Long story short.
For the last few thousand miles my 99.5 jetta has been making a popping noise (many pops, not just one) only when turning right under accelleration. (No noise when coasting or decellerating in gear and turning right, no noise under any circumstances). no pulsing in the brakes, and the car appears aligned well as it tracks nicely.
The noise is rotational, the faster you go, the faster the pops happen (again, it will make many popping noises, not just one). Probably once per revolution on the tires, not entirely sure. And it is, with as much certanty as i can have, coming from the front passanger side of the car.
I took it into the mechanic twice, first time they couldnt hear it and sent it back. Second time they said it was likely the CV joint so replaced both on the passnager side.
I have to admit that I didnt notice the noise for about 300 miled after that service, and I did try to get it ot happen.
but its back now.
All boots and ball joints look ok and no grease has slung out. I am thinking it might be a wheel bearing at the extremely early stages of going.
Right now i am on a "wait and see if it gets worse " course. For the last 1500 or so miles it has not seemed to have changed.
Appreciate the input!
Rick
More than likely they replaced your entire half-shaft rather than just the two joints. Almost all replacement half-shafts are rebuilt units. Rebuilt units tend to be really bad. You’re lucky you got 300 miles out it. I once got about 80. At other times I’ve gotten 0.
I’m not saying that other things shouldn’t be checked. But I’m betting your “new” rebuilt half-shaft was bad out of the box.
Cig’s right, but I’d like to point out that since the passenger side CV joints were worn out it’s entirely possible that the noise is now coming from the driver’s side CV joints. Note that a CV joint can go bad without leeching grease. They wear out with use just like any other mechanical joint.
here is a video with the noise in it
you will hear the noise of the steering wheel, then the popping.
I assume that is a cv joint noise?
Popping and clicking noise on acceleration, espeically noticeable when accelerating from a stop and turning, those are classic CV joint symptoms. I think either the rebuilt half-shaft you got has gone bad, or the driver’s side is on the fritz too. Are the CV boots both ok on the driver’s side?
It could be a wheel bearing, but the symptoms you describe are not common with a bad wheel bearing.
all the boots look fine, no grease slung out, not cracked. I was thinking aobut the wheel bearing, but the noises it make are CV joints.
Ill call the shop, maybe they can diagnose it. or just replace them both, its only double the cost…
My experience with both a late 70’s VW Rabbit and a early 90’s Toyota Corolla, the CV joints tend to need to be taken apart, lubed, and put together (with a fresh boot) every 60k-100k miles. I look at the boots every time I do an oil change, and if the boots are looking on their last legs, that’s when I take action. I do it myself in my garage, and when I rebuild one side, I always rebuild the other side. If I take a shortcut on CV joint maintenance, it would be that I would only do the outer CV joint on each side. The inner CV joint isn’t subjected to as much wear as the outer. It’s sort of strange your mechanic didn’t recommend to do both sides while he was doing it. Unless you’ve recently had them serviced. Anyway, since you’ve already done the passenger side, if that tests out ok and the mechanic thinks the driver’s side now needs work, ask your mechanic if you can get away with only servicing the outer CV on the driver side. That might save you some money. Best of luck.
Sounds more like a steering shaft or some steering related problem (even shift control), is it louder under the hood or in the cabin? Do the turn signals cruise control and shift lever exhibit any problems? If it is in the cabin it almost sounds like the steering wheel lock is not totally disengaging.