pulling to left and clicking when driving

robo22sri

hi guys i have posted a few things about my astra pulling to the left, it's now getting worse and cant work out what is wrong, the car pulls hard to the left when its in gear or out of gear, and makes a clicking noise on the passanger side under load when i let of the accelerator it clicks again and clicks when i change down gear, all wheel bearings ok, had the tracking done, new shocks and springs, new discs and pads, checked tyre preassures, had wheels balanced, i dont know what to do next and dont have lots of money to spend on it so close to christmas 🙁 , want to get my car running good again

many thanks robo

vocky

have the cv joints checked, if they are ok it sounds like the diff inside the gearbox

robo22sri

if its the diff gone how much will that cost to fix vocky?

cheers robo

vocky

it's cheaper to replace the gearbox, they usually go for about £125 on ebay - make sure it's for a astra or vx220 not a vectra as the gearbox mount fixing point is totally different

robo22sri

can i get a six speed or change it for something with longer 5th gear?

vocky

the 6 speed conversion costs about £2k !

you could use a vectra 2.2 cdx gearbox internals, they have longer gearing

robo22sri

can i just use the 5th gear from the vec 2.2 to get longer gear?

MikeS

get a big screwdriver and a hammer and try and tighten the diff

the noise you are hearing is coming from the shafts as the bearings are loose in the diff

most vxhall gearboxes u can detatch the diff with only a few bolts and taking out the shafts before the diff, saves replacing the whole box

i had same problem on my cally ecotec with banging on acceleration and braking, i found out it was the shafts but after repalcing with other shafts it was stil ldoing it, i noticed the noise by giving the shafts a good tugging 😛 and found the noise was coming from the diff, so i tried tightening up the diff by using a screwdriver on the the little ridges and bingo it worked 🙂

vocky

the F23 doesn't have adjustable bearings so it's a rebuild / another gearbox

MikeS

there u go 🙂

robo22sri

i have found new gear box on ebay for 125 not sure if i should just buy it?, haven't had chance to get the car off the ground and check the diff i dropped the car 50mm on the front and can't get a jack under it anymore!!!! so makes it hard trying look into the problem, if the diff is f**ked would this make the car unstable when driving? cause my car fells so unstable over 80mph

MikeS

sounds like your suspension arms are loose

arb links cause instability at high speed, feels as if there is play in the steering

usually banging from underneath on take off and sudden jolting is the suspension arm bolts

robo22sri

should i change the wish bones to then? i get a strange rattle on the back to on pot hole roads, sounds like its from the back struts though

MikeS

the back is usually the rear bushes

most vectra b suffer with same problems right from 97 to 02 - the whole b model 🙂

sounds like a squekey rattle over bumps

if it aint bushes then it is the rear silencer, there is nothing else that would make that noise unless the spare wheel aint bolted down 🙂

the front suspension arms [wishbones] only cost 20 quid a side and it is best replacing the whole arm than just the arb links imo

robo22sri

hi guys changed my wish bones today pain in the arse broke a brand new ball joint splitter on the first one! :wtf: used a crow bar and club hammer in the end ha ha :roll: , they had new ball joints and bushes on them it its made no change at all, the car is still pulling to left hard! dont know what to do next!!!! and io still have the clicking noise on the left hand side!

any ideas guys i'm screwing cheers..

cheers rob

vocky

might be an idea to get a geometry check done, the struts might be mis-adjusted (camber)

robo22sri

had that done before and it was stll bad after, the car feels alot tighter than it did though, need to find somewhere better than elite do the geometry because they dont do a good job! any one in essex know some where good to get 4 wheel geometry done?

cheers rob

robo22sri

had the traking done on the astra today and still pulling to the left!, outer cv joints seam to be ok, drove round in circles and no clicking on full lock either way, jacked the car up and turned the wheels around and you get a metal knock noise when you turn it forward and then the same noise when you turn the wheel 3 times back (like play)? any ideas guys?

oh and my bro in law ripped my front bumper off catching it on the lifters great another job to sort out!!!!!

vocky

sounds like it's possibly the gearbox or wheel bearing notsure.gif

robo22sri

wheel bearing is ok checked that to, forgot to put that in, if the gear box was shot would it run straight out of gear?