• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

binding poping sound when turning left

Beans

Addicted CEG'er
Joined
May 4, 2006
Messages
6,758
Location
Plymouth,MI
This is happening on the passenger side front.

Im stumped. I had this before my alignment was done, (im fairly certain i had this since ive owned the car with various suspension setups over the years) always thought it was the alignment being unhappy with it self.

Turning the wheel left, usually giving the suspension some load (pulling out of a driveway, bump in road ) i get a binding pop. I can almost feel it in my feet, passenger does as well. Steering is smooth no numb spots or hard spots.

koni/coilsprings gmorrel spring adapters. New strut mounts and bearings.
stangkiller lca's newer qa1 rod ends. Newer moog problem solver balljoints
newer moog tie rod
prt sf bushings
newer wheel bearings
newer gck cv axles
newer tie rod ends.

All this crap is tight. Done 3&9 12&6 no play.

Things i haven't replaced

Intermediate shaft.
steering rack, inner tie rods

^ These seem tight as well, so i don't want throw parts at it.

Im going to regrease everything, and undo and retighten to spec. Pastd that i dunno.
 
This sounds very similar to what I hear and feel on the drivers side. When its bad I can feel the pop through the clutch pedal. Others were kind enough to work me through it and at the moment it sounds like a slowly failing CV joint. How new are your CV joints ?

It never happens while the tire is hanging free ?

Mad Dog
 
If CV joint it will do it more than once in the same movement, once is ball joint popping to one side from the load and freeplay or even trying to break through the plate it is built into. Or upper strut mount bearing. On mine it was ball joint, you describe it perfectly, one pop only. Later it turns into a pop with grinding.

The ball joints are spring loaded, you may not find the play by playing with them until it is very severe. By then you are looking at safety issues, the grinding that accompanies the pop is the plate trying to break.
 
I would guess my cv axle on my driver side is 7000 miles. My passenger side is maybe 1k miles. I can't get **** to move, only slight movement where the axle goes into the intermediate, i believe that's normal.

Can't get anything with the car jacked up. has to have load on it, and even then it's very inconsistent.


I had this sound before on my first dorman control arms, AND my old suspension setup with strut mounts. replaced them with the stangkilers and moog ball joints... Makes me think it's not the ball joint or the strut mount. I wish i was a ball joint i got spares sitting around. Obviously throwing parts at it is not the correct way to fix it.

Put my phone on my passenger seat and drove around. Oddly enough only time i could get it is sitting still at a stop sign and running the wheel back and forth. Did it once.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfoJUzlOLOQ
 
Have you checked the knuckle joint at the bottom of the steering column ?

Is that soft whine in the video, the Vortech or the power steering ? .....G.
 
'Have you checked the knuckle joint at the bottom of the steering column ?'

Very good point that...............

Gonna throw a real odd one out there. I do not know on Contour, never had trouble on mine and used to stabilizer bars being positively side to side located like most do. On a Focus, the side to side retention sucks and with wear of the main bar bushings (NOT end links) the entire bar can slip to one side to make a noise like that when one side gets loose enough to strike the subframe on those.
 
Knuckle joint is the part that bolts from the wheel to the steering rack? That looked in good shape when i dropped the subframe last. The whining when im standing still is mostly the p/s pump. I was really going to town on the wheel, and my pump is all sorts of screwed up (agian, pump #4) Shaft has all kinds of play, side to side and wobble. Part of the reason i think the rack is going out too.

When i last had the subframe out, (i swapped to a 2 bolt) I undid the rack and looked it over, i didn't see anything wrong with the mounting... Had no trouble swapping over.

TgXwUdP.jpg
 
Knuckle joint is the part that bolts from the wheel shaft to the steering rack? ]

Yes. Inside the car ... under the pedals. Make sure it's not slipping when you turn the steering wheel.

The whining when im standing still is mostly the p/s pump. I was really going to town on the wheel, and my pump is all sorts of screwed up (agian, pump #4) Shaft has all kinds of play, side to side and wobble. Part of the reason i think the rack is going out too.]

Can't see it being the pump .. since it only pops going one way ... but I swapped mine out when I had my motor out and it is sooo nice not having a leaking rear union.

Try putting a white sticker on the steering wheel when centered, to see if the pop happens in the same spot each time. If it does, it would suggest rack and pinion wear.

When i last had the subframe out, (i swapped to a 2 bolt) I undid the rack and looked it over, i didn't see anything wrong with the mounting... Had no trouble swapping over. ]

You could check to see if you have an odd steering part. You may have a rod end or outer tie rod for a smaller wheel. You never know ... it may have been mis-supplied.

Also check the two large bolts that secure the rack, haven't worked loose. ....G.
 
Yes. Inside the car ... under the pedals. Make sure it's not slipping when you turn the steering wheel.
Yep that guy was in great shape.

Can't see it being the pump .. since it only pops going one way ... but I swapped mine out when I had my motor out and it is sooo nice not having a leaking rear union.

Try putting a white sticker on the steering wheel when centered, to see if the pop happens in the same spot each time. If it does, it would suggest rack and pinion wear.
Nope me either, but that's going to be changed out agian if it turns out to be a rack. Sicker idea...That's not a bad idea.

You could check to see if you have an odd steering part. You may have a rod end or outer tie rod for a smaller wheel. You never know ... it may have been mis-supplied.

Also check the two large bolts that secure the rack, haven't worked loose. ....G.
[/QUOTE] I really doubt it's wrong. The inners never been touched and the outters there is no way for those to be wrong really. I'm not sure i have access to those bolts w/o the subframe being lowered. I'm certain they are tight, but agian this noise exsisted when i first had the car. So before swapping subframes and me swaping the rack over.

Honestly it COULD happen when turning the wheel the other way, its common turning the wheel left though.
 
How about parking with two wheels on the sidewalk and laying underneath and listening while a buddy turns the steering Putting two fingers on the subframe might help too.....G.
 
- Yeah tried that its so inconsistant. It needs just the right load, couldnt get nothing .

- Redid the subframe bolts. They are peobably 200+ ftlbs double factory spec def still somthing there. :(

- If i load it right i can get it to do it with the wheel straighter. I was doing reverese forward repeat. I can get somthing out of that, SOMEtimes.

- i still feel it in the floor, its extra hard diagnosing the subframe bushings being solid, loud engine, stiff suspension, loud exhaust.


Thanks for the help
 
- Redid the subframe bolts. They are probably 200+ ftlbs double factory spec .

ooh, hope you greased the bolts on the rear ones. You don't want to rip the captured nuts off when you undo them.
.

I still feel it in the floor, its extra hard diagnosing, the subframe bushings being solid, loud engine, stiff suspension, loud exhaust.

noise shouldn't come into it ... the idea is to feel the pop and home in on where it's coming from.

Looks like you need to swap out the pump so you don't get a metal grinding paste swimming around your fluid circuit . Maybe the rack will have to swapped out too, since it's the only part you have had since the beginning ....G.
 
Yeah i dunno, getting pretty frustrated, but, I refuse to pull the subframe to throw parts at it.
 
You've come such a long way and overcome so many setbacks ... don't let the frustration spoil you're party.

Hang tuff .... it will come good for you

Do the P/s pump cos that needs doing and isn't throwing parts at it. Leave the subframe til you're feeling ready.....G.
 
Ah HA!!

I got it. It's the control arms. The misalignment spacers for the heim joints are not made correctly. Even torqued 100% fully down they eventually loosen up because the bolt is still smaller than the misalignment spacers bolt hole. Got the clunk to go away! BUT really whaled on the car in a parking lot and got it to start coming back, because they will slide.
 
I know what a control arm is, but I can't visualize a misalignment spacer. Do you have a pic of the offending piece ?

thanks,

Mad Dog
 
Back
Top