach until the load is back on the wheels.
Took me over an hour last time, and that wasn't my first time. I am going to avoid this one, if possible.

What exactly am I checking for by looking at the steering rack? (If I have to resort to removing cover plate)

OK chill on steering rack cover plate.

I just dumped out everything I could think of.

Let's start one at a time.

Get front of car in the air held up by two jack stands. Do you know where to put them so you won't get squished?

Perfectly ok with me that you are not familiar with parts and function. At least you have the sense to admit it. Make sure it is safe. I don't want to go down in history as the guy that flattened sugarwood.

Quick update. The next 2 times I drove the car, there has been NO popping sound.
So, I will just shelve this.

I did jack the car and test for wheel bearing play (3 and 9pm)
and ball joint play (12 and 6pm) Seemed fine.
It was amazing how easy the steering wheel turned with no weight on the tires!

Cool beans.

If there is something odd in the steering wheel, column, u-joints, rack and tie rods, it's pretty easy to pick it up just from the feedback you feel through the tires. There is usually noise that goes along with it.

Wheel bearing play will surface at any point on the tire clock. Little force is required to assess. Same with three and nine for tie rods. Ball joints are a little trickier and I am no wizard at this but to be sure I usually get some sort of a long bar wedged between the ball joint lower connection point and the ball joint upper connection and leverage the two apart and look for movement.

These pry bars are a lifesaver for so many tasks and the larger two will do the ball joint check.

Pry Bar Set - 4 Piece

I have a similar pry bar set.
Let me know if anyone comes across a way to test ball joints.

Ok, this seems to have gotten significantly more pronounced.
I get a clear popping/clunking when I go over bumps.

The last I checked above, there was no bearing or ball joint play on the raised up wheel.
What should I be looking for now?

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.

Third from last in my post #8, September 26th list. That is over a month ago.

You have a list. Why do you keep asking the same question? Look up the front sway bar for sale on pelican. See what it looks like. Find it under your car. Find where it bolts up. Four points usually. Two to the body and two to the suspension.

The sway bar twists (slightly) like a big spring in the two body mount bushings. When your left side lifts and the right side stays at sort of the same height (yes, it scrunches some in this scenario) the elongated U shaped sway bar will resist the left lifting more because it is tied into the right side suspension (through the body mounts.) It's something like that.

Get under that car and start sniffing with that pry bar.:)

Sway bar, tie rod ends, ball joints are notorious noise makers. Tie rods and ball joints have pretty much been eliminated.

Control arms on regular cars make make noise as well over bumps but they do not have a torsion bar running through them. I don't know if the spring loading on the Porsche control arm will quiet a bushing even if it's tired.

Every day cars

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1445797269.jpg

911

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1445797307.jpg

Got under the car tonight, and tried to sniff around.
Didn't really know what to do, or where to use the pry bar.

I did not see anything obvious:

1) Sway bar cover plate was secure and not loose.

2) Sway bar bushings ...Only thing I noticed was there was a clean section that was exposed. Meaning, it's like the bar shifted, and what used to be under the bushing was now exposed (and very clean looking)

3) I tried to jiggle the sway bar, and it would not move. I tried to use pry bar, as well.

4) I looked the the tie rod ends. They seemed fine. With tires elevated, I steered the car by pushing the tires, and there didn't seem to be any play in the tie rod ends. I also steered via the steering wheel, and the wheels seemed very responsive. No play. But, this was with no load on the tires.

5) With front on jack stands, I jacked up the front tire to compress the shock. Then I would release it. There was no sound from this. It was cool to observe the A-arm move and the tire was loaded.

Not sure where to go from here, besides taking it to a shop.

http://i59.tinypic.com/2wgrhn8.jpg http://i58.tinypic.com/13ynn07.jpg http://i57.tinypic.com/20qkphg.jpg http://i60.tinypic.com/qz3kwj.jpg

have you verified that it's not the rear sway bar as kns suggested? you want to do this with the car on the ground. just check that the bushings are in place and the bolts are torqued.

Pry bar is simply to put pressure on places that should not move. If it moves then you can dig deeper.

Just take time to study the suspension and steering. It is busy under there but everything has a function.

Something is loading and then releasing making the pop noise. First blush is tie rods. You turn the wheel, you get unhappy binding, metal on metal something or an other and then the binding is overcome by the turning of the wheel and pop goes the weasel.

I wish you folks lived in Ohio. Christ, there is nobody here. Two heads go a long way.

To clarify, I am now getting the clunk when going over bumps, not as much from turning.

Funny, I feel the exact same way about where I live!

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.

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.

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:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1446067075.jpg

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 :)

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?

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?
http://i66.tinypic.com/9h1ca1.jpg

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.

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

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. :D

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1446429821.jpg

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!

Thanks Broseph!

Nice car.

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

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!

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.

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