Thread: 02 GTP Popping noise when turning at slow speeds. Intermediate shaft?

The noise doesn't happen at any other time. It only pops when turning the wheel. Just at a slow turn. Seems to make more of a popping noise when turning to the right. It feels like its coming from my steering shaft. It only pops when turning the wheel. Everything seems to look normal around the sway bar and ball joints. I'm no suspension expert though.

I did some searching. I came up with a lot of results about the intermediate steering shaft needing to be lubed. Most of the info was related to the 04 up grand prix's though. Can you lube the 97-03 grand prix intermediate shaft? Any ideas what else it could be?

The only thing that leads me away from the cv axle is that i can make it pop just by turning the wheel side to side while the car is sitting in the drive. And its just one pop when the wheel is turned. Moving or not.

And you're sure the sway bar ends aren't split in half where the endlink goes into it? Had this happen on my 00 GT and it would act like this.

Throw the entire front end up in the air a bit and turn the wheel and see if it still pops. If it does, then have an assistant turn the wheels while you listen and try to pinpoint the location of it. This is of course with the car running and fully supported via jack stands and jack. Never trust a jack by itself.

Originally Posted by FordMan77

And you're sure the sway bar ends aren't split in half where the endlink goes into it? Had this happen on my 00 GT and it would act like this.

Throw the entire front end up in the air a bit and turn the wheel and see if it still pops. If it does, then have an assistant turn the wheels while you listen and try to pinpoint the location of it. This is of course with the car running and fully supported via jack stands and jack. Never trust a jack by itself.

Guess I didn't look close enough at the sway bar. Driver and passenger sides are split on the front wheel side the sway bar end link hole.

Time for a Dorman replacement. It's actually an upgrade as its a 33mm bar and is solid, unlike the stock bar that is hollow and a smaller diameter. Should come w/ all the bushings and new endlinks as well. Check out RockAuto for it.

Thanks for the help guys. Im glad its the sway bar really. Seems like a pretty easy fix compared to everything else it could have been.