i have a 1999 4wd blazer and every once in a while when i am making a slow left turn i can hear a poping sound from the front left of my truck, does anybody know what this is and how i can stop it?

 

I can't be sure, but mine did a lot of front noises and finally I put some soft "spongy" rubber in the rear part of the hood and all gone. The hood support system is poor and shakes and make sounds.

 

If it is indeed the hood rattling, there is a TSB (technical service bulletin) bulletin # 01-08-63-001B.

It involves installing a conical spring washer onto the rear hood hinge bolts to put some more tension on these bolts. PN 12383460 is the spring washer and it should be placed under the head of the bolt. They should be available from your dealer for about $1 each. To check and make sure that this is your problem, you can wad up a shop rag and place it under the corners of the hood. Make sure that you don't put too much tension on it and bend the hinge or the hood, but just enough tension to remove any chance of rattles.

Other areas to check would be your sway bar end links as well as your ball joints. The sway bar end links can be checked with the vehicle on the ground. Look for broken components. The upper ball joints can be checked with the vehicle on the ground as well, but you will need to turn the wheels all the way in one direction and place a pry bar under the upper control arm at the steering knuckle. If you get any movement out of the upper control arm at the joint, your joint is shot. For the lower ball joint, you should lift the front wheels off the ground and support the vehicle with jack stands on the frame rails. Then use a long 2x4 on edge to lift up on the wheel while looking at the lower ball joint. If you can see any movement between the lower control arm and the steering knucle, you have a bad joint.

 

You say the truck is 4WD...my bet is a constant velocity joint going bad. They will click when they wear out. It gets worse the farther the wheel is turned or the closer they get to falling apart.

 

I would be more inclined to think that since it is an intermittent problem, my choices would be ball joints then CV shaft (check the shaft for grease loss on the lower control arm and frame).

I just replaced lower ball joints last fall and complete half shaft couple months ago, the CV shaft leaked grease past the boot....did not notice until it started making rubbing type noises...

Make sure about when the noises occur to limit your choices. When making the left turn is there a bump or hole the tire went through??? these are the kind of things that when you notice them can help to pinpoint the diagnostic findings...more info is good.....

 

how much would it cost to have my ball joints replaced? my truck only has 42,000 miles on it