strange front end issue... stumped!

My 89 CSX has been acting odd lately. At low speeds, under 30 mph I get a nasty shake/oscillation when turning left. It is very violent. Once it starts it doesn't always go away once I start driving straight. It lessens, but doesn't go away until I go over 35 or so.

I had my wife wiggle the wheel with it on the ground, in the air, at center, at full lock... and I can't find anything wrong. There is a click or clunk when wiggling it but I can't even pinpoint it to one side.

At a loss here, any idea you have I would love to hear.

Thanks.

when you say wiggle the wheel you mean the steering wheel? Put the front end in the air and grab the tire and wheel and see if you can wiggle it back and forth. Almost sounds like a inner tie rod.

Was anything recently done or changed?

My money is on an axle. I had a terrible vibration in my Daytona that I couldn't trouble shoot for a bit. By the time I decided that it must be the axle it broke as I was pulling into the parking lot at work. The cage in the outer joint was in pieces.

Fixed it. A buddy stopped by and we went over it again. Found a tick in a inner tie rod. Tiny, but it's all we could find. Swapped it out and it's fixed!

Inner tie rods don't do that, I'm with Cordes, you have a CV axle going out.

What's the best way to check them? I drove it down the road it was really acting up on and it was nice and smooth.

Jack it up and look for the axle shaft wobbling. If in doubt, replace with known good ones.

Well it could have been the inner joint starting to pull apart, and just having it up in the air and putting it down again made it go back a bit, but it will walk out again.

I changed the bad inner. Simon, do you mean to Jack it up and run it and then look? Shaking them by hand I don't see any play.

Sorry, inner joint of CV...

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Originally Posted by ShadowFromHell

I changed the bad inner. Simon, do you mean to Jack it up and run it and then look? Shaking them by hand I don't see any play.

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Yes, jack it up and see. Usually there isn't any extra play but you can see the axle do the funky chicken. You want the wheels close to stock ride height as possible.

Well it's back. Not NEAR as bad, obviously the inner tie rod was making it worse but wasnt the issue. I was thinking about it today and this started after I changed the motor mounts. Not instantly after, but maybe a week later? Could I have not gotten it centered?

Its possible but unless your frame is really bent, probably just a fluke.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ShadowFromHell

Well it's back. Not NEAR as bad, obviously the inner tie rod was making it worse but wasnt the issue. I was thinking about it today and this started after I changed the motor mounts. Not instantly after, but maybe a week later? Could I have not gotten it centered?

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Passenger motor mount upside down is my guess. There is a stamp on the top of them to state "up" or "top" I forget which.

Mine was doing this exact thing. Was the inner joint on the passenger side CV axle. Just replaced it Saturday morning after it got really bad and didn't go away. Jacked up the car so both wheels were off the ground and turning the wheels, you could see the motor moving back and forth as the axles turned.

And the front one is a bit non-intuitive, without a bit more thought anyway, you'd tend to want to put the most rubber where the weight sits, nope, want most rubber where the reaction torque of the motor tries to yank it off upwards.

Jacked it up and checked it and the pass side was bad. Swapped it out and it seems okay. But I've said that before.