zx intermittent knocking at the front

craigl37 · Post by **craigl37** » 28 Aug 2010, 21:13

Hi all,
I've got a intermittent knocking from the front more noticeable at around 70mph and can be as low as 30mph.Tends to be with a slight incline on the road with a small amount of left hand lock.Now i had this problem on my previous zx diesel it started around 200k and got quiet bad.I do a long commute to work and it does it on the same part of road every time.This must be a common problem,the cars done 105k i wondered if it may be the driveshaft but i cannot find any excessive play in it.Has anybody got any ideas!!cheers.

spider · Post by **spider** » 28 Aug 2010, 21:30

Driveshaft noises tend to be constant (no pun intended) for the outer joints, usually under lock and the inner ones more so under load (mine only made noise under heavy acceleration) in a straight line.

I'm half inclined (as I can't see or hear it) to suggest it might be the bottom ball joint in the wishbone arm, or possibly the droplinks (if you have them fitted, although the droplinks tend to knock constantly if they are worn to an extent)

craigl37 · Post by **craigl37** » 28 Aug 2010, 21:48

Theres no play in the wheels when jacked up.My other car which had the same noise has had new wishbones,ball joints drop links before the noise started i wonder if it could be the inner joint on the drive shaft worn!
The noise is under heavy acceleration also! and not far off a straight line which side needed doing spider? cheers.

the_weaver · Post by **the_weaver** » 28 Aug 2010, 22:54

Are the driveshaft gaiters in good condition? They should be airtight. Check by squeezing them GENTLY and feeling for resistance. If they've got a leak then water will get in over time and change the grease into a thin mixture of grease and water which looks like oil. If the grease has been thinned out then the driveshaft might sound noisier than if it was running in thick grease.

Paul