As the title says my car is making a noise, It is in the front right suspension and sometimes can be felt in the middle of my car( along the exhaust?)

This sound only appears in 1st gear take off under load, If I baby myself into first gear I can make the car NOT make the sound. But if I shift normally, I get the sound.


I recently replaced the passenger side CV axle (the entire thing)
powerflex LCA bushings
everything is lubed
I went and checked torque specs on all the front end stuff

balljoints, tierod ends, struts, and end links all look good, no freeplay or noise when when yanking/pushing/pulling.....you get it.

I have not checked the wheel bearings as it does not sound like it.
The clutch is starting to slip, but I dont think it is related.


What could this be?

 

You have checked the dog bone lower motor mount? Also checked the bolts where the black painted (from the snow I see the black may be some shade of rust) front axle support mounts to the uni-body? There are six of them, three on either side.

If you can feel it in the exhaust, check the "connecting support" that the exhaust crossed over. Basically under the gear shifter.

 

I will check these in the morning. Thanks!

 

Some things i have tried:

the mounts are all good, i pulled them off and inspected them.

i removed the sway bar end links (basically eliminating the sway bar)and took it for a drive, i still get the same noise.

Also it has gotten worse, could be related to the cold. I feel more vibrations/shudder during takeoff under load. Could this be my clutch? Possible oil on the flywheel?

 

Whether you have the stock dual mass FW clutch, or single mass aftermarket OE clutch both can have this noise if they clutch is so worn and tired. DM FW clutch system relies on the two piece flywheel to absorb the shock when the clutch first engages. There are springs that on the FW to absorb the shock. On SM FW clutch system this function falls onto the clutch friction disc. There are 4 springs. On very tired and worn clutch the springs can be weaken or outright fail.

Since your clutch is slipping, the springs are likely tired and weak. All I am saying is to give you something to think about.

 

It sounds like either a CV joint (front right axle), or shot passenger side upper motor mount.

 

Oil would only get on the flywheel if your rear main seal is bad. The interface of the engine and transmission would be puking oil at this point.

I think this might be a belt tensioner! Especially with how it's worst when accelerating in first gear. You can get an r53 belt tensioner tool on eBay for like $40 bucks if you look hard enough. I think this one would work fine.

Using that tool, it should be fairly easy to diagnose. You'll be able to feel how springy the tensioner is. It should take a LOT of leverage force to expose two of the pinholes on the tensioner. You definitely shouldn't be able to see any when the car is parked. The tensioner is located above the supercharger pulley, by the drive belt assembly on the left hand side of the motor. If it seems loose, or the shock is leaking oil, or the bushing in the shock is bad, here's a replacement diy.

 

I thought about it possibly being the belt tensioner. Last week I went and pulled all the mounts, inspected them and I also decided to replace the tensioner and the belt! The noise existed both before and after the tensioner replacement. So I highly doubt it is the tensioner at this point. Any other ideas?

When I first started to hear this noise (2 months ago) I assumed pass side CV axle. So I replaced that too. The noise/shudder has gotten worse since. Axle seems fine but maybe I had a bad one and got another bad one as a replacement?

I got lucky and snagged the tensioner arm tool for $8 on eBay

 

The clutch may be worn out and that usually causes a jutter.
Many people, when at a stop light, hold the clutch down. This will cause the clutch pree-mature wear out. Also slipping the clutch on an uphill stop.

 

I can't help it. Search this forum for Chewbacca. Gets more talkative as time goes by.

 

The new starwars was awful btw.....