[corbendallas]

Just today my car started making a horrible clunking noise when i turn left. It only happens once, mid turn, going left only. I used to notice it would make a similar less pronounced noise when i would go into drive. But now every time I turn left I get worried. Has anyone ever had this problem?

 

[corbendallas]

...to be more specific, the clunk comes from the right front.

 

[Guest]

broken motor mounts? axle?

 

[corbendallas]

And another thing, when i went over a speed bump at like 3 miles per hour it clunked. I have a really bad feeling my car is going to kill me... Ever see Final Destination?

 

[slowSER]

Nut on top of shock is loose? Broken shock? I've had both within the past two weeks -- made clunking noise whenever I went over a bump or anything.

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'93 Sentra SE-R, daily driver and track/autox toy
'91 Sentra SE-R, future racecar

 

[Nick]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by corbendallas:
Just today my car started making a horrible clunking noise when I turn left. It only happens once, mid turn, going left only. I used to notice it would make a similar less pronounced noise when I would go into drive. But now every time I turn left I get worried. Has anyone ever had this problem?</font>

Its your half shafts more than likely well I should say the joints on them. get under your car and check the boots on the joints if you see greas all over every thing and the boots split you definitely need to replace them.

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92 NX2000, kyb agx, intrax springs, jwt pop,
3a Racing muffler with bonzi tip,
17 " mille miglia mm 112, Yokohama avid h4
ACT clutch on order

 

[Guest]

THESE CARS ARE POSSESED!!
You better be careful!!!!

 

[NXD]

My NX2000 just had this problem.. I fixed it by replace'n the front sway bar linkages.. about 40 bucks in parts for both sides.. check em out if their warn out they make a crazy clunk..

 

[corbendallas]

Thanks for the info. I really hate driving her like this. Too bad its storming like mad out, or i'd drive her up on ramps and have a looksee.

 

[Nismo91ser]

Honestly we had a van at work with this problem and i would check the following..

1)sway bar endlinks
2)ball joint(may have bad spot)

hope you find it
Tom

 

[JimR]

Though it kinda sounds like a axle/CV-joint problem (and might be), the noise could be anything loose/worn in the front end. The whump of putting the car into drive might be moving the engine around enough to make a bad engine mount clunk. When the car is turned left, the mount might bind or allow the engine to shift around in that one direction - clunk.

Then again, it could be suspension. There are an infuriatingly great number of things in the front end that can clang, pop, and clunk.

I fought an annoying noise for a long time. Over light bumps while turning and speed bumps the front would pop and clunk. Several hundred dollars later, I found out that a rotten pair of "Strut Thrust Bearings" was the problem. They're the wimpy little rotating washers that fit into the top part of the front strut assembly and allow the strut to rotate while turning the car.

 

[Andrew]

All the above are excellent suggestions. I would also add a left Thrust Bearing to the list.

 

[corbendallas]

It finally dried up outside, so I looked under the car to see what's up... Its the ball joint.. that little bastard is all loose. I could wobble it around. Thankfully it was something easily noticeable. I was getting scared when motor mounts came up. This looks pretty easy. Is the ball joint something thats better off gotten direct from nissan or is my local checker auto parts store good enough?

 

[redman007]

bad news dude, the ball joint is connected to the control arm one pc.nissan dosen't make one for the se-r seperate. about 100 bucks and up for the control arm. but heres a trick. the 1990 nissan sentra's ball joint is the same size and can be pressed into our control arm at a mechanic with a hydraulic press. the 1990 ball joint is 20 bucks at any big auto parts store. I would go with the (se) model.you could change the wheel bearing while your at it also cheaper at a big auto parts chain.

[This message has been edited by redman007 (edited 08-02-2001).]

 

[corbendallas]

One piece? Its hard to believe, because looking at it it has bolts on both ends, which appear to be removeable. Maybe its not the balljoint I'm looking at?

 

[corbendallas]

also, looking at checker they had the part (ball joint) for my NX for 34 bux. Now I'm confused.

 

[Nick]

are you looking at the tie rod ? or the ball joint on the lower control arm that kinda looks like an A thats in this pic
http://members.home.net/nick18a/A-amr.jpg

sorry that its kinda big

 

[corbendallas]

I dont see it in that picture. Maybe I'm seeing it from a different angle. I wish i could take a picture, then I'd be sure.

 

[corbendallas]

All I know is, is that my tire on that side is totally bald on the inside. Would that not be caused by a broken ball joint?

 

[JimR]

Oh, a broken ball-joint could definitely cause alignment problems and clunking. It is what attaches the lower A-arm to the hub. The strut assembly, which makes up the upper half of the suspension, mounts to the hub, so the ball-joint is an important link in the suspension geometry.

The ball-joint is the one just below where the driveshaft plugs into the hub. There's not a lot of clearance between the top of the ball-joint and the bottom of the driveshaft.

Nissan only sells the A-arm and ball-joint as one unit (around $100 when I checked a couple of years ago), but it's not one piece. Many part companies sell the ball-joint as a separate part that you can press in and out of the control arm. Check the 'List archives or your local parts store.