Rumble/Thumping noise?

[drddan]

My Festiva started getting a rumble/thumping noise, that sounds like its coming from under the passenger side floorboard area. Probably coming from front suspension maybe? Getting progressivly worse for the past week, when I first noticed it. Anybody have this happen to them, or know possibly what it might be?
I will be looking into it in the morning. THANKS, in advance for any help!!!

[MTec007]

check your bolt on the lower control arm to frame for looseness, and your sway bar to control arm bushing for deterioration, any a general sweep of the area for similar problems. i've had that bolt back out almost completely, and i;ve also had the bushings fall apart. they both made noises that really had me worried until i fixed the problem

[freshtiva]

Done any work to it lately ?

[drddan]

check your bolt on the lower control arm to frame for looseness, and your sway bar to control arm bushing for deterioration, any a general sweep of the area for similar problems. i've had that bolt back out almost completely, and i;ve also had the bushings fall apart. they both made noises that really had me worried until i fixed the problem

Thanks, I will check that out. I've got 2 vehicles breaking down on me now. Been working on my truck trying to get it going and stuff keeps going out on it, and now that i'm getting it all straightened out, my Festy having problems too. Can hardly keep up with it all.

Done any work to it lately ?

No, it has been problem free until now.

I'll be going out to check on both in just a bit. Thought I had the truck done(complete brake overhaul) and at test drive last night I had funny noises coming from rear left wheel. Intermittent noise. Something loose in drum or something. Not effecting braking. Hope its just something left in drum or a rock in trim ring.

[kartracer46]

I know the feeling, my 89 Suburban was acting up and I replaced the MAP sensor. Then two days later it acted up again and I had to replace the TPS sensor. I guess the ESC module will be the next to fail. Luckily I have already installed a new ECU. But still I had to spend almost a 100 bucks that I didn't have just to make sure the wifey could get to work without incident.

I am with the others, the sway bar bushings are probably deteriorated like mine and most likely are in need of replacement. The LCA's on mine are almost ready for replacement. You should jack it up and do an inspection of all the components and see what you have or don't have as previously suggested. Safety is always my primary concern with steering, suspension and brake components. Not to mention vibrations and noises are just nerve grinding.

[drddan]

Ok, thanks all! Heading out to see what the noise from truck is first. I'm sure this should be a simple one. Then on to the Festy. Sheesh!

Short story on the truck. Tranny went out right as winter approached. No garage.
Working in weather in driveway. Got a rebuilt tranny, put it in, wouldnt go in gear while running. (went in all gears when shutoff) Couldnt see anything wrong!? Took it all back apart, still cant see anything wrong. Thought it might be the internal slave cylinder not moving enough, but it was. Finally, I put it back together and it worked!? Started on brakes, new master cylinder and wheel cylinders. Went out to turn truck around to put on the cylinders and as I started it, it did 1 crank on engine and totally went silent. Acted like a short, as turning on headlights made dome light go off, and turning key to start position made dome light go off too. Horn wouldnt work either! WTF! Replaced a few things and it finally started. Think it may have been a bad battery cable. Anyway, it now has a few new ignition parts, battery cables, and new starter too. Finally got to get back to the brakes. And the Festy starts acting up with that rumbling noise. Really testing my patience! Right now both vehicles I own are acting up. One of 'em needs to be working!

Oh yeah, did I mention I had a flat on the festy on my way home from work yesterday? All air went out immediately at highway speed.. Friggin valve stem was almost cut in half! (Murphy, get off my back!!!!)

[miami man]

what i did one time is is have my brother go with me and find a deserted part of a parking lot and have him drive the car slowly while i walked next to it to hear where a noise came from.

[batstiva]

How's the front end rubber on the Stiva? Check what they all said, but I'd also check the tire for tread separation. That's what the rear end of my car started sounding like when I had a tire in the early stages of losing its tread. Just askin'.

[drddan]

Ok, got all truck problems fixed(except the rear anti-lock dash light still on). On to the stiva. The sway bar bushings have seen better days, but still solid enough, as in, the sway is centered in bushings, and pretty tight. Took a break between vehicles, getting ready to jack up and do a real inspection on it.
Today so far:
1) Fixed valve stem on Festy's tire, had tire balanced as it lost balancing weight when valve stem got cut.(guess something hit the rim)
2) Fixed brake issue on truck.
3) Repaired steering column on truck.(Ya have to see my colomn, its kinda "skeletonized". Looks like The Terminator got hold of it)
4) Next, the Festy

[m715]

^^^ All of the above, but also check the mounting point for the transaxle crossmember while you are under there, Make sure the reinforcement under the radiator isn't rusted out to the point that now it is allowing movement of the engine-transaxle. I had noise like that before it finally the crossmember was sitting on the sway bar.
Hope that's not it, and just those pesky sway bar bushings missing!

Michael

[drddan]

Finally got under the stiva and all bushings, LCA's, radiator supports, tie rods, etc all look good. I did find this "dampner" looking thing on the right axle. Of the 8 little tabs that hold the outer ring of the "dampner" to the inner piece that is on the axle, there were only 3 of them still holding the outer ring to the inner ring. Grabbing it with my hand, the outer ring just twisted right off with very little effort. What is this ring? It looks like a vibration dampner. Since it was now just a ring hanging on the axle after it twisted off, I took a die grinder and cutoff the outer ring. Inner ring is still attached to axle. Car is still up on jackstands.

[MTec007]

ok, if everything else is okay, how about your wheel bearings? running out of ideas now :|

[drddan]

This festy had a lotta new parts installed when I got it. Wheels bearings was one of'em. Bearings all good. What about the "dampner" ring in previous post pic?
It was wobble-ly. Could move it all around b4 I twisted it off. I'm thinking maybe that was the noise? Guess i'll take it down from jackstands and test drive it.
Why is that ring on the axles of festy's?

[kyleeeee]

looks to me like the remains of a grease seal for the wheel bearings . The bearings in the hub of a festiva are a very unique design. they are regular type taper roller bearings that are packed in normal grease like the ones in the rear drum of your festy. However these have a very poor seal design and have selective shims that keep the proper preload . If any water gets into the bearing due to seal failure, or the wrong selective shim is used due to aftermarket bearing variation in thickness . the bearing can fail and make a loud rumble while driving . On a quiet road, at about 25 mph slowly rock the steering back and forth across the entire lane and see if the pitch of the noise changes, if it does then you definitely have a bad front wheel/ bearing

[kartracer46]

Your picture. It's a damper they usually install on the longer CV shafts to cut down on tone noise. It's not for balance or anything. It's usually found on the original shafts or if you buy a new shaft it will have one, most re-builders don't even bother re-installing them. Found on right side shafts mainly on our Festiva's.