Question for car people...

[iluvtofly 0]

My car has just started making a new noise as of last night. Whenever I turn I hear a thud and feel a bit of a bump on the floor right under my feet. I'm hoping it's just something related to the cold (it's currently 15 F). How concerned should I be? As you can tell by my post about the catch 22 I do not have the money for any sort of car malfunction at the moment (not to mention that my interview on Tuesday is 1 1/2 hours away.)

[jimmytavino 16]

check for either snow/ice build up....

also look and see if the plastic "wheel well guard" might have come loose, and is being hit by the tire,,, when you make a hard turn...
good luck

j

[cocheese 0]

Left front wheel bearing. Wheel is about to fall off. $300+ depending on how bad the brakes and rotors are now.

[skydiverbry 0]

Could be a strut bearing.Late 80's Ford/Mercury used to have these problems.You can hear it when you hit a bump,steering straight,but much more pronounced when turning. Annoying,but not dangerous.
Bry

--------------------------------------------------
Growing old is mandatory.Growing up is optional!!

D.S.#13(Dudeist Skdiver)

[iluvtofly 0]

Quote

Left front wheel bearing. Wheel is about to fall off. $300+ depending on how bad the brakes and rotors are now.

I really hope you're wrong. I just got both of the front ones replaced last June. I wouldn't think they'd go bad that quickly.

[pontiacgtp00 0]

What is the year/make/model of the car?

[iluvtofly 0]

2000 Nissan Altima with approx 140k miles on it

[LongWayToFall 0]

Can you describe the noise better?(grinding, thud, metal on metal sound, etc) Does it do it only when turning one direction or the other? Is it only one bump, or does it make a bunch or bumps in a row? Is there any difference when you are going fast/slow? What about gas/brake? If you can figure out exactly what you need to do to make the noise, it becomes easier to diagnose.

[labrys 0]

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My car has just started making a new noise as of last night. Whenever I turn I hear a thud and feel a bit of a bump on the floor right under my feet.

My car started making that noise a few months ago. In my case, it was that the control arm that prevents the wheel from moving side to side was worn out. 75$ part plus about an hour and a half to replace it.

Owned by Remi #?

[SuFantasma 0]

Quote

Left front wheel bearing. Wheel is about to fall off. $300+ depending on how bad the brakes and rotors are now.

Wow, are you one of those psychic hunters in the Discovery Channel? Do you have the gift of "remote viewing".... Nah, you must be a professional mechanic !

Y yo, pa' vivir con miedo, prefiero morir sonriendo, con el recuerdo vivo".
- Ruben Blades, "Adan Garcia"

[porpoishead 8]

could be a busted CV joint too..

loose wheel/lug nuts??

loose brake caliper or ball joint.

hard to diagnose with just the I turn and it thuds and bumps.

if you want a friend feed any animal
Perry Farrell

[SuFantasma 0]

Quote

could be a busted CV joint too..

loose wheel/lug nuts??

loose brake caliper or ball joint.

hard to diagnose with just the I turn and it thuds and bumps.

Could be bad advise too

Y yo, pa' vivir con miedo, prefiero morir sonriendo, con el recuerdo vivo".
- Ruben Blades, "Adan Garcia"

[porpoishead 8]

could be bad anything.... ju-ju even




time to break out the cigars, chickens, and rum

if you want a friend feed any animal
Perry Farrell

[chiquita24 0]

***Could be a strut bearing.Late 80's Ford/Mercury used to have these problems.You can hear it when you hit a bump,steering straight,but much more pronounced when turning. Annoying,but not dangerous.
Bry

Quote

My car makes a very similar sound and has done it for awhile now. It only makes it when I turn, and both hear it and feel it on the floor. My dad works in the automotive industry and believes that it is the struts also.

[rwieder 0]

Loose Caliper, Rotor, Brake Pad, Ball Joints, Tie Rod Ends, Drag Link, Struts? That's a lot of miles. Better fix it before the wheel does fall off. Good Luck.

-Richard-
"You're Holding The Rope And I'm Taking The Fall"

[billeisele 130]

could be a sign not to drive to that interview

Give one city to the thugs so they can all live together. I vote for Chicago where they have strict gun laws.

[airdvr 210]

More than likely its not cold related. Take ti somewhere and have it looked at quickly...could be dangerous.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[iluvtofly 0]

It is a thud sound. Doesn't matter which way I turn. The harder the turn the more thuds. No difference with different speeds or gas/brake.

Now here's an interesting development with it. I drove about an hour last night to a x-mas party. About half way down it stopped making the noise. Today the weather is in the 40's and there was absolutely no noise at all. Kinda makes me wonder if it's cold related just because I know my car doesn't really like the really cold days anyway (always takes a while to start on the really cold days.)

[wolfriverjoe 1,523]

The harder you turn the more thuds? Repeating thuds or just louder thuds? Thuds you can feel through the floor usually indicate something fairly big shifting around. (Like the entire wheel assembly)
If you just replaced the bearings, I'm guessing ball joints or control arms.
Doing it in cold/not doing in warm is the lube being stiff. Did it keep doing it after driving for a while (after the car warmed up?)
I hate to say it, but the Car Talk guys have a "rating" for repairs: Costs more money if you ignore, Leaves you stranded if you ignore, or KILLS YOU IF YOU IGNORE.
Steering problems fall under the third category. I understand you don't have money to fix it, but do you have the money to deal with the front wheel falling off at highway speeds? Or the steering going out? (Bad balljoints can lock your steering up-usually at the worst possible time)
I would strongly suggest getting someone to check it out for real. A decent mechanic could simply do a couple figure 8's and have a good idea how bad it is.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[SuFantasma 0]

Quote

***Could be a strut bearing.Late 80's Ford/Mercury used to have these problems.You can hear it when you hit a bump,steering straight,but much more pronounced when turning. Annoying,but not dangerous.
Bry

Quote

My car makes a very similar sound and has done it for awhile now. It only makes it when I turn, and both hear it and feel it on the floor. My dad works in the automotive industry and believes that it is the struts also.

Attempting to fix your car problems on DZ.com is like attempting to get marital relationships advice from a priest. Drive to you nearest Amish village and ask for their best mechanic, that should put all these posts in perspective.

Y yo, pa' vivir con miedo, prefiero morir sonriendo, con el recuerdo vivo".
- Ruben Blades, "Adan Garcia"

[Redline165 0]

Seriously... make sure your wheels are tight.

Just from sounds of it you probably lost a tooth in the rack. IF thats the case, you gotta have a new rack and id avoid driving without getting it fixed, If you loose another tooth or 2 you risk loosing all steering. A gap internally larger then one tooth will possibly (depends on the type of rack in the car) cause a loss of "mesh" and make no more turning.

OR on a few cars ive seen people hit some bumps and jar either the steering column or the rack causing the gearbox to bind up. the simple way to fix that is to loosen up the bolts and tighten them back down again. i know that's probably a bit more work then joe blow can do (means if your not a mechanically inclined
don't attempt)

either way noises while turning are not good. id get it looked into

[SuFantasma 0]

Quote

Seriously... make sure your wheels are tight.

Just from sounds of it you probably lost a tooth in the rack. IF thats the case, you gotta have a new rack and id avoid driving without getting it fixed, If you loose another tooth or 2 you risk loosing all steering. A gap internally larger then one tooth will possibly (depends on the type of rack in the car) cause a loss of "mesh" and make no more turning.

OR on a few cars ive seen people hit some bumps and jar either the steering column or the rack causing the gearbox to bind up. the simple way to fix that is to loosen up the bolts and tighten them back down again. i know that's probably a bit more work then joe blow can do (means if your not a mechanically inclined
don't attempt)

either way noises while turning are not good. id get it looked into

Man, you must be a MD-80 series mechanic .... remember Alaskan Air ?

Y yo, pa' vivir con miedo, prefiero morir sonriendo, con el recuerdo vivo".
- Ruben Blades, "Adan Garcia"

[pontiacgtp00 0]

The harder you turn, the more it thuds. Almost sounds like either worn out CV joints, or the grease doesn't lubricate properly in very cold temperatures. The cold grease part is something I've never heard of, but I guess it could be possible. Bad CV joints are pretty common on front wheel drive cars.

[LongWayToFall 0]

It does sound like a bad cv joint. Makes noise in both directions, and a repeating thump. CVs are not super expensive, and they do go out fairly often. Go get it checked out!

[Misternatural 0]

Yep I vote CV joint....not to scare but they can lock up on you if bad enough,with no warning, while you are driving so don't drive to the interview without getting the thing checked out and replaced if necessary.

Beware of the collateralizing and monetization of your desires.
D S #3.1415