a few probs.. any advice???

[invincibleZ]

ok I had a POS jeep that was like 13 years old, and it finally died with almost 200,000... so I got a 1998 Z-24 cavalier... well just recently it started ticking at idle, if you get on the gas a little it will go away... well I thought it was the timing belt, I then found out that it has a timin g chain... so anyone got any suggestions what that may be...

and also when I am driving it if the steering wheel is straight it drives perfect, but if you turn it left or right a little it starts clunking a little... (it does it more noticable to the left, but it does it to the right also)...

can anyone help...

[cavy4u2nv]

yeah mine dose that same thing at idle but Im not to worried because i think it is just the injectors and It is suport to do that at least Im pritty sure

[wanacavy]

acually its not really suposed to do that what that clickign noise is at idle is the lifters not gettgin enough oil at idle tahst why it goes away when you rev it up a bit check your oil level if its ok i woulldn't worry to much about as for the steering i've never heard of that

[thecommi]

I think wanacavy is on the right track. Lifters are very common to fail in the newer z24's. and hes right, they tick when they are not receving enough oil. General cause of this would be the previouse owner didnt change the oil at the regular service intervals, 3000 miles. there are a few things you can try, move to a thicker oil if the weather permits. If your useing the factory recommended 5w30 weight, move to a 10w30. Or try a good synthetic like Mobil 1. As for the clunkign when you turn, I'm assumeing the car has over 70K miles on it, Im thinkign its one of your Drive Axels. The CV joints go bad and slip under a great load... aka while turning. Have it checked out by a professional, a busted cv axle in the middle of a highway is not fun, trust me. hope this helps.

[wanacavy]

ohh yea thecommi i forgot hte cavy's are front wheel drive i dont' have oen yet so i forget i'm used to driving my blazer and yea i knew it would usually be the lifters that are ticking a freinds car did that not to long ago but it was because they're car was leaking oil someplace and the oil level was low she added oila nd it stopped but yea try a heavier oil if you can its worth it just to get rid of the anoyign clicking and yes have your clicking int he axle area checked out before it blows on the road

[Bridymurphy]

cv shafts are only 40 bucks and are amazingly easy to replace, they give you the boot and the grease for it. A clunk means that the inner cv joint is going, a clicking noise is the outer. Although it is the engine that is clicking lol. so I'd go with wana and thecommi. I'd try getting rid of that, because it'll cause more problems down the road if the previous owner wasn't changing the oil.