Shudder noise/vibration in left front under acceleration: CV axle or other??

[jason999]

I have a 1995 Protege with 165,000 miles, 5 speed. Just recently anothe problem cropped up. Under "hard" acceleration in first gear and usually turning the wheel some, the front left corner shudders and vibrates loudly, almost like the front wheel is hopping. This happened after an hour on the freeway, was making all kinds of racket. Today it's fine (go figure) Driving in a straight line on the freeway, it's perfect.

I know what bad CV axles sound like and I don't hear that type of clicking. I can turn the car to full lock in both directions and do circles and no clicking too. It's only under hard acceleration in 1st or even 2nd sometimes.

Can you guys help me out, thanks!!

[skidrow_joe]

well I'm no expert but had the same problem with my '93 .. no clicking but a strong vibration under acceleration and it turned out to be the CV joint / axle.

[mannydingo]

Yes, I only had the clicking problem until I got a really ugly groaning sound and one day on a car I owned a few years ago, while driving, the whole axle broke apart where the axle meets the CV joint. It also might not be the CV joint. Jack up the car on one side and put a jackstand underneath. Go to the other side and jack it up also and then the jackstand. Now that the wheels are free, hold each tire and try to move it. Try this also while under the car just inside the edge of the car. See if one side moves more than the other and observe all parts. If you notice noise or movement that the other side doesn't have, try to see where the looseness or noise is coming from. It can be anything like a ball joint, the end links of the stabilizer bar(also called anti-sway bar) or a tie rod.