Front end pop, what could it be?

[1.8t]

My car is a 99 GTS with 11k miles. It have had this front end pop since I purchased the car and it does it when I am almost at full lock turning right(forward or reverse), but not all the time. It will also do it every now and then when I am turning left at full lock. I can feel the pop in the steering wheel. I have replaced all of the sway bar end links and inspected all of the control arms and the hardware that mounts them to the chassis. All look good and are tight. I recently did a power steering pulley install and checked the steering rack mounting bolts and they were tight. I replaced the steering rack fluid(which looked fine) and bled the rack and the pop is still there. Does anyone have any insight considering what I have described/checked as to what the likely culprit might be? I am thinking the only things it could be as of this point would be a tie rod or ball joint?

The pop sounds identical to the pop in this video @ 20 seconds. Oddly enough, he had to drive for a bit at full lock to get the sound to occur. This is exactly the same as my car. It doesn't do it all the time and I can most easily produce it with reversing and turning the steering wheel to the right at close to full lock.

http://youtu.be/aZbl8SRQL7E

 

[callaway29]

I have the exact same issue with my 1999 GTS 24,000 miles, but it only does it when I'm backing out of the drive way. Everything is tight under my car also, I was going to grease the ball joints to see if that made any difference. There are a few threads about this already but no one has come up with a definative answer.

 

[Jmch]

Look into a tool called "chassis ears" . By placing mutiple clamps onto various spots on a chassis and electronically selecting each seperate channel while driving and diplicating the problem it will help to either narrow down or eliminate potential culprits.

 

[AZTVR]

Look into a tool called "chassis ears" . By placing mutiple clamps onto various spots on a chassis and electronically selecting each seperate channel while driving and diplicating the problem it will help to either narrow down or eliminate potential culprits.

Never heard of that before. Almost better than having your brother hanging out the side of your car having a listen !

 

[Jmch]

I was a dealer mechanic for 10 years... still a mechanic just heavy truck. there are all so many tools most people aren't even aware exist but can make life much easier. Just bought my first Viper so I'm checking out all the threads that have to do with malfunctions so I know what to expect.

 

[klamathpro]

I have a noticable pop from the inside whenever I back out or turn onto a driveway in a certain angle, always when turning, but mine sounds like fiberglass pop from the rear of the roof on my GTS, but it never bothered me. But one that does bother me is a mysterious faint pop from my footwell or steering area that I can't figure out. It only occurs sometimes when making a turn or going over certain bumps. Bugs the heck out of me, but I can only hear it with all the windows up and it doesn't always do it. Neither of these pops are felt through the steering wheel though, so I don't know if it's the same as yours.

 

[dave6666]

Popping at full lock is normal to an extent. The width of the tires and the design of the suspension geometry account for this. I would however if you suspect something outside of normal to have everything check at a qualified alignment shop. Ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar links, control arm pivots and pivot mounts etc can all make noises if they are loose or worn. My GTS has it's own set of noises, but after the amount of years I've owned the car, they are all normal to me.

 

[NI-KA]

I had a poping noise on steering lock hard turns. Finally discovered that end of the steering rack case under the boot was cracked and failed.

 

[dave6666]

Were you leaking any fluid or grease?

 

[NI-KA]

Not at first. It was making the noise for awhile and had been inspected before a trip to the track. Nothing was noticable during the prep for the track. the noise was very intermittent.

It wasn't until removing the car from the trailer that any grease was found. The grease would have suggested a failed seal. Fortunately, a peice of metal fell from the boot and upon cleaning it was clear that it was a metal fragment and not a small grease ladden pebble.

Very fortunate that I did not go out on the track where a metal fragment could have got stuck in the steering rack gear.
This ruined my track weekend. Better that then not being able to make a turn at speed.

 

[Dan Cragin]

90% of the time this is the ball joints. They wont show any sign of play and lubing them does not seem to help. When they are removed and inspected there is a ridge on the ball surface. Replace them on the side that makes the noise and you will be fine.

 

[VYPR BYT 94]

90% of the time this is the ball joints. They wont show any sign of play and lubing them does not seem to help. When they are removed and inspected there is a ridge on the ball surface. Replace them on the side that makes the noise and you will be fine.

Sounds good but the op has only 11k on it.