Presume we can ask tech questions here?

My Xantia Turbo CT has developed annoying knocking/clunking sounds from front end, especially on right side. This is not noticeable at all on the highway - most obvious when manouvering at low speed. Turning and going over uneven surfaces seem to provoke it. I think it might also be heard when transitioning from acceleration to deceleration & vice versa.

* I have confirmed that it is NOT the sway-bar drop links (these have been replaced and the replacement items are still good)

* Magic replaced the lower control arm bushes last year, so shouldn't be them.

So what are options? Drive shafts? Engine mounts? Suppose I'd better check that the brake calipers aren't loose (I did use Locktite last time I reinstalled them...)

Based on being a Series 1 car, it's quite possibly the strut tops, if original.

Lower balljoints can also give some noises and a little vibration - but more when braking hard or cornering while decelerating.

CT engines have four mounts; check all of them as well. FrenchCarForum seems to be a good source of info on these as it's very focused on the Activa models.

Thanks - good suggestions. I'm assured that the strut tops are the later type - believe they were originals on this late ('97) series I car - but it's no doubt time they were checked again. Balljoints sound plausible - the car has now done over 190,000km (60,000 during my ownership).

Two things occur to me.

1. not likely to be strut mounts as they fail catastrophically rather than rattling! Run a broomstick across the car from mudguard to mudguard and check that there is clearance (1-2 cm or a bit more if I recall) between it and the nuts at the top and that the clearance is the same on both sides. Be very scared if one of them is pushed up!

2. balljoints can give intermittent "cracking" noises if the lubricant has dried out. I've drilled and fitted grease nipples before now to fix this one (not on a Xantia though).

Good Luck.

I have exactly the same problem with the same year model CT. Only at lower speeds on uneven surfaces. Seems to come from the lower part of suspension. Not there at speed. New drop links. Been there for the four years I've owned it. Car has only done 130k. Let me know if you manage to find it. Cheers.

Alec,
Check the sway bar bearings - if the Zantia is similar to earlier models there will be two spherical greased plastic/alloy bearings that are SPRING TENSIONED to keep the correct preload and positioning of the sway bar.

If the tension has been reduced they will rattle - and all that is needed for a check or quick fix is to retension the springs to cure the problem.

To do the job properly, tho, it would be advisable to strip, clean, replace any parts that may be damaged, lubricate and set up as per the manual.

If the Zantia is different to earlier models forget all the above.

Best of luck,

Fento

Hi Fento

I think the Xantia is different - as far as I can see the sway bar is held in place by rubber bushes. These seem to be fairly long lived - it is the drop links that connect the sway bar to the front McPherson struts that give trouble - these have ball joints both ends which wear. In my case these drop links were replaced a couple of years ago and are still good. I'm happy to be corrected re. sway bearings however...

OK I have made progress. I should have followed the same procedure that works with computers - when something goes wrong, check the last thing that was changed. I jacked the car up and and rotated the front wheel with the car in gear - I could see the whole lower control arm moving backwards and forwards as I rocked the wheel :-(

I found that the clamp bolts that hold the rear lower control arm bushes in place were loose - both bolts on both sides!!!! I think the rear of each pair of bolts also holds the sway bar in place, so it was probably able to move as well. Another case of "learn to do something yourself, and then you've only got yourself to blame if it's not right". In this case I paid cash for the parts and labour, and no invoice was issued - only a hand-written quote, which I have no doubt lost.

In hindsight I should have checked everything much earlier - on the trip home from having several jobs done (inc. the bushes) the air intake pipe blew off the throttle body becasue it hadn't been tightened properly by the apprentice (it's a Turbo CT motor remember...). I also remember being disappointed that I didn't notice much improvement in the steering with the new bushes.

AllenM I did find something else that I'm sure has been an issue for the whole time I've had this car (about 4.5 yrs), and which I believe causes a bit of knocking noise - the amount of free play when I rotate the front wheels (one wheel jacked up at a time, car in gear) is considerably more on the driver's side. This does not appear to be in the CV joints, as the drive shaft rotates as much as the wheel.

So the extra free play is in the diff - does this mean it's about to explode?

At least the fix should be fairly cheap; a wheel alignment.

Were the Nylocs renewed with the bushes?

If the diff has slop, freeplay on each side ought be the same.

Yes I'd been noticing it needed a wheel align - probably less so now :-). Re. Nylocs - pretty certainly not. So the old ones might have been tight but worked loose?

I am puzzled by this wheel freeplay thing. I suppose logically it should be a CV joint - the inner one since there is no knocking noises on corners (as I have experienced in inferior vehicles such as Subarus). But it really looks as if the drive shaft (where it enters the diff) is turning just as much as the wheel. Isn't there a bearing that supports the long RH side drive shaft - could that be worn?

There is a support bearing on the offside driveshaft; it's bracketed off the block. Failure seems to occur in climates where they have wet/frozen roads - here they last well.

Without having the car on a hoist in front of me, I can't really offer more comment on the driveshafts. Reco'd ones (or your own rebuilt) are about $140-ish each plus GST.

And here was I wondering what I was going to do tomorrow (not). The Xantia has a Tripod joint on the long shaft (R/H side) which will wear and give extra movement. I replaced one on the previous car, a BX 16V, which vibrated at times under hard acceleration. I notice the Xantia is just starting to show signs of doing it to. I haven't noticed any excess lash in the diff. at low speed as yet. http://www.aus-city.com/ubbthreads/images/icons/default/frown.gif