Hi! First post! I have a '96 4 cylinder LE, Automatic with 185000 miles. It has had zero problems up until this point, aside from the usual brake maintenance.

I was told during my last visit at my local mechanic (new tires/alignment) that my CV joints were broken/bad and they advised new front half axles. I had this done, figuring after 185000 miles it was probably due.

Now I hear a very quiet clicking sound from the left front wheel area. I immediately took the car back to the mechanic, who could not reproduce the noise on the lift or on the road. They inspected the axles/cv joints/brakes and found no issues.

The sound comes between 30-45 MPH, NOT when turning, and NOT when accelerating. Mainly when coasting to a stop. Applying the brakes makes no change. The clicking is very quiet occurs one click per wheel revolution and definitely wasn't there before I had the work done. To further complicate things, it isn't nearly as loud when it's hot outside. The car drives fine but this sound is really starting to annoy me since it wasn't there until these half axles were installed. Please help- anyone else experience this? -Nick

 

Is the new noise of the same type that made you take the car in for new axles? Were the replacement axles new or rebuilt?

Typically a bad CV joint will click when making a right or left hand turn at lower speeds and or when accelerating. Not typically when car slowing down.

Have you checked the tire tread for a rock, embedded object, etc. This is very common and will make a one click per revoluation noise.

Rebuilt axles can be bad right out of the box and make a clicking noise.

If the noise is consistant, take the mechanic for a drive and have them listen. It is not uncommon for shop to not "find" a problem in hopes you (and the problem) will go away.

 

The half-axles made no noise before they were replaced, and it's not a "clunking" like a CV joint would make when turning. I checked the treads- nothing in there. My best guess was something to do with the brake discs or some missing washer/gasket/loose screw in the front wheel region. The baffling part is that the noise comes and goes so randomly, it's hard to predict when to take it to the shop... ugh.

 

If you know which side the noise in on, remove the tire and look around.

Sometimes the splash shield gets bent a little and rubs on the disk, sometimes the pads are not fully seated, perhaps the parts of the caliper that should move in and out to adjust for rotor runout are binding.

Look behind the splash shield to determine if the axle or boot is contacting something.