Hi all,

Just found this forum, looks like a pretty good place to start as you lot seem to know what your talking about.

I have a Fiat Uno 1.4 which has a knocking noise coming from the front left wheel. If you bounce the car quite hard you can see the front left wheel judders. I have never worked on 1 of these before and i am not sure what i am looking for. Any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Could easily be wishbone - also called the lower suspension arm. Triangular piece, paralell to ground, attached at towo point to the car, and one to the wheel!

Cost £90 each, fitted, when I had the pair done for the MoT.

Thanks for the reply.

Any idea if you can do this yourself or is it a garage job?

Easy DIY job, and can be bought off e-bay cheaply.

SuperUno said:

Easy DIY job, and can be bought off e-bay cheaply.

Click to expand...

Can you tell me if i need to replace both the front wishbones as a pair or is it ok to just do the 1 side?

Thanks

You should be fine just replaceing one side, But bare in mind that if it has just worn out through normal ware and tare and hasn't been damaged through kerbing or anything like that, then the one on the other side has done the same mileage so will be getting just as worn

HTH
Dan

Change BOTH, ASAP!
You do not want to find yourself standing in the middle of an intersection at 11:00 PM in a freezing rain with your wheel loose and at angle with the car, driveshaft pulled out of the gearbox, waiting for a rip-off by towing service!
Yes, it has happened to me - it was the nastiest experience I made with my 45.
If the black rubber cover of the lower balljoint is split just a crack, the dirt will enter the balljoint and destroy it quickly. A telltale sign of worn lower balljoint is feeling like driving in longitudinal grooves even on a perfect road and the car "jumping/wandering" to side while cornering (I do not know how to describe the feeling...).
The balljoint is an integral part of the wishbone on Uno and IMHO cannot be changed separately.

If the knocking noise only happens when driving with the steering on full lock, then it sounds more like the outer CV joint failing.

If it knocks just by pushing the suspension up and down, then it's more likely to be suspension or wheel bearings. If the wheel 'judders' or moves about noticeably then I'd worry... Could well be the suspension arm about to fail. Check the metal near the ball joint for cracks, as it has been known for the ball joint to shear off from the arm completely.

Check also the wheel by jacking up the car, grabbing it at the 12 and 6 o'clock position and seeing of there is any play or knocking. also try at 9 and 3 o'clock postion. If it knocks when you do this, then you have too much play in your wheel bearings. You might be able to adjust them, or at worst you'll need to have them changed.

£90 each for a suspension arm sounds rather expensive, even if that includes fitting. That's £180 to have two done!

Shop4Parts (as advertised by Fiat Forum!) were doing them for about £15 each on a special offer recently. With a decent socket set, manual, and tools it is quite within the realms of the average Uno owner to change them at home.

It IS possible to change the balljoint on it's own, as it is mearly pressed into the arm by means of an interference fit. Ball joints can be brought seperately from motor parts factors (not Fiat, they don't do them), and you have to have the old one pressed out. But I'd recommend changing the whole arm, as once the balljoint goes it's more likely that the arm is rusting through anyway.

Either way, I'd strongly recommend getting your Uno checked out ASAP and to NOT drive it until the cause of the knocking can be found. You certainly don't want to drive a long at speed and have the balljoint break off from the suspension arm.

Oh, it's also worth checking the obvious. Are the wheel nuts done up tightly? Loose wheel nuts will cause knocking noises like you describe. I'd check these first before rebuilding the front suspension!

Hope you get it fixed, and by the way, welcome to the forum!

Yes, I got a second hand info of the possibility of changing only a balljoint - that is why I put in the conditional IMHO .
However, it is easier to change the whole wishbone DIY (no special tools required). As for the price, if I remember right, I got a pair of aftermarket wishbones for about 50 Euro.

Thanks for all the help and info guys, i will get it jacked up in my garage as soon as i've made some room and i'll let you know how i get on.

Its the bottom ball joint on the wishbone, same prob myself, theres 3 ends to the wishbone, there should be summit thats got a bold hanging out it and is supposed 2 be packed with grease, check for a rip in the seal. ur able to buy a wishbone for about 25 quid n its about an hours job.

Trav 1.1uno said:

Its the bottom ball joint on the wishbone, same prob myself, theres 3 ends to the wishbone, there should be summit thats got a bold hanging out it and is supposed 2 be packed with grease, check for a rip in the seal. ur able to buy a wishbone for about 25 quid n its about an hours job.

Click to expand...

Thanks mate, i've got the new wishbones now. Also noticed the rubber boot on the left driveshaft at the dif end is split so i am doing that as well. I took the driveshaft off today and took the boot off but it looks like there is a piece of the bearing left behind on the shaft. There's allways something is'nt there. :bang:

Joe,

That bearing left behind is normal - I have had nothing but grief trying to get those bearings off without damage - my advice would be to leave the bearing alone and remove the driveshaft from the outer CV joint to allow you to get the new boot on.

This is assuming that you've got the correct type of replacement boot, with a large hole to fit over that bearing. Earlier models did not have the bearing - the boot tried to seal directly against the (rotating, swinging) shaft. Leaking driveshafts is a common problem with FIAT gearboxes - the sealed bearing seems to be the best solution.

Getting the driveshaft out of the outer CV joint involves parting a circlip hidden in dark grease. You will just be able to see it where the shaft disappears into the centre (moving) part of the CV joint, once you have wiped some of the grease away.

Alternatively you might like to try your luck at stretching the new boot over the bearing.

It's unusual to have a split inner-end boot. Usually the outer one goes, so if it looks anything less than perfect, it may be an idea to replace that (since, I think, you're doing most of the work needed anyway...)

-Alex

Hi Alex,

Thanks for all the help. I have taken the old boot off the driveshaft and the bearing but it seems like an inner sleave has been left behind from the bearing. I have the new boot and the bearing and i can see this inner piece on the new bearing. I'm just a bit concerned about damageing the driveshaft getting the thing off.

OK, well I wouldn't be too concerned with damaging the driveshaft, myself. It's a solid steel rod. One way to remove a bearing race is to (wince) shatter it with a couple of direct blows with a sharp item (e.g. centrepunch) and a heavy hammer. This is assuming that you have some sort of support directly under the shaft as you hit it. The hardened steel of the bearing race will just split apart so that you can remove it.

My concern would be the chance of damaging the new bearing as you fit it. If you haven't already, I think you should take the driveshaft off the car - you probably only need to undo the big hub nut to achieve this. Just get an assistant to stand on the brake pedal, and use a 1/2" drive breaker-bar with a pipe fitted over the handle as an extension. Or, use an air impact wrench (rattle gun)

With the driveshaft off and in a vice, the work becomes a lot easier. Make a note of where the bearing needs to be driven on to - perhaps scribe a line or check your Haynes manual.

-Alex

I already have the driveshaft off and i have managed to get the rest of the bearing off now with a little help from a hammer and punch.
The new bearing has the same inner sleave as the old so i have tapped this out of the bearing and applied a bit of heat to it and it has gone on the driveshaft no problem. I then put the bearing on the shaft and gently tapped it back on to the sleave. (and yes i did put the new boot on before the bearing ).
According to haynes there is a revision from 87 onwards and this bearing has to be 138mm from the end of the shaft if you have the 5 speed gearbox.

I've put the tripod bearing back on and i'm about to go back out to the garage and put the driveshaft back on the car, I'll let you know how i get on later.