Can an inner axle joint making a clickling/ticking noise?

[Suby Skier]

I have an 03 OBW 3.0l VDC with a 117k miles on it.

 

The inner boot was torn and was repaired by putting on a new boot 12,000 miles ago.

 

The car makes an intermittent clicking/ticking noise when driving straight. The noise does not seem to be affected by turns which is common for the outside CV joint.

 

This sound almost resembles a card in spokes of a bike. The sound seems like a metallic tick. It makes this noise at all speeds but is not as noticeable when driving faster. The noise is most noticeable if the windows are down and driving slower before wind noise interferes with hearing the clicking noise.

 

Can a inner axle joint make this clicking/ticking sound?

 

I have checked out the driveline and everything looks fine along with the exhaust heat shields, brakes, etc.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Ken

[idosubaru]

Yes, inners can do that.

 

I have a broken inner boot too on my H6 VDC, I'm going to replace the axle. They are the same as EJ25 axles so it's easy to find a good used axle as well, they're $35 around me. The aftermarket supply is so bad that new axles are worthless. I'd go with Subaru or MWE only if you want a new axle.

 

My best friend didn't listen to me, he bought one from an auto parts store last year. He's driving up here in September for me to put a Subaru axle in since his "new" one is clicking already.

 

Are you sure it's not a heat shield, they are super annoying on all cars. They often get loose and rattle under load.

[Suby Skier]

Thanks for the reply,

 

I checked the heat shields very well and they are tight and clear of the drivetrain and exhaust.

 

I have checked evrything that I think could cause the noise and looking at the grease leak on the left side near the steering nuckle, which leads me to think that maybe this joint has worn out because I can't find anything else obvious.

 

Thanks,

 

Ken