any mechanics on here?

[karentan]

i've got a ten year old citroen xsara for the last 5 years, hasnt been any major problems til this year, so far i've had to replace my brakes (april), clutch (june), and just had front wheel bearings changed on thursday.
yesterday and today (its getting worse quickly) its making a clunking noise. at first i thought it might be something rolling around in the boot but took everything out and its not that. gary says he can feel it coming from under the foot wells in the front.
had a google, and people say its probably the CV joint, whatever that is.

could anyone tell me what that is (or if you think it may be something else, what you think it might be), what its likely to cost to get replaced, and more importantly, if the noise starting friday (right after i picked it up) might have had anything to do with the wheel bearings being replaced. basically if it might be something the garage did wrong, i dont want to have to pay out the nose for labour to fix something that may/may not be something they caused.

thanks in advance, i'm just getting sick of having to pay out serious amounts of money this year on my car. i've had to pay out over £1000 so far this year on repairs alone, and i can afford to keep throwing money at it, but cant afford to get a new car either. i'm basically screwed either way.

 

[Netty]

Karen I am having exactly the same problem! my car started groaning and clunking recently and has got worse over the past few days to the point its worrying me! anyway after asking around I have been told it could be the steering rack

 

[Goofyish]

CV (or Constant Velocity) joints are on the front wheels and allow the wheels to drive the and turn corners at the same time.

If they are worn, they usually 'knock' when you turn a corner.

 

[karentan]

this is knocking on the straights too. not just corners
any insight into what it might be?

 

[Netty]

this is knocking on the straights too. not just corners
any insight into what it might be?

mines the same -
I'm taking it to the garage this wk as the mot is due in sept so i'm going to see if it will pass if not i have 4 wks to try and get another car, my car is also 10 yrs old...

 

[crcn11]

Hi hehe my second post here.

Well I'm actually a mechanic in training....

The clunking noise could literally be anything.

If it is the CV joints, I would consider having another garage to look at it before going back to the one that changed your wheel bearings. Because it's interesting how the CV joints are failing soon after work has been done to the surrounding parts. It might be that whoever worked on your wheel bearings might have accidentally damaged the CV joints in the process. It's very easy to damage a CV joint.... there is a small membrane of rubber that contains lubricant to stop the CV joint from wearing away.

Possibility: This rubber has been broken while the wheel bearings were replaced, the CV joints have lost lubricant, and are now failing.

Although the CV joints should be hidden behind the wheel bearing assembly.... the mechanic would have to be pretty unlucky to damage the CV joints.

Sorry I can't be more help! I hope this is not the case, it might just be normal wear and tare, but it's something to consider.

Citroens normally die around this time....

 

[karentan]

sorry, forgot to update, i took it in monday morning, they had a look at it, and apparently it was a joint that joins the suspension to something. they replaced it for free for me

 

[Netty]

sorry, forgot to update, i took it in monday morning, they had a look at it, and apparently it was a joint that joins the suspension to something. they replaced it for free for me

Glad you got it sorted Karen
Its the cv joints on mine + numerous other things which will cost me around £300