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Rolling ratcheting type sound when accelerating and turning?
Hey, I have a rolling (on going/alternating/on-off) ratcheting type sound coming from what seems to be my front wheel wells when turning and accelerating. IF it does it ay higher speeds, you can't hear it. It's similar to the sound in this video
but WAY quieter, like it wouldn't be picked up in a video.... I've heard it's CV joints or axels, which is what I grew up being taught, but I took it to our mechanic and he said it didn't act up. Possibly because it's so quiet, but idk. Anyways, thoughts? Is it probably early stages of CV joints or axel? It hasn't gotten any louder. It's been making this sound for maybe a month now. Thanks.
140k. Mechanic just replaced tie rods and did a full once over and saw no leaks or loose joints or wheel wobble. Was a little wheel play before tie rod replacement, but not after. I was under her yesterday and didn't see anything either. So idk. Early signs of CVs? Idk.
A clicking sound when turning and under acceleration generally points to bad CV joints..
No idea how your mechanic checked the CVs. I'd imagine the car has to be under load with the wheels on the ground, spinning at a decent rate... not fast, but faster than spinning by hand. I don't believe they would ever wobble. From my experience, the rubber boot rips, dirt gets in, grease comes out and joint gets damaged. Are any of the CV joint boots ripped anywhere? You wouldn't see leaks, but maybe some grease on the boot. If it's a month old you might not see anything. It's been years since I had a joint go...
Last edited by TacoBello; Feb 28, 2016 at 10:32 PM.
Ball joints make clicking sounds when turning? Seems odd. Plus you'd be able to check the ball joints... I dunno... still thinking CVs but I don't have much to base that on lol
A clicking sound when turning and under acceleration generally points to bad CV joints..
No idea how your mechanic checked the CVs. I'd imagine the car has to be under load with the wheels on the ground, spinning at a decent rate... not fast, but faster than spinning by hand. I don't believe they would ever wobble. From my experience, the rubber boot rips, dirt gets in, grease comes out and joint gets damaged. Are any of the CV joint boots ripped anywhere? You wouldn't see leaks, but maybe some grease on the boot. If it's a month old you might not see anything. It's been years since I had a joint go...
1) I know, but what worries me is when they're not normal noises, like this.
2) I know. I had said that earlier, thank you.
3) He did exactly that. Took it for a drive in the morning, which is when, due to the cooler temps, its usually more noticeable.
Originally Posted by csmeance
bad ball joints is my guess
Yeah? Based solely on mileage or based on the sound? As Taco said, I'm used to the sound being CVs, but what do I know?
I'll be under the car again this upcoming weekend & I'll check the boots for tears as wheel as check the wheels/ball joints for play when shaking them/turning them back and forth by hand.
A clicking sound when turning and under acceleration generally points to bad CV joints..
No idea how your mechanic checked the CVs. I'd imagine the car has to be under load with the wheels on the ground, spinning at a decent rate... not fast, but faster than spinning by hand. I don't believe they would ever wobble. From my experience, the rubber boot rips, dirt gets in, grease comes out and joint gets damaged. Are any of the CV joint boots ripped anywhere? You wouldn't see leaks, but maybe some grease on the boot. If it's a month old you might not see anything. It's been years since I had a joint go...
I just replaced the right front half-shaft in my wife's 2003 Pilot with 270k miles. Original CV joints, neither boot was ripped or torn.
In the past my experience was like yours, typically you see a torn boot which gets water and road grit in there which reduced the grease and wears down the close tolerances of the CV joint. I've replaced and/or rebooted ~15-20 boots in the past. Now a days, the boots are so good they last for 100k's of miles which is great since I hate rebooting them when they break.
Originally Posted by OculiAquilae
1) I know, but what worries me is when they're not normal noises, like this.
2) I know. I had said that earlier, thank you.
3) He did exactly that. Took it for a drive in the morning, which is when, due to the cooler temps, its usually more noticeable.
Yeah? Based solely on mileage or based on the sound? As Taco said, I'm used to the sound being CVs, but what do I know?
I'll be under the car again this upcoming weekend & I'll check the boots for tears as wheel as check the wheels/ball joints for play when shaking them/turning them back and forth by hand.
My wife's Pilot made similar noises to your TL and I suspect your TL has a bad inner CV joint, the half-shafts for both cars are almost identical. I suspect you have a bad inner CV joint. Besides trying to isolate the location of the sound (right side), the best diagnostic was gripping each inner CV joint body and the half shaft. Twist them in opposite direction and feel for any play. I isolated it down to the right inner half shaft.
BTW IMPORTANT, THE AMOUNT OF PLAY IS VERY SMALL, like 1-2mm of rotational travel. It tooks many tries comparing the left and right sides til I convinced myself.
Now the good news, it's a relatively cheap part, $145 Honda OEM new (not rebuilt!) from Majestic Honda. And it's also pretty easy to replace (~1hour). I suspect similar prices for the TL. Good luck
New and old, as you can see the boots are in good condition on the old. I suspect that the roller balls and/or slotted grooves in outer CV joint housing on the inner are just worn. Amazed how much noise it made for such little play. No noise after it was replaced.
Last edited by Legend2TL; Mar 1, 2016 at 08:23 AM.
I just replaced the right front half-shaft in my wife's 2003 Pilot with 270k miles. Original CV joints, neither boot was ripped or torn.
In the past my experience was like yours, typically you see a torn boot which gets water and road grit in there which reduced the grease and wears down the close tolerances of the CV joint. I've replaced and/or rebooted ~15-20 boots in the past. Now a days, the boots are so good they last for 100k's of miles which is great since I hate rebooting them when they break.
My wife's Pilot made similar noises to your TL and I suspect your TL has a bad inner CV joint, the half-shafts for both cars are almost identical. I suspect you have a bad inner CV joint. Besides trying to isolate the location of the sound (right side), the best diagnostic was gripping each inner CV joint body and the half shaft. Twist them in opposite direction and feel for any play. I isolated it down to the right inner half shaft.
BTW IMPORTANT, THE AMOUNT OF PLAY IS VERY SMALL, like 1-2mm of rotational travel. It tooks many tries comparing the left and right sides til I convinced myself.
Now the good news, it's a relatively cheap part, $145 Honda OEM new (not rebuilt!) from Majestic Honda. And it's also pretty easy to replace (~1hour). I suspect similar prices for the TL. Good luck
New and old, as you can see the boots are in good condition on the old. I suspect that the roller balls and/or slotted grooves in outer CV joint housing on the inner are just worn. Amazed how much noise it made for such little play. No noise after it was replaced.
Thank you. I'll check this weekend as I said above. It is coming from the right side only. It's gotten louder. Starting to worry. Hopefully it can wait a week or two :/ I'm doing slave cylinder and CMC this weekend....
. I recorded this yesterday morning. As I said in my OP, I've always known this to be CV joints, but it surprised me that when my mechanic had the car it didn't act up. Granted it was barely doing it then, and he lives on a dirt road, so there's less of a chance yet he'd hear it. I'll take care of it this weekend.
It's your shafts most likely. Ball joints don't click they clunk.
It's most likely a bad shaft. They like to click when turning when going bad.
Originally Posted by TacoBello
Ball joints make clicking sounds when turning? Seems odd. Plus you'd be able to check the ball joints... I dunno... still thinking CVs but I don't have much to base that on lol
Originally Posted by csmeance
bad ball joints is my guess
Originally Posted by Legend2TL
I just replaced the right front half-shaft in my wife's 2003 Pilot with 270k miles. Original CV joints, neither boot was ripped or torn.
In the past my experience was like yours, typically you see a torn boot which gets water and road grit in there which reduced the grease and wears down the close tolerances of the CV joint. I've replaced and/or rebooted ~15-20 boots in the past. Now a days, the boots are so good they last for 100k's of miles which is great since I hate rebooting them when they break.
My wife's Pilot made similar noises to your TL and I suspect your TL has a bad inner CV joint, the half-shafts for both cars are almost identical. I suspect you have a bad inner CV joint. Besides trying to isolate the location of the sound (right side), the best diagnostic was gripping each inner CV joint body and the half shaft. Twist them in opposite direction and feel for any play. I isolated it down to the right inner half shaft.
BTW IMPORTANT, THE AMOUNT OF PLAY IS VERY SMALL, like 1-2mm of rotational travel. It tooks many tries comparing the left and right sides til I convinced myself.
Now the good news, it's a relatively cheap part, $145 Honda OEM new (not rebuilt!) from Majestic Honda. And it's also pretty easy to replace (~1hour). I suspect similar prices for the TL. Good luck
New and old, as you can see the boots are in good condition on the old. I suspect that the roller balls and/or slotted grooves in outer CV joint housing on the inner are just worn. Amazed how much noise it made for such little play. No noise after it was replaced.
To all. Had the passenger side half shaft replaced (would've done it myself, but don't have proper tools and didn't wanna hassle with it for hours when it should only take an hour-ish) and just as I expected that fixed the problem. My mechanic told me when the shaft is bent (turning) it's tight and snug, but when straight (driving straight) it feels a little loose in there. Said he doesn't think it cause any problems soon, but now the road to be aware of that :/
