Engine Knocking after power steering work?

[blaugranamd]

Hey all. So after dealing with a screaming banshee of a power steering system again this year winter I went ahead and pulled the vacuum line and reservoir off the car to replace all of the spring clamps as I have seen recommended in a number of places to try and fix this problem. In the process there probably was a small amount of automatic transmission fluid that got onto various parts in the engine despite my best efforts to avoid this. I also as part of the bleeding process, as I've seen recommended in other places, i turned the engine over with the ignition key while the spark plug wires were disconnected for about 1 second 3 times to help Purge any air out of the power steering compressor while I was turning the wheel with the engine off to bleed the system after reconnecting everything. Everything seems like it's been reconnected appropriately however since the repair I've noticed I'm getting a loud metallic banging noise particular when beginning to accelerate out of a turn at low speeds. I get one loud bang that sounds almost like metal hitting the ground but there is nothing hanging off the bottom of the car. Seem to be getting any about 4 of these on a typical 20 minute drive to work the last 3 days. Only one on the highway that seemed to come farther back in the car. I can't seem to replicate this while idling and revving the engine.

 

I'm not sure what the next step is going to be in trying to fix this. Did I just foul up the plugs by turning the engine over without the wires connected and I'm getting a little backfiring or something else? I'm fairly confident at least a small amount of automatic transmission fluid from the power steering system got onto one of the oxygen sensors on the exhaust system underneath. Any help would be greatly appreciated oh, thanks!

 

Car: 2009 Legacy 2.5i, 126k mi, spark plugs replaced 20k mi ago

Edited February 6, 2019 by blaugranamd

[Max Capacity]

I wonder if you have a CV joint going bad ?

 

 

What you did should not have caused and spark plug problem.

[moral hazard]

Is your car auto?

Could be shifting harshly and you might need a TCU relearn.

[blaugranamd]

I wonder if you have a CV joint going bad ?

 

 

What you did should not have caused and spark plug problem.

 

How might I diagnose that? Why might that go from no noise to every drive immediately after engine work unless it was damaged dropping the car off the jack? To be clear on what I'm hearing in a 5 minute drive to daycare in the morning I might hear a single bang/pop sound typically when just transitioning onto the accelerator gently. Never hear this once in the highway.

 

Is your car auto?

Could be shifting harshly and you might need a TCU relearn.

 

It does, rarely, shift a bit rough when very cold the first shift or two but this is quite different. That typically gives a little Friday in power and the engine revs slip upward a tad. This is just a pop out of nowhere

Edited February 14, 2019 by blaugranamd

[blaugranamd]

Found the problem incidentally when I just happened to park my car with the wheel turned out far enough that I could see the blue internal cap on the sway bar linkage exposed. The clunking actually stopped about a week ago, probably when the sway bar link broke. Got it fixed today!

[mechanic58]

I wonder if this is the same issue at work here:

 

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/2-stage-drivetrain-clunk-under-light-load-278602.html