[BillM]

I had the ticking/popping noise on my Bolt. The dealer diagnosed a bad stabilizer link, ordered the part, then installed the part about a week after the diagnosis. That seemed to cure the problem for a few weeks, but I am starting to hear the noise again, starting subtly as it did originally, but it is there.

I have noticed the ticking/popping is worse when the weather is hot, and we've had a run of 80 degree F days here in Ohio, which is rare for October.

 

[GregBrew]

I had the ticking/popping noise on my Bolt. The dealer diagnosed a bad stabilizer link, ordered the part, then installed the part about a week after the diagnosis. That seemed to cure the problem for a few weeks, but I am starting to hear the noise again, starting subtly as it did originally, but it is there.

I have noticed the ticking/popping is worse when the weather is hot, and we've had a run of 80 degree F days here in Ohio, which is rare for October.

"...we've had a run of 80 degree F days here in Ohio, which is rare for October."


Get used to it...

 

[Lin19687]

They replaced mine. But to be honest I am not sure I knew what the noise IS that would alert me to it breaking again

 

[Lin19687]

Can someone tell me something about this 'link'


When they fix this, would it possibly screw up the alignment ?


So hear me out. ... The alignment does not seem off, but on the Highway at about 75-84 MPH I feel and HEAR the noise it makes when it IS out of alignment. Not a huge feel but enough. I mainly Hear it.


Did they do something wrong ? I did NOT have this noise before they fixed it.

 

[elon-who!?]

On my bolt the noise seems to be coming from the strut assembly. It has progressively gotten worse and it is more of a creaking noise. I shined a light while parked at my stabilizer bar while rocking the car a little and the noise was noticibly coming from the wheel wells. Then I shot some white lithium grease on the coil spring of the struts and went for a drive. The sound seems to get a little worse when I did that. There is a youtube video shows a ford with a bad strut with the same type of sounds my bolt is making.

 

[elon-who!?]

Sound Identified!

So today I got lucky.. The noise was very loud when turning the steering wheel back and forth so I took advantage of the moment. I have identified the noise as the stabilizer bar LINK, not the mounts but the link with a ball joint on each end. Look at the picture for reference. When I reached my hand into this area and squeezed the lower ball joint on this link, the sound went completely away, when I let go it came right back (I could also feel the vibration from the internal rubbing at this location). The upper joint also makes some slight noise which explains why I thought it was coming from the strut at first. I spoke to the dealer and have an appointment next week for repair. After confirming the issue with them, if they need time to get part in stock, I will inject some high temp bearing grease into the coupling with my grease needle to see if this makes it go away prior to full replacement.

I also added a video on youtube of the sound, hopefully it helps someone...
youtu.be/9giUOZ2xdUM

 

[Lin19687]

Anyone know if replacing the LINKS would throw off the alignment ??

 

[quirkySquirt]

Thank you for the detective work, @elon-who!? I don't have that sound, thankfully, but am glad I now have something to watch for and likely diagnosis thanks to your writeup!

 

[elon-who!?]

Thanks! I am happy to help! I had originally posted all of this information in this thread https://www.chevybolt.org/forum/178...178-2017-chevy-bolt-ev-issues-problems/30253-creaking-clunking-low-speed-3.html but I will copy over the most important bits..

UPDATE 1 - I injected all of the ball joints on the stabilizer links on both sides with JT6 Mystik High Temp Bearing Grease. The creaking sound in my video is completely gone. The only thing I hear now is a small bit of knocking that sounds like play in the stabilizer link possibly. I have only driven it around the block, so I need to put some more miles on it to see what the longer term effects are of this grease. I will report back after a day or so of driving around.

UPDATE 2 - After 100 more miles of driving, the slight knocking sound disappeared as well. I dont know if this is luck or not, but I am going to keep listening and will report back if anything returns. But as of now, injecting this grease has seemed to completely solve the sounds coming from my car.

The picture shows the grease needle and grease type I used to fix this issue. I already had these items for other maintenance that I do, but if you dont have them, it is typically easy to find someone that has this stuff and any NGLI 2 grease would probably work. The key is to get the grease injector needle which is about $7 on Amazon.

 

[Bunklung]

Interesting thread. They replaced my sway bar, but it still made noise in hot weather. When it's cold, I hear nothing.

NOW, they replaced the sway bar and my car is aligned as it's goes dam straight on the highway, BUT the steering wheel is crooked when centered.

They says it's not required they align the car after replacing the sway bar. This makes me think they want to bill me for the alignment. Which is totally unacceptable.

It's hard to see the grease fitting from the pictures. Am I blind?

Anyone know if replacing the LINKS would throw off the alignment ??

Thanks! I am happy to help! I had originally posted all of this information in this thread https://www.chevybolt.org/forum/178...178-2017-chevy-bolt-ev-issues-problems/30253-creaking-clunking-low-speed-3.html but I will copy over the most important bits..

UPDATE 1 - I injected all of the ball joints on the stabilizer links on both sides with JT6 Mystik High Temp Bearing Grease. The creaking sound in my video is completely gone. The only thing I hear now is a small bit of knocking that sounds like play in the stabilizer link possibly. I have only driven it around the block, so I need to put some more miles on it to see what the longer term effects are of this grease. I will report back after a day or so of driving around.

UPDATE 2 - After 100 more miles of driving, the slight knocking sound disappeared as well. I dont know if this is luck or not, but I am going to keep listening and will report back if anything returns. But as of now, injecting this grease has seemed to completely solve the sounds coming from my car.

The picture shows the grease needle and grease type I used to fix this issue. I already had these items for other maintenance that I do, but if you dont have them, it is typically easy to find someone that has this stuff and any NGLI 2 grease would probably work. The key is to get the grease injector needle which is about $7 on Amazon.

 

[elon-who!?]

Interesting thread. They replaced my sway bar, but it still made noise in hot weather. When it's cold, I hear nothing.

NOW, they replaced the sway bar and my car is aligned as it's goes dam straight on the highway, BUT the steering wheel is crooked when centered.

They says it's not required they align the car after replacing the sway bar. This makes me think they want to bill me for the alignment. Which is totally unacceptable.

It's hard to see the grease fitting from the pictures. Am I blind?

A steering wheel that isnt centered is not an alignment issue, but typically just a simple adjustment to the drag link. You could fix this at home but I cant imagine that the dealer wouldnt return the steering wheel to what it was prior as part of the repair. I would call the general manager at that location and voice the concern. There arent any grease fittings on the links, I used a grease injector needle on my grease gun to inject the boots. Still no sounds at all to this day and I have put 2000 miles on since, in both cold and warm weather. I posted the grease needle here:

https://www.chevybolt.org/forum/178...evy-bolt-ev-issues-problems/30253-creaking-clunking-low-speed-3.html#post451367

 

[beeguz]

I haven't been driving my Bolt since the weather went south here, when I was driving it my car developed a noise in the drivers side suspension.


Looking at this thread I may have a look at the sway link.


I don't get my noise when I hold pressure on suspension, its only there when the suspension is centered, as soon as you load it my noise is gone.


I should be able to check the link with a pry bar it should not have any movement in it.


I was thinking it was a top shock mount before I saw this thread, its in a buried area I wasn't looking forward to digging for it.


Thanks for the tip and the pic of the link.

 

[lexcyn]

A steering wheel that isnt centered is not an alignment issue, but typically just a simple adjustment to the drag link. You could fix this at home but I cant imagine that the dealer wouldnt return the steering wheel to what it was prior as part of the repair. I would call the general manager at that location and voice the concern. There arent any grease fittings on the links, I used a grease injector needle on my grease gun to inject the boots. Still no sounds at all to this day and I have put 2000 miles on since, in both cold and warm weather. I posted the grease needle here:

https://www.chevybolt.org/forum/178...evy-bolt-ev-issues-problems/30253-creaking-clunking-low-speed-3.html#post451367

Wouldn't the grease needle cause leaks to the boot?

I have this problem now and it's getting rather loud - won't a replacement link bar fix the problem? Or do you think it's just going to be one of those things that constantly fails?

I'm considering the grease gun as well as taking it to the dealer, or just replacing the links myself.

 

[elon-who!?]

Wouldn't the grease needle cause leaks to the boot?

I have this problem now and it's getting rather loud - won't a replacement link bar fix the problem? Or do you think it's just going to be one of those things that constantly fails?

I'm considering the grease gun as well as taking it to the dealer, or just replacing the links myself.

Yes the dealer should be able to replace these for you under warranty. With only 1200 miles on the car when I noticed the sound I felt comortable just injecting grease and just living with it without having to spend alot of time with the dealer. I have around 11k miles on the car now and the sound has never returned. Also, I have not noticed any evidence of leaks however I injected it until it oozed out and then manually moved the joint around until it stopped coming out of the hole so it wouldnt seep out in the future. Having the tools already in my garage helped lean me the direction of fixing it myself and if the sound returns out of warranty it is $11 per link which would be easily replaceable at home. If it were a more major issue as some other people seem to be having I may have went to the dealer instead. Good luck!

 

[lexcyn]

Yes the dealer should be able to replace these for you under warranty. With only 1200 miles on the car when I noticed the sound I felt comortable just injecting grease and just living with it without having to spend alot of time with the dealer. I have around 11k miles on the car now and the sound has never returned. Also, I have not noticed any evidence of leaks however I injected it until it oozed out and then manually moved the joint around until it stopped coming out of the hole so it wouldnt seep out in the future. Having the tools already in my garage helped lean me the direction of fixing it myself and if the sound returns out of warranty it is $11 per link which would be easily replaceable at home. If it were a more major issue as some other people seem to be having I may have went to the dealer instead. Good luck!

Awesome, thanks for the explanation. I am bringing it to the dealer first (I mean I may as well use the warranty while I have it) but if that doesn't lead anywhere I will definitely try the grease gun. The noise was not there all winter and only appeared during the warmer weather as others have noticed, so I don't think it's anything failing or dangerous, just annoying.

 

[Lin19687]

I want to update this a bit.
While the Links they replaced, I now have the Sway bar being done -after fighting with the idiots at the dealer ?? I think this was part of what I was hearing.
They are also doing the dash too since it is falling a bit lower as well.

Did someone post an image of the dash taken out? I can't find it anywhere.
@elon-who!? Did that grease work out for you? It has been about a year and I was curious. I don't know what state you live in and was curious about weather temps and your fix.

 

[PlanetB]

To fix creaking noises after 40K k, maybe due to warmer summer weather, in September my GM dealer replaced the left front strut assembly and transferred spring; however, they then noticed clunking noises, and replaced both front sway bar links, which removed the noises. This whole operation also required them to access a bolt which happened to be under the windshield wiper motor assembly, which they had to crowbar out and damaged (along with the windshield), so they replaced the windshield and the wiper motor assembly (which had been recalled last year and replaced). dealer service rep comments included: "creaking noise likely from the ball bearings of the strut assembly but not a safety issue; dealer has little experience with this model (Bolt 17) and therefore they have much to learn." GM provides no training or reference material? Zero cost to me, but not sure if this is due to my 48/120k Protection Plan ($100 deductible not applied in this case) or manufacturing defects. Courtesy rental was not ZEV. Upon further prodding, the dealer did concede that the noise if not fixed may have resulted in an ongoing safety issue, and that is why they repaired it (presumably under the Protection Plan).

 

[p7wang]

Zero cost to me, but not sure if this is due to my 48/120k Protection Plan ($100 deductible not applied in this case) or manufacturing defects. Courtesy rental was not ZEV. Upon further prodding, the dealer did concede that the noise if not fixed may have resulted in an ongoing safety issue, and that is why they repaired it (presumably under the Protection Plan).

What did you pay for the extended warranty?

 

[p7wang]

Looks like the sway bar is engineered to last exactly 36K miles... so listen carefully before 3 yr/36K miles and take it in for service...

TSB 18-NA-198

 

[beeguz]

The noise happened in my Bolt last winter, I parked it for the winter to use a beater, when I stated using the car again the noise was there.
I checked out the front end everything was tight, what I did notice, if I steered the car to the left the noise stopped, that told me I needed to check out the left side.

Bushings and ball joints, tested fine, tie rod ends checked out.

I found a tiny bit of play in the stabilizer link, ordered one on line(make sure you buy the correct side they do not interchange) I paid about 10 bucks shipped it took about 20 min in total to install.

You do a torx bit to hold the the stud to remove the 19mm nut on the link ends, if you do have one that is stuck in the hole, the stud can be hit with a hammer.

My car was jacked on the pinch weld, when it came to removing the link I had to jack up the lower control arm to take the pressure off the link.

Its a very simple job its been over a year since I changed the link all is well.