a friend of mine has been looking for a used Z for a while and he might finally have found one. The record is clean and the car looks great and drives fine.

The only questionable thing is it makes a clicking sound somewhere around the front passenger wheel well. he said the sound occurs mostly when going slow, and often when going over a speed bump, or on occasion when turning. I suggested it might be the rear axles clicking, but he said the sound is definitely coming from the front right of the car.

The car is a carmax car, and so today he exercised the option to have it held for 3 days and taken to service to see if the problem can be resolved. After the 3 days, the car can be purchased by anyone else. So there is a bit of urgency.

Has anyone else heard this from their Z, or have any ideas of what it could be? The dude at carmax suggested it was probably something from the brakes.

Please help a potential Z driver out!

 

Hello all!

I hate for this to be my first real post on the forum, but I want to be as educated as possible before making a purchase. I am the one who is having this problem with the Z...

The model is an '03 SB Track edition with 16k miles. Car is very clean on the exterior with only some rock chips on the bumper/hood (common for the Z as I have come to read). Interior is also extremely clean (has factory navigation). It has factory spec Bridgestone RE040's with more than %85 tread left, but I am not sure if they are the car's original tires (and therefore can make no conclusion on the feathering issue).

Everything else looks and drives clean. There is no tranny griding, no break squeaking, and no axle popping (which I thought was the problem at the front right, but hndumafia informed me otherwise). The only issues I found are the window streaking and the trunk spring issue (I have read the TSB's), and mentioned them to Carmax. They have put these on the repair order as well as the popping problem.

Now to the main question. The popping sound occurs when traveling <10mph, and I first noticed it when going ove a small speed bump. If I tap the brakes quickly and let go it sometimes happened then, and sometimes I dont even touch the brakes and turn the car and I hear a pop. I should mention that the sound is a single pop, not a repeating noise. It will happen once, and then I have to slow down with the brakes or go over another speed bump for it to happen again.

My theory is either the brakes or the bearing/axle. Please let me know if anyone has any more ideas or if you need any more details.

Thanks!

PS There are no worries about the urgency anymore, as the car has been delivered to the service dept. so there is no risk of it being sold before it returns.

 

bump.

 

Well I got a call today from CarMax, and they informed me that the problem is coming from the upper control arm.

After doing a search on the forum, I found that this problem is common, although it is mostly referenced when performing a sharp slow turn. The guy at the dealer did not know if they are going to replace the arm, or just tighten the bolts like everyone on the forum says. Ill ask for the service record and find out once the car gets back from service. Does anyone know if this is a recurring problem?

Thanks.