Caranvan: random tapping noise

Have you checked the oil level and maybe replace the filter.

believe in

Like the OP said, there is no noise when the vehicle is not moving. That means tranny/diff/drive shafts/hubs. Maybe even something as simple as a stone caught in the thread of a tire.

A lifter noise would be there whether the vehicle is moving or not. Mind you it could come-and-go at various engine speeds. There should not be any connection between lifter noise and vehicle speed.

Just my own past experience with lifter noises.....

Ken

Art Begun wrote:

Thanks all. It does sound like a tiny piece of stone jumping inside a metal jar. The oil level has been ok. Anything to do with filter?

Henry

Have you checked your Front Sway Bar Bushings lately????

I have a 94 GC, and I recently had mine replaced - man were they ever shot!

Fear not, these are real easy to check, and very inexpensive to replace! So start with the simple stuff first! ;)

hth

Maybe a little something extra trapped inside a hubcap?

Ken

What sort of symptoms did you have, and how did you check them?

--Geoff

Again thanks.

How to check the sway bar busings?

Depends on how badly worn they are. If real bad, you can see that the hole in the bushings are bigger than the diameter of the sway bar (i.e., you can move the sway bar up and down in them). But if they are only slightly worn, they can still make thumping noises (the bar slapping against the tops and bottoms of the holes) when hitting small pot holes and other pavement irregularities. In this case, you may or may not see any gaps in the holes, and you may or may not be able to tell by prying up on the sway bar to check for looseness in the bushing holes.

The way I had to do it recently on my Concorde was by process of elimination. There was obviously something causing the thumping. I checked all other suspension parts (ball joints, rubber bushings, tie rod ends, etc.) and could find nothing. The only other possibility was struts and/or strut upper mounts, which are difficult to check. Even though my tire/alignment shop told me they thought it was struts, I took a small gamble and replaced the sway bar bushings because: (1) they were a lot cheaper and easier to replace than struts, and (2) From various internet forums, I learned that it was *very* common for the sway bar bushings to need replacing on the LH cars (not sure about the vans, but wouldn't be surprised to find it the case with them also).

Bottom line, I replaced them (I used graphited polyurethane bushings because they should last the life of the car and are stiffer), and all trace of suspension noise is gone.

So - if you get thumping and can find nothing else loose, replace the sway bar bushings, especially if there's high mileage. Chances are that's the problem. Certainly don't replace the struts before trying them unless there's good reason otherwise to suspect the struts.

Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")

Thanks a bunch, Bill. I'm working on it with these useful hints... Henry

There was some unexpalinable clunks now and then.

I did some googling and found this to be a comon problem.

I did a visual inspection. You could spot the wear a mile away. The rubber was softer than it should have been, was slightly perished, and you could se signs of wear on the edges of the bushings. The Bushings that were connected to the control arms were the worst.

A quick inspection on the hoist by my trusted shop confirmed my findings. Cheap, cheap, CHEAP! IIRC it was about $85 CDN$ installed including taxes!

Strange noises disappeared immediately. :)

YMMV