A few days ago I ran into a problem .. whenever I brake, I get a slight shaking in the steering wheel and a steady, evened out ticking sound from the driver front of the car. However, NO vibrations in the brake pedal.

Obviously first thought was something in the braking system. Thats been ruled out as fine. Second thought was a loose control arm bushing. Yesterday that was ruled out as fine, everything in the wheel base area is nice and tight. They say, that my headers are loose. Would that seriously cause those issues?

It makes no sense to me, but I'm out of options and no one has a clue. I'm also trying to avoid taking it to a dealership or shop so they can charge me $100 JUST to look at and diagnose the problem for me.

This has definitely blown my mind. [sm=WTFsgign.gif]

 

Do you know anybody that has a lift or even a jack-stand you can put the car on? It should be pretty easy to get under there and figure out if the headers are loose.. Plus, if they WERE loose, and you had an exhaust leak, it'd be pretty easy to tell because not only would it sound different than it normally does when you acclerate, but I would think it just wouldn't feel as quick as it normally does.. Depends on HOW loose they were/are though.. Don't know if that helps any, but if you have any friends that could help you out, it's honestly not that hard to tighten up the header bolts.. And you wouldn't have to worry about the dealership charging you out the a$$ just to look at it and tell you "yep, the bolts are loose".. lol That would suck..

 

If headers are loose, you'll feel a fairly noticable power lose(not as much if you bypassed your O2's), the steering shaft barely clears the headers as it is, so vary possible it touches the steering shaft if it is loose. Braking probably has very little to do with it. Best way to check it, when you car is cold, reach down there and see if you can shake it. You can get you hand down to the header toward the front of the motor, just grab it and shake it, if it moves, you found your problem.

 

It was already tput on a lift but unfortunately I have no way of doing that myself to see it with my own eye. Otherwise, I just mention braking bc thats ONLY time I hear the rattling and feel the shaking. I'll definitely have to check it out though.

haha, silly mistake.

 

So I just checked it out, the headers are not loose at all and I dont think the shaking has anything to do with the ticking. Thats more than likely just bad rotors. Someone said that maybe the ticking is just from the headers hitting the frame?

 

Ahhhh, I'm kinda doubting it's hitting the frame, THAT I know you'd be able to tell. If the headers aren't loose, then I doubt they'd be hitting the frame. If the noise is coming from the rotors, I would think it'd be a lot easier to fix than the headers would be..

 

Its definitely not hitting the frame. If that was the case, I would hear it at times OTHER than just braking. But I ONLY hear it when I'm braking so I'm starting to just think its in the braking system, even though three people have looked and ruled it out, I cant think of anything else it could be!

 

Hrrmm.. that's weird.. if they checked out the rotors and the rotors aren't warped, and there's nothing wrong with the pads or the calipers, and you're ONLY hearing this ticking sound when you hit the brakes, that's a hard one.. I would almost be tempted to say you could take the rotors off and check the bearings, but then you'd be hearing that ALL the time if that was the case.. [&:]Maybe there's something wrong with the ABS and what you're hearing is the ABS kicking in prematurely? That's a little out there, but at this point I figure it's worth a shot though.. lol

I just say that because when I had my Lincoln Mark VIII, the thing had a short in the lead to the ABS master-cylinder that was causing the ABS to kick in whenever I hit the brakes even moderately hard. Granted it's a compeletely different car, but still.. lol Just tryin to help..

 

No, that definitely does help! I almost just feel like I should be going against those three other people and just say that its the brakes. What else coule it be!? :]

 

Well, I'm thinking.. lol But it's kind of hard when I can't see the car or hear the noise it's making. Is it coming from both sides on the front end or just one wheel? It might help if you turn the radio and the A/C off, roll the windows down, and try to listen out the windows to see if you can tell which side it's coming from. You're SURE this sound doesn't sound like it's coming from the engine bay? When these other three guys that looked at the car check under the hood at all? If you want, PM me, that might be easier. lol