Hey everyone.

I have a 1983 Firebird SE. I have a problem with a very very hideous, obnoxious noise when I steer my car. I am not quite sure what it could be really. At first I thought I had narrowed it down to a bad bearing in my drivers side upper strut mount. But after recently doing complete new suspention and new strut mounts, the sound remains.

The best I can describe it is a loud poping of sorts combined with a creak. I was trying to look in the engine compartment and turn the wheel at the same time today and found that it may be coming from the steering shaft itself. I dont have a lift or anything available to me do troubleshoot or diagnose the problem, so I was wondering if any of you have had a similar problem.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appriciated!

Thanks!

 

sounds like the power steering pump . Check and see if their is any fluid in it.

 

Did you replace your ball joints?

 

steering knuckle on the shaft to the box. or broken mount for the stearing box.

 

Yep sounds like the notorious broken mount.

 

Ok, I did a little more troubleshooting today at school.... It isnt the power steering pump, no vibration comes from the pump and the resivour is full of fluid. I dont think it is from the steering shaft itself because when it makes the poping you can feel a vibration in the drivers side wheel well....

All of the ball joints are good and linkage is good, I checked all of them when I put on the new suspention.

So maybe it is the mount?

 

Oh, now that i come to think of it and if it is any more help, it has been making this noise since I got the car 2 years ago this Febuary, but it has progressively gotten worse. I did install a new power steering pump on it when I did the alternator and water pump, so I would say that the pump is still in good shape and that the mounting bracket is still good.....

Maybe this narrows it down to the steering knucke?

 

First, STOP DRIVING YOUR CAR!!!

Second, remove the steering box and inspect the mounting area for cracking. Likely your frame around where the box mounts is cracked and getting worse everytime you turn the wheel.

Have you noticed the steering getting vague, or slow to respond? does the wheel always center it self when driving strait??

The cracking will progress more rapidly as time goes by. You really need to get it inspected before you drive any further or a Catastrophic failure will result!

 

Well, I wish I could afford to just not drive it if it is bad as you say it is..... But unfortunately I HAVE to have my car. The car steers perfectly fine, always returns to the straight ahead position coming out of turns.

I will try to make time VERY soon to get under there and inspect it for cracks and such....

I will let you all know what I come up with

 

Laiky! You are a geneous. I grabbed my mag light, and crawled my skinny @$$ underneath the front of my car and looked up at the gear box.... everything is good around the mount, but at the very bottom of the wheel well, there is a crack maybe 2 inches long.

I had my friend turn the wheel left to right with the engine off and it is that crack making the noise for sure. He has a buddy from school that is a pretty good welder, and he said he might talk to him for me to see if he could fix 'er up for me.

Do you guys think that JB weld would hold up? It seems like it flexes quite a bit and I havent ever used JB weld before, so I have my doubts. Just let me know what you think.

Thanks again Laiky!

 

No JB weld! it will only contaminate the area to be welded. the cracking will advance very quickly, that is why you should not drive the car. We are talking STEERING here not a broken shock mount or some other less critical part. You should not drive the car until it is fixed, Period! i had the same problem and decided to reinforce the area, thats what i reccomend instead of just welding the crack closed. It will likely happen again. You also must get a steering brace or "wonder bar" that will help distribute the loads from the steering box. they can be had at junk yards, if you don't know what it is just do a search on this site.

 

anyone got pics on how they reinforced there's that because mine makes that same crack sound so i am gonna craw under there and check it out.

 

I think i have some home, i'll try to post tonight.