[jeo_james1984]

So I noticed my van started to make a pop sound under these conditions....

When I reverse out of a spot (driveway, parking spot, etc) and then put the van in drive and turn the wheel to the left. When I turn the wheel I hear a pop sound that appears to be coming from the front passenger side area. I notice it every morning when I leave and throughout the day if I come under the scenario above. If I'm just normal turning left I dont hear anything. It's specifically when I come out of reverse and then turn go into drive and turn left.

Thoughts on what I probably need to repair / replace?

 

[John Clark]

On the surface, that sounds like strut mounts. It could also be an axle shaft but usually those will pop continuously when making a tight,slow speed turn. It could also be a motor mount. Rather than suggesting what you should replace, I'd say you should take recommendations on what to check to try and find the problem for sure. Those are the first items I would inspect.

 

[Belmont]

Our van is a one year older & about 200k miles, so I expect you're in similar circumstances as us (well, when we got it a couple of years ago).

The miles & the time wear out CV axles, as well as all the rubber bushings in your suspension links. Hazarding a diagnosis on just the noise is a crap shoot, because it could be several things. If you're of a mind to inspect & fix these things yourself, you'll save a lot of money. Even if you decide to pay a professional mechanic, knowing what's wrong puts you in a better position to get better service - you can describe symptoms & your own observations clearly.

You need a couple of jack stands and a set of pry bars to check everything (Harbor Freight - all this is way under $100; much less if you catch a sale). YouTube is your new BFF in your efforts to troubleshoot (& repair if you decide to do that). I recommend this guy highly EricTheCarGuy but plenty of good advice abounds.

Anyway, in our case, I ended up replacing essentially everything. Struts (and mounts), CV axles, all the suspension parts... because they're so cheap, I could essentially rebuild the entirety of front suspension & the axles for about $1k in parts. (and yes, folks on the forum wax eloquent about aftermarket parts or OEM... I'm in the former camp; I have a 15 year old van, so good enough is good enough).

Good luck!

 

[jeo_james1984]

Yeah I don't work on it myself. I'll take it to a mechanic to get their diagnosis. I just like to ask around on here to get some idea on what possible options I'm looking at. I was thinking CV axles or struts. Van is sitting at about 155k miles. I know the previous owner had the shocks/struts/half shaft(front-left)/half shaft(front-right) replaced on 11-21-17 at 136k miles.

 

[John Clark]

Waxing eloquent here....using aftermarket parts can have unexpected results. I wouldn't be surprised if you're told one of those very parts is what's making the noise.

Not all aftermarket is bad but so much of it is. You have to be really picky. Talk to any professional technician and they'll tell you that low quality parts is really becoming a major problem and headache to repairing vehicles these days. It's much worse than it was even 10-15 years ago.

 

[jeo_james1984]

Previous work was done by previous owner at Firestone...not sure exactly what parts they used. Van has been good for me 2 two years. Sure enough the sound just started....a month after spending 3k on a transmission.....it never ends lol. Was hoping I'd be good for a little bit after that repair, but here we are lol.

 

[MrRangerZr1]

If you can take the wheels off and inspect things. If not take it to a shop and tell them the symptoms, don't mention what was previously replaced. Let them find out and then you can tell them.

If the work was done at firestone, most likely it was cheap aftermarket parts.

 

[John Clark]

If you can take the wheels off and inspect things. If not take it to a shop and tell them the symptoms, don't mention what was previously replaced. Let them find out and then you can tell them.

If the work was done at firestone, most likely it was cheap aftermarket parts.

Yup. Seen it many times. The last one I saw was a 2008 Sienna leaky water pump that had already been done twice. Cheap junk water pump and oodles of goo all over the gasket. I'd never take my vehicle to Firestone.

 

[jeo_james1984]

Well first inspection was not promising. Took it to Firestone since the previous owner had the struts and drive axles replaced there plus lifetime alignment and it was prolly due for a tire rotation and alignment check. Get the usual "these are our recommendations..." and it's two things that really have nothing to do with the popping sound I took it in for. Rear brake pads and motor mounts causing a little motor movement.

And then when I asked well what about the noise I asked about when I brought it in? He goes uhhh well the motor mounts could be causing the motor to move and cause a pop noise. Ugh. This is not a motor moving sound. Only when I turn the wheel to the left coming out of reverse (backing out of driveway or parking spot and then turning left causes on loud clunk/pop noise almost every time). Thought surly it was going to be something suspension or wheel related (ball joint possibly), but he said they checked it all and everything looks good and tight and doesnt appear to be the problem. I asked if anyone actually backed the car up and turned left to hear the noise and he wasn't sure so he told me they would look at it again and call me back. Which I'm waiting for now.

I just hate when they don't find a problem and there's an obvious symptom like a loud clunk/pop noise coming from a wheel.

 

[jeo_james1984]

Guess it’s time for a second opinion. Came back and stuck with it. Said fixing the mounts “may” fix the sound but he wasn’t entirely sure. His opinion was the motor was moving when turning the wheel to the left and hitting some bracket or something to make the pop noise. I’ve just never heard a noise like that with anything relating to a mount. And for $700 and change to fix the mounts I don’t want a “may fix it” guess. Sound plausible to anyone?

 

[jeo_james1984]

The only thing that makes me wonder though is this sound started maybe a month after I had my transmission rebuild done and I know they fixed a few mounts on that repair. Will have to find paper work and see what exactly was fixed.

 

[thscott]

I suggest you take it to another mechanic. Firestone just isn’t very good. Only a notch above teenagers changing oil at Jiffy Lube.

 

[jeo_james1984]

I suggest you take it to another mechanic. Firestone just isn’t very good. Only a notch above teenagers changing oil at Jiffy Lube.

Agreed. Just curious if anyone has actually seen a motor mount issue actually make the sound when turning like I’m experiencing because I have not.

 

[jeo_james1984]

So about a month and a half ago I took this to get a second opinion. They said they couldnt tell where the pop was coming from and the suspension system looked good. Well fast forward to the last week and a half. My car is making so much squeaky noises coming from the same area (from front-passenger side area)when I'm driving ... mainly when im hitting unlevel roads or bumps. Seems as the van is rocking, the the front is squeaking quite a bit. Sure sounds like something related to the strut / suspension system to me. Would you guys agree with that based on the new information?

Not sure if the pop I still hear is related to the now constant squeaking, but it's in the same area so it's hard to discount that. Hoping to get it looked at next week. I hope there isn't any real danger with me driving as is???

 

[jeo_james1984]

Meant to come back and update this post, but what eventually fixed this popping noise for my van was the Front Stabilizer Bar Control Link. They replaced those and the popping noise stopped. The squeaking noise was a front strut issue and these replaced those (parts still under warranty since they were replaced only three years prior (about 20k miles).

 

[kaimanson]

Meant to come back and update this post, but what eventually fixed this popping noise for my van was the Front Stabilizer Bar Control Link. They replaced those and the popping noise stopped. The squeaking noise was a front strut issue and these replaced those (parts still under warranty since they were replaced only three years prior (about 20k miles).

I think I'm due for those front stabilizer as well... I'm starting to hear a pop noise when going over bumps or when the road is uneven. OEM are going for $17 each + shipping @ majestic honda.