PatsTA

Within the last week my car has started making "pop" sounds when turning. Only occurs when under load (ie did not occur when I jacked it up). The noise occurs once or twice when turning in a given direction. I was looking at it tonight and it appears the noise is coming from the steering gear area. Anyone ever experience this?

I just replaced the steering linkage about a month ago (rag joint worn out) and before that had attempted to adjust the steering preload. Is it possible to overtighten the preload? (I followed the directions from Shoebox's site)

Also what is the socket size needed for the preload adjustment? I tried to measure it, it looked to be about 1 3/4".

Thanks,
Patrick

Lt1t56

Been dealing with a pop sometimes creek noise from front suspension now for 15000 miles and finally got sick of it. Like you stated the weight of the car has to be on the front suspension to make the noise happen. I definately thought it had something to do with the steering rack, but like they say noise travels. Finally found the problem and almost have the car back together tonight, been a long day. The noise was from the front lower control arm REAR bushing, coming apart badly. The other side was coming apart but not noisey yet. Removed both control arms, replaced all 4 bushings and both ball joints. That was hell of a job but feel confident noise will be gone due to how bad the bushings were. That is my story..... If that ends up being your noise and you repair it and need some help, leave me a private message and maybe I can assist you.

PatsTA

Well I am resurrecting my old post - after replacing the following:
- new upper/lower control arms (2 weeks ago)
- new steering shaft (2 months ago)
- new tie rod ends (~6 months ago)

The steering popping is still there and occurring more often. I flushed the power steering fluid as well last weekend as a desperate attempt to figure this out. Last night I put on the old steering shaft, and readjusted the preload bearing, but this did not fix the problem either.

The popping appears to be coming from inside the gear itself, near the preload adjustment. I don't know much (ok anything) about the steering gear internals, what could this be?

Thanks,
Patrick

CoUnTryMuZiCZ28

I have the pop too.. only turning to the right though and when i press the brakes hard.. Im stumped though..

PatsTA

That could be the lower ball joint - I had a popping noise years ago that was solved by replacing the ball joints. I have also heard that bad tie rods can cause that.

This noise is louder and almost a cracking noise. Definitely coming from the driver's side, definitely not ball joints/bushings, can really hear it inside the car. I'm a little worried that something bad is happening, wouldn't want to lose steering...

CoUnTryMuZiCZ28

Now that you mention it my steering is sloppy... It doesnt turn as good as it used to.. what could that be??

PatsTA

If by sloppy you mean you have play in the steering wheel, this is likely due to the "rag joint" wearing out on the steering shaft. Pretty common problem, I had around an inch of play so I replaced the steering shaft, though there is a "rag joint eliminator" you can get also. Try searching on "rag joint" for more info.

pearlpurple

I had a pop/crack when I would back out of garage and be turning it sharply to the left. It would pop when I would brake and turn the wheel sharp moving very slow. Bottom ball joints were replaced noise went away. Yes I did try grease before replacng the ball joints.

#7

That creeking and pop was symtoms of mine when my rack went bad.Coarse I knew right away that was it.Just by doing what you have done already narrowed the sound down to the rack.
Coarse I kinda figured for sure that it was the rack,being that I had fried the fluid at the track along with the pump the rack was shortly(days) after.If it wasnt from the fried fluid and bad pump it was most likely the road track abuse the car was gettin
I think its the rack,pretty sure if you have bad bjs that you can tell by getting tire off ground pull out and push in on the bottom of rim tire while observing for movement at the bjs loc. Dont be fooled by bad hub bearings if you have a bad one, if there is movement determine which area is moving hub or bj.
If it is the rack depending if you have firm ride or not can mean a 100 dollars or so difference in price.I had firm ride in that car the cheaper of the racks I think around $140+ it was awhile ago.

T.

PatsTA

Following up on my own post for the benefit of any searchers...

Turned out to be the rack. I believe I did something bad when I "adjusted" the steering preload, even though I was very careful about following the directions.

The sound it made was a cracking/popping noise that got worse progressively over time. Similar to the sound a bad ball joint made a few years ago, but louder and more annoying.

Bought a remanufactured rack at autozone for $140. Only problem I had with the install was the pre-installed lines on the hoses were not tight enough, and let air in.

Bottom line: don't mess with the steering preload unless you are absolutely sure it needs to be adjusted.

Patrick