The car makes metallic popping noises from the left front. The
struts/springs are good, have both been recently replaced without
stopping the popping noises. From a stand-still, if you hit the
accelerator just a little, when the car starts to roll, it makes a pop
sound or two. When you are rolling and let off the gas, it will also
make a pop. If you just push down on the front of car and release,
letting it come back up....no matter how hard you do it....there is no
noise. Seems to be a fore/aft thing, not up/down, on the suspension.
I found that the left stabilizer bar mount bolts won't tighten up
all the way. So I tried to remove the mount bolts....they won't
UN-screw either. So apparently this nut plate that is supposed to be
welded in place is spinning, and of course there is no access to the
nutplate, as it is inside of a hollow chassis part cavity. Both ends
of the stabilizer where it connects to the lower control arms are OK,
not loose. I have a suspicion that the mount is moving very slightly
fore and aft causing the popping sounds...it drives me up the wall as
it sounds like something major is wrong.
If I have the mount arc-welded to secure it, then I cannot replace
the mount rubber, which doesn't look too good. Migh be possible to
arc-weld it....ox-acetylene torch would surely melt the rubber.
I depend on this car, so I don't want to die-grind the heads off,
replace the rubber, and then find that I am foo-barred...maybe it is
not driveable with the stabilizer mount not bolted on at all?
Any ideas what can be done about it? (no, the junkyard is not
an option right now! ;-)
Ray O - 28 Dec 2007 18:23 GMT
> The car makes metallic popping noises from the left front. The
> struts/springs are good, have both been recently replaced without
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> Any ideas what can be done about it? (no, the junkyard is not
> an option right now! ;-)
If the bracket that holds the sway bar bushing is loose enough, can you push
the bushing sideways to get it out and replace it? If not, then I would
grind off the bolt head, replace the bushing, and arc-weld the bolt bracket.
It doesn't go through that much stress, so a tack in 1 spot should be
enough.
The car is drivable without the sway bar bushing mount attached but it may
handle a little differently and be noisy.

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Ray O
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geronimo - 28 Dec 2007 21:25 GMT
No, theres really no play in it at all by hand....the bolts are snug,
but won't ever really lock the mount in place against the forces of
the wheel and suspension in motion. The one thing I can't do is the
arc-welding once the bushing is replaced and stabilizer bar
reinstalled. I would have to drive it a few miles to a garage to have
this done. Do you know if the car would be drivable for this distance
with one stabilizer mount completely loose? I guess this would let
the wheel move fore and aft a lot more than it should.
>> The car makes metallic popping noises from the left front. The
>> struts/springs are good, have both been recently replaced without
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
>The car is drivable without the sway bar bushing mount attached but it may
>handle a little differently and be noisy.
Ray O - 28 Dec 2007 23:24 GMT
> No, theres really no play in it at all by hand....the bolts are snug,
> but won't ever really lock the mount in place against the forces of
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> with one stabilizer mount completely loose? I guess this would let
> the wheel move fore and aft a lot more than it should.
Just to be clear, there is no part called a "stabilizer" bar in the car, so
I am assuming that you are talking about the sway bar. Yes, you can drive
for a few miles with one of the sway bar bushing mounts removed.

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Ray O
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Jeff Strickland - 28 Dec 2007 22:04 GMT
I have to wonder if your problem is really the CV joints.
A test for CV joints is ---
turn the steering wheel full lock, left or right, and gently apply the gas
as you drive in a circle. Turn the wheel to the other lock and repeat. If
you get a click-click-clidk noise, the CV joints are shot. Each axle has two
CV joints, and inner and an outer. The inner is up at the transmission end,
the outers are out by the tires. The outers wear more, and have a wider
range of operating angles. All CV joints are protected by rubber boots that
will sometimes break open, allowing grease out and water and grime in.
Loading up on water and draining grease out is a huge problem.
I've taken my CV joints apart and cleaned them up and repacked them with new
grease, and had reasonable success. It's been several years -- perhaps a
decade or more -- since I did this last, and the prices of axle shafts has
fallen to the point that replacing them makes more sense than taking them
apart and putting them back together.
Removing the driveshafts is reasonably easy in that if can be done on some
designs without disturbing the alignment -- I would assume that some cars
will have fits with the alignment, but none of the cars I have done this job
on have had issues. I simply replace the dcrive shaft on the affected side,
put the car back together, and it drives as straight as it did before I
started.
Having said that, if you do not have the tell-tale clicking while going in a
tight circle, then odds are good that the CV joints are not the source of
your problem.
You are talking about a stabalizer mount, but describing a motor mount.
Well, depending on where the mount is, I suppose. If you put the car in D,
or R, with the brakes locked, and gently apply the gas, the motor should
remain in place. If it lifts, then you have a motor mount problem.
Obviously, D and R are going to cause the motor to move in different
directions, and this is kind of dangerous so use caution. You don't need so
much gas as to over ride the braking system, but if you are concerned, put
chocks under the tires. I don't know how much life there is in the motor
mounts on your Camry, but I'd not be surprised to find my '88 with them worn
out.
> The car makes metallic popping noises from the left front. The
> struts/springs are good, have both been recently replaced without
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> Any ideas what can be done about it? (no, the junkyard is not
> an option right now! ;-)
johngdole@hotmail.com - 30 Dec 2007 05:00 GMT
Besides ball joints also check the inner CV or even the outer CV
joint:
http://www.artsautomotive.com/axle_story.htm
> The car makes metallic popping noises from the left front. The
> struts/springs are good, have both been recently replaced without
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> Any ideas what can be done about it? (no, the junkyard is not
> an option right now! ;-)
geronimo - 30 Dec 2007 15:55 GMT
Ok....sorry SWAY BAR. its the two SWAY BAR mounts that are supposed
to have nuts or nut plates welded in place inside the chassis frame.
Its not the motor mounts I am taikng about. Its nothing to do with CV
joints....they along with the struts were recently replaced with new
ones. I think I will probably get the local muffler shop to just
tack- weld it in place so that it positively cannot move, and see if
the poppoling goes away. They are expert enough to do it in such a way
that I can grind off the welds later if I need to replace the mount
rubber. regards, Geronimo
>Besides ball joints also check the inner CV or even the outer CV
>joint:
[quoted text clipped - 27 lines]
>> Any ideas what can be done about it? (no, the junkyard is not
>> an option right now! ;-)
Jeff Strickland - 31 Dec 2007 16:42 GMT
Okay, the sway bars have rubber bushings that your symptom set indicates
have worn out.
I'm not certain there is anything in this area that is supposed to be
welded. On other vehicles that I have worked on in this area, there are nuts
on each end of a bolt that is stacked with an assortment of rubber bushings
and washers. There are track bars too, the track bars hold the suspension
straight to the body/frame. The track bar also has bushings that wear out.
The track bar gets an eccentric that is used to adjust the alignment, but
once again, you have a bolt and nut that is held with a wrench. You loosen
the nut, turn the bolt to adjust the position of the eccentric (affect an
alignment change), then tighten the nut again. You would not want to tack
weld this part.
> Ok....sorry SWAY BAR. its the two SWAY BAR mounts that are supposed
> to have nuts or nut plates welded in place inside the chassis frame.
[quoted text clipped - 37 lines]
>>> Any ideas what can be done about it? (no, the junkyard is not
>>> an option right now! ;-)
Ray O - 31 Dec 2007 18:13 GMT
> Okay, the sway bars have rubber bushings that your symptom set indicates
> have worn out.
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> eccentric (affect an alignment change), then tighten the nut again. You
> would not want to tack weld this part.
The sway bar bushings on the OP's car are basically thick rubber tubes that
wrap around the sway bar and are held in place with a metal piece that looks
like the letter Omega. One side has a tab that fits in a hole and the other
side has a hole that a bolt passes through, making the bushings very easy to
service or replace.
The front suspension on the Camry does not have track bars.

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Ray O
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