A few of us have reported similar issues with GTi6's. I could repeat the noise mine made easily - downhill, left hand, rapid progression. Still never made it easier to locate.I agree...you need to be systematic. Get a driver and as a passenger poke your head around the car. Establish which types of situation it makes the clunk in, and repeat that again and again.
Exactly this, I don't want to give up as I don't want to be driving around with something catastrophic ready to happen. I also wouldn't want to sell the car with the noise unsolved. The sagging door card fabric I can deal with... They all do this. But that's hardly going to cause an accident is it.I am sure the problem is solvable but a pain to pinpoint and because it is only annoying but not vital most people give up and box it with "they all do that". Nothing wrong with that but I would make sure it is not vital first.
Found a strange coincidence today.You know what? Is it possible it may be wear in the rack? Have you checked this? The idea came to me whilst reading another thread about adjusting the rack/pinion backlash to take up wear. The pinion and rack wear and eventually at full lock there is enough slop that the rack will reposition itself giving you the clunk. Bad news is you might have to take the steering off to check. With the steering on, you won't be able to see the slop because the weight of the car works against you. You might be able to get away with disconnecting the tie rods at the hubs and giving them a wiggle up and down at full lock but to be 100% sure you really need the rack on the bench. Maybe test in car first and if not clear, take to bench. If slop is clear you will have to take the rack off to shim/fix it anyway, so your call.
Just sorted the problem with the Cabrilet.Found a strange coincidence today.
I’ve just picked up a 1999 N5 Cabrilet. I drive it back from Victoria Point to the Gold Coast on a permit. The car handled like a dog and had a slight knock. It had very bad torque steer causing a veer to the right on acceleration.
Jacked it up and put it on stands today and found the incorrect (undersized) ball joint fitted to the LH side.
I don’t know how whoever did this failed to notice! I could shake the tyre and see 15-20mm of free play at the front of the tyre. I could also see the ball joint pin moving about in the retaining hole.
I suppose this proves it can be done but I think you would need to be vision and sensory impaired not to notice before lowering the car and it would be glaringly obvious on the post repair test drive.
Yep - I would have thought that impossible. They're a very different size.Found a strange coincidence today.
I’ve just picked up a 1999 N5 Cabrilet. I drive it back from Victoria Point to the Gold Coast on a permit. The car handled like a dog and had a slight knock. It had very bad torque steer causing a veer to the right on acceleration.
Jacked it up and put it on stands today and found the incorrect (undersized) ball joint fitted to the LH side.
I don’t know how whoever did this failed to notice! I could shake the tyre and see 15-20mm of free play at the front of the tyre. I could also see the ball joint pin moving about in the retaining hole.
I suppose this proves it can be done but I think you would need to be vision and sensory impaired not to notice before lowering the car and it would be glaringly obvious on the post repair test drive.
My 306 also has an intermittent crack sound turning left, right, etc. Taking out the parcel shelf and/or fold down rear seats allowed the crack to echo a bit and I then traced it to play in the rear trailing arm bearings as I can pull on the wheel and see the movement.HI, me again! Guess what? The sound has transformed from a dulled knock to a metallic CRACK! And now persistent. Turning left, right, going over transverse road joins etc.
Hi Alex, I will have a look but I'm fairly certain it's from the front end. I have a theory that when I had the new struts and top mounts installed that maybe the springs are not set in the correct position on the base plate. I don't know how they should be set, I trust the mechanic for that but who knows - I have to pull some things apart I think.My 306 also has an intermittent crack sound turning left, right, etc. Taking out the parcel shelf and/or fold down rear seats allowed the crack to echo a bit and I then traced it to play in the rear trailing arm bearings as I can pull on the wheel and see the movement.
What are the differences? I'd assumed that they were mechanically the same?Good luck to you, fitted xsara vts suspension to mine got rid of all of this.