Clunk/knocking noise after hitting pothole.

[DbqJoe]

Hello everyone. So I was at a stop on this back road, and as I went forward and turning right, I hit a small but fairly deep pot hole. It made a nasty sound, but I didn't think of it much as I've hit pot holes before, only while going full speed, not pulling away from a stop rather gently.

Anyway I noticed a slight knocking/clunk sound as I was driving, occurring at what seemed to be random intervals. It didnt affect steering that I could feel, and I dont think its coming from the engine. Braking and accelerating seems normal. But as I got closer to my house the knocking noise became much more pronounced and I can definitely feel it as if it were happening under my seat. It happens while driving straight not just turning. It seems that it happens more when I go over small and medium bumps.

The car is a 2000 Pontiac Bonneville SSEi. After I came home I pushed down on all 4 corners to see if I could replicate the sound. I cant, however when I push down on the front left side, it'll make a suction-like sound when it bounces back up. Could this be a damaged absorber? I wish I knew more but I dont have the tools or experience to fix it. I'll take to my local shop to see what they think.

[Archon]

There are several things that could cause the noise. A damaged hub, ball joint, strut or mount, stabilizer link, or tie-rod end. The only way to tell is to do an inspection. The noise you hear when pushing down is normal for some struts/shocks. Out of the list, my first suspect would be the tie-rod end.

[Skippy1827]

I was going to say you busted a belt in the wheel, but it can't be if steering is not affected

[1fatcat]

You probably snapped a stabilizer link in the front.

[DbqJoe]

Well I took it to my shop this afternoon. Told them about the symptoms and they found that the sway bar links on both front were shot. They replaced both links and the noise is gone. The car feels much better too going over bumps, probly needed fixing up for a long time and yesterday it just gave out.

They did find (as usual with all shops) more things they wanted to fix. The front left wheel has some play in it due to the wheel hub, and thats about $350. They also want to replace both front sway bar bushings which is about $90. Lastly they want to replace the output shaft seals. Thats not even $30 of parts but $160 in labor. Total cost for the preventive repairs is over $700, but I just went with the sway bar links for now, and that cost $113 in parts and labor so not too bad. Maybe when I get a new car I'll get to finally play with this one before I sell it and try to do some of the repairs myself.

Anyway thankfully it wasnt the CV joints or shocks, those checked out fine during the inspection.

[In_da_boondocks]

$350 for a wheel hub!?

[In_da_boondocks]

$350 for a wheel hub!?
http://intense-racing.com/Merchant2/mer ... ry_Code=BS

[DbqJoe]

Yep. $258 for the hub, $85 for labor. Im going by what it says on the paper. Says:

Bearing & Seals (front-left)
513121 Hub Bearing
Remove and Replace Wheel Hub -Front
One side

[Wordski]

Wow,where I worked,we did them for around 240 out the door.Napa sells the hub for $95 bucks CUSTOMER PRICE,now if you throw in the discount the shop gets(in my experience its usually 40-50%) and the one hour labor,THEY ARE ADDING ALMOST $200 TO THE PRICE OF THE PART!!I say find a new shop,preferably one who lets you bring your own parts.I worked at a Lentz once and they use autozone parts and mark them up 4 TIMES what they paid and where raping people on labor.Needless to say I only worked there for 2 days and went and got my old job back.They did brakes on a guys truck for $1000,screwed it up and he came to us and we quoted him $500 for the same job.

[DbqJoe]

Well the place I usually goto is Tandem Tire & Car Care, because the dealer was too expensive (and a PITA to get to). But man that does sound way over priced. The guy said its expensive because it's a "dealer part" and that it has the sensor (I suppose he was referring to the ABS sensor?).

Anyway I've been reading around about doing the wheel hub myself and it seems like something I could do on my own. Are there any good step-by-step guides available for such a repair? I wish I could find a place in town that has a DIY lift so I could work under the car. I should be able to replace the rear bushings fairly trivially but Im not sure theres anything like that where I live.

One thing I really want to fix is that *dang* intermediate shaft issue. Ugh I hate the sound it makes every time I turn the wheel. Though that seems like an involved process thats way over my head. Man, I wish I knew as much about mechanics as I do computers (Im a sysadmin).

[Wordski]

Jack car up,make sure it is supported by jack stands NOT the jack
remove tire
remove brake caliper,get a wire hanger and bend it so you can hang the caliper from the spring without letting the brake line strech VERY IMPORTANT!!
remove rotor
remove the huge nut that in the center of the hub
MAKE SURE YOU DISCONNECT THE ABS HARNESS
remove the 3 bolts that are on the front side of the hub using the whole in the hub to get to them
now they actually make a puller for this job,but Ive never actually used it,but it looks like it would make getting the hub off alot easier but heres what I do...
take a BIG rubber deadblow(full of sand) hammer and hit the END of the axle as hard as you can
MAKE SURE YOU DONT MESS UP THE THREADS OF THE AXLE!! until it pops backward into the hub
then take a small pry bar or whatever you have so you can "pop" the hub off of the spindle making sure to care care to fish the wire harness out and around the CV boot
once you get that off,installation is a simple reversal making sure to align the dust shiel and make sure you stick in the wire harness first then attach the hub,its nothing worse than getting the hub partially on and realize the wires are still hanging out.
Good luck!!

[Wordski]

[Archon]

The bolts for the 2000+ are on the back side of the spindle, instead of the front. Turning the wheel all the way to one side will make them easier to reach. I have pictures, but have yet to get around to doing a write-up on it. This shows how to reach the hardest to get top bolt. When doing it, be certain to get the socket squarely on the bolt, or you could strip the flats off from it.

[The extension jpg has been deactivated and can no longer be displayed.]

Except for the caliper bolts, and the bolts on the hub, Bill Buttermore's procedure in techinfo will pretty much apply.
http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... 54&t=12947

If you can handle a hub, you can easily handle the intermediate shaft.
http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... f=55&t=217

[00Beast]

Not sure why you paid $113 for Sway Bar Endlinks, I paid $20 for parts and did them myself. If you can do your own oil changes, you can do anything described above.

[DbqJoe]

The link kit cost $32 for both. Labor was $50. But I also had the inspection in order to find out what was wrong, so that was $21. Add in taxes/supply cost it was $113. Since I dont know much about cars I wouldnt have known what was wrong if I tried to do it myself. But now as I'm learning and reading as much as I can about mechanics I will do the other stuff myself. The mechanic said the front bushings need to be replaced as well, and having seen it done in person before thats something I should be able to do.

The inspection also says both output shaft seals need replacing. Parts are under $30, but labor is $156 so it sounds like its an involved job.

Lastly the onboard computer is buggy. Has been for years. No matter how many times I've taken it to the shop they never seem to find the culprit and fix it. The Check Engine light is almost always on, and everytime I start the car I get either Tire Pressure warning, or Check Gas Cap warning. Its BS because both are fine, but its annoying to say the least.

[2000Silverbullet]

The low pressure tire light will always default to on if the front power connection has been disconnected.
Simply reset it by holding the reset button until it goes out.

The check gas cap probably means you need a new cap with a better seal or you may have another leak in the system. The dealer should have caught that.

Unless you're dripping a lot of oil, I would ignore the leaking seals for now and check them next oil change.