What's knocking?

[JimM169]

My wife's 2014 Peugeot 208 has had a knocking noise from the front for a while now so finally had a look at it today. With the wheels on the ground I noticed that if I shook the OSF wheel I could feel movement and could hear a clicking noise. When I lifted the wheel off the ground the movement disappeared and all seemed solid again. Poking around the suspension with a bar I couldn't see any play in the joints/bushes but something is obviously amiss under there somewhere. Any suggestions what the likely culprit is going to be?

Before anyone says it wheel nuts were tight I had the same movement after the wheel was refitted and car driven for a bit. Other side is nice and tight

[GreenV8S]

Classic symptoms of a worn suspension joint.

[stevemcs]

We had something similar on one and it was the shock absorber.

[cliffords]

Lifting the vehicle off the ground puts suspension in droop. This can often mask a worn component. As an example anti roll bar bushes always seem solid with a wheel off the road, but they can show as worn when the car is down again.

[JimM169]

stevemcs said:

We had something similar on one and it was the shock absorber.

Thanks, after a bit more googling I'm leaning towards the top mount/bearing being the issue but it's hard to confirm. Need to strip the scuttle panel etc to try and get a bit more of a visual on it and that's a job for another ie. warmer day!

[E-bmw]

JimM169 said:

stevemcs said:

We had something similar on one and it was the shock absorber.

Thanks, after a bit more googling I'm leaning towards the top mount/bearing being the issue but it's hard to confirm. Need to strip the scuttle panel etc to try and get a bit more of a visual on it and that's a job for another ie. warmer day!

Top tip.

Don't "lean towards" anything.

You need to actually find what the issue is otherwise you may well be many hours & hundreds of £ in before you accidentally change the culprit.

As was said above, if there is a particular way you are feeling the issue, you need to use that to find the issue.

It sounds like you may well need to get under the car and try this with the suspension weighted rather than on full droop.

You could always drive up some wooden blocks etc to keep the weight on the wheels/suspension while allowing enough space underneath to find the issue.

Obviously make sure the car is adequately chocked & can't roll/move before going under.

[Smint]

I'd renew the drop links and nip all obvious suspension bolts up first.

One other thought, its not the rattling sound of a dry CV joint? Its rare i've ever changed a CV joint or driveshaft, most times a simple clean out and repack with grease gives them a second life, don't ignore the inner joints they are just as likely to need regreasing.

Edited by Smint on Monday 16th December 09:09

[essayer]

For the faff it might be worth finding a local MOT only place and asking them how much to do a check

[GreenV8S]

Smint said:

I'd renew ...

I wouldn't attempt any repairs until the problem had been diagnosed.

[itcaptainslow]

With the car up in the air, use a pry bar in the various suspension joints/bushes to place some load - the culprit should become obvious.

To check anti roll bar links, shake the anti roll bar itself near the link joint. If there's any play in the ARB link ball joints, you should hear/feel it.

[JimM169]

Quick reply to some of the responses

E-bmw said:

Top tip.

Don't "lean towards" anything.

You need to actually find what the issue is otherwise you may well be many hours & hundreds of £ in before you accidentally change the culprit.

As was said above, if there is a particular way you are feeling the issue, you need to use that to find the issue.

It sounds like you may well need to get under the car and try this with the suspension weighted rather than on full droop.

You could always drive up some wooden blocks etc to keep the weight on the wheels/suspension while allowing enough space underneath to find the issue.

Obviously make sure the car is adequately chocked & can't roll/move before going under.

I'm too tight to waste money if at all possible I can feel the spring moving when I shake the wheel but this may just be vibration etc Hoping if I get the scuttle off I'll see some movement in the top of the strut to confirm the issue

I've got some home made scaffold board ramps, so will give this a go

Smint said:

I'd renew the drop links and nip all obvious suspension bolts up first.

Edited by Smint on Monday 16th December 09:09

Knackered drop link was picked up on the MOT back in Oct, so replaced this then - think this may have been disguising some of the wider knocking issues as nothing else was mentioned

essayer said:

For the faff it might be worth finding a local MOT only place and asking them how much to do a check

Might end up going down this route if I can't diagnose myself

GreenV8S said:

I wouldn't attempt any repairs until the problem had been diagnosed.

Yes, as above I want to confirm before I change anything out

itcaptainslow said:

With the car up in the air, use a pry bar in the various suspension joints/bushes to place some load - the culprit should become obvious.

To check anti roll bar links, shake the anti roll bar itself near the link joint. If there's any play in the ARB link ball joints, you should hear/feel it.

Thanks, that's what I tried but all seems pretty solid with the wheels in the air

[itcaptainslow]

Strange! Any free play/noise from the top mount? Not sure if the 208 is like earlier Corsa D's which had a "floating" mount, which exhibited normal play when on droop, mind.