Some front-wheel drive vehicles will make a "clunking" abnormal sound from underneath the car when starting from the same direction. The harder the accelerator is pressed, the more obvious the abnormal sound will be.
This situation is most likely caused by poor lubrication of the front wheel steering ball cage. This is a common fault on some front-wheel drive vehicles.
What is a steering ball cage?
The steering ball cage is the same as the universal joint , which allows power to be transmitted at a certain angle.
Because the front wheels of front-wheel drive vehicles have to transmit power and are responsible for turning, there will be a certain angle between the transmission shaft and the wheels when turning, and the steering ball cage can transmit power while ensuring that the wheels can swing freely.
Why does the steering ball cage make a noise when starting?
There is no problem with the steering ball cage easily, but abnormal noise is almost always due to poor lubrication.
Because whether the car is turning or the wheels are jumping up and down, the steering ball cage must move with it, so it needs sufficient lubrication inside. Therefore, a large amount of grease will be applied inside the ball cage in advance, and then wrapped with a dust cover so that the grease can provide lubrication for a long time.
It is reasonable to say that the amount of grease in the ball cage is enough to be scrapped, but some cars have damaged dust boots due to various reasons during use. Not only will dust contaminate the grease and cause it to fail prematurely, but the water splashed in rainy days and car washes will also cause the grease to continuously emulsify and fall off. Eventually, the ball cage will not be sufficiently lubricated, and abnormal noises will easily occur at this time.
The ball cage is poorly lubricated, why does it only make noise when turning in the direction?
Many people may wonder: Since there is poor lubrication, why does the abnormal sound only occur when starting in the direction, but almost no abnormal sound is heard when the direction is not turned?
In fact, the principle is very simple, because the ball cage has a certain angle when hitting the direction, and the internal transmission components move laterally while transmitting power, so abnormal noise is more likely to occur. When the direction returns to the right direction and starts, the internal slippage of the ball cage is very small, so abnormal noise is less likely to occur.
Does the ball cage make abnormal noise and need to be replaced?
If the abnormal noise is caused by poor lubrication due to the rupture of the dust cover, and it is discovered in time, then I think it is not necessary to replace it as a whole.
We only need to clean the remaining grease inside the ball cage, apply enough new grease, and then replace it with a new dust cover.
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