Knock knock.....

Hi all, I have a 99 c4 with 85k on the clock which has been making a knocking noise from the front offside wheel. I had the wheel off last night looking for any damage to drop links, control arms, bushes etc but nothing visually of concern. I turned the hub to listen for any wheel bearing noise but nothing indicated it was needing replacing. I did notice the cv gater required replacing and some uneven tire wear on the inner side but that was all. The knocking noise gets louder and more frequent on a long drive especially over uneven surfaces. If any of you have any ideas or suggestions I would be grateful as I am in Aberdeen and the indy I normally use is in Glasgow. I don't really fancy letting OPC let their imagination run wild with potential problems. Thanks, Andy

i took mine to OPC in leeds recently with a similar issue. I asked a local indy twice to look at this, first time they forgot, second time they never turned up to pick up the car as arranged!! OPC Leeds fixed it on the day, correctly diagnosed as the front track rod ends (changed as a pair). i got a new boxster courtesy car which was good fun, and for £200 or thereabouts i thought it was well worth it. They charged a lower hourly rate due to it being an older car. While I was there they balanced both rear wheels for £15 each after two failed attempts by Kwik Fit and so I now have a single silver coloured weight on each wheel rather than a collection of black kwik fit weights which have all been cleaned off. Its not all bad at OPC despite the various moans about OPC's!

Hi agaddini, Take the car to a car park and put full lock on the steering wheel and drive around in a circle. Repeat with opposite lock... Do you get a knocking/cracking noise? You might have a faulty CV joint on one side! Dare I say it but it might also be a faulty suspension damper! ... Any sign of an oil leak from the damper?

Thanks for the replies, It's good to hear a good comment about OPC and the price you quoted seems very reasonable. I might ask them if they do a lower hourly rate because the car is older :?: I did notice that the inside of the alloy wheel was very dirty/oily. I'll further investigate today. What is the financial damage I could expect from a faulty dampner or cv joint? thanks Andy

I jacked up the car this afternoon and it looks as if the CV joint is the culprit. There is a build up of oil around the gater. See picture below. Is there any other tell tale signs this could be the cause of the knocking also the car is pulling to the left (geo done 4 months ago)? Phoned OPC for a quote to replace cv joint...£700ish including labour Andy

Get a new CV boot which cost less than a tenner and then fill with CV grease and see if that helps. If not then an Indy will im sure do it for less then your local OPC.

Out of interest, did you feel the knocks come through the steering wheel as well? Mine has developed a similar issue.

Yes, I can feel the knocks through the steering wheel. Unless it gets progressively worse I doubt I will attend to the issue until next month (MOT) but let me know if you or anybody else has a similar issue resolved. Andy

Worn CV joints can create "knocking" almost misfire like symptoms due to too much free movement, particularly when you're well into a long drive and the joint has heated up. Let us know what you find..