Happy new year, GM Forum. My car is ringing in the new year by being quiet the noisemaker.

I was taking off from a stop (with the wheels turned slightly to the right) and heard a couple loud pops from the front driver'* side wheel well. I also had one pop yesterday as I was going through a right curve at about 55 miles per hour. It also did it (quietly) once a couple weeks ago while going in a straight line, but I thought I was driving over ice.

I don't feel any play in the steering, and I still can drive in a near-straight line without touching the wheel. Though it feels like a misfire, the tach doesn't bounce when this happens, and there are no check engine codes (besides my usual P0420). Spark plugs and wires are fairly new.

Additionally, I think my TC is not going into lockup. The RPM'* seem to be as low as they should be (about 1500 RPM at 47 mph), but pressing the brake doesn't make the tach rise like it normally does.

My fluid looks beautiful and bright red, but is a pint low, and there seems to be a leak from the pan area. When my pan started leaking last year, I had these exact symptoms, minus the car-shaking popping from the wheel. (And yes, I am a few thousand miles away from needing a fluid/filter change.)

I'll top off the fluid today, and make plans for a fluid/filter change, but any thoughts on that sickening popping sound?

Ball joints like to make popping sounds at random times when they are starting to go bad. If they've never been replaced they are probably bad.

Check the sway bar end links. They like to pop loud when they are starting to go. Even if it looks good, look real close, the inside part can bend and still look fine on the outside part, which is plastic.

I've had a sway bar end link break before, and it didn't sound like that at all. Still, I found my torque wrench over the holidays, so I'll go check the torque on those nuts later today.

Those end links are the only non-factory-installed parts sitting behind my wheels… as if that narrows it down.

I'd say the left ball joint is bad if it is "popping" on right turns. I had the same issue with my right ball joint earlier this year. It gets real scary when the camber & toes changes at the same time during a turn.

You have to raise the car by the frame, then "unload" the lower control arm to check for ball joint play. The sway bar "loads" the lower control arm against the ball joint. Or you can remove the sway bar link to check the ball joint.

Took me 4 months to figure out what was wrong with my 92 SSE.

Good Luck.

I drove about 500 miles this week (I was busy) with no noise.

Yesterday, I jacked up the car and tried shaking the tire, but nothing would give. I took off the tire and shook everything around. No leaks, no torn boots, and no play in anything. (Bob, I forgot to undo the sway bar — I'll try that on the next warm day.)

The only thing I've actually done to the car since the popping went away was add about a pint of transmission fluid.