Hey All,

First time poster, not really that car savvy so bear with me, but I appreciate the advice!

So I had, my Axel shafts replaced last week in my 93 Camry. I knew my boots were torn, but had put it off for a bit, eventually loud thumping, squealing, and/or grinding noises became apparent and frequent enough for me to bring it in.

Everything, seemed to be working well for 3/4 days after the work was done, but this morning on my way to work I started hearing a loud thump noise coming from what sound like under the car. It's speed matched the speed of the car. So I pulled over on a side street tried to look under the car, see if anything was dragging, etc, and there was nothing there. Figured I would get to work and call my mechanic from there. So, I started up, thumping intact, then once I got up to 35/40 MPH the thump turned into a loud metallic grind. So, once again I pulled over, looked under the car and nothing. I called my mechanic from there, all they said is to bring it in and they'd be happy to go for a drive and try and diagnose. However, once I started the car up again, the thumping and metallic grind were totally gone.

So obviously, I will bring it in to the mechanic, but I was hoping I could get some hypothesis here as well considering they were just working on my car and now a eerily similar noise to what was there before is back again.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

When engine type V6 or 4 cylinder?

When the old axles were still installed did the front end make any ticking or popping noises when making 90 or 180 degree turns or when accelerating?

Did braking have any effect on the noises either before and after the part replacement?

Is the noise after the part change the same or similar to that noise before the change and was it from the front end of the car?

If the wear is bad enough could be an axle bearing, also worn brake issues can cause this.

On the 4 cylinder trans the differential has is own fluid supply. On the off chance you might swing by the shop ASAP and make sure the shop filled the differential with fluid after replacing the axles. Would be rare but it has happened someone failed to fill the diff.

 

Thanks for the reply.

When engine type V6 or 4 cylinder?

V4

When the old axles were still installed did the front end make any ticking or popping noises when making 90 or 180 degree turns or when accelerating?

Yes, there were ticking noises. I heard some pops once and while, it was like something right below my feet had hit the bottom the car.

Additionally sometimes there was a similar thumping noise, but was only rarely this loud (like once or twice and that's when I took it in.)

The noises didn't always coincide with turning or going slowly, but they were more apparent then.

Did braking have any effect on the noises either before and after the part replacement?

Breaking did not have any effect. I have been getting some squeaking from the brakes lately, but that has been seperate. The noises coincide with the speed I am going.

Is the noise after the part change the same or similar to that noise before the change and was it from the front end of the car?

It is similar, but not the same, seems to be coming from further back, but that's just my initial reaction as I was surprised to hear more noise and only got a good 30 seconds worth of listening in

 

Sometimes when working on the front end a sheet metal water splash shield located inboard of the rotor can become bent. This can result in a ticking or grinding as the rotor moves. The mechanic can check for this and bend the shield if required.

As stated previously could be a failing wheel bearing, if so it must be very bad to be making these noises. The mechanic can check for this.

If the shop used rebuilt axles, it happens that an axle is defective right out of the box. It works OK for a time then starts to make noise.

A bad axle does not typically make a grinding noise unless very, very bad. Typically they are changed when the owner hears the popping noise before any major wear.

The test for bad axles joints is to make those 90 and 180 degree turns and listen for popping and ticking noises.

For a wheel bearing, if the noise returns drive at say 25 mph then gently rock the steering wheel to shift the body one way or the other. This shifts the cars weight onto one side or the other and places and removes loading on the bearings. If a bad bearing the noise may get louder as more weight is shifted onto it and softer when the weight is removed.