Weird noise....may be LCA may not...please help.
 

***I tried searching but couldn't find anything quite like what I'm experiencing***

I have two weird sounds that are coming from the left rear side of the car.

1. Whenever I backup and stop I get a loud metallic popping noise.

2. Sometimes when I lightly apply the brakes I get a sound (tink tink tink.....only at 100 beats per minute) but if I step on the brakes hard the sound completely disappears. Seems to happen intermittently.

I've pulled off LCA1 (the one towards the front of the car) and the bushing looks alright....I haven't pulled the second one yet since I need a balljoint puller and Napa is closed for the night.

Thanks....any comments are welcome.

noise
 

Aracknid,

Just for grins, tighten up the thru bolt on your upper control arms. Real tight now, hear? Make sure the weight is on the suspension when you do this. If that bolt isn't real tight the suspension will make a popping/cracking/whacking sound when you brake or gover a sharp dip or corner hard.

Check all the bolts and again, make sure the suspension is loaded when you tighten.

Good hunting

John

My front end makes almost the same sound.. Ended up being the LCA bushings... replaced them and no more noise..

The sound is coming from the rear end of the car....

John-What is this thru bolt your talking about....On the Rear Upper CA there are the two bolts that hold the bushings in place and the balljoint.....am I missing something?

Page SA-73 in the service manual is what I'm looking at.

Question:
I did pull out the Rear LCA1 (towards the front of the car) and the ball joint looks like its leaking grease everywhere......I did notice some grease before I pulled it out.....I'm guessing that it's shot?

Concerning the bushings on both LCA's they look fine. LCA2 the balljoint hasn't been pulled out...I'm not sure how much further I want to go since I found the above problem.....

noise
 

Spyder,

Sorry I took so long getting back. In the front....you remove a long bolt from the upper control arm to allow the wheel assmembly to come out to get the shock off. I didn't get the part where it is the rear of the car. Every frame/body mount point where a moving suspension component is bolted is a possible problem. If your are all tight and you have verified thqat all the bushings are good then I am out of Ideas. Good luck and let us know what you eventually find.

John