cv joint again?

[alpop]

1999 Legacy wagon

 

Few months ago had a squeaking in the front, happened when I let off the gas and the frequency correlated with the speed of the car.

Hitting the brakes had no effect on it one way or the other.

 

inner right CV boot was toast so I got a Dorman kit.  Joint looked fine, no pitting or noticeable wear, so cleaned, repacked the grease and put the new boot on.

 

Was fine for few months but now the squeak is back.  I really felt like the Dorman kit didn't have near enough grease, with the centrifugal force it seems like you would really need to completely pack the boot to keep the joint greased, and there wasn't even half enough grease for this.

 

I'm thinking of trying to get the same kind of grease and remove a steel band and try to shoot more grease into the joint.

 

Make sense?

[1 Lucky Texan]

I don't associate squeaking with a cv joint - could happen I suppose.

 

look at the brake backing plate - could be touching the rotor or have a twig/pebble trap next to the rotor.

 

maybe a wheel bearing?

Edited November 9, 2016 by 1 Lucky Texan

[alpop]

Wheel bearing - interesting idea.  

 

I have absolutely no experience with failing wheel bearings, but Les Scwab says the "rushing noise" which also might be described as a humming coming from the right front of my 2004 Dakota is a wheel bearing, and my 2006 Xb suddenly has started making an even different noise, like maybe a scraping during hard left turns at speed which I suspect could be wheel bearing.

 

Is there a typical wheel bearing noise?

 

For the Legacy I suspect drive shaft since it doesn't happen with foot on the gas, but starts up when you take your foot off the gas - driveline related

[brus brother]

You didn't say whether the recent squeaking is affected by tapping the brakes. Had squeaking from what I thought was the brake pad wear indicators tweeting against the rotor. Turned out that when I went to replace what I thought was worn brake pads, the pads still had plenty of meat on them. The pads had a bunch of rust and crud on the tabs and caused the pads to get hung up. Filed the tabs down so the pads moved freely and noise is gone.

[DaveT]

You don't want the boot that full of grease. It should be nowhere near half full. I have not had a cv squeaking. The ones I've had fail click. If you drive one long enough, the clicking gets worse, and starts to make shuddering in the steering wheel. I've read about them ocasionally failing catastrophically also.

[idosubaru]

squeaking does not equal cv joint.   particularly if it's an OEM axle. 

aftermarket axles do weird things and i woudln't rule out anything on those cheap things but i still wouldn't expect squeaking or even consider it the starting point for tracknig this down.

 

look at wheel bearings and brakes.  more than likely you shifted some things to mitigate the noise rather than fixed it - but you saved the axle, good job!

[alpop]

ok, consensus seems to be the squeaking is not related to the CV joint, although the boot was torn up so I needed to do that anyways.

 

I replaced all rotors and brake pads a few months before the noise started, so no strict correlation there.  As I noted in the first message, there is no correlation to hitting the brakes  one way or another..

 

The correlation is to taking your foot off the gas, foot on accelerator - no noise, take it off - noise, back on accelerator - no noise;  very strong correlation, although it can sometimes go several miles with no noise then start up again.

 

Sometimes right before you come to a stop the squeaking changes to a louder clacking noise - pretty nasty.

 

I will take a close look at the brakes, backing plate etc., otherwise how might I further check the wheel bearing?

[1 Lucky Texan]

clacking? you said speed of the car - so, the clacking is also car/tire rotation related? not engine rpm?

 

I'd say clacking could very well be a CV joint.

 

auto or 5spd trans?

 

sound left, right or center? (have someone else drive and sit in the pass. seat)

 

when was the last timing belt systems service? who did the work? take a close look at the crank pulley while idling. running true and straight? no wobbling?

Edited November 9, 2016 by 1 Lucky Texan

[idosubaru]

could it be a bushing or suspension - tie rod, ball joint, control arm, strut bearing?

 

does the steering wheel wobble left/right at all while decelerating?

 

1. what if you do the exact same things that make noise (let off accelerator) while:
A.  going straight

B.  steering wheel turned

C.  downhill/uphill

 

does that change anything? 

 

2.  if you stand outside the car or sit in passengers/drivers seat - can you tell if it's left/right/center?
3. you're positive it's the front of the vehicle, not center or rear?

 

i doubt this is it but check your front differential oil level and has it ever been changed? 

might change it and check for bits/chunks or oil color/contamination. 

 

noises under load (accelerating/decelerating) can be front differential or inner CV joint related.

i've cleaned/regreased problematic inner CV joints and they're silent as new, so I wouldn't expect them. 

[idosubaru]

yeah - now that you say "clacking" that's CV territory. 

 

are these OEM Subaru axles or replacements?

 

how long was the boot torn?  

[idosubaru]

a free test might be to swap axles side to side - put the left on the right and the right on the left.  this would reverse the internal loading and change what's happening internally - maybe eliminating or changing the noise if that's the cause.

[alpop]

Hmm, all good comments.  Definitely wheel/driveshaft rotation related, as wheel slows down and stops so does the noise.  No engine RPM correspondence. 

 

Backyard mechanic whom I bought it from and put the new (used) engine in said he "looked" at the timing belt and it was ok for now (7000 miles ago, car/ now has 159k on it - engine supposedly ca. 5k less). 

 

OEM (green) axles, boot was torn when I got it two years ago.  But, when I cleaned and re-greased I saw no wear/pitting on the joint, just a shininess which I understand is not a problem. 

 

pretty sure (using pwr window opening and closing) the sound is on the front right, it is an automatic transmission

 

I do feel a slight left/right wobble in the steering wheel at times (not necessarily corresponding to the noise), thought this might be a tire since they are not the best (Chinese with about 50% wear)

 

 

Maybe I should shift into neutral while it is happening and see if there is a change? 

 

Yes, I should try the things you suggested grossgary,

 

Haven't gotten around to checking/changing differential oils-

[Fairtax4me]

Per the thought about the amount of grease in the cv joint, the boot should not be completely full of grease. Too much grease inside the boot prevents it from flexing properly and can cause damage to the boot. The inner cv joints are designed to be able to compress and extend as the suspension moves up and down, and if the boot is full the compression will pop the boot and push the grease out. Too much grease can also collect in a large lump on one side of the boot and cause it to fling apart when at highway speed due to imbalance.

 

The packets of grease supplied with cv boot kits are more than enough grease for a cv joint, and sometimes are actually too much.

[DaveT]

Running for a long time with a broken boot is bad. The damage isn't easy to see unless you completely disassemble the cvj.

 

I once ran one for a number of months before I got to replacing it. It had intermittent clicking. Eventually began intermittent wobble in the steering. Yes, it can be one or the other, no correlation.

[alpop]

 99% of the noise is squeaking, no clicking, just very rarely kind of a scraping a few times right before coming to a stop.

 

I did disassemble cv joint completely to clean and re-grease and no damage to surfaces, I'm going on the assumption its not the cv joint, and the noise never was - although the boot did need replacing.

 

I checked front differential oil and plenty there and very clean.

 

I examined the brake, removed caliper/rotor/metal guard and could find nothing that would be making a noise.  I did see that the ABS probe(?) comes awfully close to the ABS ring and was able to tighten a few of the ABS ring screws a bit, but saw no definite spot where it might be rubbing on the ring and no change in the noise afterwards.

 

I'm beginning to think wheel bearing, could that make a squeak?  Sometimes once per revolution sometimes not a strict correspondence, and as I said always after you take your foot off the gas.

 

159k on the car, time for wheel bearings?

[Fairtax4me]

Wheel bearings growl and rumble, deep tone/vibration. Never heard one squeak.

 

Remove the brake pads and apply brake pad grease or antisieze to the backing plates where they touch the caliper and piston. Also to the ends where they slide in the anti-rattle shims on the bracket.