Occasional steering wheel shake and noise when turning

[tarotora]

Recently my 2006 Vibe has developed an occasional steering wheel shake which seems to get worse at low speeds. The shaking only appears to stop after making a sharp left hand turn which is accompanied by a loud popping sound. On one occasion, there were three loud popping sounds during a left hand turn. The noise sounds like it is coming from the front left and can be felt through the floor. The shaking and noise always seem to go together but only happen on occasion, sometimes I can drive 50-100 miles without a problem. The car has 140,000 miles on it so something is probably just worn out. I did a quick inspection of the struts and front end linkage but nothing looks unusual. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

[JohnO]

Maybe a ball joint or control arm bushing. Jack the left front up off the ground and then push and pull on the bottom of the wheel. Look for anything allowing movement of the wheel.

[Salsa Guy]

Possible CV joint going bad.

[tarotora]

Update on this, the occasional popping sound very quickly escalated to a constant loud grinding when making turns. Shortly after (within 2 miles) something finally gave under the car and now it does not move when put in drive or reverse, it just makes a really loud grinding sound until put back in neutral or park. I haven't had time to look under the car but I suspect maybe one of the CV joints broke. I'm having it towed to a shop tomorrow so I'll post back when I have more info. If anyone else experiences these symptoms, be aware that it may break down quickly!

[moongdss]

Mine just started to 'pop' yesterday, going to drop it at Goodyear tomorrow

[tarotora]

Ended up being a broken outer right CV joint. Interesting because it really sounded like the pop was coming from near the driver side. Overall, it wasn't too bad. Cost about $200 to have it fixed.

[moongdss]

Glad it wasn't too terribly expensive or invasive!!