Help Please - 86 Sub Wagon 4WD Problem!

[ubtripn]

So I just got this clean little car and she has been running great. 1986 GL wagon 4 wheel drive. Commuting 100 miles per day, no issues until tonight. I just had new tires put on and an alignment. I am approaching 75 (no shimmy like there used to be) everything is so much smoother then suddenly it feels like the whole engine just misses all at once for a brief second. My head goes forward a bit, it catches and then does it a few more times as I slow down and then around 65 it goes away. Just like an engine missing but harder or more than one cylinder at once. (I know more than one piston cannot miss at once but that was the sensation, like hitting a wall of thick air.) But now there is a knocking in the front right side. One knock per revolution of the wheel approximately. It comes and goes. I get home, both CV boots are intact. So I have a few questions:

 

1. Can a CV joint go bad inside a good boot?

 

2. What is the boot for on the tie rod adjuster for. My 68 Chevy does not have one there but this car does and it is shredded. Next to it are fresh wrench marks. I asked what took so long with the alignment and they said rusty bolts. Can I run without this boot? (I will be returning to Big O to see why they didn't mention ripping it.) Does it hold any type of grease?

 

3. What else besides a CV joint could this be? A ball joint? Bearing?

 

4. Do I have a rev limiter on this little engine?

 

Also, I can push the clutch in, shift into neutral while coasting and the engine revs perfectly as the knock continues so I don't think it's the stick shift tranny.

 

Any help pointing me in the right direction will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

 

P.S. It had a weird right front knock before the new tire job. But only on bumps and some turns. Not with every tire rev. New tires are the same size as the old, 185/70 13's. I don't think they broke anything other then that weird tie-rod boot.

Edited November 2, 2011 by ubtripn

[man on the moon]

If the engine runs normally while the bump is happening it is probably not a misfire of any kind (speaking to the choir, sorry). Also good news: awesome to hear the tires WERE the skipping problem and that it is now rolling happily.

 

Even if it turns out to be not important, I would point out the fresh wrench marks and torn boot to Big-O and ask for something back, or for it to be repaired. Some customer service things just aren't worth wasting time on, but something like this is worth pointing out to the manager even if all that happens is you prevent the next customer from having the same experience. If the manager is worth their salt they will want to keep customers coming back, not driving them away (or limping them away in your case).

 

As for the boot, I know which one you mean but I'll have to let someone else answer what it is for.

[ubtripn]

Thanks man on the moon.

[ubtripn]

I really cannot figure out what is in that boot on the tie rod end. I know there is a ball-joint on one side but could whatever is inside that boot make that sound?

Edited November 2, 2011 by ubtripn