I have noticed recently that if I hit bumps or drive on gravel with the wheel turned slightly to the left the steering wheel feels and sounds clunky. It only happens to the left and feels like something is not bolted correctly. I also have noticed a sqeak from the front when I hit bumps. In Chicago bumps are worse than anywhere in Central America! It gets a bit old. Any thoughts?


All the best,


Jay

 

It could be a loose universal joint in the steering column. It could also be a defective steering column unit altogether. I had mine replaced twice. Go to the dealer.

 

Jay,
I had that as well. Do a search on the clunk and you will find other posts about it.

 

Could be a bad CV joint in the front end.The boot that covers it may be cracked letting crud get in the joint.Take it in to dealer soon,as the CV joint may still be OK,and they can replace the boot cover after cleaning and re-lubing the CV joint.
CV=continues velocity joint.Between axel and wheel.

 

...ditto... same thing happened to my VeeWee Jetta way-back-when. I waited and my CV joint got seriously f'ed up. Had to get a new one... only about 80 bucks, but, as we all know, that means that the CV joint for a MINI will run around $400