tlyden316

Hi All,

When driving over bumpy roads, I occassionally hear a popping sound which sounds like it is coming from inside the car on the passenger side. The sound is similar to the sound it would make if you gently knocked on the dash with your fist, and it sounds like it's coming from the door area. Here is some additonal info:

1. All ball joints recently replaced. My mechanic also inspected and greased the front suspension as well and found no problems.
2. After researching several threads on here, I tried oiling the door hinges. Interestingly, the noise seemed to slow down for a while.
3. I can shake the crap out of the car while in park and I cannot hear the noise.
4. When driving the car in subzero weather, the noise doesn't seem to happen.
5. I tried the hood washer repair, but that didn't help.

This thing is driving me crazy. Any help would be appreciated!!! Thanks!!

Blue Bowtie

Speaker? Window motor/regulator? Door lock solenoid? Body module in the door? There are lots of possibilities.

Does the noise change if you drive with the glove box door open?

AJT1961

Take a look at the condition of the plastic door hinge pin bushings. If they are crushed/broken, that could be the source of your noise. When my driver's door hinge pin bushings went (I hardly ever used the passenger door) it made a hell of a racket on even the slightest bumps including a popping sound like you describe which eventually graduated into a full-fledged rattle.

tlyden316

It doesn't make a difference if the glove box is open or not. I have a feeling it might be something with the door hinge since greasing them seems to make it less noticeable. If it is the hinge bushings what is the easiest way to fix them? Thanks for the help guys.

AJT1961

Assuming this is your problem, there's a really good post in the how-to section which describes the procedure for replacing the hinge pins and bushings. I found the best way to pound out the old pins was to use two cheap 6 inch long 1/4' socket extensions, because you really can't get a straight shot using a punch (I think the how-to post recommended this method). The female socket extension head holds the bottom of the pin and keeps it from sliding off as you pound the crap out of it. My old pins required quite a bit of sledge hammer persuasion before they finally decided to give up the ghost. It helps if you have an extra man to hold the door, otherwise you might need a door holder which you can buy for about $80 at harborfreight.com (that's what I did, and it made the job really easy). The hinge pin sets can be purchase on ebay for $8 a door from Florida Auto Fastener, which are excellent quality with brass instead of plastic bushings. Just make sure you put the correct bushing in the correct hole because upper and lower on each hinge are two slightly different sizes.