My poor 91' P10 needs suspension diagnose! Please help! (long)

[rs5f32a]

Hello G20 guys,

I'm new here and I need your help so bad!These problems drive me crazy!

1. My poor 91' P10 has been making a groaning sound from the front driver side wheel for over 6 months. ( It only happens if I drive longer like over an hour or over 20 miles, it never happens when the car is cold. The sound is wheel rotation related, and i can only hear the sound when I drive slowly like below 10miles per hour until I fully stop, and the sound didn't change when I turn to right or left.) I'd checked se-r mailing list archives before and I believe that it's a worn out wheel bearing, but when I jack up the car and then i couldn't feel any play. And my mechanic said that wheel bearing should continue to make noise, but not sporadically. So I just pretend that the noise isn't there in the past six months! Is it a bad wheel bearing problem?

2. Sometimes (sporadically) when I drive the car smooth and soft in stop-and go traffic, I can hear a clunking /popping noise when I brake lightly. I can also hear the clunking when I backup smooth and apply the brake lightly. It never happens when I brake heavily. Is it a bad ball joint symptom?

3. Three months ago, I had my car aligned and had my front end checked because I felt my car shimmy and loose. The technician said the driver side lower control arm bushing been oil soaked, (i have no idea what the hell the oil came from), and ball joint boots were cracked. But he said the lower control arm still works fine. He also said my car had a little toe-out problem, and he corrected it. Yesterday I went to American Tire to do the free rotation, and found out that the inner edge of the front driver side tire wears out so bad. So I went back to alignment shop again, the guy said that because the bushings were soaked with oil, the only way to correct the tire worn out problem is replacing the control arm. Is it true? Can I just clean the oil using brake cleaner?

I am so worry about my poor P10, and I want to fix the problem at one time so that I can save some labor cost and replace my tires without worry that I will need to replace them again in the near future. Please help! Any comments are welcome ....thanks a lot!

Ken Lin

PS: My car is lowered, but I never experienced this kind of tire wear before. The front engine mount and tranny mount had been replaced half year ago, the dogbone mount and rear mount had not yet been replaced.

[P10DET]

Originally posted by rs5f32a
Hello G20 guys,

1. My poor 91' P10 has been making a groaning sound from the front driver side wheel for over 6 months.
<snip>
I'd checked se-r mailing list archives before and I believe that it's a worn out wheel bearing, but when I jack up the car and then i couldn't feel any play.

I'm thinking wheel bearing too. You won't always feel play

Originally posted by rs5f32a
2. Sometimes (sporadically) when I drive the car smooth and soft in stop-and go traffic, I can hear a clunking /popping noise when I brake lightly. I can also hear the clunking when I backup smooth and apply the brake lightly. It never happens when I brake heavily. Is it a bad ball joint symptom?

Hard to say. It's possible. It's possible it's something else.

Originally posted by rs5f32a
3. Three months ago, I had my car aligned and had my front end checked because I felt my car shimmy and loose. The technician said the driver side lower control arm bushing been oil soaked,
<snip>
So I went back to alignment shop again, the guy said that because the bushings were soaked with oil, the only way to correct the tire worn out problem is replacing the control arm. Is it true? Can I just clean the oil using brake cleaner?

That is correct, you can only replace the bushings by buying and installing a new control arm. I just checked the fiche and the bushings are not available separately. The ES bushings appear to be a ways off.

You can clean them with brake cleaner or carb cleaner, but it won't change the fact that your bushings are now too soft.
[/b][/quote]

[rs5f32a]

Thanks a lot, George! Thank you for helping me again!(I'd sent you email questions regarding my P10 problems through your website before) Anyway, I'll replace the control arm!
I've read lots of your post from the ser archives. The wheel installation procedure helps!
Thanks, man.

Ken Lin

[Kenny-G]

On the second question, it is your brake caliper hardware worn down, or missing. Caliper hardware refer to the metal clip/spring where the brake pads sit on, and it apply tension to the brake pad so it wouldn't move around on the caliper bracket. If you hear a pop, it is from the pad move up and down on the caliper bracket.

[rs5f32a]

Hi, Kenny G

Thank you very much! Good point, you make me recall that I replaced all four rotors and pads several months ago. Do you mean those pad retainers? Do I need to replace them when I install new pads? I'll check it this weekend. Thank you!

Ken Lin

[Kenny-G]

What you said "pad retainer" should be refered to the sliver metal pieces which "clipped" on the caliper bracket, one on top and one on bottom ( I think you already know what I was talking about ) make sure you check both inner and outer hardware.

You may not need to replace them every brake job...If they appeared rusty, or loose, them replace it, it is like....15, 20 bucks??

[rs5f32a]

Hello, Kenny-G

I'd checked brake metal clips, no problem at all.
I then went to two other alignment shops to have front end checked, and one said no problems at all, another said negative front camber caused the tire wear and they can fix that by enlarging the bolt hole of third link just as your other post. So I had them do it. Well, the sound seems gone. Maybe the sound is because of the loose bolt!
All of them said the lower control arm, the bearing, the bushing, and the ball joint are fine. Well, all I have to do is wait until something is actually broken or groan out loud. Anyway, thanks!

Ken Lin

still worrying.......
no money to mod cuz spent too much on replacing parts!