Make sure you look over the car real good to make sure you didn't leave any bolts loose. 

I'll need to do some more research in the morning....my "test drive" involved me backing down the driveway, giddy with joy that everything was working...then when I made it out to the road, I turned the wheel and felt the clunk...so I went down the street and back and pulled into the garage.  So I don't have much of a description.  I'll do some more testing tomorrow.

I think I have a much more serious issue than a ball joint.  Instead of driving it, I figured I'd just go ahead and put it up in the garage and take a look at things first.  :



It grinds repeatedly when I turn the wheels back and forth.  It sounds like the grinding is coming from the center of the car.  The steering also feels incredibly loose...at the end, when I was turning the wheels quickly, I could feel a good amount of play before the steering rack (or whatever is loose) would catch again.  You can see the wheel jump a good amount, and then slow down.

I'm guessing I really screwed something up while I was tugging on and beating the shit out of the hub while trying to get the ball joint separated and axles out.

Any guesses?

Last edited by kornfeld (2012-02-23 11:58:14)

kornfeld wrote:

It grinds repeatedly when I turn the wheels back and forth.  It sounds like the grinding is coming from the center of the car.  The steering also feels incredibly loose...at the end, when I was turning the wheels quickly, I could feel a good amount of play before the steering rack (or whatever is loose) would catch again.  You can see the wheel jump a good amount, and then slow down.

I'm guessing I really screwed something up while I was tugging on and beating the shit out of the hub while trying to get the ball joint separated and axles out.

Any guesses?

Have you moved the wheel back and forth like that before you started the work or at any time in the past? IT almost sounds normal. Remember there is a lot of connections and their will inevitably be some lash in the setup.

Augie wrote:

Have you moved the wheel back and forth like that before you started the work or at any time in the past? IT almost sounds normal. Remember there is a lot of connections and their will inevitably be some lash in the setup.

I haven't, but things definitely feel looser at the steering wheel than they did before.

Yep it attaches to the top bolt of your starter. Just pull the bolt, slide the ground onto it and reattach! 

Glad it was nothing major. 

*Edit* I see you found it before I could answer. 

kornfeld wrote:

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I think I'm actually 100% done.  I think the power steering felt a little loose just because the car had been sitting idly at a funny angle for a few days...I went around the block and it felt 100x better.  I did go and grab some ATF to top it off since I'm looking at it, though.  I don't see any leaks anywhere, so I'll keep an eye on it. 

I had two minor things come up during the drive.  First was grinding dust shields on the rotors, which was no surprise.  Second was a metal-to-metal clunking (or at least something hard on something hard), and it feels like it's something hitting the firewall. It did it the hardest right when I pulled out of the driveway; then less hard when I made the first shift; then I barely noticed it when I pulled away from the first stop sign; then it only barely did it once in the next mile and a half of stop and go. I haven't figured out what it is yet, but hopefully it's just something settling into position.  It doesn't sound awful, and everything is back to feeling nice and tight.

The only thing left to do is get the car up to highway speed and see if there are any vibrations.  I live right on the freeway, and I can see it's backed up right now, so that'll have to wait. :fingerscrossed:


I am so, so, so relieved right now.    \

And I'll quote this again:

eqlized_aero wrote:

it's pretty rewarding doing this yourself.

ATF???

Is the dog bone tightened enough?

*edit* I misunderstood your post and thought you were topping off your trans with ATF.

Last edited by Nelly (2012-02-23 13:44:25)

     Congrats.   couldn't have found the time/space to do the same here, so I'm jealous.

And to Nelly:     

Dammit...hopefully I didn't screw something else up...the manual says Dexron III ATF for the power steering, and loads of posts here said that as well.  Is that the wrong stuff? Didn't see your edit.


And the dog bone was my first thought as well.  I torqued it to values mentioned elsewhere (37 ft lbs for the bolt on the engine side and 43 ft lbs on the fire wall side) yesterday, so I snugged them up a bit more today.  Hopefully things settle down on their own.

Last edited by kornfeld (2012-02-23 14:15:08)

john_matrix wrote:

Lol at the ground wire
That was something I forgot to mark when I did my engine and now it's bolted to another hole on the block as a result

That "metal to metal clunking" you still have...  Does it happen on hard shifts, when the weight of the car lurches forward on the springs after you press the clutch and stop accelerating?

Sounds like my downpipe when the bracket that stabilizes it against the transmission broke, and it would bump the transmission mount-crossmember.  Mb you forgot to tighten it

theleveler wrote:

Does it happen on hard shifts, when the weight of the car lurches forward on the springs after you press the clutch and stop accelerating?

Sounds like my downpipe when the bracket that stabilizes it against the transmission broke, and it would bump the transmission mount-crossmember.  Mb you forgot to tighten it

I haven't shifted hard yet.  I'm still walking on egg shells.  I did tighten that bracket down for sure...I didn't want the squeak that I dealt with in this thread to come back.  It wouldn't hurt to take a look down there though and see if anything is close together though, seeing as I had to remove 100% of the exhaust from the turbo back.  Everything might have ended up being bolted down at a slightly different angle.