Peugeot 306 HDi - Knocking noise at front of car

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Sun 10 Jul 2011 12:36
Peugeot 306 HDi - Knocking noise at front of car - Mercian7

I have a V reg 306 diesel. Which runs really well.

However the car has developed a knock which appears to come from the front drivers side in the area near to the front wheel.

The knock is not ever present.It does not happen whilst driving in a straight line and does not happen when driving over bumps or generally over bumpy ground.

It more often appears after driving for a period of about twenty minutes and is particularly bad when turning slowly especially to the left.I have a slanted drive that rises about 20degrees from bottom to top and when I turn left and upwards onto my drive I usually get three or for knocking sounds which continue when I straighten up.

I have had the car in the garage twice. The first time the mechanic replaced the tie rods and the second time he could not find anything wrong and said he had tightened everything up. he said that it's an old car and I should not be surprised that there are a few noises!

Fair enough I suppose, but this sounds more than a bit of looseness but something that is just not right.

Any replies will be greatly appreciated.

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Sun 10 Jul 2011 12:46
Peugeot 306 HDi - Knocking noise at front of car - gordonbennet

If there's no wear in the steering/suspension joints, and the brake calipers/pads are in good free working order, it might be wear in the CV joints, wouldn't do any harm to repack them with proper grease anyway, if the noise goes you've cured it, if it doesn't then you have extended their useful life.

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Sun 10 Jul 2011 13:31
Peugeot 306 HDi - Knocking noise at front of car - Mercian7

Thanks.

I had new discs and pads a couple of months ago.

18months ago a driver cut across me at a junction ( luckily I had a witness!) and smacked into the front of my car. After a few months after the car was repaired I noticed that the drivers side was slightly lower ( when measured over the wheel arch) than the passengers side-by about 2cm.I asked my mechanic about it and he said that it was the torsion bar and it was nothing to worry about ( and that " they are a b***** to adjust").

It feels to me that the sound is like something is loose and knocking around.

I have even checked the front wheel nuts ( I had 2 new tyres recently).

Could it be something as daft as slightly low steering fluid? Have checked level and is between max and min though.

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Sun 10 Jul 2011 15:18
Peugeot 306 HDi - Knocking noise at front of car - gordonbennet

I had new discs and pads a couple of months ago.''

Worth checking the caliper bolts are tight then and all pad sliding and securing pins are in place, and lubricated if needed whilst you're underneath.

ISTR the 306 had torsion bar suspension at the rear, shouldn't really affect the front unless it's extremely low one side, the bushes can wear though, are both rear wheels upright when viewed from behind.

Have you jacked up the front end and checked all is secure with the suspension at extreme travel?
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Sun 10 Jul 2011 17:20
Peugeot 306 HDi - Knocking noise at front of car - Mercian7

Well I suppose I can check the caliper bolts etc quite easily.

I would of hoped that the garage would have checked the suspension(?).(although I have got a sneaky feeling that they did not check the car thoroughly, as they were very busy that day!)

The rear wheels are upright and the rear passenger side is higher than the rear drivers side.

I am going on Holiday in two weeks so am a bit concerned about it..

Next to my work place is a KWIKFIT -is it a stupid idea for them to have look- although they have tried to replace a perfectly ok exhaust for me in the past!

Thanks for the replies

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Sun 10 Jul 2011 14:45
Peugeot 306 HDi - Knocking noise at front of car - FP

High-pitched rattly knock, or lower-pitched clonking?

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Sun 10 Jul 2011 15:13
Peugeot 306 HDi - Knocking noise at front of car - Mercian7

I would say that the noise is more like a lower-pitched clonk than a knock.

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Sun 17 Jul 2011 11:33
Peugeot 306 HDi - Knocking noise at front of car -SOLVED? - Mercian7

I think I may have found the problem.

Got the car jacked up- took off the drivers wheel and checked the brakes- no problems.

But when I turned the steering there is defintely a knock coming from the top of the suspension at the cup-so presumably the rubber underneath has failed .

The thing i dont understand is why it gets noisier when I have been driving for long periods and why is there no noise when i go over speed humps?

Now how much to fix?And is it worth worrying about too much?

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