I bought a 2004 Sunfire 5 sp as a winter beater in October. It has 168,000 KM on it and it has a few dings and dents here and there but is pretty mechanically sound.

It used to drive straight, but I have noticed it is pulling a little recently. Along with the pulling, if I turn the steering all the way in any direction (without the car actually moving) I hear a clunk noise, that sounds like something shifted. It sounds like it is coming from the left top plate? It does not clunk if the car is rolling even if at extremely at low speeds. Another thing I noticed is that if I find the car is pulling too much to the left. Ill stop the car, turn the wheel to the right until I hear the clunk, and then when I start driving again I find it pulls a lot less. What do you think this could be?

BONUS: Driving down the highway last month, I down shifted into 4th to pass a car. When I down shifted my clutch pedal went right to the floor and felt soft. I've been driving it for the past month and no clutch fluid is leaking. Only difference is the catch point is further from the floor and there is a little less resistance in the pedal. The clutch does slip now if I WOT, or if I go in to high of a gear and require too much torque to maintain speed. Since the clutch is slipping I guess something broke with the pressure plate - and I just need a clutch kit. I have not done the clutch on a sunfire before, is it difficult? Do you agree it just needs a new clutch kit, or based off this story do you think maybe something else is wrong?

Thank you for any input.

Jeff

CV joint is failing or failed, or could be a ball joint. There is a VERY small chance that the control arm bushings are shot.




PRND321 Till I DIE
Old Motor: 160whp & 152ft/lbs, 1/4 Mile 15.4 @88.2
M45 + LD9 + 4T40-E, GO GO GO

Ok, so I have never really done any front end work before - but I've done tons of other stuff. I watched a youtube video about how to check ball joints and tie rods (checking the play in the wheel with the car jacked up). I pretty much had no play at all. The only play I had was if I pushed the wheel sideways (like turning the wheel, stressing the tie rods) - but there was no movement coming from the tie rods themselves, and I was pushing HARRRD! like out of breath in 3-4 pushes hard. I'm not sure how easy they should be to move if they're faulty.

What I did find was the source of the clunk, my initial suspicion was right, it is coming from the strut assembly on the driver side. I think it is the top plate/bearing that is dead but I'm uncertain. I am currently uploading a video to youtube of what I found. It isn't the best video because I was holding my iphone with one hand and turning the steering with the other, but you can clearly see the clunking happening. The video will be available at this link as soon as it is done uploading.

Thoughts, comments, opinions?

Thanks for the help!

sounds to me like the top strut mount. i had my car veering to which ever side i turned the wheel do and it would kind hold there till i turned the wheel again. i put in all new suspension with new strut mounts and when i was taking one of the front ones off and i had to beat it off with a hammer and it busted open and every single bearing inside was rusted. i mean rusted to the point they were turning into dust. i would recommend swapping both front strut mounts and go from there. if that doesn't solve your issue then i would say as enforcer did, either cv joint or ball joint.

Well its a PITA to just change the bearing - Canadian tire wants $200 each side for the quick strut assembly, so looks like I'm putting on my D-Spec/Sportline combo I've had sitting around for 3 years that I pulled off my old sunfire. Didn't want to lower the winter car, but I'm excited to get back in a car with this suspension set-up!

It is a winter beater - so don't mind the dings and discolored parts. It came like that, I scored her for $800. Mechanically sound, solid body.



LOVE the stance - I missed it.

dspec sportline combo is @!#$ awsome..... and hey these cars have a ton of suspension noise after a bit of miles .. from literally everything

The bolts in the control arm might be worn. I had the same issue with new control arm bushings and the bolts looked like an apple core from rust.