Rolling knock/clicking sound while turning

JLWannebo

Member
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2007 Mazda CX-9
Info:

I just recently moved back to colder climates from TX. I towed a trailer behind my CX-9 with no issues my entire trip. After just one night of letting my car sit overnight, in the cold (below 0), I noticed my car has a knocking/clicking sound when I am turning after come to a stop or slow rolling turn. The knocks persist while turning and also vary in frequency depending on how fast the turn or speed I am taking it. The faster I hit the gas the faster the knocks. The slower I go, while on the gas, the slower the knocks/clicks. This seems to happen while turning and putting a little bit of weight into the front wheels/suspention. Doesn't act up while driving straight and stops clicking as soon as the wheel is back straight again. I have no issues with any "get up and go" if I wanna go quick on the highway.

I have no shifting issues. No clunking in the tranny from changing gears or hard sounds while shifting back and forth. The sounds also go away significantly when the vehicle is warm and has been driven a bit. I was thinking it was the cv axles but if I do sharp turns, and hold the turn in a parking lot to listen you cannot hear any noise. The boots look good on the outside of the shaft but the inner boots look old/weathered. No tears all the way through but each boot has weather cracking from being in the TX heat. There is also a slight greenish grease that is very small that seems to be coming out under the clamp (Again, there is no grease under the car or spayed anywhere else showing signs of a bad boot). Does anyone have experience with these going bad even without boot tears? Ive talked to some who say yes, others who say its practically impossible unless the boots fail...(dunno)

I'm not sold on it being the cv axles, but I'm also not sold it isn't. I'd expect to hear the sounds while in a slow turn if I was on the gas, or off of it to be the cv axles... but no idea's why it only happens while on the gas. (bang)



The stats:
2007 CX-9
150K
2WD

Lower control arms and ball joints are good. Sway bar links and outer tie rods all changed. Otherwise, no other issues with suspension or anything else. Anyone ever had a similar issue?!?! Help me please before I randomly waste money on parts I dont need haha
 
is the clicking is apparent during low speed, tight corners (almost full steering lock) using a little bit of throttle? or does it always happen when you are turning?

if it happens while turning at any speed or steering angle, I would start looking at your sway bar/control arm bushings, ball joints, etc.
 
It does not happen all the time. The car will do it at slow speeds or moderate speeds depending on the turn angle and how much of a hill/slope it has into the turn + throttle. It does not happen nearly as easy or often while th car is warm. I have to try and get it to do it once I have been driving around for a little bit. But it seems to be getting easier.

This isn't just one or two knocks. Its multiple and speeds up to the speed of the vehicle or how hard the throttle is being pushed.
 
It does not happen all the time. The car will do it at slow speeds or moderate speeds depending on the turn angle and how much of a hill/slope it has into the turn + throttle. It does not happen nearly as easy or often while th car is warm. I have to try and get it to do it once I have been driving around for a little bit. But it seems to be getting easier.

This isn't just one or two knocks. Its multiple and speeds up to the speed of the vehicle or how hard the throttle is being pushed.

It sounds like your CV axle(s) to me. In the meantime i would recommend you try and avoid turning in a way that will causing the clicking.
 
That's what I thought but a guy I know that is a master mechanic keeps telling me to look further and stop focusing on the CV axles.

Yes, By all means, I am not trying to make the situation worse. Its annoying AF to try and duplicate the issue for mechanics. It doesn't make noise usually if I am just turning in a normal parking lot and with the gas slightly on. While accelerating a bit is usually when you hear it.

Do you have any write-ups or videos of the change? I know they are fairly easy to do but I just need to know which bolts exactly to take off so I am not taking bolts off I don't need or ones that will make my life a living hell putting back on. Any help?
 
CV joint is highly likely...it will get worse overtime as the wear groove inside the joint gets deeper.
 
I might just change them both out to be safe.

Does it make sense that the car won't make any noise unless harder into a turn on the gas and not be constant (yet) in a slow sharp turn? To me that would indicate the inner boots/joint is bad since it needs the suspension to travel up and down to get much movement out of the inner?

I really believe it's the CV but I'm hoping someone can give me some ideas on other stuff to look at. I would be heart broken, and broke, to randomly keep changing s*** to find out it's something more serious.
 
I might just change them both out to be safe.

Does it make sense that the car won't make any noise unless harder into a turn on the gas and not be constant (yet) in a slow sharp turn? To me that would indicate the inner boots/joint is bad since it needs the suspension to travel up and down to get much movement out of the inner?

I really believe it's the CV but I'm hoping someone can give me some ideas on other stuff to look at. I would be heart broken, and broke, to randomly keep changing s*** to find out it's something more serious.

There was a TSB on this years ago - the grease in 2007-2008 CX-9's gets stiff below around 15F and causes the slip/click behavior. The fix was to pull the CV and either replace the whole unit or reboot/regrease.

My 2008 here in Chi-town did this for tge first time during the recent cold snap when it was parked outside. Since temps are back up, the clicking has stopped.

Nobody rebuilds the joints. OEM shafts from stealer are $400 w/o labor and are still remans! Aftermarket new shafts are all junk from China but cost $60-90. Remanufactured shafts are around $100 but it's a dice roll as to how well they were rebuilt.

I'm leaving mine alone until it clicks during warm weather.
 
There was a TSB on this years ago - the grease in 2007-2008 CX-9's gets stiff below around 15F and causes the slip/click behavior. The fix was to pull the CV and either replace the whole unit or reboot/regrease.

My 2008 here in Chi-town did this for tge first time during the recent cold snap when it was parked outside. Since temps are back up, the clicking has stopped.

Nobody rebuilds the joints. OEM shafts from stealer are $400 w/o labor and are still remans! Aftermarket new shafts are all junk from China but cost $60-90. Remanufactured shafts are around $100 but it's a dice roll as to how well they were rebuilt.

I'm leaving mine alone until it clicks during warm weather.

Thank you for your reply. I replaced it with a brand new shaft. Seemed to fix the issue. Everything was fine but the weather was also warmer. We are getting into a cold snap again and my car just did it again. I almost cried lol.

I'm going to follow your lead and leave it alone if it doesn't do it in temps over 20.
 
Thank you for your reply. I replaced it with a brand new shaft. Seemed to fix the issue. Everything was fine but the weather was also warmer. We are getting into a cold snap again and my car just did it again. I almost cried lol.

I'm going to follow your lead and leave it alone if it doesn't do it in temps over 20.

Brand new aftermarket shaft should have better grease but who knows. Reman shaft from Mazda will have updated grease.

I'd listen carefully as you may have a new problem. Hopefully you did it yourself and know how to do it fast now if necessary.
 
Brand new aftermarket shaft should have better grease but who knows. Reman shaft from Mazda will have updated grease.

I'd listen carefully as you may have a new problem. Hopefully you did it yourself and know how to do it fast now if necessary.

Well... the issue continues. It only happens when the vehicle is cold (temps under 25) and while on the gas. No sound is made with the vehicle just turning. I do still believe it is the passanger shaft that is out after replacing the driver side. The passanger side has a wobble/vibration when turning left (putting pressure into the right side) but goes away soon after straightening out the wheels or increasing speed.

I've heard the shafts work together in a "shifting/sliding" motion when turning left or right? So if one CV shaft is bad then it makes the sound its making...
 
That's weird. You sure it's not something in the brakes? my 08 has 99k miles and up here in Pennsylvania we have had a terrible winter with tons of near 0 temperatures. I've never heard anything remotely like this ever in my CX-9. I don't know if I buy that this noise is the coming from your shafts.
 
Well... the issue continues. It only happens when the vehicle is cold (temps under 25) and while on the gas. No sound is made with the vehicle just turning. I do still believe it is the passanger shaft that is out after replacing the driver side. The passanger side has a wobble/vibration when turning left (putting pressure into the right side) but goes away soon after straightening out the wheels or increasing speed.

I've heard the shafts work together in a "shifting/sliding" motion when turning left or right? So if one CV shaft is bad then it makes the sound its making...

Hearing a distinct clicking sound while on gas that goes away as soon as you let it coast is CV joint problem 99% of the time. I'm sad to say that your experience of problems after replacement is not unique. Lots of people have experienced this after replacing CV's on just about every brand of vehicle.

The sound will come from the (bad) joint opposite the turn direction. Interaction between shafts is not a factor unless the transmission is hosed and you have more serious symptoms. If you want to know more about the internals of CV joints there are lots of videos.

Your brand new shaft has a warranty right, so once the weather breaks, you're going to get to do it again.

As for a wobble or vibration under turn pressure, that is more likely to be a ball joint, tie rod end or even a bad tire. Jack up the vibrating wheel and give it the old wiggle tests to check for the joint issues. Again, videos are plentiful. My money would be on bad tie rod ends if the word wobble is used. (eekdance)
 
Hearing a distinct clicking sound while on gas that goes away as soon as you let it coast is CV joint problem 99% of the time. I'm sad to say that your experience of problems after replacement is not unique. Lots of people have experienced this after replacing CV's on just about every brand of vehicle.

The sound will come from the (bad) joint opposite the turn direction. Interaction between shafts is not a factor unless the transmission is hosed and you have more serious symptoms. If you want to know more about the internals of CV joints there are lots of videos.

Your brand new shaft has a warranty right, so once the weather breaks, you're going to get to do it again.

As for a wobble or vibration under turn pressure, that is more likely to be a ball joint, tie rod end or even a bad tire. Jack up the vibrating wheel and give it the old wiggle tests to check for the joint issues. Again, videos are plentiful. My money would be on bad tie rod ends if the word wobble is used. (eekdance)

Are you saying that I need to replace the brand new one I just did or to replace the other? I did the outer Tie Rods just recently so I will check them again to make sure I got that side tightened down. Hoping it will fix that issue. That makes sense because the wobble wasn't doing this until more recent after changing them.

Shooting worst case scenario....

What would be a transmission issue I could/would be facing, hypothetically? What would I be looking at? Signs? Vehicle symptoms? I'm not a complete nOOb and have some common sense when it comes to vehicles but narrowing down my search may help me either confirm it is or isn't. I don't think it has any issue with the tranny because 1) I have no issues shifting going in/out of another gear. Whether that is in sport shift mode changing gears, going into reverse - drive, or vise versa or 2) No sounds or hard shifts through gears, etc.

Thank you for the help. All is needed as I am selling the vehicle (hopefully) soon as I am moving to Asia.
 
Are you saying that I need to replace the brand new one I just did or to replace the other?

Replace the brand new one.

I seriously doubt you have a tranny issue so don't worry about that.

If you did the tie rod ends (correctly, with correct parts), then the wobble is more likely ball joint or tire-related. The wobble could also be a wheel bearing, but you'd likely hear it howling all the time with the frequency changing as you speed up or slow down.

It's really hard to screw up tie rod ends and over tightening them is a bad idea. They should be torqued to around 40 ft-lbs as shown in the image below.

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Good luck on your sale and move.
 

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Same issue here

Are you saying that I need to replace the brand new one I just did or to replace the other? I did the outer Tie Rods just recently so I will check them again to make sure I got that side tightened down. Hoping it will fix that issue. That makes sense because the wobble wasn't doing this until more recent after changing them.

Shooting worst case scenario....

What would be a transmission issue I could/would be facing, hypothetically? What would I be looking at? Signs? Vehicle symptoms? I'm not a complete nOOb and have some common sense when it comes to vehicles but narrowing down my search may help me either confirm it is or isn't. I don't think it has any issue with the tranny because 1) I have no issues shifting going in/out of another gear. Whether that is in sport shift mode changing gears, going into reverse - drive, or vise versa or 2) No sounds or hard shifts through gears, etc.

Thank you for the help. All is needed as I am selling the vehicle (hopefully) soon as I am moving to Asia.



JL, I live in Canada and when I leave in the morning when cold, as soon as I turn a corner and accelerate, Tic tic tic from the front, no matter which side I turn. Just went to Florida in a trio, and cz9 was fine there, no noise whatsoever. So really, happens only when cold! No idea why
 
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