"Click" from front suspension

[Jonah]

My girlfriend's Bravo ('99 1.2) has a small problem somewhere in the front suspension. Whenever you accelerate, decelerate or brake, there is a single sharp "click" that sounds like it's coming from around the passenger footwell. It makes one click when you start to accelerate, and one when you start to decelerate (with the brake pedal or engine braking in lower gears) - so it's as if something is shifting one way under forward loads and the other way under backwards loads. Whatever it is, it's not just "loose" as nothing rattles over the bumps, and the accel / decel needs to be above a certain threshold before it makes the noise.

I've had a look around the NSF suspension and can't find anything obvious... all the suspension clamp bolts, wishbone brackets and subframe mounting bolts are nice and tight and I can't feel any play in anything. Although it's difficult to put any large forces on anything just using hand tools.

Any ideas what else it could be?

Thanks,
Jonah

 

[rsmallwo]

somink similar

i had somink similar when i went round corners, depending on the G's i heard a clunk from the driver footwell.

i later found it was the check-strap for the drivers door was done in and it was loose so it would only move under enough G's

its a similar principal to what you are getting but was side to side as apposed to forwards and backwards motion

 

[Big Andy]

Re: somink similar

That is how my CV joint started, then it gradually started making the noise more often.

 

[Jonah]

Re: somink similar

I tried an experiment: got it to make the click under acceleration, then gently lifted off the throttle and pulled on the handbrake firmly while moving. No click. Touched the brake pedal... click.

So it isn't something attached to the body that is reacting to G force, because the deceleration from the handbrake would have set it off. So the noise must depend on load through the front suspension only.

Can't be a CV joint because pressing the brake also causes the noise, and braking doesn't affect the load through the CV joints.

So I'm suspecting the bottom balljoint at the moment... anyone know how much a new wishbone costs?

 

[Anonymous]

Re: somink similar

Why doesn't braking affect the forces on the cv joints?

 

[Tom]

Re: somink similar

If it was the bottom ball joint then accellerating would not affect it.

Could be a shot bush or a shot wheel bearing. If it was a CV joint I'd expect the noise when you lifted off the throttle.