popping noise in front end

[bday123]

I notice a popping noise coming from underneath the car in the front end whenever I am pressing/letting up on the brake pedal and/or gas pedal whenever I am stopping/starting from a red light.
Any ideas?
Thanks.

[KimMG]

Loose suspension? Worn bushings? CV joints?

[TomV]

I have a 97 G and have experienced popping on the driver side on low speed turns and start ups, usually after I have braked. This has been going on for years. All of the suspension parts seem tight. The popping was felt at the drivers feet. My alignment and tire wear was always very good.

I also had a rusty, squeaky type of noise coming from my brakes that recently I isolated to the brake booster. The piston connected to the pedal looked OK but I could not lubricate it to solve the problem. I recently replaced the booster and bled the brakes since I had to remove the master cylinder and the connecting brake lines (as well as a lot of other components not mentioned in the Haynes manual).

When I test drove the car I also noticed that my popping noise has disappeared! I have tested it hard twice now in a parking lot and no more popping. If the noise was somehow related to the booster that could explain the pulsing at my feet and how it usually was related to the release of the brakes while turning or a starting from a slow speed.

I will update this post if the noise comes back.


I recently took a trip up I95 ftom Maryland to Maine. The poppiing noise has not come back.

[cruick44]

One of your sub-frame mounting bolts is loose. It is a common problem.

[jfjohn]

Originally Posted by cruick44

One of your sub-frame mounting bolts is loose. It is a common problem.

can they be tightened? I notice that "thump" when I accelerate from a stop sometimes coming from the front end. Is it a safety issue if you feel those things being loose?

[shorod]

I had a similar noise on my '98 SHO. I started with the anti-sway bar end links. New ones made no improvement, so I moved on to the subframe bushings. I disassembled them and noticed polish and rust marks on a few of the surfaces. I applied a light layer of white lithium grease to the surfaces, then reassembled, torquing the bolts to the correct torque with thread locker on the threads. The noise went away.

-Rod

[cruick44]

The sub-frame bolts are easy to get to and tighten. I don't think it is a safety problem but it can be a little annoying.

Cheers

[GPFred]

I had a similar problem with my 98 SE, turned out to be the engine cradle bushings in the front. With engine acceleration, the engine cradle in the front would rotate and bump into the main frame, same with braking. I didn't notice the bump as I thought it was associated with the engine and was so light it didn't bother me. I found out about it when I heard a whistle coming from the engine area that turned out to be the joint between the exhaust manifold and the y pipe. The looseness of the engine cradle was causing a gap to open in this joints donut to allow exhaust gas to escape. My 98 SE has 111k on it now.