ok I have a 07 civic with 80k, which I bought used, it seems when i turn the wheel more so to the left at slow speeds like parking or pulling out etc I hear a popping and or clicking noise from the front end it doesnt always happen, but happens enough I took it to my dealer to have everthing checked before a rd trip they told me the boots and all are fine but the joins could be binding, but that its safe to drive and doesnt need to be replaced. thoughts or has any one else had this problem, thanks
What you describe are the classic symptoms of worn CV (constant velocity) joints.
However, the dealer says the boots are intact, and I have to assume, since the boots are intact, the grease is still in the CV joints.
Drive it and don’t worry until the noise gets worse.
The CV joints are unlikely to fail during a highway trip, since they’re not under much stress.
Although most CV joint failures are caused by lubricant leaking from the CV boots, I am willing to bet the issue is still the CV joints. Perhaps one failed for another reason, like a defect or because something hit it. I would go ahead and figure out which one it is and replace it, even if the boot isn’t leaking.
Make mine a third vote for the CV joints. Yours are classic symptoms. It’s safe, but it’ll only get worse over time.
Think of a CV joint as a “ball & socket” joint, except the ball and the socket have slots cut into them with smaller balls in the slots. The smaller balls, entrapped in the slots, keep the two halves of the ball & socket joint from turning relative to one another, while still allowing the two to articulate (bend to an angle) relative to one another. As they wear, imperfections can develop due to erosion in the small balls and in the slots. The clicking you hear is the damaged balls moving in the damaged slots.
Previous owner may have put on new cv boots over old joints. If the boots had been torn for sometime, road debris, salt, etc & loss of lubrication may have taken it’s toll.
ok thanks I will get it repaired after my road trip, I am almost thinking it might be a possible defect too because we have an 08 civic with about 45k, and it to is slowly starting to make the same noise, I am guessing if it was a real safety issue the dealer would have said so, they have always treated me right
I have had bad strut bearing plates make exactly that kind of sound - it sounded so much like a bad CV joint that its what I thought it was.
The struts should be too young to have this kind of issue - but the same goes for the CV joints. So maybe you could have another shop look things over for another opinion. In general, if it isn’t for warranty or recall service you can often do much better than the dealer service departments.
thanks for the advice, see because our 08 is just barely starting to make the same noise I figure it might be something common in this design, what are the strut bearing plates and should I be overly concerned, Iam getting ready for a vacation rd trip and plan on driving a couple thousand miles thanks for your help I have always liked my dealer because they have treated me right in the past