axles

[drew300]

I just noticed a fault starting on my '99 SW!.
When i had the steering over, almost to lock, the steering wheel "rocked" as I drove into a parking spot.
I'll assume I'm getting a CV joint fault.
I was thinking of inserting a grease-gun needle into the axle boot, and squirting some grease in there. The car has about 150,000 km on it. I don't hear any noises from the axle, and it still rolls well. I found this fault only once so far.
Comments?

[Cat Fuzz]

I'm not sure what 'rocked' means but wheel alignment comes to my mind.

[Alleninpa]

Rub your hand over your tires, do they feel smooth or cupped? If cupped I would say alignment or other suspension issue.
I wouldn't replace or do anything with the half shaft at this point. If this is the only time you feel it, don't sweat.

[denisond3]

On most any car with CV joints, they will be making a clicking noise on turns before they are worn out. But if you have the original CV joints at 150,000, they have lasted as long as they usually do on my cars.

[drew300]

Thanks for the replies.
By "rocked" I guess I should have said more.
With the steering wheel almost at the end of its rotation, this was a right hand turn, the steering wheel tried to straighten out towards straight ahead, by maybe 5 cm, and then allowed itself to turn right again. This happened only once, (so far). The tyres are still good, no lumps, bumps or cupping, and the car doesn't pull either way normally. I haven't heard any clicking yet.
Has anyone tryed to lub these things?

[denisond3]

If by 'lubing these things' you refer to injecting grease into the CV joint boot, yes thats possible, using one of those grease injector adapters for a grease gun. But unless you believe the joint is dry of grease, dont expect it to help much. Also you will have created a hole for the grease to be oozing out of, little by little, and water to be getting in.
Could what you felt have been due to an irregularity in the pavement?
Could what you felt have been due to a power steering pump belt that was slipping, or because of low p.s. fluid? With an old p.s. pump, the pressure regulator valve can get sticky. Then what you feel at the wheel is the 'coming & going' of the power assist. Usually this will happen most when the p.s. fluid is cold. Once it gets warmed up by driving, the 'throb' feeling at the steering wheel rim will go away. If this is what is happening, it will get slowly worse - but if you know about it, isnt life threatening.

[drew300]

Thanks for the replies.
As I've said, it's only done it once so far.
I'll just pay attention and see what happens.

[iamnick]

Originally Posted by denisond3

On most any car with CV joints, they will be making a clicking noise on turns before they are worn out. But if you have the original CV joints at 150,000, they have lasted as long as they usually do on my cars.

Not to steal the thread away from the initial question, but since you already mentioned this, I thought I would ask. My saturn has just started clicking when I turn a sharp corner, or as I let up on the brakes after having used them suddenly. Also, typically when I shift into park it will click as well. It has also happened once or twice as I go over a speed bump. This started about two days ago, but now happens at least once every time I drive it. Does that sound typical for a cv joint starting to go, and if so what happens when the CV joints does wear out, and how long do you think I have before it gets critical? I have 97,000ish miles, and I don't know that they have ever been replaced. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Alleninpa]

Originally Posted by iamnick

Not to steal the thread away from the initial question, but since you already mentioned this, I thought I would ask. My saturn has just started clicking when I turn a sharp corner, or as I let up on the brakes after having used them suddenly. Also, typically when I shift into park it will click as well. It has also happened once or twice as I go over a speed bump. This started about two days ago, but now happens at least once every time I drive it. Does that sound typical for a cv joint starting to go, and if so what happens when the CV joints does wear out, and how long do you think I have before it gets critical? I have 97,000ish miles, and I don't know that they have ever been replaced. Any advice would be appreciated.

Sounds more like a wheel bearing. Bet the noise is coming from the front left, as they tend to wear out a little faster for some reason.

[denisond3]

iamnick:
Im a hobbyist, not a pro mechanic, but my experience with CV joints and wheel bearings is that they dont go bad in just a couple of days, though I suppose its possible. Even if you drive a lot, and even if a CV joint boot were ripped open, the noises they cause would normally take quite a while to get more noticeable - like weeks: Unless you have been driving hundreds of miles a day. And while clicking on sharp turns does sound like worn CV joints; making such a noise on speed bumps and after braking, or when you put it in park does not. Without hearing the sound, I would think your noise is something else. I would advise checking (today before driving it) that the lug nuts on the wheels are not loose. Also check that you dont have a CV joint boot that is split open - if the boot is still intact a bad CV joint at 97,000 miles would be uncommon. If the boot has been split open for 500 miles, then a bad CV joint is expected. Then have a good look at the suspension and motor mounts. Clicking when you put it into park would cause me have a look to see if any of the motor mounts were loose or bad. The only way I know to have a good look at the motor mount under the end of the transmission is by pulling the splash shield loose in the drivers side wheel well. Both of our Saturns have 4 things that are motor mounts. Two of them just support, two of them just handle the motor twisting.

[iamnick]

Thanks for your advice. I checked the nuts and they are good. The clicking sound isn't coming from the tire itself (which would eliminate the wheel bearing as a probable cause, right?). I jacked it up and turned the wheel to make the noise and it seemed to be coming more from the front left/center area... I think from right around the cv joint (if the joint is what I think it is anyways).
I wouldn't even call myself a hobbyist... more like a college student who has exceptionally poor luck with cars and has to learn about fixing them whenever a new problem arises... which seems to be every other month or so. So, having said that, I want to make sure I am correct in my description. The joint itself would be inside the rubber(?) plunger/accordian looking thing right? And if that accodian looking thing is the boot, then it looked solid to me.
The clicking is much louder from inside the car than it is when I listen from the outside. The motor mounts were just replaced (they had been really bad just a few weeks ago), so I don't expect them to be the problem, but I will check them just to make sure. When I am looking at the suspension, is there any one thing I should be checking for specificly? Thanks again for your help.
Just wondering, with each of the possible problems, how immediate of a problem are they, what are the end results (ie, what happens once they wear out completely), and do you have any idea how much it would cost to fix either doing it myself or having it done at a shop?

[tim007]

maybe shocks/struts...we had a clicking over speed bumps/turning /braking and it was the front shocks/struts, cant remember which...
but it cost us 100$ to do ourselves and was a big pain...