Low Speed Knock Passengers Side

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

Hi,

 

Hopefully you lot might be able to help me narrow down a knocking noise i'm getting, mainly at low speed, either coasting or lightly on the throttle.

Feels like its coming from the front passenger side.

 

I have recently converted from base model front setup to Gti subframe. Whilst there I fitted a xsara vts rack, brand new inner track rods and track rod ends. Also brand new drop links, and also went from base model hubs to 1.6gti hubs.

 

with all that changed, its hard to know where to start looking. I checked the passenger wishbone ball joint for play before fitting, and it didn't feel tight, but i didn't feel any play, but it might be exaggerated when bolt up, i'm not sure.

 

The drivers side wishbone was almost new

 

I'm not that familiar with gti suspension, having mostly had base models, so this is a bit new to me.

 

It's also worth mentioning that it went through the MOT with no advisories like this, but I guess unless they took it for a road test, they wouldn't really have noticed.

 

Also, I managed to strip the thread on one of the three nuts on the passenger top mount, it still does up relatively tight, but I suppose that could cause a tiny bit of noise? I'm going to be changing to eccentric top mounts after pugfest, so I haven't bothered swapping that for a spare yet.

 

Another thing to note is that the drop link I bought had a larger thread on the top ball joint, I think it was M12 instead of M10, or something like that, but after this being the second pair i'd bought that had arrived like this, I made the instantly regrettable decision to drill out the holes in the shock absorbers to fit (i was in a rush to get it back on the road)

 

 

any help would be appreciated, as its very annoying!

[futura 3]

To be fair I think it is hard to know where the issue comes from unless you physically see the car and proceed by elimination.

 

Since you said the noise happens when flirting with the throttle, I would look into wishbone bushes or shock absorber top mount.

The antiroll bar bushes can also be at fault.

[futura 3]

If these are OK, I would check the drop links and engine mounts and bushes...

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

Thanks, I think a new passenger wishbone is on cards anyway, as the drivers one is practically new

How would i go about checking the anti roll bar bushes? If I recall correctly they may be polly ones, or at least an odd colour.

 

Ill recheck the engine mounts tonight

Edited July 4, 2014 by johnnyboy666

[futura 3]

Unfortunately I know no other method than fitting a new set and take the car for a drive ​

[welshpug 1,646]

Grab hold and wiggle, where appropriate use a lever bar.

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

Right time for an update,

 

I have found some issue, which may be contributing, which I will have to sort one by one and see what happens:

 

1. As i mention earlier, the thread at the top of the droplinks is m12 not m10. upon further inspection, these are completely the wrong part and are actually too long. New ones of the correct size have been ordered, but I am now going to have to use a little top hat washer/flange bush to take the hole in the strut back down to 10mm after I cleverly drilled it out

 

2. the rubber mounts that attaches the subframe to the shell (gti subframe - base model shell) are in poor condition. I am just 'prototyping' some solid replacements as the 309 solid ones are rare as buggery.

 

3. a combination of 106gti engine and box, and 205 ma driveshafts means that the passenger shaft pokes out of the box a little bit (8mm or so). This probably wasnt an issue before because I had 309 track control arms on the base model subframe, which gave the shaft a little more room to expand. Now ive put 205 wishbones on, i think it may be over compressed, which could cause weird noise/handling i reckon. To solve this, i've got some 309 wishbones on the way.

I actually couldnt detect any play anywhere on the wishbones, even with a prybar, same with the anti roll bar

 

If all that doesn't sort it, then It'll be off with the top mounts, and on with the rose jointed ones, to see if that's the issue.

 

If that doesn't work, i'll just have to drive it into a canal.

[Tom Fenton 1,536]

Shaft sounds like it's your issue to me although they are usually worse on hard cornering as the suspension compresses and the wishbone moves on it's arc which means the shaft has to get shorter.

One way to check, undo the shaft nut, you should be able to push the outer cv joint "in" by at least 1/2" or so. If it's solid then it's not good as when the wishbone moves the shaft is trying to push the gearbox across in the car.

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

It seems to be fine on hard cornering as far as I can tell, which is a bit strange. I'll do that check at the weekend, Although I seem to recall when I swapped the hub over that the shaft was very well seated, and didn't move much.

 

Should I presume the shaft is scrap now if this is the case?