Hey scotty, I'm a 17 year old who wants to be a mechanic one day, I've been watching your videos recently and seen your knowledge in mechanics. I would like to ask you if you'd be willing to diagnose my 2002 Dodge grand caravan. I know they're not the best of vehicles but it's my mothers vehicle , i want her to be able to go to physical therapy because she has nerve damage in her spinal cord that sometimes paralyzes her ability to walk. The last time she drove it, she told me that she heard a loud banging sound coming from the dash whenever going over some bumps. So i assumed its either the strut or the sway bar linkage, sway bar bushings. I replaced the sway bar bushings but still hear that hammering noise when going over a bump. The strut doesn't seem to be leaking at all. I've been at this for a couple months and want to ask someone who really knows what they're doing when it comes to vehicles an vehicle safety. I appreciate your time if you read this and reply 🙂 .
@spawnz
we are here to help the community. can you please give us all the details about your car problem. we are here to volunteer and help everyone get back on the road for free
Hey, I’ll be glad to add my advice. If the struts are not leaking like you said, be sure to check all under the rubber dust cover with a flashlight just to be sure, if you don’t see anything I would also look elsewhere. Most of the time if a shock is bottoming out it’ll definitely look like a mess at the strut. (Hydraulic Oil Leak) But after that I would take a look under the hood & check mounts. You may have an engine or transmission mount that is out of rubber surrounding. I’d look up a diagram of the mounts to make sure you don’t skip over any and to also know where to look. If everything looks fine there, I’d say go to Scotty’s old video on how to track down road noises, and there he shows a pretty good kit that’ll come with wireless microphones that you can place around the area of the noise also includes some headphones. So you’d just change channels and listen for which channel gave you the loudest clunk sound then you can start looking around the area to see what may have went wrong. Let me know what you find and good luck.
Whenever i drive the vehicle (2002 dodge grand caravan) on the passengers side whenever i hit a bump i hear a loud hammering sound. Even on the smallest of bumps in the road. I've replaced sway bar bushings to see if that would help and no luck. @reddevil1321
@spawnz
does the car brake when you hear the sound? if not, does the car sound like a hammering "squeek" sound? does it sound only 1 time when you hit the bumps or does it continue to make the noise after hitting the bumps? you have something loose or a bent metal. iam sure if you give more details the community here will be glad to assist you further
It happens multiple times when going over a bump. It's like a clashing sound, also when i push down on the front end i can hear it squeak. I've tightened up engine mounts. And no my car dont brake when i hear the sound, its just a clashing sound on the passengers side whenever i go over a bump or not really good grade of road. Slightest bumps make it sound like its gonna break off or something. @reddevil1321
@spawnz
have you changed your rotors,brake pads or struts?
No, i'm trying to narrow down what it is before spending hundreds of dollars on parts. I just wanted a suggestion of what i should do to narrow down what's causing the noise. I'm not really mechanically inclined. @reddevil1321
@spawnz
i had similar issue a long time ago, i think it was my coolant pump. it sounded like marbles hitting each other, worned out bearings can make the strangest noise sometimes. if you get more symptoms please come back to help you further. youll have to investigate more, make a list of all the symptoms you get, even the ones that seem the least important
@reddevil1321 watch this video, it shows the noise: https://youtu.be/NV_quwsBjc8
@spawnz
sounds like a broken sway bar, exact same sound as your video clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36QW9UgGC9Q
@spawnz the sound is really similar, if that only happens during the bumps, this is a good indication your sway bar needs to be check. reach your hand behind the wheel while the car is turned off, record with your phone and inspect this rubber part, also look for rust or cracks in the sway bar, any damage small or big can affect this part. compare both of your sway bar from both sides, if your right passenger is where it sounds bad, compare that with your left driver side. if this is not the case, please come back with more data and let us figure out a solution here. thanks for trusting CARKILLER AS YOUR SOURCE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIPABumixwY
@spawnz
if you decide to repair this part, follow this scotty video, step by step to help you repair this problem. the videos i share previously is only for you to compare your sound, since your video is very hard to listen, if so, watch scotty video posted below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP-oP_7zFkk
@reddevil1321 I looked at it a little bit and i don't know much about vehicles but heres a video of the sway bar linkage. https://youtu.be/uC6jD_JzUTg
@reddevil1321 https://youtu.be/Zl8jB0khUAM Idk what part this is , but when i move it back and forth it makes noise.
@reddevil1321 I checked both sway bar linkages and theres a very minor crack on the top part of the linkage on the drivers side but on the passengers has nothing. Right where the rotor is connected, I can move it forward and backward. Is that what's causing the noise? I checked to see if the linkages were loose and they weren't.
@spawnz
did you check if you can move it forward and backward on both, the passenger and drivers? if so, both must be equally the same. and do you mean when you say "the passenger side there is no linkage at all"? if so, both sides must be qually the same.
please check the lower control arm firs:here is scotty youtube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eHWpgtSM8Q
the part youre looking at is the "rack and pinion power steering rack". here is a couple of scotty youtube videos. take your time, follow each step 1 at a time. dont rush it. inspect everything including the your passenger lower control arm. after check this videos to check for that steering rack leak
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWR9JtFSULE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IVhTItAWsU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjId3bfMBUQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1boEHtawcM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgs_Z0Vr8zI
not all videos are the same, they all each show you more details in each video. watch them all.
in my previous car i also had a rack n pinion leak and it would make noise like marbles and i would loose power steering fluid in a day. as for the noise you where talking about earlier, inspect all those parts you where showing , like grab them with both hands, pull them twist them feel them, are they loose are they both tight equally, does one side move more than the other. make a list. the minor crack does matter, and the fact you have nothing no linkages on the passenger means that metal to metal contact will be made. first watch all this videos and come back and send us more video clips. try to grab the tire and pull on each side
@reddevil1321 I did check to see if it moved on each side and it does move back and forward the same amount. And i meant by no linkage on passenger side, The sway bar link rubber bushing didn't have any cracks like the driver's side did. Even though the noise is coming from the passenger side. Looked at the power steering reservoir its not losing any from what i've seen its still full. I tried to move both linkages on each side and they didn't move. Also moved the sway bar on each side and didn't have no play in the passenger side but when i would budge under the sway bar on the drivers side it would move. Ive checked mostly everything and it doesn't seem anything moves besides behind the rotor moving back and fourth. I've also used a wrench to make sure everything was snug and not loose. I do have linkages on the passenger side, just the one on the drivers side the top of the linkage is cracked very slightly and i don't have any power tools to crack it? Any suggestions? They're kinda splined so i was thinking a torch but idk how good a propane torch can do to be able to crack them bolts. I did pull on the tire as well and there was no movement so i know its not bad ball joints. Just also checked the lower a frame and there was no noise upon hitting it.