ITRCA

So I recently had my front rotors replaced and started driving my R again. I've noticed when going over bumps, or uneven road, or even sometimes a shift in weight would make it a popping sound. At first I thought it might have been pads shifting, but I don't see where thats possible. The calipers/brackets/rotors are all torqued down properly, so it isn't something loose. It sounds like its coming from the front left as I can hear it coming through the firewall.

Swaybar endlinks maybe? I wanted to disconnect them the last time I had the car on a lift but forgot to. I had a different noise when braking prior to replacing the rotors which I attributed to the warped rotors since the noise has gone away, but now I've got this popping noise that doesn't occur when braking.

Endlinks or other related suspension bolts could be loose. If they're not torqued to spec, they can back out over time.

I'll get it back on the lift tonight and just make sure everything is torqued.

The last time I heard a "pop" I also thought sway bar/endlink, and it ended up being a loose ball joint.

i had a broken front swaybar endlink once, it made a "thunk" sound not a "pop"

Maybe someone should have given me a call today!! lol jp


If you need a fresh set of eyes (sometimes all it takes to spot something) just lemme know, I brought a lot of my tools down with my teg after the PA meet, I dont mind helpin

BlueR wrote:i had a broken front swaybar endlink once, it made a "thunk" sound not a "pop"

That is a much better description of the sound than pop. I was trying to think of the best word for it, and that word didn't come to mind.

Nate, sorry, I had a shitty day at work so I didn't even think about it. I was passed out on my couch by 10pm anyways. :p

the car has to be off the ground and the suspension unloaded to check

I have access to the lifts at work so thats not a problem. How would I check for a bad endlink?

depends on where the break is
in my case, my endlink had separated in 2 parts
one part of the endlink was attached to the suspension arm and the other part was attached to the sway bar

I had my car up on the lift the other week replacing the rotors, and I looked at the endlinks. I didn't see any broken, but worn may be a different story.

a visual inspection may not reveal all

What should I do then to test whether the endlinks are good? Disconnect them and see if the noise goes away?

Shake them, they could just be loose. Check axle nut as well, and so on.

Eh, I had a similar issue, never could find it, gave up, turned the stereo up more.

Could the UCA ball joint cause this noise? The boot on that ball joint is looking really rough.

If it's the same noise I have it won't. I replaced mine with new oem units.