Creeking/moaning when I make a sharp turn, CV Joint, Ball Joint or worse?

Question

My 1999 Chevy metro, with about 60K miles on it, makes an odd noise when i make very sharp turns to the left at low speeds, and if i turn the wheels while parked. Almost sounds like a mummy moaning. :)

I've dug around and i see CV joints and ball joints are a common reason for this type of noise.

Does that still sound like a CV joint, Ball Joint or could it be something else?

I'm kinda freaking out here. I just replaced the engine due to cylander failure ( 3 seperate mechanices agreed it was the best course) and the exhaust( cuz i hit a large unmarked pothole).
Now this messed up noise has me regreting my choice to fix my car.

I see both Ball Joints ad CV Joints for pretty cheap at online autoparts stores, and here it takes a few hundred with labor at most, but I also see HORROR stories of it costing THOUSANDS!

Arm Me with knowledge before i go to the mechanic, please.

I should have been more specify. I do have power steering, and the fluid is fine, no leaking. I have not noticed any increase in steering difficulty.

I'm simply troubleshooting as My reguilar guy does not do tired and aligenments, and I'm trying to figure out where to take my car. (break guy, Tire guy, Even the quick tire place)

I spoke with my brother, who does tires and alignments about 300 miles away from me, and he said the CV joints sound like the problem, and it's a "quick simply, pretty cheap fix on most cars"

However, the suddeness of the problem ( it just began yesterday afternoon) make him think i may have something STUCK in the joint, like a piece of the gravel i drive on daily. He says I can get the thing out myself, and grease it while I'm at it.

So, Anyone got a diagram or know where i can find one, chilton Repair Book's no help :(

It has been raining ALOT and i've been driving through a ton of puddles and muddy gravel

Upon further Inspections, the moaning is considerably more prenounced on slow turns, (under 20) While i am idling, It remind me of "leather on leather" sounds like a rubbing. There is a fair amount of rust in that area the noise generates from,behind the tires.

Where do I go? i need a new set of tires, and I check aligment after i hit that pothole, but my regular guy doesn't do either, just "under the hood" stuff. Would your standard tire place be able to do it?

It's running SO wonderful since the engine was replaced, better than when i bought it in 2001. I'm betting the dealer knew there was a problem, no wonder they had it "on special"

Moral: never buy from a dealer

This is very frustrating, on the weekend. Thanks to everyone for your very informative ideas and knowledge, and for helping me sleep a little better until I can get it in to be seen.

Answer 1

A creeking noise when turning would be indicative to me of either a ball joint being dry, a strut top bearing being worn out, a tie rod end needing grease or at worst a rack and pinion. could also be simply low power steering fluid, which is indicative of a leak. it's not cv joints because they would click while youre moving and turning, they wouldn't make any noise standing still.

Answer 2

Hi
The important evidence that you present is that the car makes the noise WHILE YOU ARE PARKED - ie. not moving.
Wheel bearings, CV joints and usually ball joints do not make noise unless the car is moving. A ball joint can, but your metro doesn't have any!
There are two possibilities that come to my mind: one is the so called "strut bearing" which is located at the top of the macpherson strut (suspension part at each front wheel that contains the spring and shock absorber). These things wear out due to getting dirt, salt, dust, sand, etc. sprayed up onto them. It is not serious in that nothing will break or fall off in the short term. However, it does need to be replaced if bad because it carries the bearing load of the weight of the car. BTW, if this is it, have the mechanic replace both sides at the same time since they have same mileage and have been exposed to same driving conditions.
The second possibility has to do with your power rack and pinion steering gear or pump. Either one will make a "moaning" sound if there is air in the system or if the pump vanes are worn or have some sort of contamination (dirt, rust, etc) in them. Again, it won't break quickly but you should have it repaired IF IT IS FAILING. I say that in caps because some power steering pumps develop such a symptom long before they fail - years, sometimes. Even if the power steering pump fails, you would still have steering, just would take more effort to steer and be a lot harder to park.
So if it is the strut bearing, replace both.
If it is the steering rack, replace it and flush the system.
If it is the steering pump, you may replace it or (safely) elect to let it go.
If the sound occurs while the car is rolling, but NOT when it is stopped, then a whole 'nother set of possibilites comes to the fore.

Hopefully, this is of some help and reassurance.

Answer 3

It is possible that it isn't any of these! It could just be the "bushings" on your "swyabar" which is designed to pull the other side of car down in turns,- so that the body does not have excessive "roll" towards the outside of the turn! These bushings are made of a pliable material (some are rubber, -some are teflon based material). they can get rust, or some sort of "road trash" material in them and makes them squeak when cornering hard. (try WD40 on all the Tie points on the swaybar and see if the noise goes away). this type of problem will come and go with weather to some extent also, - it is not particluarly harmful, but is annoying!

Another thing is that it could be your power steering pump "Cavitating" because it is low on PS fluid, so check this first of all! It is not totally unusual for a PS pump to make some groaning noise when you have the wheel truned against the "locks" in turning position. (note that it doesn't have to be moving to do this either!)

CV joints generally "clatter" in sort of a bumping-knocking sound that varies with the speed of vehicle, and the harder you turn the more pronounced the noise is! You can get underneath front of car and see if there is a large accumulstion of grease forming on or around the "joints" themselves ( the outer ends of the drive axles), - if these rubber boots get holes or rips in them the grease works it's way out, and the joints are running dry.,- which causes them to expire at a rapid rate!

Ball joints generally will give you a "bumping" sound when cornering, or turning sharp when moving slowly, - will occour at a fairly slow rate not so much by the speed, but bumps and imperfections in road will pronounce the noises more! You can jack up the car(one side, then the other) and rock the wheels in and out from 12:00 and 6:00 positions (by pushing in on one point while pulling out on the other) if ball joints bad, you will feel a considerable "rocking" of the axle/steering hub assembly (the part the ball joints connect on to),- in relation to streight up and down! (if you can get a helper, to watch the ball joints while you rock them, he will see a shifting between the axle hub, and the control arms of front suspension.) While you are at it, rock the steering from side to side and see if the tie-rod ends are loose in steering too!

Answer 4

Grease you ball joints, there should be a spigot on the joint(round thingy on a rod coming off your wheel heh heh) Just take a grease gun and hook it to the spigot and give it a couple of pumps. If one goes out it'll probably cost a couple hundred bucks to replace it. Go to the person that changes your oil and ask them to check your joints.

Answer 5

THE MUMMY MOANING SOUNDS LIKE YOUR POWER STEERING NEEDS POWER STEERING FLUID. IF YOUR CV JOINTS RUBBER BOOT IS TORN OR GRAB THE CV JOINT AND TURN IT BACK AND FORTH TO SEE IF THERE IS ANY PLAY OR NOISES GRAB YOUR BALL JOINTS AND WIGGLE THEM IF THEY ARE REAL LOSE CHANGE THEM GOOD LUCK,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,..,

Answer 6

sounds like outer C/V joint,easy to check, jack you front end up and check C/V joints booth to see if the booth are tore if they are most lightly your C/V joints are bad. if you are going to change i suggest change the one that booth tore( or made a noise ) one side shouldn't cost you more than $300.00,because the cost of labor and alignment or better yet ask mechanic to change booth instead the whole C/V joint.

Answer 7

If the chick is white, then yea, that might be a little weird. Edit: Nah, those knees look fine.