2003 Cavalier Handling is Increasingly......Strange? Edit: FIXED!!!!

"thebigbossyboss" (thebigbossyboss)
12/05/2014 at 17:33 • Filed to: None

Ugh. Something is wrong with the front right of my car. Every time I slow down or speed up there is a knocking sound. In addition the handling seems....strange. When I turn at first it seems it doesn't want to turn, then it *really* wants to turn.

It sort of reminds me of a decreasing radius turn, the only thing being...this decreasing radius turn is in my wheel. As per recommendation of Yamahog is clearly a turkey clearly turkeytime, I will be jacking up the car this afternoon to see if I can "stance" my right front wheel to check my ball joint.

The Cavalier has new brakes, (this past May), left tie rod end (May) struts, (this past July), and alignment (this past august) and new tires (last saturday), so presumably something else is wrong.

I checked my tie rods in August. I'll check them again but they seem fine.

Any brilliant ideas oppo?

Unfortunately a new car ain't in the cards just now for me.

Cheers

Ok Update: It was as mildly suspected by me the right ball joint. It being winter and dark all the time, plus the fact I am busy led me to dropping my car off at mechanic saying "the steering is weird and there's a knocking in the lower right suspension." "Fix it" And fix it they did. New right ball joint plus associated labour led to a bill of $199.99. And the car steers SO much better now. I think I probably helped my tires out too the car seems to drive straighter.

YAY!

DISCUSSION (23)

d1ck > thebigbossyboss
11/25/2014 at 08:08

I'm guessing worn out control arm bushings or loose strut bolts.

thebigbossyboss > d1ck
11/25/2014 at 08:11

I did the struts myself. I was sure to torque them to spec I think. I even used a torque wrench and everything.

Forgive my ignorance (kind of a mechanical idiot over here)....what is a control arm bushing?

BJ > thebigbossyboss
11/25/2014 at 08:17

Bushings are similar to bearings in that they provide an interface between two parts, where one is inserted inside the other. A bearing has moving parts for low friction, whereas a bushing is more like a sleeve.

I was going to suggest bushings as well. Check the entire front end for irregular movement, not just the right side.

thebigbossyboss > BJ
11/25/2014 at 08:19

Well I looked them up. Good news: They seem cheap. Bad news: No idea how to replace those. I'll look that up. I might give it a go, since they are cheap. Would one (typically) get an alignment after doing their bushings?

d1ck > thebigbossyboss
11/25/2014 at 08:22

It's not at all common for strut bolts to be loose, but you should be able to tell pretty easily by looking at the flange on strut where the bolt goes though. There will be lots of scratches from the bolt moving. The control arm bushings are the rubber bits that connect the control arm to the front subframe / body.

Here's a picture, the red parts are the bushings. This guy has urethane ones which is why they are red.

http://www.cardomain.com/ridepost/38387…

thebigbossyboss > d1ck
11/25/2014 at 08:24

Right on thanks!!

thebigbossyboss > d1ck
11/25/2014 at 08:26

Awww yeah.

v8corvairpickup > thebigbossyboss
11/25/2014 at 08:28

Also check the CV joints. Usually when they're bad, they make a knocking noise when in a turn. I don't know about knocking when accelerating but while you have it in the air, worth a look. Best of luck to you in this search. Keep this in mind as you're fixing it, "It'll be cheaper than my Jetta to fix."

thebigbossyboss > v8corvairpickup
11/25/2014 at 08:29

The knocking when accelerating is right at the beginning. You hit the pedal and then it goes "thunk" and accelerates. As if something is either rolling or moving back then stopping against something.

JGrabowMSt > thebigbossyboss
11/25/2014 at 08:43

Sway bar links maybe, could be missing one or both. And random clunking around bumps?

Runnerguy > thebigbossyboss
11/25/2014 at 08:49

Control arm bushing for sure. I have a Saturn ion and this is a regular problem. Also had to change one side on my sister in laws g5. I think these cars share a lot of same parts. Pretty easy fix if I recall.

thebigbossyboss > Runnerguy
11/25/2014 at 08:56

Sweet. Good news is these things are pretty cheap. I did my struts so I might be able to do this myself also given a proper youtube vid. ha!

thebigbossyboss > Runnerguy
11/25/2014 at 09:03

I never knew these could affect the handling that much. You'd think a tiny $11 dollar part wouldn't much matter. Thanks for the tip.

BJ > thebigbossyboss
11/25/2014 at 11:00

Note that some bushings are press-fit (I think typically it's the lower control arm bushings) and you'll need to rent a tool to pop out the old ones and get the new ones in.

Disclaimer: I'm not a mechanic. It's your own fault if you die a fiery death at high speeds after reading something some random guy posts on the internet! :)

DasWauto > thebigbossyboss
11/25/2014 at 22:20

The delay in accelleration sounds like worn engine mounts. The symptoms while turning sound like ball joints. I guess the accellerating issues could be the ball joints as well but they'd have to be REALLY bad.

thebigbossyboss > DasWauto
12/05/2014 at 17:23

My mechanic informed my lower right ball joint may have fit that description.