Clunking / knocking front end sharp turn when cold

97' jetta (left) drivers side started making a repetitive clunking / thudding? noise within the last 2 weeks when I turn sharp to back out of parking spot for example or when making sharp turns at an intersection. It seems to only happen when its cold out or if the car hasn't been driven for a while (winter in canada so its always cold but worse when its extra cold).

By the end of my drive to / from work (about 25-30min) I don't hear / feel it. There is no noise when turning the wheel full lock when stopped and no noise at highway speed in a stright line and no noise when hard accelerating 3rd gear WOT. It does seem rythmic / with the rotation of the tire but I haven't tested at faster speed because of the sharpness of turning required to hear it.

I know there is a host of things to check to narrow it down but I haven't been able to get under the car yet as I park on the street and we've been in a cold snap recently.

I would assume since its rythmic / rotational that it would be a cv joint going bad? How would I test for that? I have checked and re-torqued all lug nuts so I know its not that.

When doing front brakes in the late summer / early fall I did make sure to grab the tire and try to twist / shake it 9&3 side to side & up and down I didn't feel any play as far as ball joints or strut mounts.

Perhaps strut mounts?

Are all boots intact?
Shake axles?
What do the control arm bushings look like?

drucifer said:

Are all boots intact?
Shake axles?
What do the control arm bushings look like?

Click to expand...

Boots (driver and pass outer) are torn and I knew I would have to change eventually just not too familiar with what a cv joint on its way out seemed like, but I did some more reading and watched some videos for sound reference I now believe it is the outer drivers side cv joint going bad. Control arm bushings were changed last summer because steering was pulling left to right on accel / decel.

If you or anyone has experience with aftermarket cv axles (rockauto) would it be preferable to buy the complete unit and just swap it for a new potentially inferior aftermarket one or just buy the outer cv joint and boot, remove the old one and boot then pack new one with fresh grease and re-assemble?

My thinking is that the OE VW ones are probably better and since the inners seem to be fine just replacing the outer is a better option. I get that replacing the inner and outer as a unit is easier since im disassembling to swap it out anyway I just worry about aftermarket part quality.

andreigbs said:

Perhaps strut mounts?

Click to expand...

Was my initial thought but since the noise is with the forward rotation of the wheels and repetitive, not me turning the steering side to side, I figured it couldn't be upright in the suspension it had to be something that was turning with the wheel like the cv joint

Good thinking, yeah I was under the impression the noise is only when turning wheels side to side.

If the boots are torn, there's definitely going to be CV joint damage. The grease will have flung out of the joint and dirt/grime/water/etc can get in there and start causing real damage.

Your best bet is to find a reman VW joint. I recently replaced a half shaft on a Passat with a rebuilt one instead of a "new" Chinese knock-off type part.

Good luck!

andreigbs said:

Good thinking, yeah I was under the impression the noise is only when turning wheels side to side.

If the boots are torn, there's definitely going to be CV joint damage. The grease will have flung out of the joint and dirt/grime/water/etc can get in there and start causing real damage.

Your best bet is to find a reman VW joint. I recently replaced a half shaft on a Passat with a rebuilt one instead of a "new" Chinese knock-off type part.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

Probably not worth sourcing an outer cv joint from a scrap yard to clean and repack?

i buy napa axles for about $50 a shot. inexpensive and i ve had good results with them.
even if you get outers you still have to take both axles off to do the work.
dont get junk yard cv joints. not many old parts left in very many junk yards anymore, you can find some. get new outers if you do.

iluvmydiesels said:

i buy napa axles for about $50 a shot. inexpensive and i ve had good results with them.
even if you get outers you still have to take both axles off to do the work.
dont get junk yard cv joints. not many old parts left in very many junk yards anymore, you can find some. get new outers if you do.

Click to expand...

Ok, good point. NAPA here in canada doesn't have prices like that. I'm looking at about 190+ regardless if reman or new from napa and its not even their brand so not sure about lifetime warranty. Buying online from the usa seems to be the most cost effective for me.

replacement axels

I have had driver side good luck with Auto Zone axles. Replaced side 2 years ago still going good and the passenger one last week. Don't mess around replacing just the cv joint. quicker and cleaner doing the complete axel assembly. Just need to remove wheels and a couple dust covers. Look it up in one of these threads. Easy if you have any mechanical ability at all.

Giberish33 said:

Probably not worth sourcing an outer cv joint from a scrap yard to clean and repack?

Click to expand...

I'd stay away from wreck yard parts on this. And it'll be far easier (maybe even cheaper) to replace the entire half-shaft on that side. Whether a reman or a "new" is up to you. I opted for the VW reman.

the only CVs you can get new are chinese crap that are far too soft, they'll click again pretty soon

I put a lot of them in customer cars, but on your own junk... get a junkyard shaft or outer joint, slightly less money and more work, but much better parts.