Looking for sources of a few noises.

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Mogordo
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My tercel:: 1983 SR5 Wagon

Looking for sources of a few noises.

Post by Mogordo »

Hey again everyone, I'm looking to figure out the source of a kind of growling (not sure how best to describe it, maybe a bit like a worn wheel bearing) noise that I hear most when accelerating while in fifth gear. I don't notice it in fourth even at the same speed (I don't know if it just much quieter or not there). It seems to be quite related to acceleration. I step on the gas more and hear it more, I let the gas off and barely hear it. It could be related to some other noises that I keep thinking might be cv axle related or it might not be. One is the kind of clunking while turning, the other is a kind of rumble (sounds more like going over a cattle guard, open grate bridge, and the like, does but not quite the same) that I hear mostly when going through dips in the road. Not sharp bumps but the dips that kind of send the whole car up and down a bit. I keep thinking cv axle for those but not sure. I replaced the one on the driver's side with a "rebuilt" one that may be no better than the one I took off. Both sides currently have some wiggle in the outer joint but not a lot. But I replaced the DS wheel bearing after the axle and when I was pulling things apart I thought the "new" axle felt like it had grit in the outer joint. The driver's side ball joint and inner and outer tie rod end have been replaced. Passenger's side all feel solid to me. I don't feel looseness in the front passenger's wheel if I try to move it around, I don't think I remembered to spin it by hand. I just replaced the sway bar to control arm bushings. Just had all four tires balanced, now the shaking at higher speeds is pretty well gone. There is some looseness where the driveshaft goes into the rear differential, it can be rotated back and forth kind of lot I think, u joints didn't seem to me to have looseness in them.
I'm wondering if anyone thinks the noise in fifth gear could be related to the axles or not and if not; What else may be causing it? Same thing for the rumbling going through dips in the road.
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NWMO
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Re: Looking for sources of a few noises.

Post by NWMO »

Mogo,

Noises through the dips may be suspension related. The other “growling” sounds more like a 5th gear transmission issue of some type. Have you changed the transmission fluid? Popping or noises while turning will most likely be a CV joint in the half-shaft.

Chris
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Mogordo
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My tercel:: 1983 SR5 Wagon

Re: Looking for sources of a few noises.

Post by Mogordo »

Thanks! What part of the suspension would you guess maybe? Do you think the front shock absorbers being worn could do it? A friend drove it to see if he had any ideas and he didn't for those noises but he commented that the steering seemed loose (I'm pretty sure now because of the worn u-joint in the steering shaft) and that it kind of jumped around the road too much. I thought maybe changing the sway bar to control arm bushings would help but I didn't notice much change. I tried the test of seeing how much the car will go up and down if you push on the bumper and let up but I never did understand how much movement indicates worn shocks. It did bounce a little bit.
I wondered about the noise in fifth gear being transmission related but hope it is something simpler. I did change the fluid. It had a little metalic shimmer to it, but nothing extreme, and some flecks of metal on the magnets but no chunks. If I change the cv axles again I'm going to change it again. And since I hear noises when turning either direction, though worse one way, I'll probably end up doing that eventually.
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NWMO
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Re: Looking for sources of a few noises.

Post by NWMO »

It sounds like you need new front strut inserts. There shouldn’t be any bounce. It should come back up and stabilize quickly.

Chris
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
Mogordo
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Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2022 8:31 pm
My tercel:: 1983 SR5 Wagon

Re: Looking for sources of a few noises.

Post by Mogordo »

Thanks. It looked like those are actually still available new if I looked up the right part so that is something anyway. And it looks like there is information for that in the repair guides on here that I can check out. I think I'll go find some other bumpers to push on for comparison before I decide for sure.
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dlb
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My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
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Re: Looking for sources of a few noises.

Post by dlb »

Mogordo wrote: Sat Oct 29, 2022 9:15 pm Hey again everyone, I'm looking to figure out the source of a kind of growling (not sure how best to describe it, maybe a bit like a worn wheel bearing) noise that I hear most when accelerating while in fifth gear. I don't notice it in fourth even at the same speed (I don't know if it just much quieter or not there). It seems to be quite related to acceleration. I step on the gas more and hear it more, I let the gas off and barely hear it. It could be related to some other noises that I keep thinking might be cv axle related or it might not be. One is the kind of clunking while turning, the other is a kind of rumble (sounds more like going over a cattle guard, open grate bridge, and the like, does but not quite the same) that I hear mostly when going through dips in the road. Not sharp bumps but the dips that kind of send the whole car up and down a bit. I keep thinking cv axle for those but not sure. I replaced the one on the driver's side with a "rebuilt" one that may be no better than the one I took off. Both sides currently have some wiggle in the outer joint but not a lot. But I replaced the DS wheel bearing after the axle and when I was pulling things apart I thought the "new" axle felt like it had grit in the outer joint. The driver's side ball joint and inner and outer tie rod end have been replaced. Passenger's side all feel solid to me. I don't feel looseness in the front passenger's wheel if I try to move it around, I don't think I remembered to spin it by hand. I just replaced the sway bar to control arm bushings. Just had all four tires balanced, now the shaking at higher speeds is pretty well gone. There is some looseness where the driveshaft goes into the rear differential, it can be rotated back and forth kind of lot I think, u joints didn't seem to me to have looseness in them.
I'm wondering if anyone thinks the noise in fifth gear could be related to the axles or not and if not; What else may be causing it? Same thing for the rumbling going through dips in the road.
If you only hear growling when in one particular gear, regardless of speed or turning, that does sound like the problem is specific to that gear. Sorry to say it. Growling bearings will be present at particular speeds, regardless of what gear you're in.

The clunking while turning is likely a CV axle. Do not buy reman CV's, period. Too many of them are junk out of the box. I have put too many in only to find them as bad as the old ones I just replaced, and others here have found the same thing.

The rumble when driving over dips, I'm not sure about. Slop/play in suspension components will usually present with clunks. All I can suggest is disassembling the front suspension and inspecting each component that way, which takes a fair amount of time but I find it's the only way to be sure if things like strut mounts and strut inserts actually need to be replaced. You certainly don't want to replace things that are still in good shape.
Mogordo
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Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2022 8:31 pm
My tercel:: 1983 SR5 Wagon

Re: Looking for sources of a few noises.

Post by Mogordo »

Thank-you again. I've replaced cv axles on most of my vehicles and some of them I think were remanufactured and were fine but maybe the Tercel axles are different. I think someone said one of the joints can't be taken apart very far? Or maybe I just was lucky with the others. Regardless I don't plan to buy any more for this car for sure...But I aleady have one I bought before so now I get to decide if I want to gamble with putting it on anyway or just get two more and call it a loss. I've had it a while and don't know if it can be returned.
I think the axles will be my first step. See what changes. I had a '90 Corolla with some fairly long-standing vibration or noise symptom that I don't remember the details of now that went away on replacing the cv axles.
I'm hoping I'm missing something with the noise in fifth, like maybe it is there in other gears and I just don't notice it amid the other noises. Maybe that would be better. Not sure.
I got to thinking driving it tonight that the noise I hear going over dips I think I hear somewhat a lot of the time now and it's just louder over dips. So I'm thinking not the shocks (struts? I'm not sure correct names for which part) themselves but through dips them just allowing more stress somewhere that is already a noise source and the noise being louder.
It will probably be a couple weeks before I replace the axles but, assuming nothing goes drastically wrong in the meantime, I'll let you know if it changes much after I do.
Thanks for getting back to me about all that!
One who walks in shoes always clean likely walks nowhere at all.
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