loud knocking noise

2nd November 2014, 19:49

Could anyone off some advise on this?

I was driving back from sunny Blackpool today, and out of the blue my car (saxo vtr) started making a loud knocking noise. Its coming from somewhere at the front. I pulled over, checked to see if the exhaust had come loose, give all the wheels a good wobble, then i pulled up at a kwik fit and he jacked it up n had a good tug on everything. .. but cant find anything wrong.
The noise is made a lot quieter when i accelerate, when i take my foot off the noise comes back. The faster i go the more it knocks. It also happens when i put the car in neutral, i tried it at 50mph.
It happens in a straight line... it may be supressed a little when i turn right. Also, ive just nipped out in it, and it didnt make the noise .. could this be because it didnt have chance to warm up maybe?

I know its hard to say what it could be without seeing the car, but any ideas?

Cheers

2nd November 2014, 20:15

Could be all sorts of things, hardly any point speculating.

Take it to a proper garage and get them to have a look.

2nd November 2014, 21:41

Lots of things can make a knocking sound.take the wheels off a check to see if the brake pads are loose.that is just one scenario though.

2nd November 2014, 21:52

Well, if it does it in neutral as well. and it's not the suspension.

Diff or shafts are the only possibilities.

Check your gearbox oil level first. If you are unsure, drain it all out and refill with between 2 and 2.4 litres of 75W-80 Gear oil.

Gearboxes can do exactly as you describe when they lack oil.

Driveshafts can also do this if they are worn or lack of grease (due to a boot split).

Since it's been looked at, my money is on the diff not having enough oil.

3rd November 2014, 09:13

I'm with Martin. You've said it's much better under load and you still get it in neutral etc. Sounds like a diff problem. Maybe low oil if you're lucky (where's it gone?) or fucked diff full stop.