cracking noise when on full lock ,

[VW_OwneR_85 1]

havent had a proper look into this yet, but if im going slow and doing a 3point turn on full lock over a small bump i'll get a fairly loud cracking noise!

sub frame bolts tight, no play in either front wheels, and nothing which looks out of place, its done it for as long as i can remember but now seems louder which is why im gona sort this out soon, anyone had this issue? i did the top mount bearings when i did the shocks so i doubt its them, the next thing im gona try is turn full lock both ways whilest stationary, then i'll do a 3point turn with a friend alongside the wing to see if he can hear it, any other suggestions??

[seanl82 23]

Track rod/ ARB/ wishbones knocking on something/each other maybe. Need to pinpoint where its coming from like you said with someone down there looking both stationary and moving.

[VW_OwneR_85 1]

yea its prety damn loud and sounds very dry so i dont think it will be a problem for someone to hear it, i guess a cv joint could do this aswell? although i dont get any other noises associated with worn cv joints everything seems spot on !

[seanl82 23]

Remembering back I think I had similar actually with an old "cough" Pug 306 :oops:

CV joint was actually coming away from the hub though so when on full lock, the driveshaft would pivot and lift the whole side up on each rotation! Was kinda funny actually, although quite serious looking back! :silly:

[VW_OwneR_85 1]

LOL ! sounds like the symptoms of that would be more then a cracking noise tho? i did replace the n.s outer cv awhile back for non genuine cv, but im prety sure the noise was around before that just not loud, well see next week..

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I had this years ago. When backing out of my space at work I would get one loud crack on lock, then it was silent for the rest of the journey.

 

Never did find the cure for it but it went when I replaced the steering rack ;)

[captainredeye 0]

I have had a loud knocking sound when the drop links for the arb have snapped which has also punctured the cv joint boot.

Do you get the knocking steering in both directions?

[VW_OwneR_85 1]

{its not a knocking noise its a realy dry cracking noise }im not sure if it does it both ways i know for a fact it does it when the wheels are locked over turning left, fishwick i aint replacein no steering rack lol, like yours mine is fine to drive under normal conditions other then the crack which only happens doing 3 point turns over rough terrain, other then needing wheel alignment, think i might just order genuine track rods , ends , and balljoints, arb drop links, do it all then get alignment done n dusted once and for all, i know the alignment aint gona fix the cracking noise but it needs to be done, aint gona get around to properly looking into this untill late next week,

[dr_mat 0]

I'd also vote for ARB drop links if it only happens when you hit bumps.

If it happens as the wheel turns it's more likely to be wheel bearings or CV joints though.

[owen g60 10]

Watching this closely as I have the exact same issue.

 

I'm leaning towards cv joints

[CazzaVR 0]

Me too! Exactly as Kev mentioned above- when I reverse out in the morning, or out of my carpark space at the end of the day. Hardly ever happens during a journey.

[quicky1980 0]

mounts for the steering rack come loose or bushes worn?

[24V Renshaw 0]

You say the subframe bolts are "tight" but are they torqued properly? Its pretty high from memory.

 

Jay

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Nope, checked all that /\. I had my car on the ramp at Stealth for ages trying to pinpoint it and it baffled Vince as well. He's heard / seen several do it, but doesn't know what it is.

 

As I say, during a rack replacement, the noise vanished. God knows what we disturbed that could have sorted it, or whether it was the rack itself, but it's never done it since.

[VW_OwneR_85 1]

damn seems like this is a common problem, my first initial thought was the subframe so i checked those ages ago and there very tight {they didnt budge },so i dont think thats the problem, i replaced both wheel bearings awhile back, as far as i know i did it the correct way, and as i cant get any free play in the wheels thats a good indication, im also prety sure this noise was around before i did the wheel bearings anyway, if it was anything to do with the rack wouldnt you be able to feel it through the steering wheel?,

[CazzaVR 0]

My subframe has been off recently and rear R32 bushes fitted (advisory at last MOT, so thought these were probably the prob), but it still does it in exactly the same way as before. Strange.

[owen g60 10]

I should be doing my cv joint next week.

 

Ordered the parts from AVS as they're now discontinued by VW.

 

Will be doing ball joints at the same time as I have no history of them ever being done.

 

All came in at just over £40 delivered with ccgb discount :)

 

Will update if the cv solves the cracking

[rodmax 0]

Hi guys,well i thought i'd throw this into the pot,i had a mk3 colour concept,that would do it on full lock a very loud cracking noise (normally when turning left) checked everything re torqued all of the obvious.replaced various parts,which never fixed it.Then the water pump failed .The bearings went and the pump collapsed.after i replaced the pump the cracking noise vanished,i always wondered if it was the bearings packing up that made the noise.

So something else to think about.

Rod

[davidwort 0]

Reading this thread it sounds like a cv to me, when the cv joint is cold and at maximum stress the balls shift in casing and then jump back into place, dismantling and repacking with cv grease may help, close inspection should show a slight groove worn on the cv housing, 99.9% of the time it won't happen and you won't get the characteristic clic-click of a very worn joint but cold reversing on full lock is def when this can happen.

[VW_OwneR_85 1]

Reading this thread it sounds like a cv to me, when the cv joint is cold and at maximum stress the balls shift in casing and then jump back into place, dismantling and repacking with cv grease may help, close inspection should show a slight groove worn on the cv housing, 99.9% of the time it won't happen and you won't get the characteristic clic-click of a very worn joint but cold reversing on full lock is def when this can happen.

 

you know iv got a good feeling your right on this! ,

[dr_mat 0]

I had a similar noise years back and we were 50/50 on whether it was the CV or the wheel bearings. Turned out it was the wheel bearings. (This was an old Jetta.) The front wheel bearings have to be a VERY long way gone before you notice any play, they'll click and clunk under tight cornering load for ages before this happens.

I also currently have the standard Corrado "heavy clunk" from the front suspension once per journey. It's a different issue I think, but as you've seen above no-one's figured out what..

[VW_OwneR_85 1]

i highly dought its my wheel bearings, i did those less then 800miles ago, and my car rolls smooth as is it should, also the wheel bearings arent under any more pressure on full lock then they are normaly, my bet is cv as thats realy the only think getting put to its limit on full lock,

 

[dr_mat 0]

Depends how fast you're going when on full lock, obviously ..

[owen g60 10]

Check your power steering pump.

I got a loud thud on the underside of the car on the way home today.

Steering was still fine but had a rubbing sound along with some belt slip.

 

Turns out the 2 bolts that hold the pump to the mount had worked loose one completely missing.

 

I've replaced the bolts and the clicking has gone.

 

The m6 bolt to the right of the pump was the one missing. The other partly hidden by the pulley was the one that had worked loose.

[VW_OwneR_85 1]

sounds like you got it just in time, i'll deffo check it out, cheers for the heads up..

 

---------- Post added at 8:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 8:48 PM ----------

 

Depends how fast you're going when on full lock, obviously ..

 

yea true , i should of said in my situation with only doing slow moveing 3 point turns, wouldnt of thought the bearings would be under any more pressure on full lock or straight at walking pace