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I have been dealing with this problem for close to a year now and after 5 trips in and a whole lot of run-a-round, I still have a car that is popping and clunking down the road. Here was a post describing the problem and a reply from one of the good guys here at saabnet.
I am experiencing front end noise, BUT
not the "normal" cold-weather noises associated with bushings ect. I know because I get these also (Colorado cold). I have a '00 9-3 se w/46k and have noticed on hard cornering a "Thunk" coming from the front end. This also seems to happen when reversing out of parking spaces when the steering is cranked pretty far, but not all the way. Any ideas?
[Now it does it turning easy and overall, randomly.]
PATPRICE wrote
You have given a textbook description of a wheel bearing sticking in the hub, now if you can figure out which side you will be in good shape.
The wheel bearing is held into the hub by two retaining rings and is supposed to slide the few thousanths of an inch between the retainers soundlesly However time and rust cause it to stick a little and the additional force needed to move it causes the clunk you are hearing. The solution is the change the wheel bearing(you cannot remove the old one without destroying it) and when the new one is precced in lubricating it with some anti-seize lubricant.
It is not a danger, just annoying.
Well, I took it in the 1st 2 times telling the saab dealer these things and I got 'Well, it just needs a good re-torquing'. The 3rd time I sat there with a mechanic for over an hour while we looked at everything and then he finally went to the computer and looked up a saab bulletin stating the wheel bearing problem. He then went to talk to the service manager and said he talked him into doing the job. So I left for a couple of hours and came back to pick it up. The mechanic then says some disclaimer like "just give us a chance to figure this out if this isn't the answer"...Hmm, funny. So I drive home and it pops/clunks once, and over the next week, deteriorates to the point it was at when I brought it in. So now I am thinking they never did the work, because they "LOST" the paperwork. I have asked several times since with no results. So I take it in AGAIN and they replace the ball joints...to no avail. 2000 miles later and ...
Well, it's back in again and they are now saying they think it is the Front Strut Bearing, but can't tell due to it being unweighted while in the air, so they want me to drive for a couple of weeks and make it get worse so they can pinpoint the problem. NS! So, me driving it for the last 12K miles wasn't enough? They had it this time for 2 full days and did NO WORK. I am sick of this. I can see why people bash the dealers all the time. Can anyone offer suggestions, please.
posted by 207.224.4...
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