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Hello everyone! I'm so glad this site exists!
I have a '95 Aspire that I bought about two years ago with about 190,000 miles on it. It's the definition of an econobox, as it came with zero of the factory options. Stereo without a cassette player, no ABS, no Power Steering, no rear window defogger, manual transmission, no spoiler, no tach, or really anything else remotely luxurious. The car has leaks from the front camshaft, crankshaft, and oil pump seals, so it eats about a quart of oil every 300 miles. Because of that leak, I've also had to replace the alternator once (with a new Duralast unit. Love that lifetime warranty!), and the accessory drive belt twice. I also replaced the driver's side front wheel bearing about 2000 miles ago, and the passenger's outer CV boot about 2300 miles ago. The balljoints and tie rod ends have a lot of play in them (which are the first thing on my to-do list when I finish my advanced automotive training) and of course everything is kind of oil soaked because of the leaks.
I replaced and bedded the front brake pads yesterday morning (the rotors looked pretty good, so I kept them), as well as replaced the front two tires (which I had mounted and balanced, then rechecked and retorqued the wheel lugs), checked and adjusted the rear brakes, replaced the accessory drive belt, restored the headlights, and cleaned it out. I'm home from school for Christmas break, so I have a lot of holiday driving to do. The only noteworthy thing that happened is that when I compressed the front left caliper, it oozed a few drops of brake fluid, but I put it all back together, pumped it up 40 times and held it for an hour, and couldn't get it to leak at all. The brakes also felt great the whole 3 hour drive to mom's house today. I also used anti-seize in place of brake grease for the guide pins when I assembled it, in case that makes any difference, and I didn't use any sort of stop-squeal to adhere the pads to the calipers simply because I've never had to before.
So here's whats going on. When I get the car on the highway from 40mph to 70mph, there's a clicking sound from the front end. It goes away above 70mph, and below 40mph. If I downshift into 4th and bury my foot in it, it doesn't make noise. If I let my foot off the throttle in 5th and let the engine coast down, it doesn't make noise. It only seems to make noise when I maintain a constant speed. If it's making the noise and a put the clutch in, the noise goes away. I haven't gotten the chance to jack it up and check under it, but I'm going to in the morning.
So I guess my question is, does anyone have any idea what it could be? I'm far from done driving it, and it doesn't seem dangerous. Any guesses on what to look for?
I have a '95 Aspire that I bought about two years ago with about 190,000 miles on it. It's the definition of an econobox, as it came with zero of the factory options. Stereo without a cassette player, no ABS, no Power Steering, no rear window defogger, manual transmission, no spoiler, no tach, or really anything else remotely luxurious. The car has leaks from the front camshaft, crankshaft, and oil pump seals, so it eats about a quart of oil every 300 miles. Because of that leak, I've also had to replace the alternator once (with a new Duralast unit. Love that lifetime warranty!), and the accessory drive belt twice. I also replaced the driver's side front wheel bearing about 2000 miles ago, and the passenger's outer CV boot about 2300 miles ago. The balljoints and tie rod ends have a lot of play in them (which are the first thing on my to-do list when I finish my advanced automotive training) and of course everything is kind of oil soaked because of the leaks.
I replaced and bedded the front brake pads yesterday morning (the rotors looked pretty good, so I kept them), as well as replaced the front two tires (which I had mounted and balanced, then rechecked and retorqued the wheel lugs), checked and adjusted the rear brakes, replaced the accessory drive belt, restored the headlights, and cleaned it out. I'm home from school for Christmas break, so I have a lot of holiday driving to do. The only noteworthy thing that happened is that when I compressed the front left caliper, it oozed a few drops of brake fluid, but I put it all back together, pumped it up 40 times and held it for an hour, and couldn't get it to leak at all. The brakes also felt great the whole 3 hour drive to mom's house today. I also used anti-seize in place of brake grease for the guide pins when I assembled it, in case that makes any difference, and I didn't use any sort of stop-squeal to adhere the pads to the calipers simply because I've never had to before.
So here's whats going on. When I get the car on the highway from 40mph to 70mph, there's a clicking sound from the front end. It goes away above 70mph, and below 40mph. If I downshift into 4th and bury my foot in it, it doesn't make noise. If I let my foot off the throttle in 5th and let the engine coast down, it doesn't make noise. It only seems to make noise when I maintain a constant speed. If it's making the noise and a put the clutch in, the noise goes away. I haven't gotten the chance to jack it up and check under it, but I'm going to in the morning.
So I guess my question is, does anyone have any idea what it could be? I'm far from done driving it, and it doesn't seem dangerous. Any guesses on what to look for?
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