Occasional Clicking Noise When Driving

Steve777 · **Joined:** Fri Oct 16, 2015 11:31 pm **Posts:** 279

Seemed pretty straight-forward at first, but has me scratching my head, so thought I'd ask here...

Started noticing a clicking noise when driving, some of the time. Perhaps a bit more common when turning but happens when driving straight too at times. Seemed like a clear case of CV joint failing so I jacked up the front of the car and took a look. Axle CV joints all seemed fine, No tears or splits in the boots, no signs of thrown grease, No side to side/up/down play in any of the CVs, and the axles themselves did not have any turning play.

I also checked the front drive shaft, its joints seemed good, but when I tried to rotate it, it would turn about 10-20 deg. Not sure if that amount of rotating play is OK or not.

So I am puzzled, would have guessed it to be a CV joint, but at the moment they all seem fine. Perhaps the front drive shaft, do folks think that amount of rotational play is normal? Otherwise, what other things could be causing the clicking?

Thoughts?

(BTW, the lib has 2.5" of lift, which I understand is hard on the axle CVs, and was a reason to suspect them)

JDaPP · **Posted:** Wed Feb 24, 2021 7:49 am

Could it be brake petal micro switch? Mine does that randomly, sounds like when someone clicks a pen but louder and more forceful.

flash7210 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:48 am

Most likely the front driveshaft joint on the transfer case end.
You wont see/feel any damage there but it will make noise.

WWDiesel · **Posted:** Wed Feb 24, 2021 1:50 pm

A simple way to test:
Remove the front driveshaft and see if noise goes away.
You can run/drive the vehicle without the front driveshaft for as long as you want.
It will not cause any problems not being in place. :wink:

krb · **Posted:** Sun Apr 11, 2021 5:49 am

Any update?

I'm experiencing something similar maybe...

PZKW108 · **Joined:** Sun Apr 06, 2014 5:23 pm **Posts:** 461

flash7210 wrote:

Most likely the front driveshaft joint on the transfer case end.
You wont see/feel any damage there but it will make noise.

Usually the front drive shaft failing sound like a chain you drag on the ground !

Steve777 · **Joined:** Fri Oct 16, 2015 11:31 pm **Posts:** 279

Thought I would post a "solution" to bring this to some closure. Turns out the "clicking" was due to loose wheel lug nuts, or at least in hindsight that it was it seemed to be. If you have not seen it, I started a thread about my wheel falling off, which is exactly what happened. 4 of the 5 wheel studs were sheared off and the one remaining stud was bent.

I am a bit embarrassed that I did not catch this, cause I had the front end up in the air, rotating the wheels/axles and checked for bearing play too just a few weeks before loosing the wheel. I would swear that there was no play on that wheel when I did that check.

Anyhow, a tow home, new wheel studs and nuts, cleaned things up and all is well again. And the mysterious clicking is gone now too. An inconvenient lesson, but worth reseating the wheel nuts if you have a clicking you can't find the source of.

krb · **Posted:** Sat Apr 17, 2021 6:13 am

Deja vu all over again...

Occasional Clicking Noise When Driving

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